Concur Invoice Standard Edition Administration Help

Purchase Request - Approval Routing

On the Approval Routing page you can select the process that purchase requests go through for approvals. You can choose between several routing possibilities, depending on your company's needs. You can also select whether managers and employees can add more approvers to the process. When the purchase request is given the final approval, it is ready to be exported and paid.

Understanding the routing options

If you select Processor, you will use the easiest approval routing option. The invoice will go from the employee to the processor for approval on the Process Invoices page. The processor-only option will be the default setting. For smaller businesses, this option may be preferred because it removes a duplicate approval process.

If you select Manager > Processor, the purchase request will go from the employee to their manager for approval, then to the processor for approval on the Process Requests page.

Required configuration for the Manager > Processor option:  Each employee must have a manager selected in the Manager field on the User Information page.

If you select Manager > AuthorizedApprover > Processor, you will subsequently set limits per approver on the purchase request amounts that they can approve on the User Information page. The purchase request will go from the employee to their manager. If their manager does not have a sufficient approval limit, then the manager will be prompted to select an additional approver from a list of users who have a sufficient approval limit. From the authorized approver, the purchase request will go to the processor for approval on the Process Requests page.

Required configuration for the Manager > Authorized Approver > Processor option:

  • Each employee must have a manager selected in the Manager field on the User Information page.

  • Each manager must have an approval limit entered in the Authorized Limit Approval field on the User Information page.

If you select Manager > Manager's Manager (up to 5 levels) > Processor, the purchase request will go from the employee to their manager for approval. If the submitter's manager has a sufficient approval limit, then the purchase request will go to the processor for approval on the Process Requests page (just like the option Manager > Processor.) If the employee's manager lacks a sufficient approval limit, the purchase request will go to the Manager's Manager, and so on up to a total of five managers if necessary, until a manager with sufficient approval limit allows the purchase request to go to the processor for approval on the Process Requests page.

Required configuration for the Manager > Manager's Manager (up to 5 levels) > Processor option:

  • Each employee must have a manager selected in the Manager field on the User Information page.

  • Each manager must have an amount entered in the Authorized Limit Approval field on the User Information page. Make sure that the final manager has a very high approval limit so that all purchase requests can be successfully approved.  Also ensure that at least one other manager has a very high approval limit so that purchase requests submitted by the final manager can be successfully approved. Remember that no one can approve their own purchase requests.

If you select the Include Budget Approver option, a budget approval step will be added to the approval routing options on the Approval Routing page. The budget approval step will be placed before the processor step. Once you have included budget approval, the Manage Approvers (optional) tab appears on the Add Budget Item page where you can add approvers.

To define your purchase request routing option, select (enable) the check box for the desired purchase request approval routing option.

Understanding the approval expiration setting

You can configure the number of days after which a purchase request waiting for approval is automatically routed to an approving manager by selecting (enabling) and configuring the Set Pending Approval expiration and route to manger after (in days) setting. The setting is selected (enabled) by default and the default expiration interval is 10 days.

If an approver does not approve a purchase request before the expiration interval elapses, the system forwards the purchase request to the next approver in the approval workflow.

If the setting is cleared (disabled), the purchase request remains in the pending approver’s queue.

When selected (enabled), this setting allows the system to take the following actions:

  • When the purchase request enters the Pending Approval workflow step for the approver, the system begins timing the approver.

  • If the expiration interval elapses, the system automatically reassigns the affected purchase request to the approver's manager and resets the timer. If the interval elapses again, the system forwards the purchase request to the next approver or to the processor.

Understanding the additional approvers options

You have the option of choosing whether managers and employees can add more approvers to the purchase request approval route. If you select either option, the manager or employee will see a button after approving or submitting that lets them select another approver. The approver they select will be added to the approval route after them, then the request will continue on the existing path. The additional approver does not replace the standard approvers.

To allow managers and/or employees to add approvers, select the relevant check box.

Understanding the recall option

You have the option of allowing employees to recall a submitted purchase request at any time prior to an approver approving the request.

When a purchase request is recalled, the following actions can be taken by the employee:

  • Edit and resubmit the purchase request.

  • Delete the purchase request.

When a purchase request is recalled, the following actions are taken by the system:

  • An entry is written to the audit trail showing the action on the purchase request as Request Recall.

  • The name of the user recalling the purchase request is displayed in the Status column of the Pending Requests page.

  • The workflow is reset.

To allow employees to recall submitted purchase requests, leave the check box selected (enabled).

Understanding the automatic transmittal of purchase orders

You have the option of removing a workflow step in the purchase order process. Concur Invoice will then transmit purchase orders from the processed purchase request directly to the supplier.

To allow remove a workflow step in the purchase order process and thereby automatically transmit the purchase order, leave the check box selected (enabled).