Introduction
The document describes the structure and functions of the Approval process application. The application consists of these basic parts:
The application provides these basic functions:
- Approving requests for orders, documents, internal documents, received and issued invoices
- Multi-level approval (setting up approval processes)
Creating approval request
An approval process can be created and used for an Order (Store application), Document (CRM application), Internal document (Organisation application), Incoming invoice, or Outgoing invoice (Finance application).
The procedure for submitting and approving requests is the same for all these record types. This guide explains the approval procedure using an Order as an example. It assumes that an authorized user has already created an Approval process for the Order, as described below.
On the Order's Approval process tab, a request for its approval can be created, i.e. the Order can be sent for approval. The request is created by selecting a predefined process in the Approval process field and then clicking the Send for approval button for the given record.
The approvers defined in the selected approval process are displayed in a tree in the order in which they will process the request, from top to bottom. The approver in the superior step receives the record first, followed by the approver in the subordinate step. (The approval tree is independent of the user structure and roles.)
The Date of request field is automatically filled in with the current date and time. Once the approval process has started, the form fields that are subject to approval cannot be changed.
Picture 1 – Creating approval request
At this point, the request is in the “Pending approval” status and the Order items cannot be changed. The same applies in the “Approved” status, see picture 2. The items can be changed only if the request is rejected. The approval request can be saved.
Picture 2 – After submitting the approval request, the order items cannot be changed
Picture 3 – Order status after clicking the Send for approval button is set to “Pending approval”
Delete requests
Button Delete my requests:
- If neither the approval date nor the rejection date is filled in, the process is not complete. Requests created by the current user will be deleted. A user with higher permissions must delete the remaining requests.
The button Delete all requests:
- If neither the approval date nor the rejection date is filled in, the process is not complete. All approval requests will be deleted. This feature is intended for users with higher permissions. To delete requests for orders, the user must belong to the 2. Store – full access user group.
To delete requests for documents and invoices, the user must belong to the user groups listed in the following table:
| User group | Function | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Customers – Full Access | Documents |
| 2. | Store – Full Access | Order |
| 3. | Organisation documents – full access | Internal document |
| 4. | Finance – Full Access | Invoice |
Add and change approver
Users with full approval access can add or change approvers in a request, i.e. must have user group set:
| User group | Function | |
|---|---|---|
| 10. | Approvals – Full Access | Approval |
Approvers can be added by selecting from the Add approver field and clicking Send for approval. If an approval process has already been selected, the added approver is placed in the first level next to the existing approvers.
The creation and setting of the approval process for adding an approver is described in the chapter Default approval process.
Picture 4 – Adding a new approver to the approval process
An approver can be removed by opening their record using the pencil icon in the Current approval process overview. The Request for approval record opens and clicking the Delete button deletes the record. Only an approver who has no subordinate step in the approval structure can be removed. Approvers cannot be removed from approvals that have already been completed.
Picture 5 – Deleting a request for approval
In the Request for approval record, the approver of the current request for approval can be changed, and the deadline by which the request should be processed can be changed in the Deadline field, see picture 6. The change is saved by clicking the Save button.
Picture 6 – Changing the approver and the deadline for the current request for approval
Approving requests
To approve or reject a request, the user opens it from the relevant order or on the main page from the My pending processes portlet. An overview of all requests for approval is displayed on the Settings – Approval process tab in the Requests for approval view table.
Picture 7 – Viewing the approval request on the main page
When a request is created, the approvers who approve it are automatically notified by e-mail, from which the request record can be opened.
In the case of gradual approval, the first approver is notified by e-mail first, and only after their approval the second approver, etc. Also in the portlet on the main page, the second approver sees the approval request only when it has been approved by the user in the superior step.
In the request form, see picture 8, the details of the order and the requested approval deadline can be seen. The request can be approved with the Approve button, rejected with the Reject button, or approved and signed with the Approve by signing button. Rejecting the request ends the entire approval process. When a request is rejected, the reason for the rejection must be added to the comment.
Picture 8 – Request form
At the end of the approval process, the applicant is always automatically informed of the approval result by e-mail. The approval result can be seen in the All requests for quotation and purchase or sales orders view table.
Picture 9 – Entering the approval result
After approval, the order status changes to “Approved”. Depending on the process settings, the approval date is also filled in.
If a new approval process needs to be set for an order that has already been approved or rejected, clicking the Archive approval button archives all requests for approval in this order and a new approval can be created. An overview of all archived approvals is available on the Settings – Approval process tab in the Archived approvals section.
Schemes of processes and actions that are activated when a request is approved or rejected can be found in the chapter Processes.
Picture 10 – Approval result in the order
Processes
As part of the Approval process application, which is used for approval, it is possible to create any number of processes (approval schemes). The function of creating approval schemes is available only to users with higher authorization to whom the user group is assigned:
| User group | Function | |
|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Approval – process definition | Approval process |
Approval processes are created on the Settings – Approval process – Settings tab by clicking the New process button.
Processes are preset approval templates containing approvers and their specific names. As part of creating processes, approvers can be moved in the approval hierarchy according to the order in which they are to approve the request.
Templates with assigned approvers appear in the selection of the approval process.
Picture 11 – Process setup form
Here it is necessary to define the name of the process that will be displayed in the Approval process field of the specific document/form sent for approval. Next, we define the form in which the process will be applied (Document for extraction, Document, Internal document, Order, Acceptance report, Incoming invoice, Outgoing invoice).
The approval settings for the Default process are described in the chapter Default approval process.
The Number of days to approve field specifies the default number of working days the approver has to respond to the request from the date of its submission. If it is not filled in, the approval deadline is not stated in the Request for approval either. The approval deadline of an already sent Request for approval can be changed individually by setting a specific date.
After the Do not lock field is checked, the document is not locked during the approval process or after its approval – it can therefore be edited the whole time.
Picture 12 – Process setup form
Next, we define the Actions taken after approval is complete (approval / rejection). Actions determine what happens after the request is approved or rejected. For example, when Event type: Vše OK is selected, the current date and time of approval is set in the Date of approval field of the order.
Clicking the Set default actions button automatically creates two actions – for approval and for rejection of the request. These actions can be edited by clicking the pencil icon.
The actions must be set, otherwise nothing changes after approval or rejection and the document stays in the Pending approval status.
Picture 13 – Setting the approval and rejection actions by pressing the “Set default actions” button
A new action can be defined by clicking the New approval action button.
Picture 14 – Approval action settings
In the What to set field, we enter the values:
- #now# - sets the current date and time in the format 5/18/2016 10:05 AM
- #today# - sets the current date in the format 5/18/2016
- The field can also be empty - when the conditions are met, the “control” is reset (for example to reset the “Date of request”)
Picture 15 – Setting (resetting) the date of request field
The resulting actions for approval and rejection look like picture 16.
Picture 16 – All process actions
Approvers
In the Approval process form, the approvers themselves are set on the Approvers tab. A new approver is added by clicking the New approver button. The Approver form opens, where we fill in the Approver field, possibly also the Number of days to approve, or check the Approve for the whole level field (see the explanation below).
Picture 17 – Setting an approver in the approval process
Building the approval structure
After the record is saved, the approver is placed on the first approval level. To add an approver to the second level, we click the New following approver button in the record of the first-level approver.
To add another approver to the same second level, we save the record of the first-level approver and click New following approver again. To create a third level, we keep the record of the second-level approver open and click New following approver.
The approval structure is shown in the Approval process overview.
Approvers on the following levels are shown in the Following approver overview.
Picture 18 – Inserting an approver on the second approval level
Approve for the whole level
When the Approve for the whole level field is checked, all other approvals on the same level that also have this field checked are approved automatically after the request is approved by the given approver. All these records are set to the Approved status, the date of approval is filled in and an e-mail notification is sent. The process then continues to the next level, if there is one.
Number of days to approve
The Number of days to approve can be set individually for each approver; if it is not filled in, the value set in the approval process is used.
When creating processes where a request is approved by multiple users, it is important to consider that the second approver must have a higher number of days for approval than the first approver. If both approvers had the same number of days for approval and the first approver processed the request on the last day of the deadline, the second approver would have insufficient time to respond to the request. If the request is not processed by the required deadline, an e-mail urging approval/rejection of the request is sent to the approver.
When setting the number of days for a response, it is necessary to bear in mind that the approver in the superior step receives the record for processing first, and the approver in the subordinate step after that. The approval tree structure is independent of the structure and roles of users.
First approver
The First approver field can be used in a situation where we want to link the order to the invoice and vice versa. In such a case, the First approver check box is checked in the Approval process form. The Person responsible of the given document is set as the first approver. If the first approver is the same as the approver from the process, the approver from the process is not created. The application thereby prevents duplicate approval of one request.
Picture 19 shows the creation of an approval process for an incoming invoice. By filling in the First approver field with the value Order, we choose that when the incoming invoice is approved, the first approver will be the Person responsible specified in the order settings.
Picture 19 – Process setup for the first approver field
The link between the order and the incoming invoice can be found in the Finance tab of the given order.
Picture 20 – Linking the order and the invoice
After the invoice is linked to the order, it is possible to create an approval for the invoice. The link between the invoice and the order is shown in picture 21.
Picture 21 – Linking the invoice and the order
Setting statuses, buttons and colours of approval
The appearance and behaviour of the approval process can be customized on the Settings tab.
In the Creation of approval process section, we set the The default color of the request field – this colour is set when an approver is added or when an approval process is created. If it is not filled in, yellow is set automatically.
In the Approval section, the Button for approval field can be filled in – it renames the button used to approve the request. The Approval status field determines the status stated in the request for approval after it is approved. The default value is Approved. In the Approval color field, we set the colour that is set after the request is approved. If it is not filled in, green is set automatically.
In the Rejection section, the Show button for rejection field can be checked – if it is checked, the rejection button is displayed to the approver. The Button for rejection field is used to rename the button for rejecting the request. The Rejection status field determines the status stated in the request after it is rejected. The default value is Rejected. In the Rejection color field, we set the colour that is set after the request is rejected. If it is not filled in, red is set automatically.
Picture 22 – The “Settings” tab
Default approval process
An approval process with the Default process field checked cannot be created manually. It is created automatically when a request is sent for approval for the first time, when the user selects an approver in the Add approver field and clicks the Send for approval button at this field (see picture 23). The default approval process is created separately for each document type – the first time a request is sent this way from the given document.
Picture 23 – Default approval process setting for the order
Only after it has been created can this process be edited in the approval process settings (see picture 24). It is then used every time the user sends a request for approval via the Add approver field in the given document type.
Picture 24 – Editing the default approval process setting for the order