Approvals
| DMF |
061801 PROJECTS APPROVALS APPROVALS SETUP |
The approvals setup is used to define the different approval levels for the following management objects: quotation, sales order, quote, purchase order, purchase invoice, expense report and custom request.
The approvals setup can be accessed from Tools > Setup > General setup > Resources and Labor > Approvals.
The setup screen displays the approval rules set up for the company of the connected user. Approval rules can also be set up for the ***** company so they are available for all companies.
The setup screen contains two tabs:
- The Approvals tab to define approval rules;
- The Advanced approval rules tab to define advanced rules for each type of object, particularly for approvers who share the same rank.
Filtering approvals
In the approvals setup screen, the filter criteria displayed above the Management of approvals section can be used to display specific approval rules depending on the filters defined. If a filter is used, the list of rules is directly updated.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| All / Inactive / Active |
Check All to display active and inactive rules at the same time. Check Inactive to only display inactive rules. Check Active to only display active rules. |
| Employee | Select the employee from the help list. The list is updated to only display the approval rules defined for this employee. |
| Object type | Select the management object's type from the drop-down list. The list is updated to only display the approval rules defined for this object type. |
| Period | Fill in a period to only display the approval rules defined for this period. |
These filter criteria are not available for the advanced rules displayed in the Advanced approval rules tab.
Managing approval rules
Creating approval rules
| 1 | Modify the Approvals setup screen. |
| 2 | In the Approvals tab, click on  to create a new approval rule. |
| 3 | Fill in the fields in the Data selection section. This section enables you to define the type of data that will be targeted by the approval rule. |
| 4 | If you have selected the Custom request object type, fill in the fields of the Specific data selection (Custom request) section. This section is used to define additional fields that are specific to custom requests. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Category | Select the category of the custom request. The rule will be applied on custom requests that belong to the selected category. |
| Employee manager | Select the manager from the help list. The rule will be applied on custom requests that are created by employees managed by the selected manager. |
| Employee entity | Select the entity from the help list. The rule will be applied on custom requests that are created by employees from the selected entity. |
| Employee service | Select the service from the help list. The rule will be applied on custom requests that are created by employees from the selected service. |
| Employee division | Select the division from the help list. The rule will be applied on custom requests that are created by employees from the selected division. |
| Employee division grouping | Select the division grouping from the help list. The rule will be applied on custom requests that are created by employees from the selected division grouping. |
| 5 | If you have selected the Expense report object type, fill in the fields of the Specific data selection (expense reports) section. This section is used to define additional fields that are specific to expense reports. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Type of expense reports | Select the expense type from the help list. The rule will be applied on expense reports that include expenses on the selected type. |
| Employee manager | Select the manager from the help list. The rule will be applied on expense reports generated by employees managed by the selected manager. |
| Employee entity | Select the entity from the help list. The rule will be applied on expense reports generated by employees from the selected entity. |
| Employee service | Select the service from the help list. The rule will be applied on expense reports generated by employees from the selected service. |
| Employee division | Select the division from the help list. The rule will be applied on expense reports generated by employees from the selected division. |
| Employee division grouping | Select the division grouping from the help list. The rule will be applied on expense reports generated by employees from the selected division grouping. |
| 6 | If you have selected another object type than the custom request one, fill in the fields of the Specific data selection (Sales and purchase) section. This section is used to define additional fields that are specific to sales and purchase management objects. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Product category | Select the product category from the help list. The rule will be applied on the management object's lines that are associated with the selected product category. |
| Product sub-category | Select the product sub-category from the help list. The rule will be applied on the management object's lines that are associated with the selected product sub-category. |
| 7 | Fill in the fields in the Approvers section. This section enables you to define the person in charge of approving the management objects targeted by the approval rule. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Rank |
Enter a number to define the approver's rank for the rule. It is possible to define multiple approvers for different ranks and for the same rank. If multiple approvers are defined for the same management object (by defining one rule for each approver, with an identical data selection), this rank is used to define different approver levels. Example You want your company's quotes to be approved by two different approvers. When you create the approval rule, you define the two following approvers: the AAA approver with the rank 1 and the BBB approver with the rank 2. The quotes targeted by this rule will have to be approved by AAA and by BBB. If multiple approvers have the same rank for the same management object, the behavior depends on the advanced rule set up. For more information, refer to Approvers of same rank. If multiple approval ranks are set up, you can choose between:
For more information, refer to Approval mode. |
| Specific employee |
Define the approver:
Note The boxes can only be checked if the Specific employee field is left empty. If you add a specific employee, this employee is defined as the approver for all management objects targeted by the rule. If you check a box, a manager is defined as the approver. This manager will be different depending on the context of each management object. Example You create an approval rule where the type of approver defined is the Project's entity manager. For each management object targeted by this rule, the approver will be the person that manages the project's entity. |
| 8 | Click on  to save the approval rule, then save the setup screen. |
The new approval rule is displayed in the table of the Approvals tab.
Modifying approval rules
When the setup screen is in modification, click on the desired rule in the table of the Approvals tab. Modify the desired information then save the setup screen to update the rule.
Deleting approval rules
When the setup screen is in modification, click on the desired rule in the table of the Approvals tab, then click on 
to delete the rule.
Managing advanced approval rules
Creating advanced approval rules
| 1 | Modify the Approvals setup screen. |
| 2 | In the Advanced approval rules tab, click on to create a new approval rule. |
| 3 | Fill in the following fields: |
| Field | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Object type |
Select the management object's type from the drop-down list. Unlike "standard" approval rules, you can only define one advanced rule per object type. This advanced rule will be applied to all management objects of this type and will be combined with all the standard approval rules set up for this type. |
|
| Approval mode |
Check the desired approval mode among the following: ClassicUnder the Classic mode, all specified approvers receive the approval request irrespective of their approval rank. The object stays at the To be approved state as long as all approvers specified from all ranks have not approved the object. Example You want your company's quotes to be approved by two different ranks of approvers. For the first rank, you only need to define one approver. For the second rank, you want your company's quotes to be approved by two different approvers. When you create the approval rule, you define the three following approvers: the AAA approver with the rank 1 and the BBB and CCC approvers with the rank 2. In the approval rule, you select the classic approval mode: rank 1 approvers and rank 2 approvers receive all three the approval request at the same time. CascadeOn the Cascade mode, the approval request is first sent to the rank 1 approvers, then the rank 2 approvers and so on. The approvers are notified of the approval request and can only visualize it when the document has already been approved by inferior ranks (if needed). The object stays in the To be approved state until the last rank has approved it. When the last rank has approved the object, it switches to the Approved state. Example You want your company's quotes to be approved by two different ranks of approvers. For the first rank, you only need to define one approver. For the second rank, you want your company's quotes to be approved by two different approvers. When you create the approval rule, you define the three following approvers: the AAA approver with the rank 1 and the BBB and CCC approvers with the rank 2. In the advanced approval rule, you select the cascade approval mode: rank 1 approver receive the approval request. If the approver gives it approval, then the request is sent to the rank 2 approvers so they can validate it. If they deny it, the request is denied and is not sent to the rank 2 approvers. |
|
| Approval type (Only for Expense reports) |
Select the desired approval type: DocumentUnder the approval type Document, the approval request is about the whole expense report created by the employee. An approver must approve or deny the whole expense report. LineUnder the approval type Line, the approval request is about each expense line created by the employee in the expense report. An approver must approve or deny each expense line. Important When the Line approval type is enabled and approval requests have been made for expenses, it is no longer possible to return to the Document approval type for expense reports. Note The RelanceAppro batch allows you to send reminders to the desired recipients when expense reports contain one or more expenses pending approval or expenses not approvable. For more information, refer to RelanceTempsCollaborateur batch. |
|
| Approvers of same rank |
This field is linked to the Rank defined in the approval rules, when multiple approvers share the same rank for the same rule.
Example You want your company's quotes to be approved by two different ranks of approvers. For the first rank, you only need to define one approver. For the second rank, you want to define two different approvers knowing that, if one approves, it is unnecessary to have the approval of the other one. When you create the approval rule, you define the three following approvers: the AAA approver with the rank 1 and the BBB and CCC approvers with the rank 2. The quotes targeted by this rule will have to be approved by AAA. They will also have to be approved either by BBB or by CCC.
Example You want your company's quotes to be approved by two different ranks of approvers. For the first rank, you only need to define one approver. For the second rank, you want to define two different approvers that must both approve the management objects. When you create the approval rule, you define the three following approvers: the AAA approver with the rank 1 and the BBB and CCC approvers with the rank 2. The quotes targeted by this rule will have to be approved by AAA, by BBB and by CCC. |
|
| If the requester is one of the object's approvers, automatically approve the object for this approver |
If the field is set to Yes, the object is approved automatically by an approver if they made the approval request. If the field is set to No, an approver must always manually approve the object even if they made the approval request. This option affects both Classic and Cascade modes. Note Automatic approval does not affect the rest of the approval process. For example, if superior ranks are set up, approvers from those ranks will still need to approve the object. |
|
| Automatic validation of approved object |
If the field is set to Yes, the management object is validated automatically once all the necessary approvals have been made. When the approval type for expense reports is Document, an expense report can be validated automatically when completing it in the following cases:
Note Except expense reports, the other objects that are non-approvable or not comprised in the thresholds cannot be validated automatically. When the approval type for expense reports is Line, an expense report is validated automatically when all its approvable lines have been approved or denied. Note An expense report that only contains non-approvable lines cannot be validated automatically. If the field is set to No, the management object must be validated manually. |
|
| Notify approvers by email |
If the field is set to Yes, an email is automatically sent to notify the approvers. The email's sender is either the user who made the action to send the email, or the postmaster. Even if the option is enabled, an approver does not receive this email when the following conditions are met:
By default, the email sent is in the following format:
For custom requests, the [ObjectDate] is the expected start date. Note To customize the email content, do not hesitate to contact your Akuiteo representative. |
|
| Notify requester by email when object is approved/denied |
If the field is set to Yes, an email is automatically sent to notify the employee who requested an approval when the management object has been approved or denied by all approvers. The email's sender is either the user who made the action to send the email, or the postmaster. Even if the option is enabled, the email is not sent when the following conditions are met:
By default, the email sent is in the following format:
For custom requests, the [ObjectDate] is the expected start date. Note To customize the email content, do not hesitate to contact your Akuiteo representative. |
| 4 | Click on to save the advanced rule, then save the setup screen. |
The new advanced rule is displayed in the table of the Advanced approval rules tab.
Modifying advanced approval rules
When the setup screen is in modification, click on the desired rule in the table of the Advanced approval rules tab. Modify the desired information then save the setup screen to update the rule.
Deleting advanced approval rules
When the setup screen is in modification, click on the desired rule in the table of the Advanced approval rules tab, then click on to delete the rule.
