Approvals (approval rules)

The approval rules (shown as Approval Regulations or approval structure in the user interface) determine which people have to approve a document. invoiceR compares each accounting line of the document with the rules and builds the list of required approvals from that.

What approval looks like for users is described under Approval.

Opening the rules

Each organization unit (tenant) can have its own approval rules.

1. Open Administration > Organization Units.
2. In the organization tree, click the green double tick next to the organization unit (Visums-Reglement bearbeiten, edit approval rules).

Using the context menu (right-click the organization unit), under Approval Regulations you can create new rules (Add approval structure), edit existing ones or import rules from a JSON file (Import approval structure). Editing requires the permission Admin.VisaMapping on the organization unit.

Note

An organization unit can have more than one set of approval rules, for example when a new set with new cost centers is to apply from a cut-off date.

The rules are displayed as a tree of approval levels. Use the arrows in the name column to expand and collapse branches.

Approval rules as a tree with several levels, one level expanded showing user, deputy and limit

How approval works

Once accounting is complete, invoiceR looks for the matching levels in the rules for each accounting line.

Example: for a line with cost center 4100, the level Site North matches. User A is entered there, so User A has to approve. The level has a limit of CHF 10,000. If the line is higher, the parent level Real estate division with User B must also approve. If User B is entered as deputy on the level Site North and User A is absent, User B receives the document directly.

Note

To prevent anyone from bypassing the limit by splitting an amount across several identical accounting lines, invoiceR combines similar lines for the check.

Editing levels

Right-click a level to add sub-levels (Create new Sub Level), edit or delete it. The same menu lets you export and import individual levels as JSON files. The pencil icon next to the name opens the level directly.

In the level window you define:

• Definition (name) and Description of the level.
• Priority: the order in which several matching levels are processed for an accounting line.

Approval

Each level needs at least one User or Role:

• For a role, approval by any member is enough.
• For a user, If User absent defines what happens during their absence: no Action, To Deputy of User or extended Logic. With extended Logic, Logik bearbeiten (edit logic) opens a list of deputy rules (specific users or roles, or the user’s default deputy). Change the order by drag and drop.

Skip Visa-Process turns approval off for a level.

Note

If the option Show Visa-Group configuration is active under Administration > Settings in Other Settings, you can also set up a level as a Group approval: several roles in groups with a specific Approvals-Count.

Level limit

If the amount of an accounting line exceeds the level’s limit, the parent level must approve as well.

• Turn on Rise Level and enter the limit under Upper Limit of Total Amount. The limit is in the currency of the organization unit (CHF by default). invoiceR converts documents in other currencies for the check.
• A limit of 0 means the parent level must always approve.
• If Rise Level is off, the level never rises.

Under Rise level conditions you can also specify that the parent level must approve below the limit too if the accountant is the approver of this level (Rise level if accounting user is visa user). This preserves the four-eyes principle.

Level activation

With Activate Level-Filter, the level only applies if the amount lies between Minimum and Maximum.

Approval rules: when a level applies

As with the assignment rules, filters determine whether a level matches a document. You can create several rules per level, each with its own Filter Property. Use the plus icon to add a rule; click a row to open it.

Example: a level with one rule on cost center 4100, one on account 6500 and one on two suppliers applies as soon as one of these conditions is met.

The filter properties in detail:

Filter property	Compared with
Cost center, account, project, cost unit	the values of the accounting line
Supplier	the supplier in the document header
User	the assignment user of the document
Accountant	the person who did the accounting
Organization Unit	the organization unit of the document
Emergency Visa	see below
Always (*)	see below

After you choose the property, invoiceR shows a list of possible values. Tick the entries you want or enter the numbers comma-separated in the field below the table.

For more complex conditions you can store a script on a rule. See Approval scripts.

Emergency approval

A level with an Emergency Visa rule is a fallback level: if invoiceR finds no matching level in the entire rules, this one applies. There is always at least one approval, and the four-eyes check only raises an alert in exceptional cases (for example during absences). If invoiceR finds another matching level, the emergency approval is dropped.

Always (*)

A level with an Always (*) rule always applies, regardless of cost center, account or project. The people on this level therefore have to approve every document. You can add the rule at any level of the tree. As with all other rules, the tree is processed upwards from there.

See also

• Manual approval request: additional approvers directly during accounting.
• Transitions: enforcing the four-eyes principle, automatic approval for the accountant.
• Absences: how deputies work during approval.