Working with approvals

Many documents need a manager's approval before they post. The Approvals area is where you act on those documents. It is near the top of the menu. Everyone who signs in can open it.

The rules for who approves what are set by an administrator in a Workflow Template. This page shows the screens. For the rules, see Workflows and approvals.

What "Awaiting Approval" means

When you submit a document, its status changes to Awaiting Approval. It means the document is with an approver and is waiting on a decision. You wait for the decision. For an expense, the document is locked until it is approved or recalled.

The document then moves on.

• Approved: the document continues to its next stage. Some documents then need a further action, for example posting.
• Rejected: the approver gives a reason. You can see it on the approval page.
• Returned for clarification: the approver asked you a question. You answer it, and the approval continues.

See Document numbers and statuses for the usual status words.

My Approvals

Select Approvals, then My Approvals. The page shows "Documents waiting on your approval across all modules."

The summary cards

Filters

The table

Winlium sets a due time when a task is assigned. Unless the step says otherwise, it is 24 hours later. A reminder, titled "Reminder: approval pending", goes to you after 8 hours unless the step sets another time.

Act on one document

1. Open the row menu

   Select the three dots at the end of the row. The menu shows Approve, Request Clarification, Reject, Delegate and Open Document. The first four show only for tasks still waiting on you.

2. Choose an action

   Select the action. A box opens. Its title is the action and the document number, for example "Approve — PO-0001" (an example). Under it you see the document type and the step.

3. Add a comment

   Type a note in Comment. It is optional for Approve and Delegate, and required for Reject and Request Clarification.

4. Confirm

   Select the confirm button: Approve, Reject, Send Request or Delegate. Winlium shows "Task approved", "Task rejected", "Clarification requested" or "Task delegated".

Act on several documents

1. Tick the rows

   Tick the box at the start of each row you want. Only rows still pending can be ticked. The box in the heading ticks all pending rows.

2. Choose Bulk Approve or Bulk Reject

   A count such as "3 selected" appears with the buttons Bulk Approve and Bulk Reject. Select one.

3. Add a comment

   The box is titled for example "Bulk Approve — 3 tasks". It says "This action will be applied to all selected tasks. A single comment is used for each." A comment is required for reject.

4. Confirm

   Select the confirm button, for example Approve 3. Winlium shows "3 tasks approved".

Empty and error states

Why an action can fail

The approval page for one document

Select Open Document on a row, or select an approval notification. The page opens with a Back button.

The top card shows:

• The document number, its type and description, and "Submitted by" with the person and the time.
• The current step, for example "Step 1 of 2 — Finance review".
• A status badge: PENDING, APPROVED, REJECTED, CANCELLED, RETURNED FOR CLARIFICATION or RECALLED.
• The amount, when the document has one.
• For a requisition, RFQ or purchase order, extra detail about the document.
• After a rejection, a red note: "Rejected:" and the reason.
• After a clarification request, a purple note: "Clarification requested:" and the question.

Below it, Approval Progress lists every step, in order.

Approval History lists every event in order, for example submitted, task assigned, approved, rejected, delegated, recalled and completed. Each line shows who did it, any comment, and when. With none it says "No history yet."

If a task is waiting on you

A comment box and three buttons show: Approve, Request Clarification and Reject. The comment is required for the last two. Winlium shows "Please provide a comment" if you leave it empty, then "Submitting…" and "Done".

If you submitted the document

1. Answer a question

   When the status is RETURNED FOR CLARIFICATION, type your answer in the box, then select Submit Clarification. Winlium shows "Please provide your clarification" if the box is empty, and "Clarification submitted" when it works. The approval carries on.

2. Take the document back

   While the status is PENDING and no approver has acted yet, select Recall. Winlium shows "Recalled". The tasks are cancelled and the approvers are told. You can then change the document.

On the Expense form, a Recall button sits on the form itself while the expense is Awaiting Approval.

Outstanding Work

Select Approvals, then Outstanding Work. The page says "Documents part-way through a process and waiting on a next step." It lists work that is not an approval, for example a delivery that still has to be processed or a requisition that still needs an RFQ.

• The page first shows only work you can do. A line says, for example, "5 actions outstanding".
• Select Show everything to also see work for other people. The button shows how many more, for example "Show everything (12 more)". Select Show only mine to go back.
• Work is grouped by the action needed, for example "Process Delivery Order". A number badge shows how many documents are in the group. Select a group to open it.
• Each row shows the document number and its type. When a step covers several items it says, for example, "2 of 5 remaining".
• Select View to go to the screen where you do the work.
• A row you cannot act on shows a padlock and the role that can. Hover to read "Requires" and that role, then "— you don't hold this permission."
• A row can say "No screen is wired up for this step yet." Open the document from its own list instead.

On a document's own page, a "What's next" panel shows what the document still needs. It shows "This transaction is complete" when nothing is left.

My Delegations

Use a delegation when you will be away. While it is active, new approvals that would come to you go to your delegate instead.

Select Approvals, then My Delegations. The page is titled Approval Delegations. It says "Hand off your approvals when you're away, and see whose approvals you're covering."

Create a delegation

1. Start

   Select New Delegation. The box Delegate my approvals opens. It says "While you're away, approvals assigned to you are routed to your delegate for the period below."

2. Choose the delegate

   Open Delegate to and pick a colleague. The list shows name and email. It leaves out yourself and users who are not active.

3. Set the dates

   Choose Start date and End date.

4. Choose document types

   Optionally pick one or more types in Document types (leave empty for all). Leave it empty to cover every type.

5. Add a reason

   Optionally type a Reason, for example "Annual leave".

6. Create

   Select Create. Winlium shows "Creating delegation…" then "Delegation created". Select Cancel to close without saving.

How a delegation works:

• It applies to approvals that are created while the delegation is active. The date must fall between the start date and the end date, and the document type must match.
• It does not move approvals that were already waiting on you. Hand those over with Delegate in My Approvals, or approve them yourself.
• The delegate sees the task in their own My Approvals. The task notes that it was delegated from you.

Read the two tabs

The page has two tabs.

Columns: Delegate or Delegator, Period, Document Types (or "All"), Reason, Status (Active or Inactive) and Actions.

End a delegation

In My Delegations, select Deactivate on the row. Winlium shows "Deactivating…" then "Delegation deactivated". The status becomes Inactive. From then on, new approvals come to you again. A row that is already inactive shows a dash. The screen has no button to switch an inactive delegation back on. Create a new one instead.

With none, the tab says "No delegations."

Notifications about approvals

Winlium tells you in the bell and on the Notifications page. Each title starts with one of these words, then the document number.

Select the notification to go to the approval page. See Navigating the app.