# Put approval or review on hold

Park approval or review with Hold; exclusive Hold list tab.

Park an invoice on an **approval** or **review** step without approving or rejecting it. The document status becomes **On hold** and moves to the dedicated **Hold** list tab until someone **Approves**, **Marks reviewed**, or **Rejects**, which clears the hold and continues the workflow.

**Who this is for:** Approvers and reviewers who need to pause a payable, expense, or receivable while waiting on a vendor, internal clarification, or extra documents, without leaving the item in the normal Review / Approval queue.

## 1. Turn on Hold for a workflow step

Hold is **opt-in** per approval or review node.

1. Open **Settings → Workflow** for the workspace (payables, expenses, or accounts receivable).
2. Select an **Approval** or **Review** step.
3. Enable **Allow hold**.
4. Optionally enable **Require comment for hold** when assignees must explain why the document is parked.
5. Publish the workflow when you are ready.

Until at least one human step has **Allow hold** enabled, the **Hold** list tab stays hidden.

![Allow hold on a workflow Approval or Review step](https://help.cortena.ai/assets/img/help/put-approval-on-hold/01-allow-hold.png)

## 2. Put a document on hold from the strip

1. Open the invoice (or expense / receivable) that is waiting on that approval or review step.
2. On the workflow strip, click **Hold** (between Approve / Mark reviewed and **Reject** when reject is available).
3. In the **Put on hold** dialog, optionally (or mandatorily) add a comment with the same rich editor as **Activity**.
4. Confirm with **Put on hold**, or press **⌘/Ctrl+Enter**.

Cortena:

- Keeps the workflow parked on the **same** step (hold does not advance the flow).
- Sets status to **On hold**.
- Shows a disabled **Held** control on the strip (hover to see the hold comment when one was entered).
- Writes an Activity line such as “put the review on hold” / “put the approval on hold” (and posts the comment to Activity on payables and expenses when you provided one).

## 3. Find held documents — Hold tab

Held items appear **only** on the **Hold** list tab (not under **Review** or **Approval**).

- **Payables** and **Expenses** — tab **Hold** (after **Approval** when that tab exists).
- **Accounts Receivable** — same **Hold** tab when hold is enabled on the AR workflow.

Use the tab to work the parked queue without mixing it into day-to-day review or approval counts. The status badge on each row still reads **On hold**.

## 4. Leave hold — Approve, Mark reviewed, or Reject

There is **no separate Resume** action.

- **Approve** / **Mark reviewed** — clears the hold and completes the step as usual.
- **Reject** — clears the hold and follows the reject path (reason rules unchanged).

After a successful approve/review/reject, the document leaves **On hold** and follows the next workflow status.

Related: [Payables list status tabs](https://help.cortena.ai/guides/invoices/payables-status-tabs), [Bulk approve and mark reviewed](https://help.cortena.ai/guides/workflows/bulk-approve-mark-reviewed), [Comment on invoice Activity](https://help.cortena.ai/guides/invoices/activity-chat).

## Tips and limitations

- Hold is available only when the node has **Allow hold** and you can complete the step (same assignee / permission rules as Approve).
- Bulk list **Approve** / **Mark reviewed** still works on held invoices when you are eligible. Completing the step clears the hold; there is no bulk **Put on hold** yet.
- Bank reconciliation strips are out of scope for this hold UX.
- Accounts receivable stores the hold reason on the workflow and Activity narrative; payables and expenses also post an Activity chat comment when you enter one.

## Quick reference

| **Task** | **Where** |
| --- | --- |
| Enable hold on a step | **Settings → Workflow** → Approval/Review → **Allow hold** |
| Require a hold comment | Same panel → **Require comment for hold** |
| Put on hold | Invoice detail workflow strip → **Hold** |
| See parked items | List tab **Hold** (Payables / Expenses / Receivables) |
| Leave hold | Strip → **Approve** / **Mark reviewed** / **Reject** |
| Read hold reason | Hover **Held** on the strip, or Activity |