Group Routing Rules

WorkPlace also allows you to create Routing Rules for Groups; such as a group of employees in the same department, or a group of individuals working on a specific project.  Routing Rules are used to define the hierarchy of tolerance rules, and the impact they have on the approval process. Group routing rules are used to determine tolerance rules for a Group of users, and you may define filters to determine where each Requisition/Check Request line item, based on the returned criteria, will be routed.

 

For example: Assume that for the QA department you want all Requisition/Check Requests where the Vendor is 'ADVANCED OFFICE SYSTEMS' to be approved by the SMITH list, having only the manager of QA as the approver. Next, you want all Requisition/Check Requests where the Vendor is 'ADVANCED OFFICE SYSTEMS'  and the Vendor Item is a ' PENTIUM 486' to be routed to the 'IS DEPT' list, where there are two approvers the Requisition/Check Request must be approved by. To establish this hierarchy, edit the SMITH list so that you enter QA in the Department field, and ADVANCED OFFICE SYSTEMS in the Vendor  field on the Define Filters page. Navigate to the IS DEPT  list, and enter QA in the Department field, ADVANCED OFFICE SYSTEMS in the Vendor  field, and PENTIUM 486 in the Vendor Item  field, also on the Define Filters page.

 

Informational Fields

Description

The name of existing group routing rule(s), if any are present, will be displayed in this field on the main Routing Rules page. Changes can be made to an existing routing rule by selecting the a Group Routing rule name.

Any number of routing rules can be established for a Group; however, each routing must be unique.

Entry Toolbar

New Group Routing Rule

Launches the Routing Rules Wizard, which guides you through the steps of creating a new Group Routing Rule.  The Routing Rule Wizard consists of Four steps:

  1. Definition

  2. Add Users

  3. Setup Rules

  4. Finished

Step 1: Definition

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Routing Rules

Select this button to return to the list of Routing Rules.

 

Entry Fields

Group Name

Type in a name to identify the that the routing rules in being established for

 

Step 2: Add Users

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Routing Rules

Select this button to return to the list of Routing Rules.

 

Entry Fields

Security Type Drop Down

Select the desired view of available users.  Based on System Configuration, available choices are Both, User and Role

Available Users

List of available user names which can be selected and defined as members of the Group that this Routing Rule will apply to

Selected Users

List of user names which have been selected and defined as members of the Group that this Routing Rule will apply to

 

Command Buttons

 

Step 3: Setup Rules

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Delete filter

New filter

Routing Rules

Select this button to return to the list of Routing Rules.

 

Entry Fields

Precedence

Displays the Assigned Precedence Order for the associated List ID and Filter.  Precedence controls the order in which filters are examined, always the lowest precedence is scrutinized first.  Every additional new filter will add 100 to the highest precedence in the system.  It is important to note that precedence can span multiple Routing Rules, due to the fact that a user can belong to multiple rules.  In this case the auto-incrementing of precedence will look globally and add a 100 to the highest global value.  So note that the new "auto" value may not necessarily be an additional 100 from the one you see on the screen.

List ID

The ID number of the Approval List assigned to the filter.  To Edit the assigned Approval List, click the value displayed.

Filter

The name and criteria of the Filter assigned to this Routing Rule.  To Edit the assigned Filter, select the value displayed.

 

Step a: Select Approval List

Entry Fields

Approval List

Select the appropriate Approval List from the Zoom window that this user's line items should be routed to for the routing rules being established.

Allow Approver to View all Lines of the Transaction in Approval for this Filter - Lines that are not a part of the Filter will be displayed as Read Only in the Approval Session

Check this option to allow the Approvers for this filter to view all transaction lines while they are approving based on line level rules that apply to some, but not all, lines for the transaction.

Apply To

Select the checkbox(s) for the type of transactions the Routing Rule filter will apply to.  The options available here depend upon which WorkPlace Solutions and Modules are licensed and configured.

Requisition / Check Request

When enabled, the filter will apply for Requisitions and Check Requests submitted for approval.

Time

When enabled, the filter will apply for Timesheets submitted for approval.

Expense

When enabled, the filter will apply for Travel and Expense transactions submitted for approval.

Purchase Order

When enabled, the filter will apply for Purchase Orders submitted for approval.

Receive / Match Invoice

When enabled, the filter will apply for Receive / Match Invoice transactions submitted for approval.

Accounts Payable - Vendor

When enabled, the filter will apply for Vendor Approvals submitted for approval.

Project

When enabled, the filter will apply for WorkPlace Project Approvals submitted for approval.  This option will only appear when the 'Enable Approval' Project System Setting has been enabled.

 

Step B: Define Filters

If no filters are applied, all transactions for the selected solutions under the 'Apply To' section will be considered part of the filter for the associated Approval List regardless of the transaction details.  When filters are defined, the values will be compared to the transactions submitted by the assigned Users to determine if the condition has been met.  Each filter option selected for a transaction tab represents an AND Condition when transactions are submitted for approval.  When the filter conditions are not met then the approval step will not be required.  When the filter conditions are met, the approval step is required and will be sent to the assigned Approval List.

Header and Detail Filter(s)

The filter options available will depend on the WorkPlace Solutions and Modules that have been licensed and configured.  Each Solution or functional area will be displayed on a separate tab to allow conditions to be defined for multiple transaction types within a single filter.

When a value is entered in the Header section, all transaction lines move as a block through the approval process. This functionality can be used when the goal is to mimic a paper based system and keep all items on the same transaction locked together in a single group all the way through the approval process.  Header functionality is activated if you have anything entered in the Header Filter(s) section on a routing rule filter, Approvers will only be able to approve the entire transaction as a group (meaning the approve/disapprove is not available at the line level)  therefore if one line is disapproved all lines are disapproved.  In the case of Requisition/Check Requests, when fully approved, all line items on a single Requisition/Check Request are released to the Reviewers/Buyers at the same time.  Also note that in some cases certain header routing is available in the Detail Filter(s) section as well.  This simply allows the system to route lines at a detail level using header criteria.

Filter Type Drop Down

Select the appropriate Filter Type from the drop down next to the appropriate name of the available Non-Financial filter types available, filters may be based on an individual or list of Non-Financial filter types.

Filter Criteria Zoom Field

Select the appropriate Filter criteria from the Zoom Field next to the appropriate name of the available Non-Financial filter types available.  If Individual was chosen as the filter type only one item from the zoom can be selected.  If List was chosen, choose the appropriate Non-Financial List representing the filter appropriate for this policy.

 

Step 4: Finished

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New Routing Rule

Select this button to return to the Group Routing Rule Setup Step 1.

New filter

Routing Rules

Select this button to return to the list of Routing Rules.

Informational Fields

Description

Displays the name of the Group the routing rule has been established for.

User(s)

Displays the User names or Roles of the selected Group members the routing rule has been established for

Precedence

Displays the Assigned Precedence Order for the Routing Rules established for this Group.  When only one approval routing has been established the default precedence will be displayed as 0.

Approval List(s) Assigned to this Rule

Displays the name of the Approval List assigned to each rule within the routing list(s) for this Group.

Filter(s) Assigned to Approval List

Displays any Filters assigned for routing to the Approval List.

 

To continue defining filters for this group, Select New Filter or Step 3: Setup Rules can be clicked directly from the Rules Wizard.  When finished defining filters and/or routing rules for this Group, but want to establish routing rules for another Group navigate back to the main Routing Rules Page by selecting Routing Rules button.  If complete with establishing routing rules, exit setup by clicking WorkPlace on the System Toolbar or selecting it from the Document Navigation drop-down menu or Logout of WorkPlace.