Setting Up Requisition Approvals

Owned by Amanda Folkman
Last updated: May 10, 2022

Prior to performing the following setup, please follow the /wiki/spaces/rtd/pages/2752976 for the technical setup.

Module

In order to access Requisition Approval options, first the  Workflows Module will need to be enabled. For more information on System Modules click here.

  1. Go to System > Modules
  2. Locate the Workflows Module and click the  to install.
  3. Once installed the  will change to  
  4. The checkbox in the 'Installed' column will now be checked.


Other Modules

Verify that these modules are also installed: Email Notification Services, File Transfer Notification Services, HTTP Notification Services.

Configuration

Once the Workflows Module has been enabled, navigate to System > Configuration.  

Workflows Configuration

  • Enter the USAS application URL. This will be used in emails sent via the workflow process so most likely it will be the standard URL that will be used to get to the current instance.
  • Check the box to enable Requisition Approval. This enables System menu options related to Requisition Approvals and adds 'Submit for Approval' button, Workflow Approval Status, and Approval Audit Trail to the Requisitions page. When Requisition Approval is enabled, Requisitions can only be converted if they are in Approved status.

Requisition Approval Configuration

Allows configuration of approval due dates and to customize the content of emails sent for Requisition Approvals. This configuration will be setup to default values - customization is optional. See the Configuration documentation for details on the available options.

Email Configuration

In order to be able to send emails for approvals, the Email Configuration must also be populated.


Permissions Setup

Roles

Users that will be submitting requisitions for approval and those that will be approving requisitions do not need Workflow specific permissions, only access to Requisitions. Once Requisition Approval is enabled in the Workflows Configuration, located under the System/Configuration menu, the appropriate options will be added for those users with USAS_REQ access or greater.

Requisition Approver Only

If you would like to grant a user that does not enter Requisitions access to USAS-R only  to approve Requisitions, a role with the following permissions can be created.

  • LOGIN
  • USAS_REQUISITION_VIEW

If the Approver should also have access to update the account code when approving, a role with the following permissions can be created.

  • LOGIN
  • USAS_REQUISITION_VIEW
  • USAS_REQUISITION_UPDATE


Workflow Setup

Users with Administrator access will automatically be granted access to setup and manage the creation of Groups and Group Chains that determine the Approval path. The following options are available to grant additional access to users without the Administrator Role. In order to grant full access to setup Groups, Group Chains, and manage Requisitions submitted for approval, the following permissions would be needed:

  • USAS_GROUP
  • USAS_WORKFLOWS_ADMIN

Assign Group Chain to Users

In order to assign Group Chains to Users, the USAS_USER permission would also be needed. This permission is generally kept to Admin users for audit purposes. The following permissions could be used to create and manage the Groups/Group Chains and then an Admin user can assist with assigning the Group Chains to users.

Role Setup

  1. Navigate to the System > Roles grid.
  2. Create a new Role. Assign an ID - Description optional.
  3. Locate the USAS_GROUP & USAS_WORFLOWS_ADMIN permissions and move this to Granted
  4. Save

Example Role Setup:


Standard Admin Permission

The USAS_WORKFLOWS_ADMIN permission will grant access to the Workflows > Workflows Admin page. This allows a user to view all in-progress requisitions, the requisition date, the requisitioner, and the due date.


Bypass Permission

The USAS_WORKFLOWS_BYPASS permission can be used to grant a user access to the Workflows > Workflow Bypass page.  This permission will allow instant approval on a requisition while bypassing all other approvals defined in the associated Group Chain. This permission should be granted with caution and only to high level users. 

Account Filters

Account Filters applied to a User will be used for Requisition Approval. An Approver must have at least Read Only access to the account code used on a Requisition in order to Approve OR Reject the transaction.

Groups & Group Chains

The Groups and Group Chains determine which users will be involved in the Approval process and in what order requisitions should be approved by those users. The pages for both can be found on the System menu once Requisition Workflows are enabled in the Configuration for those with the appropriate permissions.

Groups

A group is made up of one or more users that can be assigned as participants in a Group Chain of the Requisition Approval process. Groups may contain multiple users where all users must approve the requisition before the approval process continues or it may contain multiple users that only one user in the group approves the requisition before the approval process can move on.

See the Groups page for how to create a Group.

Group Chains

A group chain defines how the requisition flows from one group to another throughout the approval process. 

See the Group Chains page for how to create a Group Chain.

Define Group Chains for Users

In order for a User to be able to submit a requisition for approval to a Group Chain, this must be defined on their User setup. 

  1. Navigate to the System > Users page
  2. Edit a user
  3. In the Selectable Group Chains section, move one or more Group Chains to the right side
  4. Save

Workflow Emails

In order to receive emails from the workflow process, users should also have an email defined on their System > Users record.