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.
6. On the Rules pane (to the right of the tree pane), specify an approver as follows:
   1. On the pane toolbar, click Add Row.
   2. In the Type column, select Assign.
   3. In the Name column, type a description of the approval stage (for example, Approve by Accountant).
   4. In the Workgroup column, select the workgroup that includes the employee responsible for approving AP documents in the first stage.
   5. 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.
      Note: 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:
   1. On the toolbar of the Conditions pane, click Add Row.
   2. In the Entity column, select Document.
   3. In the Field Name column, select Approval Workgroup ID.
   4. In the Condition column, select Is Empty.
      Note: For the first stage of a multistage approval process, you must always specify the Approval Workgroup ID parameter as Is Empty.
   5. On the toolbar, click Add Row to add the second row and specify the second condition.
      Note: 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.
   6. In the Entity column, select Document.
   7. In the Field Name column. select Type.
   8. In the Condition column, select Equals.
   9. In the Field Value column, type INV.
   10. 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:
   1. On the pane toolbar, click Add Row.
   2. In the Type column, select Assign.
   3. In the Name column, type a description of the second approval stage (for example, Approve by CEO).
   4. In the Workgroup column, select the workgroup that includes an employee responsible for approving AP documents on the second stage.
   5. 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.
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:
    1. On the pane toolbar, click Add Row.
    2. In the Entity column, select Document.
    3. In the Field Name column, select Approval Workgroup ID.
    4. In the Condition column, select Is Not Empty.
       Note:

       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.

    5. 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.