Note: Adjusting the rules on approvals can cause issues in live approval if not considered in full. We would recommend all changes to be done in a test system first.
Rules are split into two types:
Pre-Stage Rules
These will be evaluated after the submission of the transaction, but before approval takes place.
For example:
There are two approval stages. Stage one is set to be approved by user A and stage two by user B.
A pre-stage rule is created against stage one to evaluate the value of the transaction - the rule states that if the value of the transaction is over five hundred pounds it should go to approval stage two.
A user enters a transaction for eight hundred pounds and submits.
On submission, the pre-stage rule will evaluate this, and send it directly to stage two - bypassing stage one altogether.
However, if the transaction value was less than five hundred pounds it would go to stage one, followed (after approval) by stage two.
Post-Stage Rules
These are evaluated after approval actually takes place.
For example:
There are three approval stages. Stage one is set to be approved by user A, stage two by user B and stage three by user C.
A post stage rule is added against stage one to evaluate the value of the transaction - the rule states that if the value of the transaction is over five hundred pounds it should go to approval stage three.
A user enters a transaction for eight hundred pounds and submits.
On submission, the transaction will go to stage one and will need to be approved by user A.
When user A approves the transaction, it will then be evaluated against the criteria and will be sent to stage three (bypassing stage two). As with the pre-stage rule, if it is less than five hundred pounds it would go to stage two, followed by stage three.
Creating a Rule
Select the stage the rule needs to be assigned to and edit.
There will be tabs for both 'pre-stage' and 'post-stage' rules. Select whichever applies.
Click 'insert' to create a new rule.
Name the rule,
Create the expression for the rule. The 'expression palette' button will show you the criteria you have available for evaluation. (For example, the pre-stage rule mentioned in this article would have the following expression for an expense rule ExpenseInfo.TotalValue > 500)
Assign the action for true and false. In the given example the 'If True' would read 'Other Stage' with a stage entry of '2', while the 'If False' would read 'End Rule Evaluation' (i.e. stop processing rules and continue on with the present approval stage).
Ensure the rule is set as 'active'.
Rules can be as complex as needed - the only caveat is that the evaluation itself must result in an answer of 'true' or 'false' and the expression criteria will be limited to the fields available in the FocalPoint database views. For example, if the view for expense information does not contain the net value field, then you cannot evaluate it using a rule.