End-User Guide

Organization Structure
2022 R2
 Contents | 2

Contents
Copyright...............................................................................................................................................3
Overview of Organization Structure Processes......................................................................................... 4
Managing Companies and Branches......................................................................................................... 5
Companies and Branches..................................................................................................................................5
Multiple Branch Support................................................................................................................................... 7
Basic Models for Multibranch Organization................................................................................................... 10
Security of Organization Branches................................................................................................................. 13
Managing Employees............................................................................................................................ 16
Employee Settings........................................................................................................................................... 16
Company Tree and Workgroups..................................................................................................................... 17
Support of Multiple Work Calendars.............................................................................................................. 19
Managing Assignment and Approval Maps.............................................................................................. 20
Configuring an Approval Map for Multistage Approvals................................................................................ 22
To Create an Approval Map for Multistage Approvals...........................................................................23
Configuring Approval Maps for Parallel Approvals........................................................................................ 25
To Create Approval Maps for Parallel Approvals...................................................................................26
Appendix..............................................................................................................................................28
Reports............................................................................................................................................................. 28
Report Form............................................................................................................................................ 28
Report......................................................................................................................................................33
Form Toolbar....................................................................................................................................................34
Table Toolbar................................................................................................................................................... 41
 Copyright | 3

Copyright

© 2022 Acumatica, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

No part of this document may be reproduced, copied, or transmitted without the express prior consent of
Acumatica, Inc.
3933 Lake Washington Blvd NE, # 350, Kirkland, WA 98033

Restricted Rights
The product is provided with restricted rights. Use, duplication, or disclosure by the United States Government is
subject to restrictions as set forth in the applicable License and Services Agreement and in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii)
of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Soware clause at DFARS 252.227-7013 or subparagraphs (c)(1) and
(c)(2) of the Commercial Computer Soware-Restricted Rights at 48 CFR 52.227-19, as applicable.

Disclaimer
Acumatica, Inc. makes no representations or warranties with respect to the contents or use of this document, and
specifically disclaims any express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose.
Further, Acumatica, Inc. reserves the right to revise this document and make changes in its content at any time,
without obligation to notify any person or entity of such revisions or changes.

Trademarks
Acumatica is a registered trademark of Acumatica, Inc. HubSpot is a registered trademark of HubSpot, Inc.
Microso Exchange and Microso Exchange Server are registered trademarks of Microso Corporation. All other
product names and services herein are trademarks or service marks of their respective companies.

Soware Version: 2022 R2

Last Updated: 01/30/2023
 Overview of Organization Structure Processes | 4

Overview of Organization Structure Processes

In Acumatica ERP, you can configure the structure of your organization as consisting of a single branch or multiple
branches with different reporting settings to suit complex reporting requirements and data consolidation needs.
Also, by using the Organization Structure module, your organization can automate work assignments and
document assignment for approvals.

Multibranch Functionality
In Acumatica ERP, you can configure the system as a single entity or as a multibranch organization to match the
actual organization's structure. All branches of the organization use the same currency and chart of accounts,
and have shared lists of trade partners. You can configure automatic balancing of inter-branch transactions. If the
branches operate separately, you can set up user access to specific branches only. For additional information, see
the following topics:
• Multiple Branch Support
• Basic Models for Multibranch Organization
• Security of Organization Branches

Organizational Chart and Assignment Automation

You can build a company tree, which is a model of your organization's hierarchy that includes branches and
departments, as well as temporary or permanent workgroups. The company tree may reflect the administrative
hierarchy and include sub-hierarchies of workgroups created within specific branches or departments. The
company tree is used for creating assignment rules in approval and assignment maps and for determining the
scope of the users who want to view items assigned to them. You can use assignment maps to automatically
distribute the work items (such as leads, contacts, opportunities, or cases) to be processed or you can use approval
maps to distribute the documents (such as time cards, expense receipts, or orders) to be approved among the
workgroups, based on relevant item or document properties. For more information, see the following articles:
• Company Tree and Workgroups
• Managing Assignment and Approval Maps

Other Features and Options

Acumatica ERP provides unmatched flexibility for each organization to implement its unique business processes
by using the Organization Structure functionality. In addition to the features described above, the Organization
Structure functionality offers the following features and options:
• You can use departments, employee positions, and information about to whom each employee reports to
build any hierarchy to be used in assignment and approval maps.
• Buildings can be assigned to branches and depreciated accordingly in the respective branches.
• Multiple work calendars may be used in the organization to correctly estimate work time and overtime in
different branches and on different projects, as described in Support of Multiple Work Calendars.

Related Links
• Interbranch Account Mapping
 Managing Companies and Branches | 5

Managing Companies and Branches

In Acumatica ERP, a company represents a legal entity with an independent balance sheet and separate tax
reporting. An organization may consist of one company or multiple companies.
A company may have no branches, or it may consist of multiple branches, each being a separate office or a
point of sale. Companies with multiple branches can be configured and maintained in Acumatica ERP only if the
Multibranch Support and Multicompany Support features are enabled on the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000)
form. On the same form, the Inter-Branch Transactions feature should be enabled if different branches of a
company can participate in one transaction.
All branches within a tenant have the same chart of accounts, calendar, and base currency.

In This Chapter
• Companies and Branches
• Multiple Branch Support
• Basic Models for Multibranch Organization
• Security of Organization Branches

Companies and Branches

In Acumatica ERP, a user can create new companies or maintain existing companies by using the Companies
(CS101500) form.
Multiple companies can be configured in one tenant of Acumatica ERP if the Multicompany Support feature has
been enabled on the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000) form.

Company Type
Each company has one of the following types, which is specified in the Company Type box on the Companies
(CS101500) form:
• Without Branches: A company with this type cannot have any branches. If the Multibranch Support feature is
disabled on the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000) form, this option is selected by default and cannot be
changed. If the Multibranch Support feature is disabled and the Multicompany Support feature is enabled,
you can create multiple companies without branches in one tenant.
• With Branches Not Requiring Balancing: A company with this type must have at least one branch. If multiple
branches of the company are involved in a transaction, balancing entries are not required. This option is
available if the Multibranch Support feature is enabled on the Enable/Disable Features form.
• With Branches Requiring Balancing: A company with this type must have at least one branch. If multiple
branches of the company are involved in a transaction, balancing entries are required. This option is
available if the Multibranch Support and Inter-Branch Transactions features are enabled on the Enable/
Disable Features form.
For details about how Acumatica ERP supports multiple branches for a company, see Multiple Branch Support.
Aer a company has been configured, the company type still can be changed as follows.
 Managing Companies and Branches | 6

From To Condition

Without Branches With Branches Not Requiring Bal- At any time

ancing
or
With Branches Requiring Balancing

With Branches Not Requiring Bal- Without Branches The company has only one branch
ancing or no branches at all.
or
With Branches Requiring Balancing

With Branches Not Requiring Bal- With Branches Requiring Balancing No transactions have been posted
ancing by company branches or the com-
pany has only one branch.

With Branches Requiring Balancing With Branches Not Requiring Bal- No transactions have been posted
ancing by company branches or the com-
pany has only one branch.

Company Maintenance
For a company that has the With Branches Not Requiring Balancing or With Branches Requiring Balancing type, the
Branches tab becomes available on the Companies (CS101500) form. On this tab, a system administrator can add
new branches to the company or delete branches from the list of company branches; when the company has no
branches, it can be also deleted.
A company with the Without Branches type can be deleted if it has no GL history (that is, if no GL transactions are
associated with the company) and if no cash accounts, employees, warehouses, and fixed assets are linked to the
company.
If a user clears the Active check box on the Companies form for a company that has branches, all the company
branches will be deactivated. However, a branch cannot be deactivated if it is linked to an active warehouse, to an
employee with a status other than Inactive, or to a fixed asset with a status other than Disposed or Reversed, and a
company with such a branch also cannot be deactivated.

Configuration of Access to Company Data

Access to the data related to a specific branch or to all branches of a company is regulated by an access role.
When an access role is specified for a company in the Access Role box on the Companies (CS101500) form, the
system prompts whether the access role should be copied to the settings of all branches of the company. When the
Access Role box is cleared for the company, the system prompts whether the access role should be removed from
the settings of all branches of the company. If no access role is specified for the company, an individual access role
can be specified for each branch of the company on the Branches (CS102000) from.
A user that has access to at least one of the company branches can select the company in corresponding boxes on
data entry forms.
For more information about ways to manage the security of a branch, see Security of Organization Branches.
 Managing Companies and Branches | 7

Ledgers
A company can post transactions to various ledgers, but it can be associated with only one actual ledger.
A user can manage ledgers associated with a company in any of the following ways:
• Create for a new company a ledger of the Actual type by clicking Create Ledger on the More menu (under
Other) of the Companies (CS101500) form
• Review the list of the ledgers associated with the company, add an existing ledger to the list, or remove a
ledger from the list by using the Ledgers tab of the Companies form
• Review the list of all ledgers associated with the company of the selected branch by using the Ledgers tab of
the Branches (CS102000) form
• Maintain the list of the companies that are allowed to post to non-actual ledgers by using the Ledgers
(GL201500) form
An actual ledger can be detached from a company if the ledger contains no transactions associated with any
branch of the company.
For more information about ledgers, see the Managing Ledgers chapter.

Tax Reports
For a company with the With Branches Requiring Balancing type, the File Taxes by Branches check box is available
on the Companies (CS101500) form. If the check box is cleared, each tax report includes data related to all branches
of the company. If the check box is selected, each branch of the company requires an individual report.
For a company with any other type, tax reports always include company-wide data.

Visual Appearance
On the Visual Appearance tab of the Companies (CS101500) or Branches (CS102000) form, a user can specify
separate images for the logo displayed in the top le corner of Acumatica ERP and for the logo displayed on reports
for the selected company or branch.

Multiple Branch Support

Sooner or later, small and medium-sized businesses may face the challenges presented by growth. The
organization can grow by adding new locations that become branches with some degree of autonomy.
Because most Acumatica ERP customers are small and mid-sized businesses, the multibranch functionality has
been developed for organizations that meet certain requirements:
• All branches use the same base currency.
• The chart of accounts is shared among branches, or similar charts of accounts used by different branches
can be merged into one chart of accounts used by all branches.
• The branches have the same financial year and periods.
Larger organizations with base currencies different in different branches, fiscal years, and periods can configure
their subsidiaries as separate organizations with individual company IDs and use the consolidation functionality
to be able to report as a single company. For details, see Configuring GL Consolidation and Performing GL
Consolidation.
 Managing Companies and Branches | 8

Organization as a Structure of Branches

Acumatica ERP supports multibranch functionality and provides several basic models for implementing most
typical organization structures. For details, see Basic Models for Multibranch Organization.
In Acumatica ERP, an organization has a company account with a company ID. Within a company account, at
least one branch is needed to represent the organization itself. If the organization includes more than one branch,
organization branches are created within the same company ID. The identifiers for branches (Branch IDs) are based
on the BIZACCT segmented key—that is, they have the same segments as identifiers for organization's customers
and vendors.

User Access to Branch Data

Since the branches are created within the same organization, they have some shared data and some branch-
specific data.
Each employee (user) is assigned to a specific branch. To restrict user access to branch-specific data, you can
configure a branch access role for each branch. Then the branch employees will be able to access the shared data
(as their roles allow) and the data specific to their branch. To employees who should have access to other branches
too, you must assign the access roles for the branches in the user's scope. For details, see Security of Organization
Branches. If a user has access to several branches, the user will be able to choose the branch he or she needs by
selecting it from the form toolbar on each data entry form.

Data Shared Between Branches

Some of the data is unconditionally shared and available in all branches for all users who have access to this data
by their roles.
In addition to the financial year and periods, the organization's branches share the following information:
• The chart of accounts.
• Subaccounts.
• Budget tree, for details, see Budget Tree.
• Taxes, tax categories, and tax zones.
• Credit terms and overdue charges.
• Statement cycles.
• Customer and vendor classes.
• Customers and vendors. You can specify for some customer and vendor locations a default branch with
which they have operations, and this location will be unavailable for selection from other branches.
• Stock and non-stock items. If you need to view inventory by branch, configure the INVENTORY segmented
key appropriately, with a segment designating a branch to which the item belongs, but all items will be
visible in the list of available items.
• Lot and serial classes.
• Units of measure and conversion rules.
• Posting classes for inventory.
Company tree and assignment maps should include workgroups that belong to all branches. Approval routes may
pass across the entire organization.

You can use the functionality of restriction groups to assign specific accounts and subaccounts to a
particular branch. For details, see Security of Organization Branches.
 Managing Companies and Branches | 9

Branch-Specific Data
The following entities are assigned to only one of the branches:
• Cash accounts (each of which is denominated in a specific currency)
• Warehouses
• Employees
• Buildings (a sort of fixed asset)
Do not create a subaccount segment for branches; transactions are marked by the originating branch in other ways.
Bills and invoices as well as other documents are associated with the particular branch in which they were created.
To make them easily identifiable by branch, you can create branch-specific subsequences for all numbering
sequences involved by using the Numbering Sequences (CS201020) form, so that a document originating in a
specific branch will have a reference number clearly associated with the branch of origin.
If a user has a branch access role that provides access to only one of the branches, the user will be able to view only
the documents related to the respective branch.

Data Consolidation
The multibranch functionality, as it is implemented in Acumatica ERP, enables complex organizations to view the
consolidated data from multiple branches without having to perform any additional operations and in real time. It
is easy to configure consolidated replenishment or centralized payment of bill or view consolidated data on reports
running them from the headquarters branch.
When a user opens a report or inquiry, the system checks the user's access rights to branches. If a user has access to
all branches, this user can view the data of any selected branch or the consolidated data by leaving the Branch box
blank. If a user has access to only one branch, this user will be able to view only the data related to the particular
branch even if he or she runs the report that should show the consolidated data.
Replenishment is performed on a branch basis, although you can implement the following scenario: The
headquarters has a large warehouse for which you configure automatic replenishment. Warehouses assigned to
other branches are replenished through transfers from the headquarters' warehouse. Thus, your organization will
be able to save on volume discounts.
In your system, bills can be paid by a headquarters branch on behalf of other branches. To do this, assign to
authorized personnel the roles that provide access to branches. Then the employees who pay the bills will be able
to view the bills from all branches on the Checks and Payments (AP302000) and Prepare Payments (AP503000)
forms. The cash accounts from which payments are made should be assigned to the headquarters branch.
Related Links
• Basic Models for Multibranch Organization
• Security of Organization Branches
• Branches
• Buildings
• Inter-Branch Account Mapping
• Restriction Groups by Branch
• GL Accounts by Branch Access
• Subaccounts by Branch Access
• Checks and Payments
• Prepare Payments
 Managing Companies and Branches | 10

Basic Models for Multibranch Organization

In today’s global environment, an organization may have a hierarchic structure of subsidiaries or branches and
complex multilevel reporting requirements. Such an organization may need tools for easy data consolidation, as
well as better visibility into various layers of financial operations within the organization.
Acumatica ERP supports multibranch functionality and provides multiple basic one-level and two-level models,
outlined in the sections below, for implementing the most typical organizational structures. For more complex
organizations, such models may be combined to implement any structure.

Choosing the model (or combination of models) that suits your organization best is an important
decision that must be made before you start implementing Acumatica ERP.

Model 1: Organization with Centralized Accounting

With Model 1, shown in the illustration below, the organization, which is a single legal entity, consists of two
branches (or locations), each branch representing a company office. Transactions are posted to these branches.

To implement this model in Acumatica ERP, you have to create an additional branch that will represent the legal
entity. You also have to have one posting ledger of the Actual type.
You need to specify the additional branch as the consolidating branch for the posting ledger by using the
Consolidation Branch column on the Ledgers (GL201500) form. The consolidating branch is used only in Form
1099-MISC and tax reports to represent the legal entity. No transactions are posted to the consolidating branch.
To be able to use automatic generation of interbranch balancing entries for documents that involve multiple
branches, you need to enable the Inter-Branch Transactions feature on the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000)
form, configure the posting ledger by selecting the check box in the Branch Accounting column for this ledger
on the Ledgers (GL201500) form, and define the interbranch account mapping by using the Inter-Branch Account
Mapping (GL101010) form.

If the Branch Accounting check box is cleared for the ledger, you still can make transactions between the branches
(for example, transfer fixed assets from one branch to another), but the system does not create interbranch
balancing entries. The resulting batch remains unbalanced in each of the smaller branches, but the batch is
balanced in the ledger that is assigned to the consolidating branch. In this case, the branches are not independent,
and separate balance sheet reports cannot be prepared.
 Managing Companies and Branches | 11

Model 2: Autonomous Branches

In Model 2, illustrated below, the organization has a number of branches with a certain level of autonomy, with
each branch being a legal entity. The organization and its branches share most of the vendors and customers but
keep some of the trade partners as associated with a specific branch. Each branch keeps records of its own and has
an accountant or accounting staff. The profitability of each branch can be equally important.

In Acumatica ERP, autonomous branches may use separate ledgers to post their transactions or they may post
their transactions to a single ledger with no branch selected as a consolidation branch. If the branches post their
transactions to separate ledgers, the system will generate interbranch transactions automatically. If the branches
use the same ledger, to balance the original interbranch transactions in each branch, you should select for this
ledger a check box in the Branch Accounting column on the Ledgers (GL201500) form. This allows each branch to
file reports as a separate legal entity.
A certain level of independence requires that some of branches have their own General Ledger accounts that
cannot be used by another branch. You can use restriction groups to assign selected General Ledger accounts and
subaccounts to a specific branch for use by this branch only.

Model 3: Autonomous Multilocation Branches

An organization might include a number of related legal entities with complex structures. Each legal entity has its
headquarters and locations or smaller branches that are not separate legal entities. In this case, each autonomous
multilocation entity keeps its own records and performs all accounting procedures.
In Acumatica ERP, such an organization can be configured as a Model 3, which combines Model 1 and Model 2,
functioning within one Company ID. (See the following illustration.) Each autonomous branch has its headquarters
and locations (or smaller branches that are not separate legal entities) configured as branches. Each autonomous
multilocation branch records its operations to a separate ledger with a headquarters branch specified as the
consolidation branch for the ledger.
 Managing Companies and Branches | 12

Generally, when transactions occur between any two non-independent branches in one ledger, no interbranch
transactions are generated; however, if they are needed for any reason, you can select a check box in the Branch
Accounting column on the Ledgers (GL201500) form for the ledger.
When the interbranch transactions occur between any branches with different posting ledgers, balancing
interbranch transactions will be generated automatically. You should create interbranch receivable and payable
accounts in each ledger and specify the rules to be used by the system for generating balancing transactions by
using the Inter-Branch Account Mapping (GL101010) form.

Model 4: Multinational or Just Multicurrency Organization

Small and midsize businesses sooner or later may face the problem of growth. They can grow by mergers or
by creating local subsidiaries or branches in new regions or countries. Due to their locations, the organization
subsidiaries use different base (functional) currency and should meet different reporting requirements (including
non-matching financial years); their customers and vendors are not shared. For historical reasons, the organization
subsidiaries may have different structures of accounts and subaccounts.
In Acumatica ERP, such subsidiaries can have separate tenant accounts with different Company IDs. The simplest
structure is shown by Model 4, illustrated below. Although technically the parent organization and its subsidiaries
may keep their data in the same database, they may have different base currencies, different financial year
settings, and separate lists of trade partners. Such subsidiaries even can be hosted on different websites.

Acumatica ERP provides the consolidation-related functionality to be used by both sides: the parent organization
and its subsidiaries. If different base currencies are used by the parent company and its subsidiary, such
subsidiaries can translate their balances before they prepare the consolidation data for exporting. For details,
see GL Consolidation Configuration: General Information, GL Consolidation: General Information, and Translation of
Financial Statements: General Information.

If interbranch transactions take place, they should be eliminated manually during period-end or year-end routine
procedures.
 Managing Companies and Branches | 13

Related Links
• Branches
• Buildings
• Inter-Branch Account Mapping
• Restriction Groups by Branch
• GL Accounts by Branch Access
• Subaccounts by Branch Access

Security of Organization Branches

If your organization has multiple branches defined in Acumatica ERP, you may need to control which employees
get access to which branches. Because branches share some data, you may also need to control access to the
shared data. Acumatica ERP provides user access roles, which you can use to control users' access to branches, and
restriction groups to limit the visibility of shared data. In this topic, you will read about ways to manage the security
of a branch.

In Acumatica ERP, you can configure groups with direct and inverse restriction. In this topic, for
simplicity, groups with direct restriction are used in examples. You can use inverse restriction groups
in the same way as you use direct restriction groups. For details on the types of restriction groups, see
Types of Restriction Groups.

Usage Scenarios
The most common scenarios of managing the security of company branches are the following:
• Managing user access to branches: If your organization has multiple branches (and you have created
multiple branches in Acumatica ERP), you can configure access to branches for employees who work in
these branches. For details, see User Access to Branches.
• Managing the visibility of data shared between branches: If you need to make data shared between
branches (such as General Ledger accounts and subaccounts) visible only within a particular branch, you
can use restriction groups to resolve this task. For more information, see Visibility of Data Within a Branch.

You can create and maintain multiple branches in your Acumatica ERP instance only if the Multibranch
Support feature is enabled in your system on the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000) form (for details,
see Multiple Branch Support).

User Access to Branches

Aer multiple branches have been defined in the system, you provide access to the branches for users who will
work in the system as follows:
1. On the User Roles (SM201005) form, you create branch-specific user roles (one role per branch) and assign
these roles to user accounts. For details on user roles, see User Roles: General Information.
2. On the Branches (CS102000) form, you assign the roles to branches as follows: For each branch, in the
Access Role box, you select the user role created for this branch.

• Once a role is assigned to one of the branches, other branches also must have roles assigned. A
branch with no role assigned will be inaccessible to any user.
• To allow a user to access multiple branches, assign to him or her the roles for the branches to
which the user should have access.
 Managing Companies and Branches | 14

If a user, based on his or her role, has access to a data entry form where this user enters a document and specifies
the branch of origin, only the branches to which the user has access are available on the drop-down list. The users
who have access to multiple branches can select the specific branch from the Branches menu on the form's title
toolbar and create documents on behalf of the selected branch.
No matter which branch users have access to, users who have access to the following forms, based on their roles,
will see and work with all branches (because users configure system objects by using these forms):
• Inter-Branch Account Mapping (GL101010)
• Branches (CS102000)
• Buildings (CS205010)
• Assignment and Approval Maps (EP205000)
• Import Company Tree (EP204060)
• Restriction Groups by Branch (GL103020)
• GL Accounts by Branch Access (GL103040)
• Subaccounts by Branch Access (GL103060)

Visibility of Data Within a Branch

Branches have some data shared between branches and some data kept as branch-specific (for details, see Multiple
Branch Support). You may need to restrict the visibility of data that is shared but may contain sensitive information,
such as General Ledger accounts and subaccounts. Acumatica ERP provides restriction groups so you can control
which accounts and subaccounts are used with which branch. For details on configuring restriction groups for
accounts and subaccounts, see Account and Subaccount Security.

Forms for Branch Security

In the following table, you can find the list of the forms that you can use to manage restriction groups with
branches and the tasks that you can resolve by using each form.

Table: Forms for Branch Security

Task Form

To initially configure the visibility of accounts by GL Accounts by Branch Access (GL103040)

branches

To initially configure the visibility of subaccounts (or Subaccounts by Branch Access (GL103060)
subaccount segments) by branches

To change the visibility of system objects by a branch Restriction Groups by Branch (GL103020)
in multiple groups

For information about how to add or remove objects from a restriction group, see Operations with Restriction
Groups.

Related Links
• Account and Subaccount Security
• Multiple Branch Support
• Types of Restriction Groups
• Restriction Groups in Acumatica ERP
• Assignment and Approval Maps
• Branches
• Buildings
• Company Tree
 Managing Companies and Branches | 15

• GL Accounts by Branch Access

• Inter-Branch Account Mapping
• Restriction Groups by Branch
• Subaccounts by Branch Access
 Managing Employees | 16

Managing Employees
Acumatica ERP provides you with tools for managing your organization's employees. You can maintain the list of
employees, specify employee payroll settings and calculate employee cost, manage all organizational processes in
which a particular employee is involved, create a user account associated with an employee and set up its access
rights in the system, and include employees in workgroups, approval maps, and assignment maps.

In This Section

• Employee Settings  
• Company Tree and Workgroups
• Support of Multiple Work Calendars

Employee Settings

In Acumatica ERP, each employee has a personal employee account with the following groups of settings, each of
which is described in more detail in the sections below:
• Contact Information
• User Account Information
• Employment Settings
• Financial Settings
• Approval Settings
On the Employee Classes (EP202000) form, you can specify default values of some of these settings for an employee
class. When you create a new employee on the Employees form, you specify an employee class, and then the
system fills in many of the elements on the form with default values provided by the class.

Contact Information
When you create an employee on the Employees form, a contact record associated with this employee is created
automatically. The name, contact information, and address specified on the General Info tab of the Employees
form always match those specified for the related contact on the Contacts (CR302000) form. If you modify these
settings for an employee (or a contact), the changes are immediately reflected for the related contact (or an
employee).

User Account Information

An employee may have an associated user account so that the employee can access Acumatica ERP. On the User
Info tab of the Employees form, a system administrator can view and edit information about the user account,
create a new user account if none exists, activate, enable, disable, or unlock the user account, assign roles to the
existing user, and manage the user's password.
For more details about user accounts, see User Access: General Information.

Employment Settings
On the Employee Settings tab of the Employees form, you can specify the following settings:
• The branch with which all transactions related to this employee will be associated
 Managing Employees | 17

• The calendar that describes the work hours of the employee and the time zone the employee works from
(see Support of Multiple Work Calendars for information about how you can define and maintain multiple
calendars in the system)
• The requirement for using time cards for the employee (For details about time cards and time reporting, see
Time Cards.)
• The extent of validation of regular work hours for the employee. The requirements for the hourly rates of the
employee are specified on the Employee Cost tab of the Employees form.
• The non-stock item of the Labor type used as a source of expense accounts for transactions associated
with projects or contracts. You can use the Labor Item Overrides tab of the Employees form to define the
relationship between an earning type and a labor item, which is the source of expense accounts.

You cannot change the status of your own employee record.

On the Employment History tab of the Employees form, you can maintain information about the employee's
history of employment in the company.

Financial Settings
On the Financial Settings tab of the Employees form, you can specify the accounts involved in the recording of
employee compensation and payments, the employee's tax zone, and the payment method to be used by default
for compensation payments.

Approval Settings
An employee may be assigned as an approver to approve a document or as an owner to process a record. On the
Assignment and Approval Maps tab of the Employees form, you can review the list of all assignment and approval
maps in which the employee is involved.
On the Approvals (EP503010) form, an employee can approve or reject the documents of various types that have the
Pending Approval status. Only the following documents are visible to the currently signed-in employee on this form:
• Those assigned to the employee.
• Those assigned to other users included in the workgroup to which the employee belongs.
• Escalated documents assigned to users of workgroups that are at lower levels in the company tree but in
the node of the employee's workgroup. See Company Tree and Workgroups for details about the company
tree.
The Approvals form is available only if the Approval Workflow feature is enabled on the Enable/Disable Features
(CS100000) form. If the Approval Workflow feature is disabled, no approval of documents can be set up, with an
exception of expense claims; in this case, the system assigns an expense claim for approval to the employee
specified in the Reports to box on the General Info tab of the Employees (EP203000) form for the employee who
is claiming the expenses; if the Reports to box is empty, the claim requires no approval—it is assigned the Open
status, and it can be released immediately aer submission. (For more information about the approval of expense
claims, see Expense Claim Approval.)
For details about assignment and approval maps, see Managing Assignment and Approval Maps.

Company Tree and Workgroups

In Acumatica ERP, you can build a company tree, which is a model of your organization's hierarchy that includes
temporary and permanent workgroups. The company tree may reflect the administrative hierarchy and include
sub-hierarchies of workgroups created within specific branches or departments. The company tree is used for
creating assignment rules in approval and assignment maps and for determining the scope of the users who want
to view items assigned to them.
 Managing Employees | 18

Company Tree
You create a company tree by using the Company Tree (EP204061) form. The company tree serves various purposes
in addition to reflecting the administrative structure of your company. The tree doesn't directly include branches,
departments, and administrative units within departments, but the tree should include all workgroups that
participate in company workflows—for instance, the processing of leads and cases, the resolution of overdue cases,
and the approval of various documents, such as time cards, expense claims, and purchase orders.
If your company includes multiple branches, consider whether the workflows are completely contained within
branches. If they are, for each company branch, create a separate tree branch that arranges the workgroups
involved in this organization branch's workflows. If a workgroup of one of the branches participates in workflows
of multiple branches, make sure this workgroup is located one level higher on the company tree than other
workgroups. Also, make sure the members of this group have access to all the branches involved.

Workgroups and Owners

A workgroup includes members who are employees of the company. Acumatica ERP places no restrictions on the
number of group members or the number of groups an employee may belong to. A group may include employees
with different positions and from different departments.
An employee may be a member of more than one workgroup if he or she participates in multiple workflows. For
example, an employee might approve purchase orders greater than $1000 and all expense claims. On the other
hand, a workgroup may include members from different departments if they participate in the same stage of a
specific workflow, such as processing cases. Workgroups participating in the same workflow should be organized
in a separate branch on the tree. Your company's tree should have a separate branch for assigning each type of
document that can be automatically assigned.
One member of the group should be specified as the owner—the user to whom, by default, a new record or
document will be assigned once the record or document is assigned to this workgroup. For example, if processing
a case involves multiple employees and requires performing research, fixing the product or situation, filling out
documents, and performing other activities, the owner can be a team lead who is responsible for the group. If
processing a case involves only one person, the workgroup may include only one employee, who will also be its
default owner.
Also, workgroups can be used for grouping employees by crew. If the Time Reporting on Activity feature is enabled
on the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000) form, activity time can be reported, approved, and released for an entire
crew at a time on the Weekly Crew Time Entry (EP307100), Approve Time Activities (EP507010), and Release Time
Activities (EP507020) forms, respectively. For more information about group entry of time activities, see Employee
Time Entry: Crew Time.

Workgroups in Assignment and Approval Maps

In Acumatica ERP, you can set up automatic assignment of the following entities to workgroups and to particular
employees:
• Records for processing: leads, contacts, opportunities, business accounts, and cases
• Documents for approval: expense claims, time cards, purchase orders, sales orders, and other documents
This functionality uses assignment maps; it may also use the company tree that contains all workgroups involved
in the assignment processes. You don't necessarily have to create a company tree or, if a company tree has been set
up, you don't have to always use workgroups in assignment maps because you can specify particular employees as
assignees; however, you can create more efficient assignment rules when using a company tree. For each type of
document or record that should be automatically assigned, you create any number of assignment maps that define
the rules for such assignment, and then, on the related module's preferences form, you specify which assignment
map is to be used during the assignment process; for details, see Managing Assignment and Approval Maps.
 Managing Employees | 19

Related Links
• Configuring Assignment Maps
• Managing Assignment and Approval Maps
• Users
• Company Tree
• Assignment and Approval Maps
• Cases

Support of Multiple Work Calendars

In Acumatica ERP, you can define and maintain multiple work calendars in the system. Work calendars are used for
a variety of purposes, including the following:
• Labor calculations performed for contracts and projects
• Effective scheduling of events
• Tracking the movement of goods through carriers involved in shipping to and from your company

Work Calendar Settings

Work calendars can be defined on the Work Calendar (CS209000) form. For each employee calendar, you can define
the week's work days and specify working hours for each day. On the Exceptions tab, you can define holidays,
which preempt work days or shi them to a day when the employee generally does not work, and specify any
change in working hours for a particular date.
If the work calendar is used for a carrier rather than an employee, specify on which days goods are moved.

Employee Calendars
On the Employees (EP203000) form, you can associate calendars with particular employees, such as salespersons
or members of customer service and support workgroups. If a calendar is to be used by others, the employee
should mark his or her calendar as public by using the User Profile (SM203010) form.
An employee's calendar can also be used for labor calculation if the employee works in customer support or on
projects. Work time and overtime are calculated automatically for time cards when the employee reports time
spent on a case or a project task, if billable tasks and activities are used for the service contract or project.
To organize work more efficiently, employees who work together should share information about their free and
busy times. They can do this in the following ways:
• In Acumatica ERP, users can export their work calendars, which show their free and busy time, and email
the resulting file to involved persons.
• Users can export their calendar data from MS Outlook and import it to Acumatica ERP (in .cvs format).
MS Outlook continues to periodically update the .cvs file when changes are made in Outlook. Currently,
changes to the work calendar in Acumatica ERP do not update the calendar file exported to MS Outlook.
 Managing Assignment and Approval Maps | 20

Managing Assignment and Approval Maps

Acumatica ERP gives you the capability to automatically assign records (such as leads and cases) to employees for
processing, to appropriately distribute work. When assigning a record to an employee, the system follows the rules
and conditions specified in a previously created assignment map.
Also, if the Approval Workflow feature is enabled on the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000) form, you can use
approval maps to assign documents (such as cash transactions, expense claims, time cards, and purchase orders)
to authorized employees for approval.

Supported Types of Maps

Acumatica ERP supports various types of maps that may include any number of steps, rules, and conditions for
assigning a record to a qualified employee for processing or for assigning a document to an authorized employee
for approval. Each map has a type, which can be one of the following:
• Assignment Map: Used for assigning business accounts, cases, contacts, email activities, leads,
opportunities, purchase receipts, requests, or requisitions to owners for further processing.
• Approval Map: Used for assigning approvers to projects or documents, such as bills and adjustments,
employee time cards, equipment time cards, expense claims, expense receipts, projects, purchase orders,
requests, requisitions, sales orders, or transactions.
• Assignment and Approval Map: Used for either assigning entities to owners or assigning approvers to
documents. Maps of this type were created in earlier versions of Acumatica ERP. This type remains
supported by the system to avoid data loss.
By using the Add Approval Map or Add Assignment Map buttons on the form toolbar of the Assignment and
Approval Maps (EP205500) form, you can start creating an approval or assignment map, which opens on a separate
entry form.

Approval Maps
You can create a new map of the Approval type or modify an existing one by using the Approval Maps (EP205015)
form.
An approval map consists of steps and rules. In the Steps pane, you can create any number of steps, each of which
may include any number of rules. Steps may be executed in a sequential, parallel, or sequential-parallel fashion.
For each step, you need to select an action that should be performed if no approver has been assigned in
accordance with the rules specified for this step, so the document becomes automatically approved or rejected or
the next step (if any) gets executed. Also, you can specify whether a step is to be executed in any case or only if no
approvers have been found at all previous steps.
For each rule, you specify conditions, which the system checks for the document, and actions to be performed if
the conditions are met. As a result, multiple approvers may be assigned to one document. You can configure a rule
so that aer one approver approves the document, the system waits until other appointed approvers (if any) also
approve the document, executes the next step in the approval map, or marks the document as approved. Also, you
can specify for each rule whether an approver would have to enter a comment each time he or she approves or
rejects a document of the particular type.

If an approval map contains multiple rules and the rules are configured in such a way that the same
approver could be assigned multiple times to approve one document, the system will create at most
one approval request per document for this approver.

If a condition, step, or rule is no longer required in an approval map, you can temporarily deactivate it by clearing
the Active check box in the settings of that condition, step, or rule on the Approval Maps form. A deactivated step or
rule is marked with the (Inactive) prefix in the Steps pane.
 Managing Assignment and Approval Maps | 21

If you are creating rules for assigning documents for approval, documents that pass through the
rules unassigned are considered in the system to be approved, so you don't necessarily have to
create complete conditions. For example, in a small business, all documents with an amount greater
than $1000 may need to be approved by the CEO. In this case, you would create rules to assign
all documents with an amount that exceeds $1000 to a specific user (the CEO) for approval, while
all other documents do not need to be assigned. The rules should be configured to assign only
documents that have specific properties.

On the approval-related tab (labeled as Approval or Approvals) of a corresponding document entry form, all
approvers assigned to the document are listed, and for each approver, additional information is displayed that
helps track which approval map and which step and rule in this map is the reason this approver has been assigned.

Assignment Maps
Assignment maps are created and modified on the Assignment Maps (EP205010) form.
An assignment map may include any number of rules, which are executed sequentially. Similarly to a rule in an
approval map, a rule in an assignment map includes conditions and actions to be performed if the conditions are
met.
If you use assignment maps to distribute a particular type of record or document—for instance, to assign cases
to different owners who will handle them—be sure to create a complete set of conditions so that no record or
document of the specific type is le unassigned.
If a condition or rule is no longer required in an assignment map, you can temporarily deactivate it by clearing the
Active check box in the settings of that condition or rule on the Assignment Maps form. A deactivated rule is marked
with the (Inactive) prefix in the Rules pane.

If conditions allow the same documents to be assigned to two or more groups, all assignments will be
performed in the group that is positioned higher than the other groups in the assignment map, and
the documents would never reach the other groups.

Map Application
In Acumatica ERP, you can specify an assignment or approval map for a particular type of record or document by
using one of the following forms:
• Time and Expenses Preferences (EP101000) for expense claims, expense receipts, employee time cards, and
equipment time cards
• Customer Management Preferences (CR101000) for leads, contacts, business accounts, opportunities, and
cases
• Sales Orders Preferences (SO101000) for sales orders of any type for which the Require Approval check box
is selected on the Order Types (SO201000) form
• Purchase Orders Preferences (PO101000) for purchase orders of any type
• Purchase Requisitions Preferences (RQ101000) for purchase requests and requisitions
• Cash Management Preferences (CA101000) for cash transactions
• Accounts Payable Preferences (AP101000) for AP documents
• Accounts Receivable Preferences (AR101000) for AR documents
Users can assign such records as leads, contacts, business accounts, opportunities, and cases in bulk by using the
appropriate mass-processing form, such as Assign Leads (CR503010) or Assign Cases (CR503210).
 Managing Assignment and Approval Maps | 22

Map Execution Issues

Any issues that occur during the execution of an assignment or approval map are recorded in the Acumatica ERP
trace log. You can open the trace log by clicking Help > Trace on the form title bar.

Document Approval
The appointed approvers can approve documents by using the Approvals (EP503010) form; only users authorized to
approve documents should have access rights to this form. For more details, see Approving Documents.

Approval Notifications
In Acumatica ERP, you can set up approval notifications, by which an employee will receive an email notification
each time a document requires approval from this employee.
To enable approval notifications for a particular type of document, you need to specify an approval map for this
type of document on the appropriate form, which can be one of the following:
• Time and Expenses Preferences (EP101000) form, General Settings tab, for expense claims, expense
receipts, and time cards
• Sales Orders Preferences (SO101000) form, Approval tab, for different types of sales orders
• Purchase Orders Preferences (PO101000) form, Approval tab, for different types of purchase orders
• Purchase Requisitions Preferences (RQ101000) form, Approval tab, for requests and requisitions
• Cash Management Preferences (CA101000) form, General Settings tab, for cash transactions
• Accounts Payable Preferences (AP101000) form, Approval tab, for bills, credit and debit adjustments,
checks, quick checks, prepayment requests, and prepayments
• Accounts Receivable Preferences (AR101000) form, Approval tab, for AR invoices, debit memos, credit
memos, cash returns, and customer refunds
Aer you specify the approval map, on the same form, you need to specify the notification template that will
be used for email notifications. You can create new templates or edit existing ones by using the Email Templates
(SM204003) form.
For cash transactions, sales orders, purchase orders, requests, and requisitions, you also need to select the Require
Approval check box on the preferences form of the respective module; otherwise, the approval stage will be
skipped.
Related Links
• Approving Documents
• Approving Accounts Payable Documents
• Approval of Accounts Receivable Documents
• Configuring Assignment Maps
• Approval Maps
• Assignment Maps
• Company Tree
• Purchase Orders

Configuring an Approval Map for Multistage Approvals

For a multistage approval process, you configure one approval map in which you define the conditions for each
stage of the approval process.
 Managing Assignment and Approval Maps | 23

Workflow of Multistage Approvals

With multistage approvals, a document is approved by multiple approvers in a fixed order; no reviews occur
simultaneously. For example, if in your company all Accounts Payable bills should be initially approved by an
accountant, and the bills whose total amount exceeds some threshold must also be approved by the top manager,
you can configure a multistage approval process: Once an accountant has approved the bill in the first stage, that
bill (if it matches the conditions specified for the second stage) goes to the top manager for final approval.
You configure the multistage approval process by using the Assignment and Approval Maps (EP205500) form. On
the Rules pane of this form, you add a row for each required approval stage (the Seq. column specifies the order
number of the approval stage). In each row, you should specify the employee responsible for approving AP bills on
the selected stage, and the workgroup in which the approver is included. On the Conditions pane, you specify the
criteria that Accounts Payable bills must met to be assigned for approval at each stage.

For the multistage approval process, the Approval Workgroup ID parameter (available in the Field
Name column of the Conditions pane) must be specified for each approval stage. By using this
parameter, the system defines the order of approval stages. You must specify this parameter
differently depending on whether you configure an approval process that consists of two stages or
three or more stages. For details, see To Create an Approval Map for Multistage Approvals.

Besides the Approval Workgroup ID parameter, for each approval stage, you define the conditions that the
documents should meet to be assigned to the approver of that stage. You can add as many specific conditions as
needed (for example, whether the bill amount is above a specific threshold amount).
Related Links
• Approving Accounts Payable Documents
• Configuring Approval Maps for Parallel Approvals
• Accounts Payable Preferences
• Assignment and Approval Maps
• Company Tree
• Approving Documents

To Create an Approval Map for Multistage Approvals

You configure an approval map for a multistage approval process by using the Assignment and Approval Maps
(EP205500) form.

Before You Proceed

Ensure that the employees who will approve Accounts Payable documents and these employees' workgroups are
specified on the Company Tree (EP204061) form. Review the organization's hierarchy of workgroups and, if needed,
add new workgroups that include these employees.

To Create an Approval Map for Multistage Approval

1. Open the Assignment and Approval Maps (EP205500) form.
2. On the form toolbar, click Add New Record.
3. In the Name box, type a name for the new approval map (for example, AP Bill Approval).
4. In the Entity box, expand the Finance > Accounts Payable > Work area > Enter nodes; click Bills and
Adjustments.
5. Click Save on the form toolbar. Notice that the map name is shown now in the Map box.
 Managing Assignment and Approval Maps | 24

6. On the Rules pane (to the right of the tree pane), specify an approver as follows:
a. On the pane toolbar, click Add Row.
b. In the Type column, select Assign.
c. In the Name column, type a description of the approval stage (for example, Approve by
Accountant).
d. In the Workgroup column, select the workgroup that includes the employee responsible for approving
AP documents in the first stage.
e. In the Assign to column, select the employee to whom the documents will be assigned for approval.
This employee will be able to see the list of documents assigned to him or her for approval on the My
Approvals tab of the Approvals (EP503010) form.

Any member of the workgroup selected in the Workgroup column will also have the ability
to approve or reject AP documents.

7. Click Save on the form toolbar. Notice that the stage number, 1, has appeared in the Seq. column.
8. On the Conditions pane, define the conditions to be used for assigning the documents to the approver of
the first stage as follows:
a. On the toolbar of the Conditions pane, click Add Row.
b. In the Entity column, select Document.
c. In the Field Name column, select Approval Workgroup ID.
d. In the Condition column, select Is Empty.

For the first stage of a multistage approval process, you must always specify the Approval
Workgroup ID parameter as Is Empty.

e. On the toolbar, click Add Row to add the second row and specify the second condition.

The settings recommended for the second row (that is, those in Steps 8.6–8.9) are provided
as an example. In this example, all AP documents of the Bill type will be assigned to the
approver of the first stage.

f. In the Entity column, select Document.

g. In the Field Name column. select Type.
h. In the Condition column, select Equals.
j. In the Field Value column, type INV.
k. Add a row for each additional condition you want to add for this stage, and specify the appropriate
settings.
9. On the Rules pane, add the second stage of the approval process as follows:
a. On the pane toolbar, click Add Row.
b. In the Type column, select Assign.
c. In the Name column, type a description of the second approval stage (for example, Approve by CEO).
d. In the Workgroup column, select the workgroup that includes an employee responsible for approving AP
documents on the second stage.
e. In the Assign to column, select the employee to whom the documents will be initially assigned for
approval.
10.Click Save on the form toolbar. Notice that the stage number 2, has appeared in the Seq. column.
 Managing Assignment and Approval Maps | 25

11.To specify the conditions for the second approval stage, click the row with the second rule in the Rules
pane, so that the conditions will apply to that rule.
12.On the Conditions pane, define the conditions to be applied for assigning AP documents for approval in the
second stage as follows:
a. On the pane toolbar, click Add Row.
b. In the Entity column, select Document.
c. In the Field Name column, select Approval Workgroup ID.
d. In the Condition column, select Is Not Empty.

The condition Approval Workgroup ID Is Not Empty must be specified for the second stage of
the two-stage approval process.
For an approval process that consists of three and more stages, for the second approval
stage and each subsequent stage, you must specify the Approval Workgroup ID field name
as follows. In the Condition column, you select Equals, and in the Field Value column,
you select the workgroup (by its name) that is specified as an approval workgroup for the
previous approval stage (in the Workgroup column of the Rules pane).
For example, for the second stage of the three-stage approval process, if the Finance
workgroup has been specified for the first approval stage, you specify Approval Workgroup
ID in the Field Name column, Equals in the Condition column, and Finance in the Field
Value column. For the third stage, if the Supervisors workgroup has been specified for the
second approval stage, Approval Workgroup ID in the Field Name column, Equals in the
Condition column, and Supervisors in the Field Value column.

e. Add a new row to specify the next condition for this stage, and repeat as needed.
13.In the Rule Type box (located above the Conditions pane), select All conditions are true, so that the
documents will be assigned to the approvers only if all the specified conditions are true.
14.Click Save on the form toolbar.

The approval map is configured for a multistage approval process.

Configuring Approval Maps for Parallel Approvals

For a parallel approval process, you need to configure multiple approval maps on the Assignment and Approval
Maps (EP205500) form. Each approval map can contain its own conditions that must be met for Accounts Payable
documents to be assigned to the specified approvers.

Workflow of Parallel Approvals

Parallel approval means approval of a document by multiple employees in any order or even simultaneously.
For example, in small companies, each purchase may need to be approved by an accountant and the CFO
independently. In this case, you need to create two separate approval maps on the Assignment and Approval Maps
form. In one map, you define the accountant as an approver; in another map, you define the CFO as an approver.
You can specify no conditions, so that all AP documents will be independently assigned to the accountant and
the CFO for approval; or you can specify the conditions to be used by the system for assigning the appropriate
approvers to documents. These conditions can use such document properties as amount, vendor, or branch.
For details on configuring the approval maps for parallel approvals, see To Create Approval Maps for Parallel
Approvals.

Related Links
• Approving Accounts Payable Documents
 Managing Assignment and Approval Maps | 26

• Configuring an Approval Map for Multistage Approvals

• Accounts Payable Preferences
• Assignment and Approval Maps
• Company Tree
• Approving Documents

To Create Approval Maps for Parallel Approvals

You configure the approval maps for a parallel approval process by using the Assignment and Approval Maps
(EP205500) form.

Before You Proceed

Ensure that the employees who will approve Accounts Payable documents and these employees' workgroups are
specified on the Company Tree (EP204061) form. Review the organization's hierarchy of workgroups and, if needed,
add new workgroups that include these employees.

To Create Each Approval Map for Parallel Approvals

1. Open the Assignment and Approval Maps (EP205500) form.
2. On the form toolbar, click Add New Record.
3. In the Name box in the Summary area of the form, type a name for the new approval map, such as
Approval by CFO or Approval by Financial Director.
4. In the Entity box, expand the Finance > Accounts Payable > Work Area > Enter nodes; click Bills and
Adjustments.
5. Click Save on the form toolbar. Notice that the map name is shown now in the Map box.
6. In the Rules pane (to the right of the tree pane), specify an approver as follows:
a. On the pane toolbar, click Add Row.
b. In the Type column, select Assign.
c. In the Name column, type a description for the approval rule being specified in this row (for example,
Vendor bills over $5000).
d. Optional: In the Workgroup column, select the workgroup that includes the employee responsible for
reviewing AP documents.

The members of the specified workgroup will also be able to review and approve AP
documents. If you want the documents to be reviewed and approved only by the person
specified in the Assign to column, do not enter a workgroup.

e. In the Assign to column, select the employee responsible for reviewing the AP documents. This
employee will be able to see the list of AP documents assigned to him or her for approval on the My
Approvals tab of the Approvals (EP503010) form.
7. Click Save on the form toolbar.
8. If you need the documents that match some particular criteria to be approved, specify these criteria in the
Conditions table. For example, if only the vendor bills whose total document amount is greater than some
specified limit should be approved, you would specify these conditions as follows:

No conditions should be specified if all Accounts Payable documents should be forwarded to

an approver.
 Managing Assignment and Approval Maps | 27

a. On the pane toolbar, click Add Row to specify first condition.

b. In the Entity column, select Document.
c. In the Field Name column, select Type.
d. In the Condition column, select Equals.
e. In the Field Value column, enter INV.
The AP documents of the Bill type will be forwarded for approval.
f. On the pane toolbar, click Add Row to specify second condition.
g. In the Entity column, select Document.
h. In the Field Name column, select Amount.
j. In the Condition column, select Is Greater Than.
k. In the Value column, type the value that defines the total document amount.
The AP bills whose total amount is greater than the specified value would be assigned for approval. The
bills whose total amount is less than or equal to the specified value would not require approval, and
would be ready for release once they are saved and taken off hold.

You can add as many conditions as you need.

9. In the Rule Type box (located above the Conditions pane), select All conditions are true, so that the
documents will be assigned to an approver only if all the specified conditions are true.
10.Click Save on the form toolbar.

By using the instructions above, you should create an approval map for each additional participant in the approval
process.
 Appendix | 28

Appendix
The appendix provides some reference information relevant for this document. The additional information in this
section is a useful source for readers who need some reference material that is related to system forms and tables,
as well as running reports.
In this section:
• Reports
• Form Toolbar
• Table Toolbar
• Glossary

Reports

In addition to offering a comprehensive collection of reports, Acumatica ERP gives you a high degree of control over
each report.
On a typical report form, described in Report Form, you can adjust the report settings to meet your specific
informational needs. You can specify sorting and filtering options and select the data by using report-specific
settings—such as financial period, ledger, and account—and configure additional processing settings for each
report. The settings can be saved as a report template for later use. For details, see To Run a Report and To Create a
Report Template.

Aer you run a report, the prepared report appears on your screen. You can print the report, export the report to a
file, or send the report by email.
This chapter describes a typical report form and the main tasks related to using reports.

In This Chapter
• Report Form
• To Run a Report
• To Modify a Filter on a Report Form
• To Create a Report Template

Report Form

Before you run a report, you set a variety of parameters on the report form. You can select a template or manually
make selections that affect the information collected. Also, you can specify appropriate settings to print or email
the finished report.
The following screenshot shows a typical report form.
 Appendix | 29

Figure: Parameters View of Report Form

1. Report Form Toolbar

2. Template Area
3. Details Area

Report Form Toolbar

The following table lists the buttons of the report form toolbar when you are configuring a report.

Button Description

Cancel Clears any changes you have made and restores default settings.

Run Report Initiates data collection for the report and displays the generated report.

Save Template Gives you the ability to save the currently selected report as a template with all the select-
ed settings.

Remove Tem- Removes the previously saved template.

plate
This button is available only when you select a template.

Schedule Tem- Opens the Select Schedule Name Dialog Box dialog box, which you can use to schedule re-
plate port processing.
This button is available only when you select a template.

Table: Select Schedule Name Dialog Box

Element Description

Schedule The schedule for report processing. Select an existing schedule, or leave the box blank
and click OK to open the Automation Schedules (SM205020) form to create a new sched-
ule for running the report. For more information on scheduling, see Automated Process-
ing: General Information in the Acumatica ERP System Administration Guide.
 Appendix | 30

Element Description

Merge Reports A check box that indicates (if selected) that this report will be merged with the other re-
ports selected for merging into one net report when processed.

You can check the reports that will be merged when processed on the Send
Reports (SM205060) form.

Merging Order The number of the report in the net report.

Report Toolbar
The following table lists the buttons of the toolbar aer you run the configured report.

Buttons Icon Description

Parameters   Navigates back to the report form to let you change the report parameters.

Refresh   Refreshes the information displayed in the report (if any data changes were made).

Groups   Adds to the report a le pane where the report structure is shown. Click a report node
to highlight the pertinent data in the right pane.

View PDF / Displays the report as a PDF, or displays the report in HTML format. The available but-
View HTML ton depends on the current report view; if you're viewing a PDF, for instance, you will
see the View HTML button.
/

First   Displays the first page of the report.

Previous   Displays the previous page.

Next   Displays the next page.

Last   Displays the last page of the report.

Print   Opens the browser dialog box so you can print the report.
 Appendix | 31

Buttons Icon Description

Send   Opens the Email Activity dialog box, which you use to send the report file (in the cho-
sen format) to the specified email address.

Export   Enables you to export the data in the chosen format (Excel or PDF).

Template Area
Use the elements in this area to select an existing template and then use the template, share it with other users, or
use it as your default report settings.
The Template area elements, which are available for all reports, are described in the following table.

Table: Template Area Elements

Element Description

Template The template to be used for the report. If any templates were created and saved, you can
select a template to use its settings for the report.

Default A check box that indicates (if selected) that the selected template is marked as the default
one for you. A default template cannot be shared.

Shared A check box that indicates (if selected) that the selected template is shared with other
users. A shared template cannot be marked as the default.

Locale A locale that you select to indicate to the system that the report should be prepared with
the data translated to the language associated with this locale. This box is displayed if
there are multiple active locales in the system. For details, see Locales and Languages.

Report Parameters Tab

The Report Parameters tab includes sections where you can specify the contents of the report depending on the
current report and vary in the following regards:
• How many elements and which elements are available on a particular report
• Whether elements contain default values
• Whether specific elements require values to be selected
• Whether elements may be le blank to let you display a broader range of data

Additional Sort and Filters Tab

The Additional Sort and Filter tab contains additional sorting and filtering conditions:
• Additional sorting conditions: Defines the sorting order. You can add a line, select one of the report-
specific properties, and select the Descending or Ascending sort order for the column.
• Additional filtering conditions: Defines the report filter. You can add a line, select one of the report-
specific properties, and define a condition and its value. The list of conditions include one-operand and
two-operand conditions. To create a more complicated logical expression, you can use brackets and logical
operations between brackets. For more information on creating filters, see Managing Advanced Filters. For
detailed procedures on using ad hoc filters, see Working with Reports: Process Activity.
 Appendix | 32

Print and Email Settings Tab

If you plan to print the report or save the report as a PDF, select the appropriate settings in the Print Settings area.

Table: Print Settings Section

Element Description

Deleted Records Selects the visibility of the data deleted from the database.

Print All Pages Causes all pages of the report to be printed.

Print in PDF format Displays the report in PDF format.

Compress PDF file Indicates that the system will generate a compressed PDF.

Embed fonts in PDF file Indicates that the system will generate the PDF with fonts embedded.

If you plan to send the report as an email, in the Email Settings area, specify the format in which the report will be
sent, as well as the email subject, the recipients of copies of the report, and the email account of the recipient.

Table: Email Settings Section

Field Description

Format The format (HTML, PDF, or Excel) in which the report will be emailed.

Merge function for reports in Excel format is not supported. If you want to
merge a report with other reports and send an aggregated report by email,
you should select either the HTML or PDF format for the report.

Email Account The email address of the recipient.

CC An additional addressee to receive a carbon copy (CC) of the email.

BCC The email address of a person to receive a blind carbon copy (BCC) of the email; an address
entered in this box will be hidden from other recipients.

Subject The subject of the email.

Report Versions Tab

If the report has multiple versions, you can select one of them.
This tab displays the data only to users assigned with report designer user role.
Report versions are designed in the Report Designer. To activate editing report versions, give the user report
designer role.

Table: Report Versions Tab Toolbar

Button Description

Refresh Refreshes the list of report versions.

 Appendix | 33

Button Description

Select Temporarily activates the selected report version.

Related Links
• To Run a Report
• To Create a Report Template
• Types of Filters
• Automation Schedule Statuses

Report

Once you click Run Report, the prepared report appears on your screen. You can print the report, export the report
to a file, or send the report by email.
The prepared report is displayed in the report view of the report form. For more information about setting up the
report parameters and the parameters view of the report form, see Report Form.

Report Toolbar
The following table lists report toolbar buttons.

Buttons Icon Description

Parameters   Navigates back to the report form to let you change the report parameters.

Refresh   Refreshes the information displayed in the report (if any data changes were made).

Groups   Adds to the report a le pane where the report structure is shown. Click a report node
to highlight the pertinent data in the right pane.

View PDF / Displays the report as a PDF, or displays the report in HTML format. The available but-
View HTML ton depends on the current report view; if you're viewing a PDF, for instance, you will
see the View HTML button.
/

First   Displays the first page of the report.

Previous   Displays the previous page.

 Appendix | 34

Buttons Icon Description

Next   Displays the next page.

Last   Displays the last page of the report.

Print   Opens the browser dialog box so you can print the report.

Send   Opens the Email Activity dialog box, which you use to send the report file (in the cho-
sen format) to the specified email address.

Export   Enables you to export the data in the chosen format (Excel or PDF).

Related Links
• Filters
• Report

Form Toolbar

The form toolbar, available on most forms, is located near the top of the form, under the form title (and subtitle, if
the form has one), as shown in the following screenshot.
The form toolbar includes the following:
• Standard buttons (see Item 1 in the following screenshot), with the particular set of buttons depending on
the specific form
• On some forms, form-specific buttons (Item 2)
• On some form, the More button (Item 3); clicking this button opens the More menu (Item 4), which contains
additional form-specific commands

Figure: The form toolbar and the More menu

 Appendix | 35

You use the standard buttons on the form toolbar to navigate through entities that were created by using the
current form, insert or delete an entity, use the clipboard, save the data you have entered, or cancel your work on
the form.
A form toolbar on a particular form may include form-specific buttons in addition to standard buttons; it may also
(or instead) include commands on the More menu. These form-specific buttons and commands provide navigation
to related forms, invoke specific actions, and perform modifications or processing related to the functionality of the
form.

Standard Form Toolbar Buttons

The following table lists the standard buttons of the form toolbar. A form toolbar may include some or all of these
buttons.

Table: Standard Form Toolbar Buttons

Button Icon Description

Discard Changes   Discards any unsaved changes made to the entity, and navigates to the list of
and Close records that is related to the current form.

If the system opened the current form in a pop-up window (from

a different form), this button is not displayed. To return to the
original form, click Close.

Save & Close   Saves the changes made to the entity, and navigates to the list of records that
is related to the current form.

Save   Saves the changes made to the entity.

Cancel   Depending on the context, does one of the following:

• Discards any unsaved changes you have made to entities and retrieves the
last saved version.
• Clears all changes and restores the default settings.

Add New Record   Clears any values you've specified on the form, restores any default values,
and initiates the creation of a new entity.

Delete   Deletes the currently selected entity, clears any values you have specified on
the form, and populates elements with the default values that the system in-
serts when a new entity is created.

You can delete an entity only if it is not linked with another enti-
ty.
 Appendix | 36

Button Icon Description

Clipboard   Provides menu commands you can use to do the following:

• Copy: Copy the selected entity to the clipboard.
• Paste: Paste an entity or template from the clipboard.
• Save as Template: Create a template based on the selected entity.
• Import from XML: Import an entity or a template from an .xml file.
• Export to XML: Export the selected entity to an .xml file.
For more information on templates and copy-and-paste operations in
Acumatica ERP, see Using Forms. For more information on importing and ex-
porting .xml files, see Importing and Exporting Data to Excel and XML in the
Acumatica ERP User Guide.

Go to First Record   Displays the first entity (in the list of entities of the specific type) and its de-
tails.

Go to Previous   Displays the previous entity and its details.

Record

Go to Next Record   Displays the next entity and its details.

Go to Last Record   Displays the last entity (in the list of entities of the specific type) and its de-
tails.

View Schedule   Gives you the ability to schedule the processing. For more information, see
Automated Processing: General Information.

Inquiry Form Toolbar Buttons

Acumatica ERP inquiry forms present data in a tabular format; they may also have selection criteria you can use
to filter the data in the table. Predefined inquiry forms are provided as part of Acumatica ERP out of the box, and
inquiry forms can be designed by a user with the appropriate access rights by using the Generic Inquiry tool (for
details, see Managing Generic Inquiries in the Acumatica ERP Reporting Tools Guide). A form toolbar of an inquiry
form contains both the standard form toolbar buttons (described in the table above) and the additional buttons
described below.

Button Icon Description

Refresh   Refreshes the inquiry data in the table.

Cancel   Clears all changes (including selection criteria that has been specified, if the
generic inquiry form has this criteria) and restores the default settings.
 Appendix | 37

Button Icon Description

Add New Record   Initiates the creation of a new entity.

Edit   Opens the applicable data entry form with the selected record.

Fit to Screen   Expands the form to fit on the screen and adjusts the column widths propor-
tionally.

Export to Excel   Exports the data to an Excel file. For more information, see Integration with Ex-
cel in the Acumatica ERP Getting Started Guide.

Filter Settings   Opens the Filter Settings dialog box, which you can use to define a new filter.
After the filter has been created and saved, the corresponding tab appears on
the table. For more information about filtering, see Filters.

The More Menu and Form-Specific Buttons

If there are multiple form-specific commands on the form toolbar, they are displayed on a single menu—the More
menu—and listed under descriptive categories, which makes it easier to find the needed menu command. On the
More menu, you can easily define your favorite menu commands, which eases access to them.
On some forms, the system places a button (which is highlighted in green) on the form toolbar for the expected next
command, which represents the likely next step to be performed on the selected record. The following screenshot,
which shows the Cash Transactions (CA304000) form, illustrates an example of the form toolbar and the More menu,
which contains categories and menu commands.

Figure: The form toolbar of the Transactions form

The numbered items in the screenshot indicate the following:

1. A highlighted button for the expected next command, which represents the next logical step to be
performed on the record selected on the form
2. Another button for a command that is commonly performed on the form
3. The More button, which you click to open the More menu
 Appendix | 38

4. The More menu with most form-specific menu commands and descriptive categories on it
5. The star icon, which is used to mark the individual user's favorite commands on the form
6. An unavailable command

Favorite Commands
Based on your role in the company and your job duties, you may use some commands more oen than others.
On the form toolbar, you can specify these commands as favorites. This will cause the system to duplicate the
commands as form toolbar buttons, easing access to them.
To add a command to the form toolbar as a button, you open the More menu, hover over the needed command,
and click the star icon when it appears. The yellow color of the star indicates that the command has been added
to your favorites, and a button for the command appears on the form toolbar immediately. The following example
shows two commands that have been added to the user's favorites on the Invoices and Memos (AR301000) form
and thus added as buttons on the form toolbar.

Figure: Favorite commands on the More menu and the corresponding toolbar buttons

Favorites are individual to each user account, specific to a particular form, and preserved across user sessions.

Highlighted Buttons and Commands

On some forms, the system applies predefined logic to commands for specific records. Based on this logic, the
system may place a button on the form toolbar, highlight it using some color, or do both of these things.
If a command is the expected next command (that is, the command that is most likely to be clicked for a record
with the current status), it is shown both on the form toolbar and on the More menu. The primary command on the
form toolbar is highlighted in green (see Item 1 in the following screenshot), and on the More menu, it is marked
with a green dot (Item 2). Below is an example of a cash transaction on the Cash Transactions (CA304000) form that
has the On Hold status (Item 3). Before you can process it, you need to remove it from hold. Because Remove Hold
is the next logical command, it is displayed as a button on the form toolbar and highlighted in green.
 Appendix | 39

Figure: The highlighted command and the corresponding status

Unavailable Commands on the More Menu

By default, on the More menu, the system displays all commands that could be available for the form, based on the
system configuration. Some of these commands may be unavailable (that is, they are listed but cannot be clicked).
These are the commands that are not applicable to the record based on its current status or other factors.

The Responsive Form Toolbar and More Menu

The form toolbar and the More menu have a responsive layout, meaning that they dynamically adjust to different
screen sizes. When there is enough space, buttons for highlighted and favorite commands are displayed on the
form toolbar. When the screen size decreases, the system moves the commands off the form toolbar one by one but
keeps them on the More menu.
If there are multiple categories on the More menu, the categories and menu commands can be displayed in
multiple columns on the More menu, depending on the screen size and the number of categories. When the
screen size decreases, the system moves some categories and menu commands to the le to decrease the number
of columns, and in the screens of the smallest size, all categories are displayed in one column. Below are two
examples of the same menu in different screen sizes for a record on the Bills and Adjustments (AP301000) form.
 Appendix | 40

Figure: The form toolbar and More menu on a wide screen

Figure: The form toolbar and More menu on a narrow screen

 Appendix | 41

Related Links
• Integration with Excel
• To Copy a Document Contents to a New Document
• To Create a Document with a Template

Table Toolbar

Each table on an Acumatica ERP form, tab, dialog box, or page has a table toolbar, which contains the buttons
you can use to work with the details or objects of the table. A toolbar, shown in the following screenshot, includes
buttons that are specific to the table, standard buttons that most table toolbars have, and the search box (for some
tables; for others, the search box is displayed in the filtering area).

Figure: Table toolbar

Standard Table Toolbar Buttons

The following table describes the standard table toolbar buttons. A table toolbar may include some or all of those
buttons. If a table toolbar includes table-specific buttons, they are described in the reference help topic.

Button Icon Description

Refresh   Refreshes the data in the table.

Switch Between   Controls how the elements are displayed: in a table (grid) with rows and columns;
Grid and Form or as separately arranged elements for one table row, with navigation tools you use
to move between row data.

Add Row   Appends a new row to the table so you can define a new detail or object. The new
row may contain some default values.

Delete Row   Deletes the selected row.

 Appendix | 42

Button Icon Description

Move Row Up   Moves the selected row one position up.

Move Row Down   Moves the selected row one position down.

Fit to Screen   Adjusts the table to the screen width and makes the column width proportional.

Export to Excel   Exports the data in the table to an Excel file. For more information, see Integration
with Excel in the Acumatica ERP Getting Started Guide.

Filter Settings   Opens the Filter Settings dialog box, which you can use to define a new advanced
filter. After you create and save the filter, the corresponding tab appears on the ta-
ble.
For more information about filtering, see Filters. For details on the Filter Settings
dialog box, see Filter Settings Dialog Box.

Load Records   Opens the File Upload dialog box, described in detail below, so you can locate and
from File upload a local file for import. You can use this option to import data from an Excel
spreadsheet (.xlsx) or .csv file. For the detailed procedure, see To Import Data
from a Local File to a Table.

Search   A box in which you can type a word, part of a word, or multiple words. As you type,
the system filters the contents of the table to display only rows that contain the
string you have typed in any column.

Download   Downloads the selected file.

File Upload Dialog Box

With the File Upload dialog box, you select a file of one of the supported formats (.csv or .xlsx) to import data
from the file.

Element Description

File Path The path to the file you want to upload.

To select the file, click Browse, and then find and select the file you want to upload.

The dialog box has the following button.

Upload Closes the dialog box and opens the Common Settings dialog box, where you specify the
import settings.
 Appendix | 43

Common Settings Dialog Box

In the Common Settings dialog box, which opens if you click Upload in the File Upload dialog box, you specify the
import settings for a file that you has selected in the File Upload dialog box.

Element Description

Separator Chars The character that is used as the separator in the imported file.
By default, the comma is used as the separator. You specify the separator character if the
imported file uses any other separator.
This box appears only if you import data from a .csv file.

Null Value Optional. The value that is used to mark an empty column in the imported file. You speci-
fy the null value if the value in the imported file differs from the empty string.

Encoding The encoding that is used in the imported file.

This box appears only if you import data from a .csv file.

Culture The regional format that has been used to display the time, currency, and other measure-
ments in the imported file.

Mode The mode defining which rows of the uploaded file will be imported into the table. The
following options are available:
• Update Existing: The rows already present in the table will be updated, and the rows
not present in the table will be added.
• Bypass Existing: Only the new rows that are not present in the table will be imported.
The rows that are already present in the table will not be updated.
• Insert All Records: All the rows from the file will be imported into the table.

If you select this option, you may get duplicated rows because the sys-
tem won't check for duplicates when importing rows from the file.

The dialog box has the following buttons.

OK Closes the dialog box and opens the Columns dialog box.

Cancel Closes the dialog box without importing the data from the file.

Columns Dialog Box

In the Columns dialog box, which opens if you click OK in the Common Settings dialog box, you match the
columns in the imported file that you have selected in the File Upload dialog box to the columns in the Acumatica
ERP table to which you are importing data.

Element Description

Column Name The name of the column in the uploaded file.

Property Name The name of the corresponding column in the table in Acumatica ERP.
 Appendix | 44

Element Description

The dialog box has the following buttons.

OK Closes the dialog box and imports the selected file.

Cancel Closes the dialog box without importing the data from the file.

Related Links
• Tables
• Integration with Excel
• To Import Data from a Local File to a Table