THE ENGINEERING NOTEBOOK
Model the workflow before the screen
A practical way to think about ERP customization.
Write the states
For an approval workflow, list the states before designing the form. Draft, submitted, and approved are a useful starting example. Decide which transitions are permitted and what information each transition requires.
Separate roles from screens
A hidden button is not an authorization rule. Record who is allowed to perform each action and enforce that decision where the data changes. Keep a history of relevant changes when the business process requires accountability.
Walk through an exception
Ask what happens when a request is rejected or returned for edits. An explicit recovery path is easier to support than an undocumented workaround. The local Odoo-inspired demo illustrates states only; it does not implement real permissions or an ERP server.