How to send a Request back to last approver if the next approver has any queries ?

[sarthak92]

We have a use case that a Request should be sent back to last approver if the next approver has any queries/concerns on the Request. Example : If I raise a request and request is approved by my manager, in case my senior manager has any query, they can send back the request to my manager. Is something available OOB to achieve this or do we need customization ? please advise the solution to this.I went to the below article to roll back but it would roll back to entire request to 'Not yet Requested'. I just need to roll back to last approver.

 Article to roll back request : https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0538562

[Dr Atul G- LNG]

Hi @sarthak92 

The standard approach is to reject the request by closing it as incomplete. Because this is a request item, the requester will receive a status of “Closed Incomplete.” This is the best available option; adding additional logic would require customization.

[sarthak92]

Thanks for your response Atul. BTW Could you please shed some light on how to build this solution ?

[Dr Atul G- LNG]

Hi @sarthak92 

No custom solution was built. We are using out-of-the-box functionality—when an approver rejects a request, it is automatically closed as incomplete. This is standard OOTB behavior.

[-O-]

A better strategy I would try to apply is to enhance the requested items so that Catalog Items, or Flows collect all information required for approvals, before approvals, so that there would be no reason to restart approvals because of lacking some information.