Chapter 7: Approve Documents

CHAPTER 7: APPROVE DOCUMENTS

Objectives
The objectives are:

• Outline the design concepts of the document approvals system.

• Request approval of a document.
• Receive an approval notification.
• Delegate approvals to substitute approvers.

Introduction
Document approvals functionality is important in case a business document
represented in the ERP system needs approval from another person in the
company.

The sales and purchase document approval system in Microsoft Dynamics® NAV
2009 automatically intervenes with required approval steps according to the
approval rules and approver hierarchy that is set up.

Requests for approval and granted approvals are communicated between users by
e-mail notifications that contain links to dedicated windows listing approval
entries and approval request entries. The actual approval actions are performed in
these windows.

NOTE: The approvals workflow is based on user IDs logged in to the database.
As the Cronus demonstration database used for training has no database logins,
the demonstrations do not include data, and the different approval actions are
simulated with screenshots.

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Overview
The approvals functionality for purchase and sales documents consists of a
closed workflow system that is governed by the following setup elements:

• Approval templates – define approval rules for specific documents

• Approval user setup – defines the hierarchy of users and approval
limits

For detailed information on working with these windows and other aspects of
setting up the document approvals system, refer to the "Application Setup in
Microsoft Dynamics® NAV 2009" course.

Demonstration – Request Approval of a Document

The first step in the approval process is to submit a document for approval.
Depending on the roles in the company, this can be done directly by the user of
the document, such as a purchasing agent about to post a purchase invoice.

The functionality demonstrated in the following also applies to all other purchase
documents and all sales documents.

Scenario: As the purchasing agent at Cronus, you are about to create a new
purchase order that requires approval of your manager because it exceeds your
purchase amount limit.

Follow these steps to request the approval of a purchase order:

1. Click Departments > Purchase > Order Processing > Lists >
Purchase Orders.
2. Double-click on Purchase Order 106014 (Beschläge Schacherhuber).

Note that the Status field on the purchase order is Open.

The value in the Line Amount Excl. VAT field is over the amount
that you are allowed to purchase for without approval, according to
the approval user setup and the approval template for purchase
orders.

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3. Go to Actions > Functions > Send Approval Request.

FIGURE 7.1 REQUESTING APPROVAL OF A PURCHASE ORDER.

If the approval request was wrong, you can undo it by clicking

Cancel Approval Request in the same menu.

A request for approval is now sent to your manager (the assigned

approver) in the form of an e-mail notification and an entry in the
Approval Request Entries window on the approver's menu.

The Status field on the purchase order shows Pending Approval.

If changes are made to the order after it has been sent for approval, it
has to be re-approved.

Note that approval templates and approval user set up needs to be enabled before
using the approval process in Microsoft Dynamics 2009. Otherwise, a warning
message will appear. In the demo data, approval templates and approval user set
up are not defined.

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E-Mail Notifications
The approval process is often initiated by an e-mail notification sent to the
responsible manager, sales, or purchase contact person. This notification can be
customized by the approvals administrator to suit users' needs.

The e-mail notification contains information about the person who sent the
approval request, as well as details about the:

• Amount
• Due date
• Customer or vendor

E-mails about cancellation or rejection or approval requests look similar and

contains similar information.

From the e-mail notification there is a link to the program. When the approver
clicks on the link, Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 opens the Approval Entries
window, and from there, the approver can approve the document in question and
view other outstanding approvals.

Substitute Approvers
Substitute approvers can be set up for approvers in the Approval User Setup
window to maintain the flow of business documents even if approvers are out of
the office.

Approvers can delegate their own approval task to another user before the
approval is due for completion. The action is performed with the Delegate
Button.

Alternatively, the approvals administrator can perform batch delegation to

specified substitute approvers as a part of the maintenance routine. This
delegation batch job can be set to run regularly, or the administrator can decide to
run it based on critical dates for pending or overdue approval entries in the
Approval Request Entries window.

Check for Overdue approvals

An approval can become overdue when it is not approved before the specified
due date. Users can find overdue entries from the Approval Entries window by
clicking the Show > Overdue Entries.

In the Approval Entries window, the overdue approvals are indicated by a

yellow triangle. The user can approve documents as usual by clicking the
Approve button. If the e-mail notification system is used, the user will also
receive notification if an approval is overdue.

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Summary
The sales and purchase document approval system can be used for all purchase
and sales documents that need approval of another person in the company.

The simplest and most common use of the system is when a purchaser must have
approval to create a purchase order with an amount over a certain limit. More
advanced uses include situations where different amount limits are set up for
different management levels in a hierarchy, and substitute approvers are added.

A separate set of windows and functions are provided for the approvals
administrator, where the approvals system is set up and maintained. This setup
and maintenance are described in the "Application Setup in Microsoft Dynamics®
NAV 2009" course.

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Quick Interaction: Lessons Learned

Take a moment and write down three key points you have learned from this
chapter

1.

2.

3.

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