Home > Articles > Automation - Approvals

Articles in this section

Authenticate Emails with SPF, DKIM, and SenderID Auto forward your emails to Vtiger Automate Outgoing Emails in Email Settings Managing User Profiles Setting up User Roles Automation - Assignment Rules Set up Multi-path Workflows Creating a Scheduled Workflow Automation - Scheduler Creating a Workflow Webforms in Vtiger CRM Set up a Workflow Action to Create Event Set up a Workflow Action to Create Records Set up a Workflow Action to Create Task Set up a Workflow Action to Invoke Custom Function Set up a Workflow Action to Create an SMS Task Set up a Workflow Action to Send Mails Set up a Workflow Action to Update Fields Automation - Workflow Action - Webhook Automation - Workflows - Vtiger Expressions Configuration - Business Hours Configuration - Company Details Configuration - Consents Configuration - Customer Portal Maps in Vtiger CRM Configuration - Usage Details Configuring Encrypted Data Fields in Vtiger CRM Configure Picklist Dependencies Considerations for Deactivating Vtiger Users Control Fields and Record Displays using Configuration Editor Create Reminders for Records and Inbox Create a field of a Grid type Dealing with Currencies and Taxes Enable Desktop Notifications on Chrome Web Browsers Vtiger CRM Add-ons IMAP Configuration - 2-way sync between Vtiger and IMAP providers Setting up Autopay & Payment Gateways Inventory - Tax Management Inventory - Terms and Conditions Login to Vtiger on SSO SAML using ADFS Mailroom Functionality for Different Scenarios Manage Multiple Currencies Marketing and Sales - Deal to Project Mapping Marketing and Sales - Lead Conversion Data Mapping Marketing and Sales - Profile Scoring Module Management - Labels Editor Module Management - Module Numbering My Preferences My Preferences - Calendar Settings Tags in Vtiger My Preferences - Notification Preferences SAML Support in Vtiger CRM Set up Mailroom Settings - Configure Module Settings Settings - Create Dynamic Fields and Layouts Module Management - Creating a Relationship Between Modules Settings - Customize Records and Fields for your Business Settings - How to set email autoresponder to Webform submission? Settings - Left Menu Settings - Manage Global Picklists in Vtiger Settings - Set up your Support Team Settings - Start Up Page Settings - Working with Picklist Values Module Management - Module Builder Support - SLA Policies Troubleshooting Login Issues Add-Edit Unsubscribe Links in your Email Template User Management - Authentication User Management - Encrypted Field Access Logs User Management - Groups User Management - Login History User Management - Profiles User Management - Roles User Management - Settings Log User Management - Sharing Rules User Management - Users User Management - Vtiger Support Access Vtiger Buzz - Chrome Extension for Notifications Vtiger Implementation wizard Vtiger Language Support Configuring Websense Trackers Websense - Widgets Configuration - Storage Guard Customizing your Self-Service Portal Theme Using CSS Styles Adding Hidden Fields to a Webform Login Page Customization Creating App-specific Password for Gmail Outgoing Server Module Management - Module Layouts & Fields Settings - Personalize Module Layouts Module Management - Modules Adding Custom Module Automation - SMS Reply Actions Duplicate Prevention in Modules Configuring Dependent Fields and Blocks for Modules Formula Fields Creating Custom Filters Adding a local DNS Entry

Automation - Approvals

This article will help you set up an approval rule in the CRM.

Rashmi Kashyap

22 Nov, 2023 - Updated 4 months ago

Introduction

Administrators or process owners can set up approval processes using Vtiger’s approvals to automate their business processes. Most businesses have processes that require approvals by managers or other team members.

In this article, you will learn about setting up an approval process adhering to your business. You will also learn to set up a multi-level approval hierarchy where the approver can be your reporting manager or any user.

To know more about how to submit approval or how approvals work in Vtiger, you must look at the Approvals article.

Setting up an Approval

Any user with Administrator privileges can set up an approval process.

Before you get started, analyze the approval process entry criteria for the module you are defining.

Entry criteria and the sequence impacts the process that gets executed for a record.

Note: Expenses is a custom module used in the example.

For example, if there are two approval processes with entry criteria as “Expense location is the USA,” Expense location is India,” the process whose entry criteria matches the submitted record is run. If there are two approval processes defined for India, the first process that matches the record is run.

To set up approvals, follow these steps:

Log in to your CRM account.
Click the User Menu on the top right corner of the screen.
Click Settings.
Go to Automation.
Select Approvals.
Click +New Approval.
Provide Basic Information.

Select the module from the drop-down.
Provide a unique name for approval.
Set the approval as Active or InActive.
Give a short description that explains the approval.

Setup the Entry Criteria.

Add entry criteria for the approvals process.
Set unique field criteria that the record must meet to proceed with the approval process. Only when the entry criteria are met, the Approval process is run on the save of a record.
For example, If the Expense location is India, execute India process rules. If the Expense location is the US, execute US process rules.

Configure the Rules. Set the rules for the approval process to execute. The rules are executed sequentially only if the entry criteria are met.

Rule Name - Provide a unique name for the rule and set the criteria. If the mentioned criteria are met, the rule is executed.
Owner profiles - Select profiles from a drop-down. A rule gets executed if the record owner profile matches the rules configured.
Approval matrix - Choose the approvers for the rule. It can be your reporting managers or any other user.

Configure Final Approval and Rejection Actions.

Select the action to be executed on Final Approval and Rejection of the record.
You can add up to 8 actions for a single approval.
The actions can be adding an event, task, creating the record, updating fields, sending email alerts and push notifications, calling webhooks, or custom functions.

Lastly, activate all the actions and click Save.

Deleting an approval

A user with Administrator privileges can delete the approval process. This does not impact any record that is already submitted for approval.

Approvers of a rule in a record

You can configure up to three approvers for a single approval rule.

Approver of the rule can be:

Level 1 manager (Direct Reporting Manager)
Level 2 manager
Level 3 manager
Any specific user such as Bill - Accounts manager, Mary - HR Manager

Note:

The ‘Reports to’ field in the user record is used to determine the reporting manager of the record owner submitting for approval.
You can set up Wait Time for each approver, after which a record is sent to the next level approver even if not approved.
Groups cannot be added as an approver.
Any user in the group is allowed to approve the request. This id done under:
Settings > Approvals > Add Rule section:
Approver equals to Groups

List View in Approvals

By default, the List view is the screen that is visible when you click the Approvals tab. This view lists all approvals created by the administrator.

Columns in List view

The columns that are visible by default in the List View are :

Module - Displays the icon of the module related to which the approval is created. If you hover over the icon, you can see the module name.
Name - Displays the name of the approval.
Entry Criteria - Displays the All and Any conditions set by the admin as the entry criteria.
# of rules - Displays the number of rules that are set up in the approval.
View Rules - If you click the down arrow button, you can see the rules, final approval, and rejection actions set up in that particular approval.

List actions

You can perform these quick actions on Approvals:

Edit an approval by clicking on the approval record in the List View.
Changing the status by clicking the toggle button on the approval record. You can make an approval active or inactive by doing so.
Delete an approval by clicking the Delete icon on the approval record.

Note: A user with Administrator privileges can delete the approval process. This does not impact any record that is already submitted for approval.

Was this article helpful?

1 out of 1 found this helpful.

Creating Approvals in Vtiger CRM My Preferences - Calendar Settings Automation - Scheduler

Comments 0

Be the first to comment