From the Accounts Payable screen, select the Requisitions menu and then Requisition Approvals.
Note: An alert will appear on the Accounts Payable screen under the Alerts section if there are requisitions pending your approval; if applicable, click the alert and then continue with Step 6 (below).
The Requisition Approvals screen will appear.
In the Approval Type field, enter the type of approvals (Alternate Approvals, Approval Tree Owner, or Regular Approvals) to view and process, or click the down-arrow button to select the correct one, if applicable. To view the requisitions currently awaiting approval from you (the user logged into the system), enter Regular Approvals. To view the requisitions awaiting approval from others for which you are designated as an alternate approver (as defined in the Alternate User ID field for approval trees), enter Alternate Approvals. To view all the requisitions awaiting approval for which you are the owner (as defined in the Approval Tree Owner ID field for approval trees), enter Approval Tree Owner. The approval type of Alternate Approvals is only available to users designated as an alternate approver, and the approval type of Approval Tree Owner is only available to users designated as an approval tree owner. The default of Regular Approvals will appear, but can be changed if applicable.
Note: The requisitions that display for Regular Approvals or Alternate Approvals include only those which are currently at your sequence on the approval tree or the alternate user's sequence (if applicable); the requisitions that are awaiting approvals from other users for other sequences prior to yours will not appear unless the Approve Requisitions Out of Sequence field is selected (see below).
If the Allow Approvals Out of Sequence field in the Requisition Options option is selected, the Approve Requisitions Out of Sequence field is enabled. If applicable, select the Approve Requisitions Out of Sequence field to display all requisitions pending approval from you including those that are currently awaiting approval from other users first for other sequences on the approval trees. A checkmark will appear in the box if the field is selected.
Tip: Select the Approve Requisitions Out of Sequence field if you will soon be gone for a period of time and would like to approve requisitions that will be moving through the approval process and needing your approval before your return.
If Alternate Approvals is selected as the Approval Type, the User ID field is enabled. Enter the ID of the user for which you are an alternate and want to view the requisitions pending that user's approval in the User ID field, or click the down-arrow button to select the correct user. Only the users for which you are an alternate approver that have requisitions pending their approval can be entered here.
Complete the approval process for the desired requisitions:
To view the details included on a requisition, click on the desired requisition in the Requisitions Awaiting Approval/Rejection List located at the top of the screen; the details for the selected requisition will then display in the Requisition Details List in the middle of the screen.
Tip: If desired, click the To Screen button to preview or print a copy of the requisition using the report entered in the Default Requisition Form Report field for the specified approval tree within the Requisition Options option.
To approve a requisition, select the Approved field for the desired requisition in the Requisitions Awaiting Approval/Rejection List. A checkmark will appear in the box if the field is selected.
To reject a requisition, select the Rejected field for the desired requisition in the Requisitions Awaiting Approval/Rejection List. A checkmark will appear in the box if the field is selected.
If desired, enter a comment to track for approving or rejecting a requisition in the Comments field located in the last column of the Requisitions Awaiting Approval/Rejection List. The comment can be up to 1,000 characters long. If a comment was previously entered by the user, the previous comment will appear, but can be changed.
Note: If a change is made to the requisition (to the fields defined to be edited (as set within the Requisition Options option)), a comment will automatically be added in this Comments field stating the fields that were changed.
Tip: Once saved, this comment, along with the ID of the user who entered the comment and the date the comment was entered, will display in the Comments List in the bottom right side of the screen, in addition to any other comments entered by other users. Only the Comments field in the Requisitions Awaiting Approval/Rejection List can be changed.
If needed, the fields defined to be edited (as set within the Requisition Options option) can be changed or completed for a requisition at this time. To make a change, click in the appropriate field within the Requisitions Awaiting Approval/Rejection List or the Requisition Details List for the desired requisition, and then key the correct information or click the down-arrow button to select the correct item (if applicable).
Tip: The Requisition Amount field in the Requisitions Awaiting Approval/Rejection List for a requisition will automatically be updated when the changes are saved if the amounts for the detail line items were changed.
If desired, to view (and edit, if applicable) the bids or quotes received from other vendors for the purchase of the goods or services included in the line item on the requisition, click the Edit Record button for the Number of Bids field (cursor must be in or over the field before the button will appear).
If the URL field is completed for a detail line, click the Go To button for the URL field (cursor must be in or over the field before the button will appear) to launch the Internet browser and display the specified website.
If the Approvers Add New Detail Lines option has the Allow Approver Edits field selected within the Requisitions Options option, new detail lines can be added by completing the blank line (indicated with an asterisk) at the bottom of the Requisition Details List, if needed. If applicable, when adding a new detail line, any of the fields can be completed (not just those that are defined to be edited within the Requisition Options option).
Note: A detail line that was added by an approver can be edited by any approver, but only the fields defined to be edited will be enabled for the other approvers, while all the fields are enabled for the approver who added the line. If needed, a detail line that was added by an approver can be deleted but only by the particular approver who added it (to delete a detail line, click the Delete button located to the left of the desired record; when prompted to delete the line, click Yes).
Tip: If a new detail line is added or deleted, a comment will automatically be added in the Comments field in the Requisitions Awaiting Approval/Rejection List, and the Requisition Amount field in the Requisitions Awaiting Approval/Rejection List will automatically be updated when the changes are saved.
Click the Save button.
Tip: The budget balance (including the total of unposted invoices, unposted purchase orders, and approved requisitions for the particular account number, if applicable) will display in the Requisition Details List for each detail line item included on a requisition; if the account number is in a fund defined as an activity fund, the appropriate fund balance will also display. Also, the total of all submitted requisitions that have not yet been approved for the particular account number (including the detail line items on the current requisition) will display. If desired, click the Go To button located to the right of the Budget Balance Total, Submitted Balance Total, or Fund Balance Total fields (cursor must be in or over the fields before the button will appear) to open the Chart of Accounts and display the Inquiry screen for the appropriate account number.
Note: If approving requisitions out of the normal order of an approval tree by using the Approve Requisitions Out of Sequence field (and Regular Approvals or Alternate Approvals is selected as the Approval Type), the requisitions will still be pending for the other users with approval sequences preceding and following your sequence. If approving as the owner of the assigned approval trees (Approval Tree Owner is selected as the Approval Type), the requisitions will be considered fully processed and will not require approval from other users on the approval tree. If a requisition is rejected by one approver on the approval tree, the requisition will not proceed to the next approval sequence on the approval tree, and will instead be sent back to the submitter. If a change is made to a requisition for a field defined with the Requires Restart of Approval field selected in the Requisition Options option, the requisition will be sent back to the first sequence on the approval tree.
After all requisitions have been approved or rejected, click the X in the upper right-hand corner to close the Requisition Approvals screen.
If designated to do so in the Email Manager option, notification emails will be sent at this time to the appropriate users with the next approval sequences as based on the approval trees assigned to the requisitions (or to the first approval sequence if the approval process needed to restart, if applicable), to the users who submitted the requisitions if completely processed (received final approval or rejected), to the prior approvers and/or submitter if requisitions were changed (if applicable), and/or to the users who are designated to receive an email for requisitions that received final approval.
Note: If there were notification email messages that did not go through, a message will appear; click OK and then contact the Business Office in order to check the activity log file (System Log tab within the Activity Log option) and resolve the error(s). If an email is rejected, the rejection notice will be sent to the appropriate address for the designated email address in the Email Manager option.