1Overview #
When a workflow holds an action - converting a lead, disqualifying one, closing a deal as Won or Lost, handing a record over - the person doing it does not get a refusal; a request is raised and lands here.
This screen is both the inbox of the people who decide and the tracker of the people who asked. Every request shows its route: the levels it must climb, who is being asked at each, what is needed to pass, and what happens if somebody rejects it.
Nothing is hidden: the history lists every approval, rejection, skipped level and resubmission, with the words each person wrote.
2Who it is for #
- Decide the requests waiting on you - Approve or Reject, with a reason.
- Follow your own requests, and resubmit or withdraw one that came back.
- See exactly why a level was skipped, or who is holding a request up.
- Open the lead or deal a request is about, before deciding it.
3What it is not for #
- Setting up who approves. That is CRM > Approval Workflows.
- Approving anything outside the CRM. Other modules have their own approval screens.
4Step by step #
- Open CRM > Approvals. It starts on Waiting on me. - Rows in bold are waiting for your decision.
- Click a request to read it. - The facts, then the route level by level, then the history.
- Open the lead or the deal if you need to look before deciding.
- Write your Remarks and press Approve or Reject. - A rejection always needs a reason; some levels ask for one with an approval too.
- For your own requests, switch Show to Raised by me. - A returned request can be Resubmitted - it starts again at level one - or Withdrawn.
5The fields #
- Filters
- Show - Waiting on me, Raised by me, or All I may see. Three choices
- Status - Open (pending or returned), Pending, Returned, Approved, Rejected, Withdrawn, or Any. Appears unless you are on "Waiting on me". Seven choices
- Your decision - Shown only on a request that is waiting on you.
- Remarks - What you want the requester - and the next approvers - to read. Kept in the history for good. Required to reject; required to approve too where the level says so. Up to 512 characters
- Approve - Passes this level. If it completes the last level on the route, the action is carried out at once, in your name.
- Reject - Refuses it. What follows depends on the level: the request ends, goes back a level, or returns to the requester.
- Your request - Shown on a request you raised that has come back to you.
- Remarks - What you changed, for the approvers - or why you are withdrawing it. Up to 512 characters
- Resubmit - Sends it again from level one. The level conditions are worked out afresh on the record as it is now.
- Withdraw - Takes the request away. The action simply does not happen.
- What the list and the panels show
- Where - How far it has got: level N of M, level N step S, or with the fallback approvers.
- Route - Every level: its name, its condition (and whether that condition held or the level was skipped), what completes it, who is being asked now, and who has decided. This is where you see why a level did not apply.
- History - Raised, approved, rejected, skipped, sent back, resubmitted, withdrawn, carried out - each with time, person and words.
6Rules and integrity #
- Levels are climbed in order - A level whose condition is false for this record is skipped and says so. The last level on the route approving is what carries the action out.
- Completion and rejection follow the level's policy - A level may need the first approval, all of them, at least N, or more than half - and may be rejected by one, by more than half, or by all. It is also rejected once completion can no longer be reached.
- A rejection does one of three things - Ends the request, sends it back to the previous level on its route, or returns it to the requester to resubmit or withdraw. The level decides which.
- Nobody approves their own request by default - A requester who is also an approver is left out of that level, unless the workflow allows it.
- The action happens in the approver's name - When the last level passes, the CRM carries the held action out at once and records who completed it.
- You see a request if it concerns you - One you raised, one you can decide or have decided, or one on a record you may see.
7Shortcut keys #
- F5 - Refresh, keeping the request you were reading.
- Esc - Close the tab.
8If something does not work #
"Say which request you are deciding." / "Say which share to decide."
- Why
- The decision was sent without its request - usually a list refreshed away underneath.
- What to do
- Refresh and decide again.
"That share is no longer waiting - somebody has decided it, or it was withdrawn."
- Why
- Somebody else got there first.
- What to do
- Refresh the list.
"A share is decided by a team lead of the record's owner, or by a sales manager."
- Why
- Share requests are decided by the owner's superiors, not by anyone on the team.
- What to do
- Leave it to them; it waits in their queue.
"You asked for this share - somebody else has to decide it."
- Why
- Nobody approves their own request.
- What to do
- Wait for the team lead or sales manager.
"CRM is not licensed for this company ... Contact your software vendor."
- Why
- The company's licence has no CRM module.
- What to do
- Ask your vendor to add CRM, then sign out and in.
"Nothing is waiting for your decision."
- Why
- Your inbox is empty - either nothing is held, or you are not an approver on the levels that are.
- What to do
- Nothing to do. Switch the view to see your own requests, or everything you may see.
"This approval request is not yours to see."
- Why
- You opened a request that is neither yours nor one you approve.
- What to do
- Ask the requester, or a sales manager.
"Say why you reject it - the requester reads it."
- Why
- Reject was pressed with the remarks box empty.
- What to do
- Write the reason - it is the only thing the requester gets back.
"This level asks for a remark with every approval."
- Why
- The administrator set this level to want a note even on approval.
- What to do
- Write a line, then approve.
"That approval request is no longer there."
- Why
- It was withdrawn, or the record behind it was deleted, while your list was open.
- What to do
- Press F5 to refresh the inbox.
"This request is approved - there is nothing to decide." (or rejected, withdrawn, returned)
- Why
- Somebody decided it first - a level with several approvers is settled by whoever gets there.
- What to do
- Refresh the list; the decision is on its history.
"You are not an approver of level ... of this request."
- Why
- The request has moved to a level you are not on, or you never were.
- What to do
- The approvers of that level are on the request's route.
"You have already decided this level."
- Why
- Your vote is in; a level that needs several approvals waits for the others.
- What to do
- Nothing to do - the request moves when the level is complete.
"The workflow of this request no longer has level ... - an administrator must restore it, or the requester withdraws the request."
- Why
- The workflow was edited while this request stood at a level that has since gone.
- What to do
- An administrator restores the level on CRM > Approval Workflows, or the requester withdraws and asks again.
"The workflow of this request is no longer there - withdraw it and do the action again."
- Why
- The whole workflow was deleted under an open request.
- What to do
- Withdraw the request and repeat the action; the new rules then apply.
"Only the requester withdraws a request." / "Only the requester resubmits a request."
- Why
- A request belongs to whoever raised it.
- What to do
- Ask them to withdraw or resubmit it.
"Only a returned request is resubmitted." / "This workflow does not take a returned request back - withdraw it, and ask again if the facts have changed."
- Why
- Resubmit is only for a request an approver sent back, and only where the workflow allows it.
- What to do
- Withdraw it and do the action again.
"... of this workflow has nobody who can approve it now - ask an administrator."
- Why
- The level resolves to nobody: an empty user group, a team with no lead, or only the requester.
- What to do
- An administrator corrects the level on CRM > Approval Workflows.
"No request matches." / "Pick a request on the left."
- Why
- The filters exclude everything, or a request is not selected yet.
- What to do
- Clear the filters; click a row to read it.
The bell shows an approval that is not in this list
- Why
- The bell carries items from every module; this page shows the CRM's.
- What to do
- Open the bell item itself - it takes you to the right screen.
This is the help InvoiceNET® ERP shows beside the Approvals screen. Whether you have the screen depends on the modules of your licence and the rights your administrator has given you.
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