Skip to content

Approval Workflow

This document outlines the approval workflow system for the PRS (Purchase Request System) used in the construction/development company. The system manages approvals for various documents including requisitions, canvasses, purchase orders, and payment requests.

General Approval Flow

flowchart TD
  Start([Submit Document]) -->S2[Pending]
  S2 -->|Approve| S3[Approved]
  S2 -->|Reject| S4[Rejected]

Approval Concepts

1. Approver Levels

Approvers are assigned levels that determine the order in which they must approve:

  • Level 1: First level approvers (e.g., Supervisor)
  • Level 2: Second level approvers (e.g., Project In Charge)
  • Level 3: Third level approvers (e.g., Department Head)
  • Level 4: Fourth level approvers (e.g., Management)

Approval proceeds in order of level, from lowest to highest.

2. Approver Types

There are three types of approvers:

  • Regular Approvers: Assigned automatically based on document type, category, department, project, role
  • Optional Approvers: Assigned automatically based on document type, category, department, project if 80% of item's GFQ is requested
  • Adhoc Approvers: Added manually during the approval process
  • Alt Approvers: Added manually during leave setup
  • All user types except Root User and inactive users are ALLOWED to be assigned as approvers

3. Approval Status

Each approver has an approval status:

  • PENDING: Approval is pending
  • APPROVED: Approver has approved
  • REJECTED: Approver has rejected

4. Entity Status

The status of the entity being approved changes based on approver actions:

  • FOR APPROVAL: Entity has been submitted for approval, will retain as long as there is pending approval
  • APPROVED: All approvers have approved - will vary per document
  • REJECTED: At least one approver has rejected

5. Approver Leave Setup

An approver can set up leaves and assign alternate approvers during the leave period.

Actor: Approvers

Actions:

  • Set up leave date; leave date is date today onwards only
  • View affected approval workflows and assign alternate approver/s for all workflows
  • Edit leave date or alt approver
  • Cancel leave

Business Rules:

  • Approver is required to assign alt approvers for all affected workflows
  • All users are eligible as alt approvers except root user
  • Alt approvers will be visible in approver setup pages
  • Documents that were not approved before the leave date will be approved by the Alt Approver
  • Documents submitted during the leave date will be Approved by the Alt Approver
  • Updates and notifications during the leave date will be received by the Alt Approver
  • Implementation of Alt Approver starts at 12AM of the start date until 11:59PM of the end date
  • After end date, Alt Approver access and setup will be cleared; approvals of new and pending documents will be to the Approver again

Document-Specific Approval Rules

1. Requisition Slip Approval

Approvers and Levels:

a. If category = company

  • L1: Requestor's supervisor
  • L2: Requestor's department approvers

b. If category = project

  • L1: Requestor's supervisor
  • L2: Requestor's project approvers
  • L3: Requestor's department approvers

c. If category = association

  • L1: Requestor's supervisor
  • L2: Association department approvers

Thresholds:
- Optional approval level based on quantity GFQ: If requested quantity hits or exceeds 80% of item GFQ, optional approver is added

Next Step:
After approval, requisition is assigned to Purchasing Staff

2. Canvass Approval

Approvers and Levels:

a. If category = project

  • L1: Assigned purchasing staff's supervisor
  • L2: Requestor
  • L3: Requestor's Supervisor
  • L4 - onwards (LN): Project Approvers
  • LN+1: Purchasing head
  • LN+2: Management 1
  • LN+3: Management 2

b. Other categories:

  • L1: Assigned purchasing staff's supervisor
  • L2: Purchasing head
  • L3: Management 1
  • L4: Management 2

Special Handling:

  • Management approval is interchangeable
  • Management approver count/levels will based on the number of management users (maximum of 2 users)

Next Step:
After approval, Purchase Orders are generated

3. Purchase Order Approval

Approvers and Levels:

  • L1: Assigned purchasing staff's supervisor
  • L2: Purchasing head

Next Step:
After approval, PO status changes to FOR_SENDING

4. Payment Request Approval

For OFM Type:

  • L1: Assigned purchasing staff's supervisor
  • L2: Requestor's supervisor
  • L3: Purchasing head

For Non-OFM Type:

  • L1: Assigned purchasing staff's supervisor
  • L2: Purchasing head

Next Step:
After approval, payment request is submitted to Cityland Legacy System

5. Non-RS Payment Request Approval

Approvers:

  • L1: Requestor's supervisor
  • L2: Requestor's department approvers

Next Step:
After approval, status will be closed

Approval Override Rules

1. General Override Rules

  • Next level approver can override pending approval of previous level: both approval and rejection
  • Only one level up can override; Adhoc/additional approvers are considered one level up
  • Override requires notification to overridden approver
  • Overridden approver cannot approve unless document is resubmitted
  • Status shows "Approved by L#(Level that Approved)" for overridden approver
  • NO OVERRIDING for Canvass Sheet

Common Issues and Solutions

Issue 1: Approver Not Available

Cause: Assigned approver is on leave or unavailable.

Solution:

  • Use alternate approver functionality
  • Assign adhoc approver
  • Override approval

Issue 2: Approval Order Issues

Cause: Higher level approvers trying to approve before lower level approvers.

Solution:

  • Ensure all lower level approvers have approved
  • Send reminders to pending lower level approvers
  • Consider adding adhoc approvers at lower levels if needed

Issue 3: Rejection Handling

Cause: Entity rejected but needs to be resubmitted.

Solution:

  • Address rejection reason
  • Update entity with necessary changes
  • Resubmit for approval (status changes back to SUBMITTED)
  • Approvers will need to approve again