What does the approval workflow involve?
The approval workflow means that every order must first be approved by a manager before it becomes final. This way, you stay in control of what is ordered within the environment.
How does the approval workflow work?
As soon as the approval workflow is set up, every order an orderer places must first be approved by a manager. Who this approval task is assigned to depends on how the environment is set up.
There are users with the role "Manager" in the environment
If users with the role "Manager" have been added in the environment and this manager is linked to the same branch as the orderer placing the order, the approval request automatically goes to this manager.
If there are multiple managers in the environment who are also linked to the same branch(es) as the orderer placing the order, the orderer always sees a dropdown menu in the checkout, where they can indicate which manager the approval request should go to.
The orderer is then returned to the environment, where a message states that the order has been forwarded to the relevant manager for approval. The orderer also receives an email with a pro forma order confirmation.
The manager who has to approve the order then receives an email saying that an order needs to be approved. This email also contains a button that, after logging in, takes the manager straight to the relevant task, where they can approve or reject it.
If the manager has approved the order, the orderer is notified that the order has been approved and an order confirmation is sent to the orderer. The status of this order in the order overview then changes from yellow to green.
If the manager has rejected the order, the orderer is notified that the order has been rejected and the status of this order in the order overview turns red.
For an approved order, the supplier also immediately receives the order confirmation so that the order can be processed. The order then also appears in the admin environment with all the order details.
There are no users with the role "Manager" in the environment
If no users with the role "Manager" have been added in the environment, the approval request automatically goes to the functional administrator.
If there is also no functional administrator in the environment, the request goes to the administrator.
Good to know
There are a few things that are good to know about the approval workflow.
Managers don't need approval for their own orders. If a manager places an order, it is approved immediately.
An order awaiting approval from a manager cannot be transferred to another manager or to the (functional) administrator.
If necessary, the (functional) administrator could log in as the manager who has to give approval and then approve or reject the order. Bear in mind that the approval or rejection will always be in the name of this manager, even though you're logged in via the manager as the (functional) administrator.
A (pro forma) order cannot be changed after it has been placed.
An order is always approved or rejected in full. It isn't possible to approve or reject part of an order.
If the order is rejected, the entire order is rejected and the orderer has to place a new order.
Suppose the orderer has ordered 4 items, 1 of which shouldn't have been ordered. The manager must then reject the order so that the orderer can place the order again. The manager should contact the orderer about any incorrect order, because no comment can be added when rejecting an order to explain why it was rejected.