Approvers Sub-Tab

This section includes the fields and descriptions for the Approval Hierarchy Lines sub-tab.

Field Description
Level In this field, you can specify the level on which approval lines created on the basis of the current hierarchy line are to be approved.

The field only applies, if the field “Level Prioritized” has been marked in the tab of the current hierarchy, as approval lines created on the basis of the current hierarchy are then to be approved in a certain order.

As mentioned in the section “Introduction to Approval Hierarchies,” Maconomy creates an approval line for each line in the approval hierarchy whose selection criterion specification is met by the current purchase order, expense sheet, or vendor invoice. This is done at the submission of an expense sheet, purchase order, or vendor invoice. For each approval line created, Maconomy transfers the number of the holder of approval and the level number from the hierarchy line that gave rise to the approval line in question.

In this way, the level number is the deciding factor for the order in which the approval is to be carried out.

When a hierarchy is level prioritized, the approval lines with the lowest level must be approved before you can approve lines on the next level and so on. An example of the use of this functionality is that the supervisor of the person submitting an expense sheet must approve the expense sheet before it can be approved by the department manager.

Level zero is the lowest possible level, and must therefore be approved first followed by level 1, 2, and so on. It is possible to have several lines carrying the same level number, and when several approval lines are created with identical level numbers for the same purchase order, expense sheet, or vendor invoice, the lines in question can be approved in any order when all other approval lines with a lower level number, have been approved.

When a purchase order, an expense sheet, or a vendor invoice is approved in one of the workspaces Purchase Orders, Expense Sheets, Vendor Invoices, Invoice Allocation, or Reallocate Invoices, it corresponds to that the employee who makes the approval, approves an approval line concerning the purchase order, expense sheet, or vendor invoice in question and on which the employee himself is specified as holder of approval or substitute. Therefore approval in these workspaces is only allowed in the order dictated by the level order of priority.

Submitter Can Approve Select this check box to allow self-approval on the approval lines created from this approval hierarchy line. If the check box is selected, a submitter can approve their own approval lines if they are set as approver by the approval hierarchy line. Deselect this check box to not allow a submitter to approve approval lines created from the approval hierarchy, even if they are set as the approver.
Selection Criterion Specification In this field, you can enter a selection criterion specification of the same type as selected in the field “Type” in the tab, for example, either a selection criterion specification of the type “Expense sheet,” if the approval hierarchy concerns expense sheets, a selection criterion specification of the type “Requisition,” if the approval hierarchy concerns purchase orders or a selection criterion specification of the type “Vendor Invoice,” if the approval hierarchy concerns vendor invoice allocation lines.

The selection criterion specification determines when an approver specified on the current line is to approve expense sheets, purchase orders, or vendor invoices. When the current hierarchy is used (that is when it is selected by a line in the workspace Approval Hierarchy Selection), Maconomy creates an approval line for each line in the hierarchy whose selection criterion specification contains the expense sheet, purchase order, or vendor invoice in question. In this way, the approver on the current line (or a substitute, if any) is to approve purchase orders/expense sheets/invoices falling within the specified selection criterion specification. Selection criterion specifications are created in the workspace Selection Criterion Specifications.

Approver If you want the holder of approval to be a specific employee, you can enter in this field the number of the employee who should approve purchase orders, expense sheets, or vendor invoices falling within the selection criterion specification on the current line.
Approver Name If an employee number has been specified in the field “Approver” above, this field displays the name of the employee in question.
Approver Reference If you want the holder of approval to depend on the information on the current purchase order/expense sheet/vendor invoice, you can enter a reference in this field to the place from which the employee number should be transferred. Maconomy will then transfer the referenced employee number when a purchase order/expense sheet/vendor invoice falls within the selection criterion specification on the current line, and apply the employee as holder of approval on the created approval line.

If no employee number is found by means of the reference at the submission of a purchase order/an expense sheet/a vendor invoice - for example, if the reference concerns the project manager of a job, and the purchase order submitted is not assigned to a job - Maconomy shows an error message, and the approval cannot be carried out.

The following options can be selected:

  • All — Approval lines created on the basis of the current hierarchy line can be approved by anybody with access to the current purchase order/expense sheet/vendor invoice.
  • Submitter — Approval lines created on the basis of the current hierarchy line must be approved by the person submitting the current purchase order/expense sheet/vendor invoice.
  • Employee — Select a named employee. If this is entered you must also select ‘Employee’ as the approval reference type. Approval lines created on the basis of the current hierarchy line must be approved by the employee specified in the field ‘Approver’.
  • Employee type — Select an employee type. If this is entered you must also select ‘Employee Type’ as the approval reference type. Approval lines created on the basis of the current hierarchy line can be approved by anybody with the employee type specified in this field and with access to the current purchase order/expense sheet/vendor invoice.
  • Reference — Select a reference to an employee associated with the approval object. If this is entered you must also select a reference and a field in the fields ‘Approver Reference, Relation’ and ‘Approver Reference, Field’ . This, for example, could be the project manager from the job or Employee 1 from the company. There are a number of default references and fields that are available depending upon the approval type chosen.
  • Previous level — The previous level is an approval hierarchy line on a previous level with a lower line number.
  • Approver — This is for use in conjunction with substitutes only. For further information, please see the description of the field ‘Substitute.’
Approver Employee Type Specify an employee type to assign any users of this type to view and approve the record. Any approval record falling within the selection criterion specification on the current line must be approved by an employee of this type.
Note: Specify an employee type to assign any users of this type to view and approve the record. Any approval record falling within the selection criterion specification on the current line must be approved by an employee of this type.

If you do not want to give approvers the right to view all of the specified record types, you must directly specify the approver in the Approver field, or grant indirect access using the Approver, Reference field.

Approver Reference, Relation This field shows the relation of the Approver Reference for the current approval task.
Approver Reference, Field This field shows the internal field name that the Approver Reference relates to.
Approver Reference, Employee This field shows the employee reference of the Approver.
Substitute If you want a specific employee – in addition to the holder of approval – to be able to approve approval lines created on the basis of the current hierarchy line, you can enter the number of the employee in this field. This employee is then granted the possibility of approving purchase orders/expense sheets/vendor invoices falling within the selection criterion specification on the current line. The substitute can also be derived from the approver. The approver can, for example, be specified as the supervisor for the submitter, and the substitute can then be the substitute for that approver (the substitute for the supervisor for the submitter).
Substitute Name If an employee number has been specified in the field “Substitute” above, this field will display the name of the current employee.
Substitute Reference If you want a specific employee - in addition to the holder of approval - to be able to approve approval lines created on the basis of the current hierarchy line, and that this person is to depend on the information on the current purchase order/expense sheet/vendor invoice, you can enter a reference in this field referring to the place from which the substitute should be transferred. Maconomy will then transfer the referenced employee number when a purchase order/expense sheet/vendor invoice falls within the selection criterion specification on the current line, and apply the substitute as holder of approval on the created approval line.

You can choose between the options described under the field 'Approver Reference'. The functionality of these options are identical to those described under the field 'Approver Reference', with the addition of 'Approver' as a substitute-only reference.

Substitute Employee Type Specify an employee type to assign any users of this type as substitute approvers who can view and approve the record. Any approval record falling within the selection criterion specification on the current line must be approved by an employee of this type.
Note: If you have set up approval hierarchies or time, expense, or mileage sheets, then specify a substitute approver by employee type, these employees only have access to the records for approval if they are granted access to see all of the specified records. This is done in the Actions sub-tab under the User Roles single dialog workspace.

If you do not want to give approvers the right to view all of the specified record types, you must directly specify the approver in the Approver field, or grant indirect access using the Approver, Reference field.

Substitute Reference, Relation This field will show the relation of a substitute approver reference if one has been specified on the approval task.
Substitute Reference, Field This field will show the field reference of a substitute approver if one has been specified on the approval task.
Substitute Reference, Employee This field will show the employee reference of the substitute approver if one has been specified on the approval task.
Field Description
Super Approver Employee Type Specify an employee type to assign any users of this type as super approvers who can view and approve the record. Any approval record falling within the selection criterion specification on the current line must be approved by an employee of this type.
Note: If you have set up approval hierarchies or time, expense, or mileage sheets, then specify a super approver by employee type, these employees only have access to the records for approval if they are granted access to see all of the specified records. This is done in the Actions sub-tab under the User Roles single dialog workspace.

If you do not want to give approvers the right to view all of the specified record types, you must directly specify the approver in the Approver field, or grant indirect access using the Approver, Reference field.