Understanding the Approval Process

Many daily tasks are part of a larger process that involves several steps and people working together. The term workflow refers to this process, which could encompass, for example, the approval of a time-off request. To facilitate this type of multiuser process, PeopleSoft can automatically trigger workflow notifications to inform the next approver in the process of work waiting.

The Approval Framework is the engine that provides capabilities for creating, running, and managing the approval processes. The engine uses a series of database objects combined with application component configuration settings to determine how to process approvals using workflow.

The Approval Framework is a common component that is shared across multiple PeopleSoft applications both within HCM and other product families. Due to the widespread use of this engine, you'll find documentation pertaining to it in various locations:

• Approval Framework describes the Approval Framework and application setup in full detail.

  It is the primary source of information for approval workflow.

• The Application Fundamentals documentation describes the setup steps and details for the Approval Framework that are specific to the HCM product line.

• Application-specific HCM documentation expands on all of the above texts by providing approval workflow details that relate to specific business processes.

Before implementing, you should read all relevant sources of information to gain a complete understanding of how the pieces fit together.