Creating and Understanding Approval Rules

Four51's approval process engine allows for complex purchasing scenarios.  Approval processes are managed via a series of approval rules.  

There are two aspects of every approval rule:  

• The attributes that flag a rule for approval.  This is the section found under the "Require approval when" header. All of these attributes are considered in conjunction with each other when the rule is evaluated, but you are not required to enter a value for each one.
• The person or persons who will be approving an order.  This is the section found under the "Approver" header.

To create an approval rule, complete the following:

1. Log onto your Administrative interface.
2. Click the "Buyers" top navigation tab.
3. Select the buyer company with which you would like to work.
4. In the left navigation bar, click "Approval Rules."



NOTE: There are two different approval rule types, each of which is processed differently:

• Parallel Rules: These are processed simultaneously and the order of approvals is not important. However, all required managers must approve the order prior to it being submitted. If any manager declines the order, the order is declined.  No individual manager may override.
• Sequential Rules: These are processed one at a time and in the order they are listed in the Administrative interface.  You may configure the order in which they are processed by clicking the up and down arrows next to each rule.  

Sequential rules are processed each time an order is submitted or approved, starting with the first rule.  If the first rule is found to be true, rule processing stops and the order is sent to the designated manager. If it is found to be false, rule processing continues and the next rule is evaluated.  This process continues until all rules have been evaluated and all necessary approvals have been granted. When concluded, the order is submitted.  If any manager declines the order, it is declined.  No individual manager may override.

You can select the location that sequential rule will fall in the list of sequential rules by entering a number in the List Order box. All rules will be adjusted up or down to make room for the current rule to fit into place.

5. Next, click "Create a New Approval Rule." 



 

6. Now, configure the attributes that will flag an order for approval. Enter a value for one or more of the listed attribute types.

   a.   Order is:
      i.  submitted or approved
      ii.  submitted
      iii. approved 

by:

       i. Any User: all users in the company.
       ii. Any User in This Group: all users in a selected group.
       iii. This Specific User: only the selected user.

   b.   Order total is greater than or equal to $: When submitted, an order will be flagged for approval only when the order total is greater than or equal to the value entered here. If you do not want the order value to be considered when the rule is evaluated, enter $0.

   c.   Order contains item(s) charged to Cost Center: When submitted, an order will be flagged for approval only when the associated cost center is equal to the cost center entered here. If you do not want a cost center to be considered when the rule is evaluated, select "(any)."

   d.   Order contains item(s) in Category: When submitted, an order will be flagged for approval only when the ordered items are associated with the category selected here.  If you do not want a category to be considered when the rule is evaluated, select "(any).” NOTE: If you select a Category, "AND that line item's Quantity is greater than or equal to" will appear allowing you to require approval when a certain number of products within one category are purchased in one order.  If you do not want the quantity to be considered when the rule is evaluated, leave the box empty.

   e.   The Payment Method is: When submitted, an order will be flagged for approval only when the order's payment method is equal to the payment method selected here.  If you do not want a payment method to be considered when the rule is evaluated, select "(any)."

   f.    The Shipper is: When submitted, an order will be flagged for approval only when the order's payment method is equal to the shipper selected here. If you do not want a shipper to be considered when the rule is evaluated, select "(any)."

 

7. Last, configure who will approve the order.

   a.   In the “Require approval by” section, select the party that will approve the order. You may select: “any user in this group” or “this specific user.” Confirm the appropriate approval rule type was selected

   d.   If you selected a specific user, you may also configure automatic approvals. Automatic approvals allow for an order to be approved or declined after a specific period of time has passed without any user interaction.  


 

To configure automatic approvals:

• Select the action to be performed: Approve Order Automatically or Decline Order Automatically     
• Enter the amount of time that should pass prior to the automatic approve/decline
• Note that orders awaiting approval (AKA un-submitted orders) are not actual orders in the system, and will be unavailable after 90 days, meaning they can no longer be accessed by any buyer- or admin-user. This is a good reason to set a number of minutes/hours/days after which an un-submitted will be automatically approved or declined.

Troubleshooting Tip: If an automatic approval is not working, make sure you have not allowed the order to be submitted with the "Submit for Approval" payment method; this payment method does not have complete billing information and therefore cannot be auto-approved.

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Labels: Approval Rules, Sequential, Parallel