The approval process begins once a business process has been submitted. Each approval process is driven by the worktags and transaction type and may not follow the same path each time. Once the business process has been approved a commitment against the budget will be created.
Responsibilities
- Reviewers may modify the data entered by the initiator prior to moving it forward.
- Approvers are approving the business process, based on their role, but may not modify the data.
What to Look for When Reviewing or Approving
Whether reviewing or approving, the following items should always be verified before approving the business process.
- Review business purpose and reason
- Is the spend in accordance with policy and procedure?
- Is it in the best interest of the university?
- Appropriateness and correctness of worktags: Designated, Grant, Gift, Project, Program, Cost Center, Fund, etc.
- Is it hitting the right budget?
- Is the spend appropriate for the type of worktag?
- Spend or Expense Categories
- Did the initiator choose the most appropriate category?
- If reviewing a grant transaction, does the spend category map to the appropriate object class with an available grant budget?
- Transaction allocation
- Should this be expensed to more than one distribution?
- Were the supporting documentation attached?
- Are they legible and clear?
- Are any other attachments required or needed to support the request?
Review the following additional items based on the business process.
| Business Process | Consideration or Actions |
|---|---|
| Spend Authorization |
|
| Expense Report |
|
| Credit Card Transaction |
|
| Requisition |
|
| Purchase Order |
|
| Change Order |
|
| Supplier Contract |
|
| Supplier Contract Amendment |
|
| Supplier Invoice |
|
| Supplier Invoice Request |
|
Required Actions
There are three types of items delivered to your inbox.
- Approvals are sent by Workday when an approval is required to complete a business process. You can take various actions on these items depending on your role.
- Reviews are sent by Workday when a business process requires your review to be completed. You are empowered to edit the item before approving it.
- To-Dos are reminders to complete tasks outside of Workday. You are responsible for completion of the action in Workday.
Each of these items will remain in your inbox until you have completed the required action. This also means that until you complete the action the business process will not be processed. You should check your inbox daily to keep items moving in a timely manner.
From the inbox action a reviewer or approver can take the following actions.
- Approve: After you have reviewed the spend for accuracy, this option approves the business process.
- Send Back: Sending back a business process returns it to the initiator. A comment is required. When comments are required, it is important to provide sufficient information to the initiator so they can take appropriate action.
- Deny: If you deny a business process it will close the process and the initiator will need to re-submit the task from the beginning. It is zeroed out in financials and a comment is required. When comments are required, it is important to provide sufficient information to the initiator so they can take appropriate action.
- Add Approver: Adding approvers enables you to add other people to the approver workflow, as needed. An example would be if a Vice Chancellor approval is needed.
- Comment: A comment can be added at any stage of a business process to add clarification or additional information. You can even tag someone by using @ and then the first and last name of the person you are tagging. Please remember that comments are auditable and can be viewed by all parties involved in the business process.
