Managing your Approval Routes

  • Updated

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Approval Routes allow you to automate your approval processes for various activities. This is done by specifying who the required approvers are and whether they are always required to approve or if it's dependent on a financial delegation.

What activities can trigger an approval process?

The various activities that can trigger an approval process are referred to as 'Submission Types'. Each submission type is outlined in the below table, along with a description and the associated module.

Module Submission Type Description
Procurement Planning Procurement Initiation

Initiating a new plan after providing high-level details in the 'Setup' stage.

This is an approval that occurs before the user can progress to the planning stage.
Procurement Plan

Finalising the plan before going to market.

This is an approval that occurs before a request can be generated in Go to Market.
Advanced Evaluations Evaluation - Shortlist

Confirming the shortlisted suppliers after completing an evaluation.

This is an approval that occurs before the user can progress to the final decision step.
Evaluation - Final Decision

Confirming the final decision before notifying suppliers.

This is an approval that occurs before the results of an evaluation are pushed back to the request in Go to Market.
Contract Management (Advanced licence only) Contract Initiation

Initiating a new contract after providing high-level details.

This is an approval that occurs before a user can begin managing the contract.
Variation

Exercising a variation to price, duration and/or T&Cs.
Extension

Exercising an extension to a contract.
Payment Certificate Initiating a new payment certificate for a contract.
Purchase Order Initiating a new purchase order for a contract.
Work Order Initiating a new work order for a contract.
Change of Details

Updating a vendor's details on their record (only applicable if vendor access is enabled).

This is an approval that occurs when a supplier requests to update their vendor record details.

Accessing your Approval Routes

  1. Navigate to the 'Approvals' tile from your Home page.
  2. Click on the 'Manage module' tab.
  3. Click on the 'Lists' tab.
  4. Click on the 'Approval Routes' heading to reveal the full list of approval routes

Accessing approval routes.gif

Configuring your Approval Routes

Click on the related 'Submission Type' to open the configuration details. From there, complete the below steps.

  1. If an approval is required for the submission type (yes/no)

  2. Who the approvers are

    Please note

    The options available to select are driven by your current list of approver definitions.

  3. What the approval type is (only applicable if DocuSign integration has been purchased, otherwise, type is always ‘In System’)

  4. Whether a lower and/or upper threshold should be applied

    • If no lower/upper thresholds applied - approver is always required to approve

    • If lower threshold applied - approver is only required to approve if the submission is equal to or greater than the lower threshold specified

    • If upper threshold applied - approver is only required to approve if the submission lower than the upper threshold specified

    • If lower and upper threshold applied - approver is only required to approve if the submission is between the lower and upper thresholds specified

Examples

Example #1

Screenshot 2024-06-17 163943.png

  • The ‘Contract Owner’ always approves first, regardless of the submission value

  • If the submission is between $10,000.00 and $49,999.99, the ‘Manager’ is the next and final approver

  • If the submission is $50,000.00 or higher, the ‘Manager’ is skipped, and the ‘Director’ becomes the next and final approver

Example #2

Screenshot 2024-06-19 075914.png

  • If the submission is less than $10,000, the 'Contract Owner' is the first and only approver
  • If the submission is between $10,000.00 and $49,999.99, the 'Manager' is the first and only approver
  • If the submission is equal to or greater than $50,000.00, the 'Manager' approves first, then the 'Director' approves

Running a scenario

Approval Routes can be tested once updated by using the 'Run a scenario' tool. To run a scenario, complete the below steps:

  1. Ensure the latest changes to the approval route have been saved by clicking on 'Save' in the top-right corner when viewing the Submission Type.

  2. Allocate a submitter – This can support any approver definitions where the submitter’s details are referenced (e.g. their 'Department' or 'Supervisor').

  3. Specify a submission value – Only applicable if financial delegations or upper/lower thresholds have been applied

  4. Optionally, you can also specify an EFormType (e.g. Variation) and a RecordID number if you wish to run the scenario against a specific record in-system. This can be useful where the record itself is referenced in your approver definitions (e.g. the allocated 'Contract Manager' or 'Procurement Officer')

    Screenshot 2024-06-17 164233.png

  5. Click on ‘Show result’, then review the ‘Required approvals’ section to see who is required to approve the submission. The results will be based on your general settings, approver definitions, approval route and the scenario details provided.