Approving Requisitions and Invoices

Once a buyer submits a requisition, the requisition will route for approval. Utilizing the community's Org Unit (Organization Unit) or Account Codes, depending on the Approval Process.

 

Org Unit

Each buyer is tied to an Organization or Org Unit. The Org Unit is tied to one or more approval chains containing a hierarchy of approvers, with assigned approval levels.

If there is more than one approval chain, the buyer selects the correct one when creating the requisition. The approval is sent to the correct users in the approval chain based on the required approval amount.

 

Account Code

Approvals can also be driven by Account Codes which are tied to an approval chain. In this case the approval is routed according to the account codes used on the requisition. The approval is sent to the correct users in the approval chain based on the required approval amount.

 

Requisition Approved/Declined

If the order is approved the buyer will be copied into the order email sent to the supplier. If the requisition is declined the buyer will receive an email stating that the requisition has been declined by the approver. The approver is able to provide a reason why the requisition was declined, which if provided, will be included in the notification email.

 

Self-Approval Level

Buyers may have a self approval level if assigned in the user’s profile, by a Community Administrator or User Administrator. If a requisition is within the buyer's self approval level, the requisition will be:

• Approved automatically
• Generate a PO number and
• Sent to the supplier immediately.

If a requisition is outside a Buyer's self approval level, it will be:

• Sent for approval and
• Routed to the first user with the correct delegated approval level.

Dependent upon the community's approvals configuration, the approval could be for the entire requisition or individual lines. If approval is designated for individual lines, it may also require multiple approvals on the entire requisition.

Once the requisition has been approved, the purchase order will automatically be sent to the supplier.

Note: Buyers can also be setup to have no self-approval level, in which case, all requisitions will be sent for delegated approval.

For information on how to approve or decline see Approving or Declining a Requisition.

Approvers are assigned requisitions from Buyers to approve or decline, as desired.

As an Approver, notifications are sent to the Tasks menu and an email notification is sent to with details of the requisition. Which includes a link, routing Approvers to the Approvals screen.

 

Access Approvals Screen

Approvers can access awaiting requisitions to action, by, selecting the Tasks menu > click Approvals tab > select View All.

 

The Approvals screen will appear > click on the Requisitions tab > enter the requisition number in the Requisition Number field or utilize Filters by selecting the encircled down arrow.

 

The desired Requisition view screen will appear.

 

Approval Requisition

Upon following the above instructions, select Approve/Decline > a pop-up box will appear > insert desired message in the Reason text box > select Approve or Cancel (no action will occur).

 

Approved requisitions will generate a purchase order that is sent to the supplier with the buyer copied in.

Note: If there are multiple approvers of the requisition and only one approver is needed to convert the requisition into an order. When actioned, the other approver(s) will be notified via email that the approval is no longer required (refer to emails list at bottom of article).

 

Decline Requisition

Upon following the instructions under header "Access Approval Screen" (above) > select Approve/Decline > a pop-up box will appear > insert desired message in the Reason text box > select Decline or Cancel (no action will occur).

 

If the requisition is declined, an email notification is sent to the buyer. Providing the reason message entered by the approver.

 

Additional Comments

Approvers can add additional comments to send to Buyer, by selecting the Comments tab > click +Add Comments > a pop-up box will appear, to add Buyer's name in the Mentioned Users field > enter the desired message in the Text box > select Send.

 

Once completed, an email notification email will be sent to the Buyer and other Approvers. If anyone other than the active Approvers adds a comment, a notification email will be sent to both the approver(s) and the buyer (refer emails list at bottom of article).

 

Approvers Unavailable for Approvals

When an approver know ahead of time, they will be away for any amount of time and unavailable to approve requisitions. The approver can designate their status as "Unavailable" for approval requests. For additional information, refer to help article: Approvers - Unavailable & Assigning Proxy.

 

Approval Reminders

If a requisition has been awaiting approval for longer than the community configured time limit, an email confirmation will be sent to the approver(s). For additional information about approval settings, refer to help article: Setup & Manage Approvals.

 

Email Notifications Sent 

Below is a list of emails notification sent out during the approval process, including:

• The verbiage
• What triggers the notification and
• Who sends/receives them

 

Purpose - Trigger

Approver Not Required - A requisition which was assigned to a user for approval has been approved by another user Senders: Community - Email set up in community email settings: Approvals Recipients: Approver who doesn't need to approve the requisition anymore Subject: Unimarket Approval No Longer Required: Requisition 196 Approval No Longer Required Demo Community Requisition 196 (Demo Supplier) for Demo Administrator: No further action required. Your approval is no longer required because the requisition has already been Approved or Cancelled. The approval task has been removed from your approval queue. Description Supplier Account Code Qty Distribution Percentage Unit Price Subtotal Subtotal                                                                                       $0.00 Shipping                                                                                      $0.00 Tax.                                                                                             $0.00 TOTAL                                                                                         $0.00

Approval Reminder - A requisition that was sent to a user is still awaiting approval (the default reminder period can be set in the community approval settings) Senders: Community - Email set up in community email settings: Approvals Recipients: User who has an approval waiting Subject: Unimarket Approval Reminder: Requisition 197 Approval Required Demo Community Requisition 197 (Demo Supplier) for Demo Buyer Description     Supplier               Account Code   Qty Distribution Percentage  Unit Price Subtotal Product4 Demo Supplier 101001­-1­-753  1     $40.00  (100.00%) $40.00  $40.00  Subtotal                                                                                                     $40.00 Shipping                                                                                                      $0.00 Tax.                                                                                                             $6.00 TOTAL                                                                                                       $46.00 Please login to approve or decline this requisition.

Approval Required - A requisition has been sent to a user for approval Senders:  Community - Email set up in community email settings: Approvals Recipients: Approver(s) Subject: Unimarket Approval Required: Requisition 195 Approval Required Demo Community Requisition 195 (Demo Supplier) for Demo Administrator Description       Supplier            Account Code    Qty  Distribution Percentage  Unit Price  Subtotal Product3 Demo Supplier 101001-­1-­753 25  $750.00  (100.00%) $30.00  $750.00  Subtotal                                                                                                     $750.00 Shipping                                                                                                        $0.00 Tax.                                                                                                            $112.50 TOTAL                                                                                                       $862.50 Please login to approve or decline this requisition.

Approval Declined -  A requisition that was submitted has been declined Senders: Community - Email set up in community email settings: Approvals Recipients: Buyer who created requisition Subject: Requisition 193 has been DECLINED. Requisition Declined Requisition 193 for Demo Buyer has been declined Requisition Approval Summary Description  Unit Price  Subtotal    Approval Product4   $40.00   $40.00   Declined Reason: Reason will be displayed here. Shipping: $0.00 Total: $46.00 For full approval details please view the requisition in Unimarket.

Approval Mixed - A requisition that was submitted has some lines that were approved and some were declined (this applies to requisitions that have multiple suppliers also) Senders: Community - Email set up in community email settings: Approvals Recipients: Buyer who created requisition Subject: Requisition 191 has mixed approval. Demo Community Requisition 191 has been part Declined Some lines on this requisition were declined. Approved lines have been ordered. Requisition Approval Summary Description  Unit Price  Subtotal    Approval Product5   $40.00   $40.00  Approved Product9   $90.00   $90.00  Approved Product4   $40.00   $120.00 Declined Reason: Reason will be displayed here. Shipping: $0.00 Total: $299.00 For full approval details please view the requisition in Unimarket.

 

If a Pending requisition requires urgent approval, users with the Community Administration or Escalate Approval role can, escalate a requisition from currently assigned Approver to the next Delegated Approver in the chain.

Approvals are routed based on how the community has their approval settings configured. For additional information, refer to help article: Setup & Manage Approvals.

This feature must be enabled by a users with the Approval Administrator or Community Administrator role. 

 

Enable Manual Escalation Setting

Users with the Community Administration or Approval Administrator role can enable settings, by going to Administration module > select Approvals > click General tab > scroll down to header titled Escalation Settings > check Enable Manual Escalation box > select Save.

Enabling Manual Escalation allows users with the Escalate Approval role to manually escalate. This setting can be overridden for each supplier.

 

Escalate a Requisition

Once the feature is enabled, users with the Community Administration or Escalate Approval role can escalate a Pending requisition by going to the Marketplace module > select Transactions > enter the requisition number in the Requisition Number field or customize search by selecting Filters.

 

Once the requisition is located, select the requisition number > the desired requisition view screen will appear > select Approvals tab > click > a pop-up box will appear, to confirm escalation by selecting OK.

 

The approval will be routed to the next delegated Approver in the chain. The new Approver will be sent a notification email advising them the Requisition requires their approval.

To view who the requisition was routed to for approval, click Detailed View > select the icon, next to In Progress > a pop-up box will appear displaying additional details.

Note: If All Must Approve is enabled, all approvers should be visible regardless of whether Detailed View is enabled or not.

 

If the approval has be escalated to the end of the chain, a warning message will appear on the Approvals tab stating:

"Could not find an Approver for step "Name of approval step here" with sufficient authority - please contact your Administrator."

This means that the approval cannot be escalated any further and you need to contact your Unimarket Administrator at support@unimarket.com.

Approvers are sent requisitions for review and approval, before the order is submitted to the supplier for fulfillment.

In cases, where an approver will not be able to approve (e.g. on annual leave), the approver can change their availability and route any requisitions for their approval during set timeframe to the next delegated approver, automatically.

Alternatively, if the Proxy Approvers feature has been enabled, approvers who are unavailable can select another user to approve on their behalf, upon return.

Users with the Community Administrator role can enable Proxy Approval settings.

Note: Approvals will not auto-escalate over weekends or public holidays set in the Public Holiday Schedule of your community.

 

Enable Proxy Approval Setting

If the community desires to enable the Proxy Approval setting, user with the Community Administrator role can go to the Administration module > click Approvals > select General tab > under header titled Approval Settings, check the Proxy Approval Enabled box > scroll to bottom of screen > select Save. 

 

Out of Office

 To set designate Out Of Office timeframe, select person icon > click Out of Office. 

 

The My Account screen will populate > ensure the Out of Office tab is selected > check the I am unavailable box > insert the desired unavailable from date/time in the Unavailable From field > insert the desired unavailable to date/time in the Unavailable To field > click Save.

 

At the selected Unavailable date/time chosen, a clock icon will appear over the person icon and will disappear at the appointed return date/time.

 

When reassigning a requisition or order, the Out Of Office user will appeared greyed out with the return.

 

Additionally, the user will appear as Out of Office anywhere the user is selected. For example:

 

Change Availability

 To change availability, select Tasks menu > click Approvals tab > select View All. 

 

The Approvals screen will populate > select Change Availability > click the I am unavailable box > insert the desired unavailable from date/time in the Unavailable From field > insert the desired unavailable to date/time in the Unavailable To field > select OK.

 

Upon completion, a clock icon over the person icon and the below message will appear at the top of the screen.

 

Proxy Approver

If the Proxy Approval setting has been enabled and you desire to assign a Proxy user to oversee approval on your behalf, select person icon > click Out of Office. 

 

The My Account screen will populate > ensure the Out of Office tab is selected > check the I am unavailable box > insert the desired unavailable from date/time in the Unavailable From field > insert the desired unavailable to date/time in the Unavailable To field.

Select the dropdown arrow in the Proxy field > chose the desired user > click Save.

 

If no Proxy is selected the requisition will automatically escalate up the chain to the next delegated approver instead. 

Proxy approvals are noted by the Proxy icon , visible on the Approval tab of a requisition and within a user's Approval tasks.

View/Manage & Add Approvers Availability

Community Administrators has the ability to view and manage Approvers availability. This is extremely useful, if an Approver has forgotten to mark themselves as unavailable and assign a Proxy (if Proxy Approvals are enabled).

Community Administrators can view any Approvers currently marked as unavailable or designate an Approver as unavailable

 

View/Manage Approvers Available

To view and/or manage unavailable users, go to the Administration module > select Users > click Out Of Office tab > enter desired user in the User field and/or Has Proxy field.

 

Add Unavailable User(s)

To add unavailable user(s) by going to the Administration module > select Users > click Out Of Office tab > select +Add Unavailable User.

 

A pop-up box will appear, to select the dropdown arrow in the User box > select the desired user > check Unavailable box > enter unavailable from date/time in the Unavailable From field > enter the unavailable to date/time in the Unavailable To field.

If a Proxy user is desired, select the dropdown in the Proxy field > select the desired user name > click Add. If you desire to add more, select Add More.

 

Once the Unavailable To date has passed, the approvals will no longer automatically escalate or route to the proxy approver, if selected.

If a Proxy is set to start later in the day or on a future date, you can view this from the Administration module > click Users > select Out of Office tab > click Include Unavailable in Future box.

 

Limiting Proxy Approvers by Organization Unit

There is a configuration in the Approval Administration settings, that limits the choice of Proxy Approvers to one in the same Organization Unit. The Proxy Approval limited by Organization Unit is disabled by default, but can provide more control for organizations that need it.

Note: Invoice Acceptance will not be escalated via a Proxy. Since the Invoice Acceptance state occurs when invoices fall outside of the communities matching tolerances and this step is taken before the invoice approvals take place. This means, the buyer/requestor who created or initiated the order that is being invoiced, will receive a task to Accept or Decline. If accepted, it will be sent for delegated approval based upon the community's approval process.