Definition: The life cycle that each individual posting goes through from the postings initial creation to its final approval.
Example Work flow: Set up as a work flow requiring two levels of approval
Step. 1 - An author (OnTrax user) creates a new time posting and sets the new postings status to 'Pending' (pending approval).
Step. 2 - An OnTrax user, assigned to the authors time posting work flow as a "Level 1" approver, logs into OnTrax and approves the posting.
Step. 3 - An OnTrax user, assigned to the authors time posting work flow as a 'Level 2" approver, logs into OnTrax and approves the posting.
Work flow can be defined as simple or complex as an organizations needs it to be. OnTrax comes with a standard default work flow requiring one level of approval for each posting. For a work flow that only requires one level of approval, each posting is considered to have an overall status of 'Approved' as soon as the designated approver approves it. For users assigned to a work flow with multiple levels of approval (above example), a posting is considered 'Pending' from when the user submits the posting by setting it status to 'Pending', until the time that the highest work flow level is approved (above example: level 2 is top work flow level).
Facts:
1. OnTrax supports up to 6 levels of approval in any single work flow definition.
2. OnTrax requires at least 1 level per work flow definition. Postings can not be created for work flows that do not have at least one approval level assigned.
3. OnTrax requires the use of work flow. Setting up a single level work flow is the same as having 1 approval required for a posting to be considered 'Approved' by the system.
4. Multiple "Work Flow Approver Types" - approvers - can be assigned to any single work flow level - i.e. a manager and a backup manager can both be assigned to the same work flow level.
5. Work Flows can be assigned to a specific category of posting (time, user expense, general expense), or can be made available to be assigned to all types of posting categories.
6. Each user in the system must have an associated Work Flow ID assigned to their user master record, or they will not be able to create postings in the system.
7. For each user ID, there is one work flow assigned per posting type (time, expense, general expense). The same work flow can be assigned to each posting type if desired.
The Work Flow screen is where the individual Work Flow Approver Types are assigned to the appropriate approval levels for a specific Work Flow.
- a Work Flow Approver Type can be thought of as an 'approver type' and their associated authorizations
Example: Creating a work flow (approval path) for time entries.
Steps:
Enter a work flow ID, description and select a category that the work flow belongs to. The category restricts where the work flow can be assigned.
Click the 'Add' button. This will add the work flow to the grid below. Notice that work flows are grouped in the grid by their 'Category' (time, expense, general expense, All).
Select the newly created work flow in the grid to load its assignments into the screen below. Where the work flow is new, no assignments will appear, but selecting the work flow in the top grid will enable assignment in the grid below.
Note: The category will limit what posting types the work flow can be assigned to when assigning the work flow to a user ID. Category 'Time' restricts the assignment to a users 'Time' work flow. The only type of category that will enable a work flow to be assigned to any type of posting is type 'All'.
4. Assign a Work Flow Approver Type to each level of approval for the work flow definition. Work Flow Approver Types must be created prior to creating work flows.
5. Select the "Save" button at the bottom of the screen. After saving the work flow, the levels that are properly assigned and saved will have a status color of green.
In the Example above we have assigned type "Primary Manager - All Authorizations", "Secondary Manager - All Authorizations" and "UserID - SysAdmin - View Only" to the same work flow approval level. Because the highest level assigned in the work flow definition is level 'One (1)', any user who has this work flow definition assigned to their user ID, will have their postings only require 1 approval before the system considers them as 'Approved'. Because there are two Work Flow Approver Types assigned to level 'One(1)' that have all authorizations, there are basically two users that have the ability to approve the associated postings. The third Work Flow Approver Type assigned to level 1 is a specific user ID, which has view only authorizations. This user will be able to see postings as pending at this level, but will not be able to approve or modify the postings.
Example 2.
In the example below, work flow levels one and two are active for the selected work flow. At each level, there is one Work Flow Approver Type assigned with all authorizations (they can approve & modify the postings) and a second Work Flow Approver Type assigned as a secondary user who can only view the postings pending approval. In the Work Flow Best Practices document, it notes that there should always be a 'supper' user assigned to each work flow level. This provides visibility to all pending postings in the system when logged in under the 'super' user ID.
Please note that in the above example, the level 1 approver with authorizations to approve postings is set to a Work Flow Type of 'Project Manager'. This means that when a user creates a posting, it is the manager of the project for the posting that will be providing level 1 approval. Any user ID that is assigned managerial authorizations on the project will see the posting as pending when they enter the time approval area of the application.
Assigning a Work Flow to a User ID
Once work flow has been set, each user ID in the system must have work flow(s) assigned to their individual user record before postings can be made. The system will not allow a user create a posting unless the users ID has been assigned a work flow ID in the user maintenance section of the application.
To assign a work flow to a user ID, enter the user maintenance section of OnTrax, and select the 'Corporate' tab. A work flow ID can be assigned to each type of posting that can be created in the OnTrax system.
Assigning a user authorization to view Work Flow for each posting
Once a work flow has been assigned to the desired user ID, you may want to give managers reviewing time or expenses authorization to view each records current work flow levels and status. To grant work flow display authorizations, select the 'Reporting' tab for the user ID being edited and set the 'Work Flow Display' authorizations as required.
Enabling the user to Display work flow information increases functionality on the entry and approval screens for each type of posting. Granting these authorizations allows a user to view the 'Display Work Flow Status' check box and 'View History/Work Flow' button at the bottom of each posting screen.
