An exception is a request for a decision the system will not take by itself. The commonest case is a quotation for a customer whose available credit does not cover it: the system does not refuse it, and does not wave it through — it parks it and asks someone with the authority to decide.
That is why an exception is not an error. Something is waiting for a person.
The three screens
| Screen | Shows |
|---|---|
| Pending | Exceptions awaiting a decision. Your working list. |
| Exceptions | All exceptions. |
| History | Decisions already made. |
Work from Pending. Everything in it is blocking someone.
What an exception holds
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Entity type and Entity ID | What the exception is about. Today this is quotations. |
| Action type | What was being attempted — create, approve, reject, update, view, delete. |
| Description | Why it was raised. |
| Requested by | Who hit the block. |
| Status | Pending, approved or rejected. |
| Done by and Done at | Who decided, and when. |
| Reason | Rationale recorded with the decision. |
| Rejection reason | Why it was refused. |
The action type matters: an exception on create means the quotation could not be raised at all; one on approve means it exists but cannot be accepted. They are different conversations with the salesperson.
Making a decision
Open the exception and choose Approve or Reject.
- Approve lets the blocked action proceed.
- Reject requires a reason. The reason is not paperwork: it goes back to whoever requested it, and it is what stops the same request arriving again next week.
Both are recorded with your name and the time. Exceptions are an audit trail of commercial judgement, which is exactly what they should be — a credit limit exceeded and approved is a decision someone made, and the record says who.
Before approving a credit exception
- Look at the customer's actual position — credit limit, on-hold balance, available balance. See Companies.
- Check why they are over. A customer over their limit because of one large job in progress is a different case from one over it because of unpaid old invoices.
- Consider whether the limit is the problem. A customer who triggers an exception on every quotation has the wrong limit, not a recurring emergency. Fix the limit rather than approving weekly.
Why quotations reach the queue
Quotation exceptions come from the credit balance check. A customer on credit terms is checked when a quotation is created and when it is approved, and the outcome routes the quotation:
- Insufficient balance — a warning, and the quotation goes to exception approval. Not a hard block.
- Check failed — creation and approval are blocked outright. This is a system problem rather than a customer one, and it should be escalated, not approved around.
See Creating a quotation for the full set of outcomes.
History
History is the record of decisions. Use it for two things:
- Answering "who approved this?" — the record names them, with the reason and timestamp.
- Spotting patterns. The same customer appearing repeatedly is a credit limit that needs revisiting; the same approver clearing everything within seconds is a control that is not functioning.
Keeping the queue short
An exceptions queue only works if it is short enough to be read. A few habits:
- Clear it daily. Every pending exception is a quotation not with a customer.
- Reject properly. An exception left pending because nobody wants to say no is worse than a clear rejection.
- Treat volume as a signal. A queue that grows steadily means credit limits, not commercial conditions, are out of date.
Last updated 15 September 2026