Approval Process for Purchasing Applications
You can choose whether or not purchase requisitions, requests for price quotes, and purchase orders (including change orders and release orders) must go through an approval process.
Workflow Settings
The approval process is based on an approval workflow that you set up and configure specifically for each of the following: Purchase Requisitions, Request for Price Quote, and Purchase Orders.
- Steps in the approval process.
- Approvers assigned to each step.
- Notification alerts to send and actions to process for each step to keep the approval process on schedule.
You set up approval workflows in
. You can create simple or complex, multi-tiered, conditional steps for approval workflows.If you have organizations, you can specify approver roles at the organization level in
.Turn on approvals, and specify the approval workflow that it will use, in
.Approval Process
In the Purchase Requisitions, Request for Price Quote, and Purchase Orders process, the approval process starts when you click the Submit option on the toolbar of a Purchasing form. If you are a designated approver for the current approval step, the toolbar on the Purchasing entry form displays an Approvals option. Use the options in the Approvers drop-down menu to take action for an approval step, such as approving, rejecting, reassigning, and so on.
Alerts
If you set up alerts for an approval workflow (in
) Vantagepoint sends alerts to notify approvers and others that Purchasing records are ready for their review, the due date for an approval step is near, a record has been rejected or approved, and so on.Viewing the Progress of Purchasing Records Being Approved
To see the progress of a purchasing record in the approval process, you can look in several places on the Purchasing entry form: in the Purchasing record lookup (in the Search field), in the State and Step fields on the General tab, and on the Progress tab.
You can see whether or not the approval process has started and if the record is in approval, in review, or completed. You can see the most detail on the Progress tab.
Assigning a Delegate to Perform Approvals in Your Absence
If you normally approve purchase requisitions, requests for price quotes, purchase orders, change orders, or request orders, you can temporarily assign another person to perform these duties in your absence. Assign delegates on the General tab of My Preferences, which you access from the main toolbar.
If You Do Not Use an Approval Workflow for a Purchasing Process
If you do not use an approval workflow for Purchase Requisitions, Request for Price Quote, or Purchase Orders, after you create and save a record, you must click the Submit button on the toolbar of a Purchasing form to change the status of the Purchasing record from In Progress to Approved. The record does not go through an actual approval process as it would with an approval workflow, but it must have an Approved status before you can final print it.
- Related Topics:
- Approving a Purchasing Record
Designated approvers must approve a Purchasing record if you use an approval workflow for approving Purchasing records. - Viewing the Progress of Purchasing Records Being Approved
You can see the progress of a record going through the approval process in several places. - When You Do Not Use an Approval Workflow for a Purchasing Application
When you do not use an approval workflow for a Purchasing application, the Purchasing records (purchase requisitions, request for price quotes, and purchase orders) do not go through an approval process. - Procedures
You can reassign an approval step or assign someone to complete a step in your absence.