Approval Flow
Written by Michelle Henley
Updated at April 3rd, 2024
Table of Contents
Use Case
Each request submitted in the application can be routed for a series of approvals. Approval workflow helps organization identify the approvers that should review a request before it is fully approved.
Click here for more information on an Approval Flow and how it works once it's configured.
Things to Know
- The Approval workflow is sequential in nature. i.e. The workflow proceeds from first approver to the next and so on. An approver can not take action until the predecessor approver has approved the request.
- Each request type in the system can have it's own approval workflow logic.
- Approver Groups are triggered as part of the approval workflow logic. An Approver is identified in each approver group (pre-populated or manually selected by the submitter).
- Approval workflow is calculated at the time of the submission of the request. An approver within an approver group can not add or remove an approver group from the approval workflow for a request.
- System can add or remove approver groups from the approval workflow at the time of re-submission of the request, if some of the conditions that trigger an approver group are satisfied.
- The Approval workflow for a request ends if one of the approver rejects the request or the activity.
- Only one approver can be selected in a single approver group. An approver must be selected for all approver groups that are triggered as part of the Approval workflow.
- There is no limit on number of approver groups that can be triggered as part of the Approval workflow.
Configurations
Please note the following:
Not all conditions below can be combined together for a single approver group. Final configuration on the approval group will be provided by our Implementation Team after reviewing the first draft of the approval workflow and consulting with our Engineering Team.
All tenant configurations are implemented in our “back-end” by Lextegrity’s Onboarding Engineers. As a result, once implemented your configurations cannot be modified through the UI and will require a developer support to make the change. In order to avoid onboarding delays, please involve all internal stakeholders and take your time when making configuration decisions.
Approval Workflow
Basic Workflow
Multi-Recipient workflow configurations:
- Approval workflow for the activity and each recipient are the same. i.e. the same approver groups are triggered on the activity and all the recipients within the request.
- Activity and recipient workflow starts together. i.e. an approver approves the activity and can then approve all the recipients.
- When an activity or a recipient is updated by the submitter or if an approver requests for more information, then after re-submission, the workflow starts at the current approver and not from the beginning.
Single-Recipient or No Recipient workflow configurations:
- Approver groups are triggered on the overall request.
- When a request is updated by the submitter or if an approver requests for more information, then after re-submission, the workflow starts at the current approver and not from the beginning.
Advanced Workflow
Multi-Recipient workflow configurations:
- Approval workflow for the activity and each recipient are different. i.e. same approver groups that are triggered on the activity can be triggered on the recipients and/or recipients and activity can have different approver groups triggered within the request.
- The recipient workflow can be configured to start after the activity is fully approved. Note: This is mainly used to ensure that the activity is fully approved before a recipient can be fully approved in cases where activity and recipient workflows are different.
- When an activity or a recipient is updated by the submitter or if an approver requests for more information, then after re-submission, the workflow can start from the beginning. i.e. all the approvers must review and approve the updated information in the request.
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There are different conditions under which a recipient and/or an activity can be recorded in the application. i.e. there is no approval needed and the request is only recorded in the application.
- Recipients can be recorded in the application if the amount of support provided is less than $50 USD.
- Activity can be recorded as well if all recipients in the request are recorded and there is no required approver groups.
Single-Recipient or No Recipient workflow configurations:
- Approver groups are triggered on the overall request.
- When an activity or a recipient is updated by the submitter or if an approver requests for more information, then after re-submission, the workflow can start from the beginning. i.e. all the approvers must review and approve the updated information in the request.
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There are different conditions under which a request can be recorded in the application. i.e. there is no approval needed and the request is only recorded in the application.
- Request can be recorded if the amount of funding is less than $1000 USD.
Approver Group Triggers
Default Triggers
Multi-Recipient request triggers:
| Activity-Level Trigger | Description |
|---|---|
| Always Required | An approver group can be always triggered on the activity, regardless of any conditions. |
| Recipient-Level Trigger | Description |
|---|---|
| Always Required | An approver group can be always triggered on all recipients, regardless of any conditions. |
Single-Recipient or No Recipient request triggers
| Activity-Level Trigger | Description |
|---|---|
| Always Required | An approver group is always triggered on the request, regardless of any conditions |
Basic Triggers
Multi-Recipient request triggers:
| Activity-Level Trigger | Description |
|---|---|
| Always Required | An approver group can be always triggered on the activity, regardless of any conditions. |
| Total Request Amount | An approver group can be triggered on the activity if the total amount of support for a request exceeds certain threshold. e.g. trigger Compliance approver group on the activity if the total amount of support for a Gift, Travel or Hospitality request is greater or equal to $20,000 USD. |
| Recipient-Level Trigger | Description |
|---|---|
| Always Required | An approver group can be always triggered on all recipients, regardless of any conditions. |
| Total Request Amount | An approver group can be triggered on all recipients if the total amount of support for a request exceeds certain threshold. e.g. trigger Compliance approver group if the total amount of support for a Gift, Travel or Hospitality request is greater or equal to $20,000 USD. |
Single-Recipient or No Recipient request triggers:
| Activity-Level Trigger | Description |
|---|---|
| Always Required | An approver group is always triggered on the request, regardless of any conditions |
Advanced Triggers
Multi-Recipient request triggers:
| Activity-Level Trigger | Description |
|---|---|
| Response to a Question | An approver group can be triggered on the activity based on response to a question within the activity. e.g. trigger Compliance approver group if yes is answered to question “Did the request involve providing gift to a family member of an employee?" |
| Activity type | An approver group can be triggered on the activity based on the type of Activity. e.g. trigger Compliance approver group if “Advisory Board” is selected for the question "Engagement Type:". |
| HR Data Attributes | An approver group can be triggered on the activity based on HR data attributes. e.g. Compliance (LSG) approver group if submitter's department is LSG in HR data. |
| Recipient-Level Trigger | Description |
|---|---|
| Response to a Question | An approver group can be triggered on a recipient based on response to a question within the recipient section. e.g. trigger Compliance approver group if yes is answered to question “Is recipient an investigator?" |
| Screening | An approver group can be triggered on a recipient if there are potential screening hits for that recipient. |
| Aggregate Spend | An approver group can be triggered on a recipient if the amount of support that recipient has received in a specific request type and over a specified period, exceeds the set threshold spend. e.g. trigger Compliance approver group if the recipient has received move that $10,000 USD in Gift, Travel or Hospitality request over a period of year or trigger Compliance approver group if the recipient has received more than $2,000 USD for Accommodation support in a Gift, Travel or Hospitality request over a period of year. |
| Aggregate Count | An approver group can be triggered on a recipient if the count of support that recipient has received in a specific request type and over a specified period, exceeds the threshold count. e.g. trigger Compliance approver group if the recipient has been added to a Gift, Travel or Hospitality request for more than 3 times over a period of year or trigger Compliance approver group if the recipient has received Accommodation support more than 3 times in a Gift, Travel or Hospitality request over a period of year. |
| Type of Support | An approver group can be triggered on a recipient if a specific type of support is being provided in the request. e.g. trigger Compliance approver group if Gift is being provided to a recipient in a Gift, Travel or Hospitality request. |
| Recipient Type | An approver group can be triggered on a recipient based on the type of recipient. e.g. trigger Compliance approver group if recipient type is a Government Official. |
| Recipient Country | An approver group can be triggered on a recipient based on the country of the recipient e.g. trigger Local Compliance (France) approver group if the country of recipient is France. |
| Cross Border | An approver group can be triggered on a recipient if it is a cross border engagement e.g. trigger Local Compliance approver group if the country of recipient is not equal to the country of the submitter. |
| HR Data Attributes | An approver group can be triggered on a recipient based on HR data attributes. e.g. Compliance (LSG) approver group if submitter's department is LSG in HR data. |
| Support Limit | An approver group can be triggered on a recipient if the amount that they are receiving for a specific support category exceeds the limit. |
Single-Recipient or No Recipient request triggers:
| Triggers | Description |
|---|---|
| Response to a Question | An approver group can be triggered on the request based on response to a question. e.g. trigger Compliance approver group if yes is answered to question “Did the request involve providing gift to a family member of an employee?" |
| Screening | An approver group can be triggered on the request if there are potential screening hits for that recipient. |
| Activity/ Conflict type | An approver group can be triggered on the request based on the type of activity. e.g. trigger Compliance approver group if “Donation” is selected for the question "Funding Type:". |
| HR Data Attributes | An approver group can be triggered on the request based on HR data attributes. e.g. Compliance (LSG) approver group if submitter's department is LSG in HR data. |
| Aggregate Spend | An approver group can be triggered on the request if the amount of support that the recipient has received in a specific request type and over a specified period, exceeds the threshold. e.g. trigger Compliance approver group if the recipient has received move that $10,000 USD in External Funding request over a period of year. |
| Aggregate Count | An approver group can be triggered on the request if the count of support that the recipient has received in a specific request type and over a specified period, exceeds the threshold. e.g. trigger Compliance approver group if the recipient has been added to an External Funding request more than 3 times over a period of year |
| Support Limit | An approver group can be triggered on a recipient if the amount that they are receiving for a specific support category exceeds the limit. |
Approver Selection Configurations
Default Configuration
Search and Select
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Allows the submitter to select an approver from a predefined list in each approver group at the time of submission.
- The list of approvers in each group is maintained by the tenant through User Management.
- A predefined list of approvers by specific country, department, etc. can be hyperlinked in the Approver Confirmation Modal, giving submitter guidance to select the right approver.
Basic Configuration
Pre-selected as only option
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Approvers can be pre-selected by only having one approver assigned to a single approver group. In such cases, that single approver always gets pre-selected whenever the corresponding approver group is triggered.
- Mainly used in instances where there are regional approvers needed. e.g. assigning only John Dow to Compliance - LATAM approver group.
Advanced Configuration
Pre-populated via HR data
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Approvers can be pre-populated in an approver group by looking at the HR data attributes.
- Manager - allows tenants to leverage their HR data so that the system will automatically assign the submitter’s manager as an approver.
- HR Manager - allows tenants to leverage their HR data so that the system will automatically assign the submitter’s manager as an approver.
- Mapped to an approver group, requests are pre-filled with the approver upon submission
- Assigned to an approver group, submitters can choose an approver from the assigned users upon submission of the request.
Helpful Links
- Re-evaluate Approvers Upon Resubmission
- Approver Collaboration
- Automated Approver Collaborators
- Approver Flow