Value approval rule sets

Use rule sets to specify the value approval rules to apply for each department when you specify a department value approval. You can create a rule set for either Value Approval - Department or Value Approval - Transaction Department rule types in a purchasing approval policy.

About rule sets

A rule set enables you to define a collection of value approval rules once and then specify the use of that set of rules in multiple purchasing approval policies. A rule set contains:

  • the default value approval rule for any department that doesn’t have its own specific value approval rule
  • any additional value approval rules for any departments that need their own specific rules
Remember, a value approval rule defines the approvers you want and their approval amounts. While one value approval rule might work for most of your departments, other departments might need their own rules with different approvers, approval amounts, or both.

Using more than one rule set gives you the power to design the approval policies that best fit your organizational needs. Because your rule sets can have different default value approval rules or different value approval rules for the same department, you're not limited to using the same value approval rules for all your purchase transaction types.

Any changes you make for rule sets do not affect any purchasing transactions that are currently in the approval cycle. The changes take effect whenever a purchasing transaction gets submitted—whether a new one is submitted, a declined one is resubmitted, or an approved transaction was modified and the purchasing configuration is set to require a new approval cycle if an approved transaction is modified.

A rule set cannot be deleted.

Add a rule set

You can add a rule set when you add a new approval policy or edit an existing one. You first add the default value approval rule and then, as needed, any value approval rules for specific departments.

Subscription Purchasing
User type Business user with admin privileges

Add a rule set and the default value approval rule

  1. Go to Purchasing > Setup > More > Approval policies. The Purchasing approval policies page displays.
  2. Find a row which includes a Rule type of Value Approval - Department or Value Approval - Transaction Department then select Edit.
  3. For a row with a rule type of Value Approval - Department or Value Approval - Transaction Department, select the Rule set dropdown list and then select Add. The Value approval rule set page appears.
  4. Enter a Rule set name.
  5. Specify the default value approval rule that will be applied to any department without its own specific value approval rule. For each approver you want:
    • In the Rule type column select an approver. For a named user to appear in the User or user group list, they must have permission to list purchasing transactions that need approval.
    • Enter Value from and Value to to specify the minimum and maximum approval amounts for the approver. For the first approver, you can specify a non-zero value for the minimum amount. For the last approver, leave the maximum amount empty.

    See field descriptions for details.

  6. Select Save. The Purchasing approval policy page appears.

After you've added the default value approval rule, you can add value approval rules for specific departments.

Add a value approval rule set for a specific department

  1. Go to Purchasing > Setup > More > Approval policies. The Purchasing approval policies list displays.
  2. Select View next to the name of the policy you want to update with a rule set. The Purchasing approval policy page displays.
  3. Find the row where the Rule type is Value Approval - Department or Value Approval - Transaction Department and select the link in the Rule set column. The Value approval rule set page displays.
  4. Select Edit.
  5. In the section, Default for department-specific rules, select Add. The Value approval rule page appears.
  6. Select a Department ID.
  7. Add an optional Description.
  8. In the Approval routing and limits section, set up value ranges for each approver:
    • In the Rule type column select an approver. For a named user to appear in the User or user group field, they must have permission to list purchasing transactions that need approval.
    • Enter Value from and Value to to specify the minimum and maximum approval amounts for the approver. For the first approver, you can specify a non-zero value for the minimum amount. For the last approver, leave the maximum amount empty.

    See field descriptions for details.

  9. Select Save. The Value approval rule set page appears. A row for the department now appears in the table of department-specific rules.
  10. Repeat steps 3 to 7 for each value approval rule that you want to add for a specific department.
  11. Select Save.

Edit a value approval rule in a rule set

You can edit the value approval rules in a rule set when you add a new approval policy or edit an existing one.

Subscription Purchasing
User type Business user with admin privileges
  1. Go to Purchasing > Setup > More > Approval policies. The Purchasing approval policies list displays.
  2. Select Edit next to the name of the policy you want to update with a rule set. The Purchasing approval policy page displays.
  3. Find a line item where the rule type is Value Approval - Department or Value Approval - Transaction Department.
  4. Select the rule set dropdown list, select the rule set you want to edit, and then select View icon. The Value approval rule set page appears.
  5. Select Edit.
  6. To edit the default value approval rule that applies to any department without its own specific rule,
    1. In the Default for department without specific rules section make any changes for the approvers and amounts as needed. For details, go to field descriptions.

  7. To edit a value approval rule for a specific department:

    1. In the Department-specific rules section, find the department and select the Pencil icon. The Value approval rule page appears.
    2. In the Approval routing and limits section, make any changes to the approvers and amounts as needed. For details, go to field descriptions.
    3. Select Save.
  8. When you complete all of your changes, select Save.

View the value approval rules in a rule set

Subscription Purchasing
User type Business user with admin privileges

To view the value approval rules for a rule set, use the same steps for editing a value approval rule in the rule set. To prevent making any unintended changes, select Cancel or Done when you leave the Value approval rule and Value approval rule set pages.

Delete a value approval rule in a rule set

You can only delete a value approval rule that's defined for a specific department.

Subscription Purchasing
User type Business user with admin privileges
  1. Go to Purchasing > Setup > More > Approval policies. The Purchasing approval policies list displays.
  2. Select Edit next to the name of the policy you want to update with a rule set. The Purchasing approval policy page displays.
  3. Find a line item where the rule type is Value Approval - Department or Value Approval - Transaction Department.
  4. Select the rule set dropdown list, then select the rule set from which you want to delete a value approval rule, and then select View. The Value approval rule set page appears.
  5. Select Edit.
  6. In the Department-specific rules section, find the department with its own specific rules that you want to delete, and select the Trash can.
  7. Select Save.

Field descriptions

The following tables describe each item on the Value approval rule set page.

Value approval rule set page field descriptions
Field Description

Rule set name

The name of the rule set.

Rule type

This is a read-only field that indicates the value approval rules are for department-based value approval rule types, which include:

  • Value Approval: Department
  • Value Approval: Transaction Department

Default for departments without specific rules

Default for departments without specific rules field descriptions
Field Description
Rule type

The user type to send the approval request to:

Employee Manager, Department Manager, User Level, User Group Level

User or user group

A named user or user group must have permission to list purchasing transactions that need approval. To assign permission, edit the user's or group member's permission in the Purchasing application and select approve purchasing transactions. Learn more about assigning permissions.

Value from

The minimum amount that can be approved. For the first approver, you can specify a Value from that is greater than zero; any amount below a non-zero value is automatically approved.

If your company is enabled for multiple base currencies and you selected a value approval currency, the approval currency is displayed in the text above the table with the approvers and approval limits. To set the approval currency, see the Entity Preferences section of Manage multiple entities.

Value to

The maximum amount that can be approved. For the last approver, leave Value to empty, which ensures any transaction amount over the last approver's minimum amount is always approved.

Approval requests are routed to the first approver and then to each successive approver until the transaction amount falls below the next approver's limits.

Assume you have a value approval rule that's defined as follows:

  • Approver 1: Department Manager, R500 to R1,000
  • Approver 2: Mark Johnson, R1,000.01 to R5,000
  • Approver 3: Lucy Ruiz, R5,000.01 to no-maximum-limit

Depending on the amount of the transaction, here's how the approval routing would work:

  • R100 transaction amount: Not routed because it's automatically approved.
  • R2,500 transaction amount: Routed to Approver 1 and then to Approver 2.
  • R15,000 transaction amount: Routed to Approver 1, Approver 2, and then Approver 3.

Department-specific rules

Department-specific rules field descriptions
Field Description

Department ID and Department name

The ID and name of the department with its own value approval rule.

Description

The optional note that was entered for the department's value approval rule when the rule was added or edited.