1Overview #
You are also e-mailed. The bell only rings for somebody who is signed in, so when a request first reaches you it is sent to your address on the user master as well, with a link that opens the record ready to act on. It arrives once — the request is not re-sent every time the system re-checks it — and the link asks you to sign in first: it opens the record, it does not decide it. Administrators can switch this off, and set the web address the link uses, under Settings -> Approval Alert Settings — left unset, the link simply uses the address the ERP was last opened at. If your login has no e-mail address recorded, only the bell reaches you.
2The three views #
- Action Required — requests waiting on you . Oldest first, because the oldest unanswered request is the one costing somebody something.
- My Requests — one line per request you raised, whatever became of it. A request still waiting shows its age; a decided one shows the outcome and who decided. This is the view that answers "did anyone ever look at that?"
- All — everything addressed to you, newest first. The history.
3Age is the column that matters #
Everything else on a row tells you what something is. Age tells you whether it is a problem. A pending request turns amber past a day and red past three , using the same bands the outstanding reports use, so the shape is already familiar.
Those bands are not the same thing as the reminder and escalation windows, which are set in Settings -> Approval Alert Settings and act on their own. The colour here is a reading aid; the settings are what actually chase people.
4Opening a row #
Click a row — or focus it and press Enter — to open the thing it is about, in a new tab, leaving whatever you were doing alone. Opening also marks it read.
A notification never grants access. It carries a title and a route; the screen it opens applies its own permissions exactly as it always did, so a row you can see is not necessarily a document you may open.
5Reading a workflow step before you decide #
A voucher-workflow row carries a strip of small icons under its buttons, and the same list on a right-click . With the row focused, each has a key.
- Open the document (Enter or O) — the voucher itself, in a new tab.
- Step instructions (I) — what this step asks you to check: the instructions written for this document, the step's standing instructions (the same for every document), and the step's message. Only on a request, because instructions belong to a step.
- Step documents (D) — the files attached to the step: a checklist, a specimen, a worksheet. Read only : open or download them; attaching and removing is done in Workflow Steps. Downloading a file still needs your Download right on it in Document Management.
- Workflow route and history (W) — every step of the document, who each waits on, how its policy stands and what has happened, the same window the voucher opens. The route is drawn by default — click a step for its people and policy, or switch to Steps for the list. When it is your turn, you can decide there too.
- Properties (P) — who created and changed the document, and when, with its revision history. Needs the Show Voucher Properties preference, as on the voucher screen.
They open only for somebody the document concerns: an approver on any of its steps, the person who raised it, or a Workflow Manager user. Opening one also marks the row read.
6Read, resolved, dismissed — three different things #
- Read — you have seen it. Reading is not doing: a read request still sits in Action Required.
- Resolved — somebody decided it. When one approver of several acts, the request clears from everyone's Action Required, because a queue that shows finished work is a queue people stop trusting.
- Dismissed — you have hidden it from your own list without pretending the work happened. Dismiss from the bell's flyout.
7Why you may see another branch #
This page shows what you were told , whatever branch it came from. If a module decided you should approve something, hiding it behind a branch filter would leave you with an invisible task — which is the failure the whole alert system exists to prevent.
The Branch filter (ERP edition only) is there when you want your own, and its choices come only from rows you already have.
8Keys #
- F2 — refresh.
- Ctrl+P — print the current view.
- Enter on a focused row — open it.
- I , D , W , P on a focused workflow row — step instructions, step documents, route and history, properties.
- Right-click a row — the same list, with its keys.
- Esc — closes the right-click menu when it is open; otherwise closes the page.
9If something does not work #
"Documents belong to a step; this row is about the whole document."
- Why
- Step documents and instructions hang off one step, and this row (a finished route, a notice) is about the document as a whole.
- What to do
- Open a Request row for the step, or press W for the whole route.
"Workflow Management is not licensed for this company. Contact your software vendor."
- Why
- A voucher-workflow row is listed - it is somebody's history - but without the Workflow Management licence its Approve, Reject, Escalate and reading tools are not offered, and the server refuses them.
- What to do
- Your software vendor adds Workflow Management to the licence. It takes effect within ten minutes, or at the next sign-in.
"This step belongs to a document you are not part of - you are not on any of its steps and did not raise it."
- Why
- Step instructions and documents open only for somebody the document concerns: an approver on any of its steps, the person who raised it, or a Workflow Manager user.
- What to do
- Ask somebody on the route, or an administrator can grant User Can Run Workflow Manager.
"That step is no longer there, or its document is outside what you may see."
- Why
- The document was deleted or re-submitted since the row was written (a new round makes new steps), or your login may not see its branch.
- What to do
- Refresh (F2). The newest row for the document names its current step.
"Instructions belong to a step; this row is about the whole document." / "Documents belong to a step ..."
- Why
- The row is a result - the workflow finished or was abandoned - not a request on one step, so there is no step to read.
- What to do
- Use Workflow route and history (W) to read every step of the document.
"The step could not be read: ..."
- Why
- The request did not reach the server, or the server refused it; the words after the colon are its own.
- What to do
- Refresh and try again; if it persists, check that the API is running.
"You don't have permission to view voucher properties (Pref -> Show Voucher Properties)."
- Why
- Properties are audit data behind the same preference the voucher screen asks, and it is not granted to you.
- What to do
- An administrator grants Show Voucher Properties in User Permissions.
"The properties could not be read: ..."
- Why
- The properties are read with the voucher screen's own query, which needs a right on that voucher type.
- What to do
- Ask for at least View on the voucher type, or read them on the voucher itself.
A step document will not open or download
- Why
- Files come from Document Management, which still checks your own Download right on each file - being the approver does not grant it.
- What to do
- Ask for Download on the file (or its folder) in Document Management, or ask the step's owner to send it.
Documents shows nothing, or says Document Management is not licensed
- Why
- A step's documents live in Document Management; without that module there is nothing to list. A desktop worksheet stored inside the step is still offered as Download the worksheet.
- What to do
- Nothing to fix on this page - the documents are attached in Workflow Steps.
"There is nobody to escalate to on this voucher type."
- Why
- Escalating asks the same list the voucher screen asks - the people who may approve on that voucher type - and it came back empty.
- What to do
- An administrator gives somebody the approval right on that voucher type in User Permissions. Approve or Reject instead, or open the document and deal with it there.
"Name at least one person to escalate to."
- Why
- Escalating closes your own assignment, so an escalation to nobody would leave the step with no one on it.
- What to do
- Pick the people it passes to. They are given the same step; an assignment made by an escalation is never escalated again.
Approve and Reject are not offered on a row
- Why
- Only a voucher workflow REQUEST that is still open can be decided here, and only in a view whose rows are addressed to you - My requests lists what you raised, where the approval is somebody else's to give. Every other module is decided on its own screen, where its rules live.
- What to do
- Open the row instead: it takes you to the document, where the same decision is made.
"Remarks are required - they are kept with the decision."
- Why
- A decision without a reason is no use to whoever reads the history next, so the voucher service asks for one whichever screen the decision comes from.
- What to do
- Type why. It is written against your assignment and shown on the voucher's own workflow panel.
"No workflow started for this user !" after Approve or Reject
- Why
- The database only touches an assignment that is still waiting on you. Somebody else may have carried the step in the meantime - escalated it, cancelled it, or completed it.
- What to do
- Refresh the list. The row will have closed itself.
"Nothing is waiting for you." / "You have not raised anything yet." / "Nothing matches those filters."
- Why
- The inbox is genuinely empty, or the filters exclude everything.
- What to do
- Clear the filters; the three views are what is yours to decide, what you asked for, and what you watch.
A request you expected never appeared
- Why
- The inbox is filled by a background sweep inside the API, and a request reaches only the people resolved as its approvers.
- What to do
- Check that you are an approver for that kind of request; an administrator can run the sweep and see what it found.
"The sweep ran and found nothing to do - everything is already in step."
- Why
- Not an error - the reconciler compared the inbox with the real requests and found no difference.
- What to do
- Nothing to do.
A row is still shown although somebody decided it
- Why
- One decision marks every approver's copy, but the page has to be told - it is a list, not a live feed.
- What to do
- Press F5.
An item opens a screen you may not use
- Why
- The inbox carries requests from every module; the screen behind one has its own rights.
- What to do
- An administrator grants the right on that screen, or another approver takes it.
Reading an item did not take it off the list
- Why
- Reading is not deciding - a read request still counts as action required.
- What to do
- Decide it on its own screen; the row clears when the decision is written.
Reminders or escalations never happen
- Why
- Both are driven by the sweep and by hours set in the settings, where 0 means off.
- What to do
- An administrator checks the reminder and escalation hours, and that the API is running.
This is the help InvoiceNET® ERP shows beside the Approvals Inbox screen. Whether you have the screen depends on the modules of your licence and the rights your administrator has given you.
See this screen for yourself
The demo is the real product, with a company of your own.