Understanding Approval Processing

One of the ways that the system simplifies and speeds up work is by routing records when they require approval. For example, purchase requests, work requests, employee leave, and other functions can be configured to require approvals.

Basic approval processing requires that the person creating or managing a record that requires approval must create an approval request. This is done by clicking the Submit for Approval button on the record when it is in a pending approval status and then selecting the appropriate approval profile for the document. Once a record is submitted for approval, the request is emailed to approvers, sent to their To Do List, or both.

  • The Approval Request shows the related document, the person who submitted it and when, who has approved it so far, and which roles still need to provide an approval decision.
  • Approval requests use an Approval Profile to determine the properties and requirements for the approval. A common structure defines the approval process, users, and limits for each given functional area that uses approval processing. The Approval Profile indicated on the approval request identifies the people who need to approve the record and their role. Sometimes there are multiple approvers needed depending on how the approval profile is set up and your business practices. Often records will have a set of approval profiles which are defined for all records of that type. For example, when a new work request is routed for approval, the options for approval profile are limited to those defined for work requests. Most users only need to know which Approval Profile to choose when they submit a record for approval. This selection will depend on your business processes and how your approval profiles are configured. For example, when a user submits an approval request for a timesheet, they should only see approval profiles available for a timesheet. See Approval Profiles for more information.
  • Approvers can access information about approvals that require their attention using the Approval Dashboard. Also, the person (requestor) who submitted the record for approval can check the status of the approval from a zone on their home page or by checking the individual record. The requestor is notified by e-mail when the record has been approved or if the request times out.
  • Most approvers also have access to the Approval Request Action zone on the side Dashboard where they can record and submit their decision to reject or approve the approval request. Access to this zone is controlled by your Portal Preferences in your user profile.
  • The Log tab on the record being approved indicates who approved the record and when.

Refer to About Approvals for more information.