Managing Approval Requests

Owned by Persia Xenopoulou (Deactivated)
Last updated: Nov 16, 2016
4 min read

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Navigating to Approval Requests

FOUNDATION > WORKFLOWS > SET UP AND MANAGE APPROVALS > MANAGE APPROVAL REQUESTS

Using Approval Requests

Approval Requests are a mechanism used to control the creation and update of entries in the System by requesting approval from specific Users before granting access for further editing. One or multiple Approval Requests can be created per entry, depending on the configuration of the Approval Definitions. 
Approval Requests can be created for Activities, Jobs, Service Requests Subscriptions and (as from CRM.COM R11.0.0) Reward Offers.

The Approval Request logs the information that needs to be approved or that has already been approved.  Approval Requests are created in a 'Pending' Life Cycle State and can then be:

  • 'Approved'
  • 'Rejected'
  • 'Cancelled'

In order to use the Approval Request functionality, Approval Definitions must be set up specifying the number of Approvals required per entry and the Users authorised to approve the Request. The Approval Definitions are then assigned to Workflow Rules. When the Workflow rule is triggered, the Approval Requests are created.

  • Navigate to Approval Requests and explore existing entries via the Summary page. 
  • Click on the link (Name or Number) of the entry of your interest to enter the Data Entry page and see more detail. 
  • Use the Actions Menu to DELETE an existing Request. 
  • Use BACK to return to the Summary page.
  • Click on ACTIONS to discover other possibilities available for Approval Requests.

Check the Validations & Restrictions Table for a list of available Actions when working with Approval Requests including each Action's related restrictions, validations, additional information and a description of its system process.  View the Attributes Table below for a comprehensive description of the Approval Requests fields.  

Approval Requests

 

Validations & Restrictions

ActionValidationsRestrictionsAdditional InformationSystem Processing
Create
  • Not Applicable
  • Not Applicable
  • Not Applicable
Edit
  • Not Applicable
  • Cannot be modified.
  • Not Applicable
  • Not Applicable
Delete
  • Not Applicable
  • Cannot be deleted if the Life Cycle State is 'Pending'.
  • Multiple Approval Requests can be deleted simultaneously by the respective Action available in the Summary Page.
  • Not Applicable
Approve
  • The logged in User is in the Authorised Users list.
  • The User has not processed another Approval Request triggered from the same process. i.e. If two Approval Requests have been created for Creating a new Activity, then two different Users will be required for processing each Request.
  • Life Cycle State is 'Pending'.
  • Not Applicable

Once an Approval Request is granted, the entry is allowed to be edited, provided that no other 'Pending' approvals exist for the same entry.

Cancel
  • The logged in User is in the Authorised Users list.
  • The User has not processed another Approval Request triggered from the same process. i.e. If two Approval Requests have been created for Creating a new Activity, then two different Users will be required for processing each Request.
  • Life Cycle State is 'Pending'.
  • Not Applicable
Once an Approval Request is cancelled, the entry is allowed to be edited, provided that no other 'Pending' approvals exist for the same entry.
Reject
  • Not Applicable
  • Life Cycle State is 'Pending'.
  • Not Applicable
Once an Approval Request is Rejected, the entry is allowed to be edited, provided that no other 'Pending' approvals exist for the same entry.

 

Attributes

An * indicates a field is mandatory.

NAMEDESCRIPTION

Number

 The number of the Approval Request.

Main Information

Unified Code

A unique code which is used to group Approval Requests created for the same entry, by the same Workflow Rule and Approval Definition, when more than one Approval Requests are requested for a specific entity.

Life Cycle State

The Life Cycle State of the Approval Request, which can be:

  • Pending
  • Approved
  • Rejected
  • Cancelled

Entity

The entity number of the actual entry and the name of the entity that was communicated through the Alert, which can be:

  • Service Request
  • Activity
  • Subscription
  • Job
  • Reward Offers AVAILABLE FROM CRM.COM R11.0.0

Subject

The subject of the Approval Request which is copied from the Approval Definition.

Approval Definition

The Approval Definition that was used to create the Approval Request.

Workflow Rule

The Workflow Rule that triggered the Approval Request.

Authorised Users 

Authorised Users

The list of Users that are authorised to approve, reject or cancel the record.

Response Information

Response

The response to the Approval Request as provided by the User that approved, rejected or cancelled the Approval Request.

This information is available only for 'Approved', 'Rejected' or 'Cancelled' Approval Requests.

Responded by

The User that approved, rejected or cancelled the Approval Request.

Responded on

The date that the Approval Request was approved, rejected or cancelled.

Log Information

Log Details

The standard set of Log Details information available in all entities.

Additional Actions for Approval Requests

Approval Requests are automatically triggered via effective Approval Definitions which are then assigned to Workflow Rules. Once the Workflow Rule is triggered, Approval Requests are created in a 'Pending' Life Cycle State and a set of Authorised Users are defined in the Approval Definitions which are responsible for:

  • Rejecting the Request
  • Cancelling the Request
  • Approving the Request

Approving Approval Requests

Approved Requests enable the editing of the related entry, as long as the entry does not have another 'Pending' Approval Requests.

  1. Navigate to MANAGE APPROVAL REQUESTS.
  2. Search for the Request to approve and click its Number to go to the Data Entry page.
  3. From the Actions Menu click on ACTIONS > APPROVE.
  4. The 'APPROVE APPROVAL REQUESTS' modal window will open.
    1. Response: Type the reason for the approval.
    2. Click on SAVE.
      If there are no other pending Approval Requests then,
    3. A warning message specifying that the entity will become editable is displayed 
    4. Click on YES.

Cancelling Approval Requests

Cancelled Requests enable the editing of the related entry, as long as the entry does not have another 'Pending' Approval Requests. 

  1. Navigate to MANAGE APPROVAL REQUESTS
  2. Search for the Request to cancel and click on the Number to go its Data Entry page.
  3. From the Actions Menu click on ACTIONS > CANCEL.
  4. The 'CANCEL APPROVAL REQUESTS' modal window will open.
    1. Response: Type the reason that the approval is cancelled.
    2. Click on SAVE.
      If there are no other pending Approval Requests then,
    3. A warning message specifying that the entity will become editable is displayed 
    4. Click on YES.

Rejecting Approval Requests

Rejected Requests enable the editing of the related entry, as long as the entry does not have another 'Pending' Approval Requests. 

  1. Navigate to MANAGE APPROVAL REQUESTS
  2. Search for the Request to reject and click on its Number to go to the Data Entry page
  3. From the Actions Menu click on ACTIONS > REJECT.
  4. The 'REJECT APPROVAL REQUESTS' modal window will open.
    1. Response: Type the reason that the approval is rejected.
    2. Click on SAVE.
      If there are no other pending Approval Requests then the Entity 
    3. A warning message specifying that the entity will become editable is displayed
    4. Click on YES.


View Understanding Workflows for business examples related to Using Approval Requests.

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