Set Up an Approval Group
An approval group defines a set of one or more approvers. These approvers can be individual users, groups of users, or when you have implemented the HR Management extension, can be based on HR position or HR position class.
Approval groups can be used together with finance approval rules to create approval schemes. Approval routes within a rule are defined by the lines in the approval group. For more information, see Set Up Finance Approval Rules.
Code
The code that represents the approval group.
Description
A description of the approval group.
Type
To differentiate the use of an approval group in the Finance and Procurement extension or the HR Management extension, you can specify a type. If no type is specified, the approval group can be used in both finance and HR approval workflows.
Blocked
If an approval group is no longer required, it can be blocked.
Approval group lines
Before using an approval group, as required, specify values for the following fields on approval group lines.
Sequence
To control the order in which approvers see a document for approval, you can define an approval route. Approval routes are determined by the lines in the related approval group. The approval order is specified in the Sequence field. Multiple sequences can be specified so an approval route can consist of multiple users, user groups, positions, or position classes.
After one or more approvers from the first sequence approve the document, the approval moves to the one or more approvers in the next sequence, and so on. The setup of the All Must Approve checkbox on the approval group line, determines whether one or all approvers from a sequence must provide their approval before the approval moves to the next sequence.
Sequence and finance approval rules
If your setup involves approvers who are associated with multiple finance approval rules and approval groups, you must ensure that sequences are set up as described in the following list:
The lowest number corresponds to the lowest approval level.
No sequence numbers overlap between approval groups.
This setup ensures that approvers who are responsible for approving documents for amounts that meet the lowest thresholds approve first and that approvers who are responsible for approving documents for amounts that meet the highest thresholds approve last. Also, this setup ensures that an approver who is assigned to multiple sequences or different rules, only receives one email and that the approver only has to approve a document once.
Warning
Warning:
If you don't perform this set up, Sparkrock 365 may send emails to all approvers at the same time irrespective of their threshold level. Also, if an approver is assigned to multiple sequences or different rules, the approver may receive multiple emails.
Example
The following table describes a sample setup on the Finance Approval Rules page.
| Code | Approval Type | Approver No. | Approval Amount Threshold |
|---|---|---|---|
| L1 | Approval Group | GROUP1 | 0.01 |
| L2 | Approval Group | GROUP2 | 1,000.00 |
| L3 | Approval Group | GROUP3 | 10,000.00 |
The following table describes a sample setup for GROUP1 on the Approval Group page.
| Sequence | Type | No. |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | mySparkrock User | User A |
| 2 | mySparkrock User | User B |
The following table describes a sample setup for GROUP2 on the Approval Group page.
| Sequence | Type | No. |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | mySparkrock User | User A |
| 6 | mySparkrock User | User C |
The following table describes a sample setup for GROUP3 on the Approval Group page.
| Sequence | Type | No. |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | mySparkrock User | User A |
| 11 | mySparkrock User | User D |
In this example, there are 3 finance approval rules set up for GROUP1, GROUP2, and GROUP3. If the amount of a finance request or purchase document is greater than or equal to $0.01, the members of GROUP1, which are User A and User B, must approve the document. If the amount of a finance request or purchase document is greater than or equal to $1,000.00, the members of GROUP2, which are User A and User C, must approve the document. If the amount of a finance request or purchase document is greater than or equal to $10,000.00, the members of GROUP3, which are User A and User D, must approve the document. In the case of User A, who is associated with multiple sequences and different rules, for a document with an amount of $10,000 or more, Sparkrock 365 only sends one email to User A and User A only has to approve once.
Type
Approvals users can be an individual user, user group, position, position class, or a combination of those approval types.
The following list includes more information about the different approver types:
mySparkrock User: An individual mySparkrock user.
mySparkrock Group: Can be used to group individual users. A user can only belong to one group. For more information, see Set Up mySparkrock User Groups.
Position: Can be used when you have implemented the HR Management extension together with the Finance and Procurement extension. If the Type is Position, the one or more approvers include any approver that has an active assignment with the HR position code.
Position Class: Can be used when you have implemented the HR Management extension together with the Finance and Procurement extension. If the Type is Position Class, the one or more approvers include any approver that has an active assignment with the HR position class code.
Number
The No. field identifies the approver. The No. field value changes based on the value in the Type field. Depending on the Type value, the No. field may be determined based on the mySparkrock User Setup Card, mySparkrock User Group, HR Positions, or HR Position Classes pages.
Default Approver
The Default Approver field specifies the default approver for the sequence. Only one approver can have the Default Approver checkbox selected per sequence. When there are multiple approvers with the same value for Sequence and no approvers have Default Approver selected, Sparkrock 365 treats all approvers as default approvers.
All Must Approve
If all users within the same sequence are required to approve the transaction, select the All Must Approve checkbox.
The All Must Approve field takes precedence over the Default Approver field. When All Must Approve is clear, there can only be 1 default approver.
Notification Only
If a user is to receive a notification that an approval action has been submitted, but the user is not an approver, in the approval group, select the Notification Only checkbox for the user. A user that has the Notification Only checkbox selected receives an email. The email has a different subject line and the user is not able to approve or reject the one or more entries.
An approval group line that has the Notification Only checkbox selected must be in a sequence with other entries. You cannot have a line that has Notification Only selected in a sequence by itself.
When an approver has Default Approver selected, Sparkrock 365 prevents Notification Only from being selected on the same approval line.
Cause of Absence Filter
If you are using the HR Management extension, you can define an approval group for users who are responsible for approving a specific cause of absence. To filter approval on a specific cause of absence, on the Approval Group page, on the Approval Group Lines FastTab, in Cause of Absence Filter, specify a value.
Note
Note:
A Cause of Absence Filter can only be specified for approval groups that have the Type of HR. If the Type is changed from HR to Finance, the value of Cause of Absence Filter is set to blank.
Sparkrock 365 uses the logic that is described in the following table to determine whether to create an approval entry based on the setup of the Cause of Absence Filter on the Approval Group page and the Cause of Absence Code on the respective Absence Requests page.
| Cause of Absence Filter Contains a Value | Cause of Absence Code Contains a Value | Cause of Absence Filter and Cause of Absence Code Match | Approval Entry Created |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Yes | Yes | No | No |
| No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Yes | No | No | Yes |
Match on Location
If you are using the HR Management extension, you can limit potential approvers based on the location code for lines with the Type of Position or Position Class where the location code on the employee's primary assignment matches the location code on the primary assignments of employees holding that position or position class.
The Match on Location option is not supported for finance approval workflows.
Match on HR Category
If you are using the HR Management extension, you can limit potential approvers based on the HR category for lines with the Type of Position or Position Class where the location code on the employee's primary assignment matches the location code on the primary assignments of employees holding that position or position class.
The Match on HR Category option is not supported for finance approval workflows.
Match on HR Department
If you are using the HR Management extension, you can limit potential approvers based on the HR department for lines with the Type of Position or Position Class where the location code on the employee's primary assignment matches the location code on the primary assignments of employees holding that position or position class.
The Match on HR Department option is not supported for finance approval workflows.
Block an approval group line
If an approval group line is no longer required, it can be blocked.
To set up an approval group
Choose
, enter approval groups, and then choose the related link.The Approval Groups page opens.
On the action bar, choose New.
The Approval Group page opens.
Specify values as required.
Preview approvers
If your approval group has a Type of mySparkrock Group, Position or Position Class, you can use the Preview Approver action to preview who the approvers are for the approval group line.
To preview approvers
Choose
, enter approval groups, and then choose the related link.The Approval Groups page opens.
Select the approval group for which you want to preview approvers, and then on the action bar, choose Manage > Edit.
The Approval Group page opens.
Choose Preview Approvers.
Approval group priority
If you are using the HR Management extension, the Default Approval Group Code field that is specified on the HR Position Card page takes precedence over an Approval Group Code that is specified on attendance plans.
See also
Set Up Budgeting and Planning Approvals
Set Up Finance Approvals
Set Up HR Management Approvals
Set Up Absence Payout Request Approvals
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