Negotiation Approval Process

When negotiation approvals are enabled, the negotiation document requires approval before being automatically published by the application. If award approvals are enabled then negotiation award will need approvals before award can be completed.

A negotiation document or award's status changes as it proceeds through the approval process. You can send attachments to negotiation approvers and award approvers in the approval notification. These tables explain the different statuses for a negotiation or award and the actions that the category manager can perform.

This table explains the possible statuses for negotiation document approvals.

Negotiation Status	Explanation
Draft	The initial status of the negotiation. Also the status of the negotiation after it's rejected. In this case, the category manager can edit and resubmit the negotiation document.
Approval in process	The negotiation document is in the process of being approved.
Submitted	The negotiation document has been approved, but the preview or open date is in the future.
Withdrawn	The negotiation document has been withdrawn from the approval process by the category manager.
Approved (not published)	The negotiation document has been approved but can't be published because the open or close dates have expired, or there was an error in publishing the negotiation. The category manager can use the Modify Schedule dialog box to enter new dates and publish the negotiation.
Active	The negotiation document has been approved is accepting responses.
Rejected	The negotiation document was rejected by one or more of the approvers. The category manager can edit the document and resubmit it.

This scenario shows a possible sequence of actions a category manager could take as a negotiation document undergoes the approval process.

The category manager creates the negotiation document. At this point, the document is in Draft status.
On the Overview page, category manager adds attachments in the To Negotiation Approver category to send to negotiation approvers.
Once the document is complete, the category manager submits it for approval. The document status changes to Approval in Process. The category manager receives a notification that the negotiation has been submitted for approval. All the approvers receive notifications that the negotiation document is ready for their approval. The approval notifications may include attachments for approvers to review prior to making approve or reject decision.
For a particular negotiation item, the category manager requires some information from a subject matter expert, the category manager creates a subtask from the Actions menu and assigns the subtask to the subject matter expert for information and an approval.
The category manager notices there was an omission to the document and so removes it from the approval process to correct the error. The status changes to Withdrawn.
The category manager edits the document to correct the error. The document status changes to Draft.
The category manager resubmits the document for approval. The status is Approval in Process.
All approvers approve the document. The status changes to Active. The category manager receives a notification that the document is approved.

The table explains the possible statuses for negotiation award approvals.

Negotiation Status	Explanation
Award Approval in Process	The award is in the process of being approved.
Withdrawn	The award has been withdrawn from the approval process by the category manager.
Award Approved	All approval actions have completed and the outcome is "approved."
Award Rejected	The award was rejected by one of the approvers. The category manager can access, edit the award and resubmit it for approval.

The following scenario shows a possible sequence of actions a category manager could take as a negotiation award undergoes the approval process.

The category manager completes the award and submits it for approval. The document status changes to Award Approval in Process. The category manager receives a notification that the award has been submitted for approval. All the approvers receive notifications that the award is ready for their approval. The approval award notifications may include attachments for approvers to review prior to making approve or reject decision.
On the Overview page, category manager adds attachments in the To Award Approver category to send to negotiation approvers.
One of the approvers rejects the award decision. The category manager receives a notification that the award has been rejected. The award status is Award Rejected.
The category manager edits the award decision and resubmits the award for approval. The document status changes to Award Approval in Process.
All approvers approve the award. The status changes to Award Approved. The category manager receives a notification that the award is approved.
The category manager completes the award and begins creating the purchasing documents.

As the category manager, you can view the approval chain and add any additional approvers to it. You can also monitor the progress of the approval process by viewing the approval history pages.

How You Modify the Approval Chain

Before submitting the document or award for approval , you can modify the approval chain by adding new users or approval groups. You can't remove any of the approvers that are part of the application generated approval chain. Selecting Manage Negotiation Approvals (for negotiation documents) or the Manage Award Approvals (for award approvals) from the Actions menu. In either case, on the Manage Approvals page, you can see the existing approval chain. In the page, there is a tabular display of the approval steps and their approvers. In the lower portion of the page, you can see a graphical display.

To add a new approver to the chain, highlight the stage entry within the stage that you want to update. You can add additional approvers by clicking the add icon and then searching and selecting a new approver or approval group.

How You Send Attachments to Approvers

You can send attachments to negotiation approvers and award approvers in the approval notification. Approvers can download these documents from their email to make an approval decision. When you create a negotiation, or submit a negotiation award for approval, you can add attachments with the relevant category on the Overview page. When you create a negotiation, you can add attachments in the To Negotiation Approvers category on the Overview page. Similarly, when you create a negotiation award, you can add attachments in the To Award Approvers category on the Award page. These attachments are sent to approvers in approval notifications. Approvers can review these attachments before making an approve or reject decision.

As an approver, you can add additional attachments to the document or award before approving it and sending it on to the next approver in the chain. The notification you received to begin your approval has an icon you can use to browse and add an attachment before you pass the document or award to the next approver.

How You View Approval Histories

You can view the progression of both document and award approvals. From Negotiation summary page, select the View Approval History option from the Actions menu. The page lists the steps in the approval chain and their status at the time you accessed the page. You can refresh the page to view the current status of the negotiation's approval. The page displays each stage of the approvals, identifies the participants, and the result of the participant's action. The most current approval event appears on the page. To drill into the details of the approval stage, click the Submit link.

You can view the document approval process, after you have published the document. You can view the progress of the award approval after you submit the award decision for approval. .