Summary
Approval rules are applied to a job version and force the version to be approved before the job can be progressed further through the workflow.
Approval rules are configured to set the cost variation which will trigger the approval required stage, they can be set against client. team, work type and capture the different cost types.
User Type Rights
| Code | Name | Description | Right Type |
|---|---|---|---|
VARLE |
Approval Rules | Access to the approval rules section in the admin page | Page Access |
EARLE |
Approval Rule Edit | Access to edit approval rules in the system | Process Rights |
Guide
Creating an Approval Rule
- Open the Admin menu using the cog icon
- Navigate to the “Job Approval Rule” page under the “Financial” section
- Click on the plus icon to create a new rule
- Complete the form and click “Create”
Overview of the form
Field Name
Description
Name
The name of the approval rule
Cost Threshold
The threshold cost the will be used in the calculation
Rule Applies To
All Versions - The rule will be checked for every new version of the job First Version Only - The rule will only be checked for the first version of the job After First Version - The rule will not be checked on the first version but will on every subsequent version
User Types
The user types that have access to approve the approval rule
Work Types
The work types to which the rule will be applied
Team Type
The type of team to whom the rule will be applied
Work Log Type
The work log type to apply the rule to. The work type(s) included should be nested under this work log type
Type
The type of costs used in the calculation: Internal - The cost value External - The sales value Estimate - The estimated value
Cost Threshold Calculation
The calculation used to determine whether or not the approval rule is applied to a job
Use Cost Posting Type
Determines what posting type and status costs need to be at to be included in the threshold calculation
Cost Types
The cost types to be used in the calculation
Teams
The teams to whose costs the rule should apply
Client
The client to whose jobs the rule should apply
Usage Type
Limits the rule to jobs that are raised against sites with a specific usage type
Rule Should Approve Costs
Determines whether approving the rule will automatically approve the job cost
Uses Approval Popup
Determines whether a pop-up will be used to approve the rule
Use Activity Costs
Determines whether the cost from activities on the job will be included in the calculation
Use Internal Costs
Determines whether internal costs will be used in the calculation (can be used in conjunction with an External type rule)
Active
Determines whether the rule is active or inactive
Cost Threshold Calculation
The cost threshold calculation is the process used to determine whether the rule should be applied to a job. When an applicable job is versioned, the approval rule will assess whether it needs to be held for approval using the amount specified in the “Cost Threshold” field and an equation specified in the “Cost Threshold Calculation” field. The available calculations are as follows:
costThreshold minus (totalCosts on job minus total cost on first version) - APPLY ALWAYS: Checks the current version of the job against the first version and compares this to the cost threshold for every new version. If this returns a negative value indicating a change in value greater than the threshold between the two versions, the rule will be appliedcostThreshold minus (totalCosts on job minus total costs on previous version) - APPLY ALWAYS: Checks the current version of the job against the previous version and compares this to the cost threshold for every new version. If this returns a negative value indicating a change in value greater than the threshold between the two versions, the rule will be appliedcostThreshold minus totalCosts - APPLY ONCE ONLY: Checks the first new version of the job to see if there is a difference exceeding the cost threshold using all costs on the job. If a negative value is returned (e.g. cost threshold of £1000 - job cost total of £1002 = -£2) the approval rule will be appliedcostThreshold minus totalCosts - APPLY ALWAYS: Checks every version of the job to see if there is a difference exceeding the cost threshold using all costs on the job. If a negative value is returned (e.g. cost threshold of £1000 - job cost total of £1002 = -£2) the approval rule will be appliedcostThreshold minus (totalCosts on job minus total costs on first version) - APPLY ONCE ONLY: Checks the current version of the job against the first version and compares this to the cost threshold for the first new version only. If this returns a negative value indicating a change in value greater than the threshold between the two versions, the rule will be appliedcostThreshold minus (totalCosts on job minus total costs on previous version) - APPLY ONCE ONLY: Checks the current version of the job against the previous version and compares this to the cost threshold for the first new version only. If this returns a negative value indicating a change in value greater than the threshold between the two versions, the rule will be appliedcostThreshold minus (totalCosts on job minus total costs on first version) - APPLY IF COSTS HAVE CHANGED SINCE PREVIOUS VERSION: Checks the current version of the job against the first version and compares this to the cost threshold, but only if there has been a change of cost values between the two versions. If this returns a negative value indicating a change in value greater than the threshold between the two versions, the rule will be appliedcostThreshold minus (totalCosts on job minus total costs on previous version) - APPLY IF COSTS HAVE CHANGED SINCE PREVIOUS VERSION: Checks the current version of the job against the previous version and compares this to the cost threshold, but only if there has been a change of cost values between the two versions. If this returns a negative valuue indicating a change in value greater than the threshold between the two versions, the rule will be appliedcostThreshold minus totalCosts - APPLY IF COSTS HAVE CHANGED SINCE PREVIOUS VERSION: Checks the current version the job to see if there is a difference exceeding the cost threshold using all costs on the job but only if there has been a change between the costs on the current version and the previous version. If a negative value is returned (e.g. cost threshold of £1000 - job cost total of £1002 = -£2) the approval rule will be applied
Some explanation of the cost threshold calculations would be useful as it is not entirely clear how these work on the job from their description