I. Intro

The following situations may arise when someone submits an approval request:

The system can't identify who the approver is.
The approver and the requester are the same.
The same approver has been assigned repeatedly in the same process.
Someone involved in the approval request has left the organization.

These situations can interrupt the approval process or cause cancellations of submitted requests. In Lark Approval Admin, you can set transfer rules to deal with these situations.

II. Steps

The system can't identify who the approver is

Depending on the design of an approval process, there are several possible causes why the system can't identify who the approver is. Below are some examples:

The Manager option was selected as an Approver while setting up the approval process, but the requester has no direct manager assigned to them in Lark Admin Console.
The Department supervisor option was selected as an Approver while setting up the approval process, but the requester has no department supervisor assigned to them in Lark Admin Console.
The Role option was selected as an Approver while setting up the approval process, but in Lark Admin Console no members have this role.

How to set a transfer rule for this situation

Go to Lark Approval Admin. Next, go to Process Design inside an approval and configure one of the following transfer rules.

Auto-approve: The request is automatically approved at this step when there are no approvers.
Specify approver: You can specify a member, then the approval request will transfer to the member for approval.
Transfer to the Approval administrator: You can specify an Approval administrator, then the approval request will transfer to this administrator for approval.

The approver and requester are the same

The approver assigned to approve requests in an approval submits their own approval request.

Example: A member of the HR department was selected as an Approver while setting up the approval process, but they have submitted their own leave request.

How to set a transfer rule for this situation

Go to Lark Approval Admin. Next, go to Process Design inside an approval and configure one of the following transfer rules.

Requester reviews the request: No actions taken. The requester will approve their request.
Auto-skip: The request skips the approver and transfers to another approver assigned at this step of the approval process. The system will skip the step when there are no approvers assigned.
Forward to direct manager for approval: The request transfers to the requester's direct manager for approval at this step of the approval process. The system will skip the step when the requester has no direct manager.
Forward to department supervisor for approval: The request transfers to the requester's department supervisor at this step of the approval process. The system will skip the step when the requester has no department supervisor. If the requester is the department supervisor, their request will be transferred to the department supervisor of the department above them.

The same approver has been assigned repeatedly in the same process

The approver assumes multiple identities in an approval process that involves multiple steps.

Example: A request requires a Manager to approve it first, then a Department Supervisor at a later stage, but the approver is both the manager and the department supervisor of the requester.

When you assign a member to be an approver at multiple steps of an approval process, they will only need to approve the request once. The system automatically skips subsequent steps requiring them to approve the request. The administrator can change this rule in More Settings after they design the approval process in Process Design.

At the same time, if there are changes to the approval process, the approver still needs to approve the request at multiple stages of the approval process if they were assigned there.

To learn more about automatic approval rules, see Configure automatic approval rules in a multi-step approval process.

Someone involved in the approval request has left the organization.

The approver has left: The approval request transfers to the direct manager of the approver for approval. If there is no direct manager, the request will fail. The requester needs to submit a new request, or the administrator must manually change the approval process in the Approval Admin.
The requester has left: The direct manager of the approver will be forwarded a copy of the approval request for follow-up. If there is no direct manager, the request is canceled.
The CC'ed recipient has left: The approval process is not affected.