Establishing Approvals Workflow is a crucial precursor to the accounting process in RedTeam Flex.
When Invoices from Vendors are entered into RedTeam Flex, they are routed for various users to review and approve. The same occurs for Employee Expenses. This workflow of approvals is determined by the Approvals Workflow set up in the Configuration menu.
The workflow is established using roles, which can also be created and managed in the Configuration section. Many users in RedTeam will be assigned the same role, so for the system to determine which user receives invoices on each project, the person who receives the invoice for approval must also be a member of that project's Team. For details on adding a member to your Team, see the "Manage Project Team Members" article.
Employee Expense approvals have some additional factors for their approvals. Unlike invoices, expenses can be created outside of a project for overhead reasons. Those expenses will bypass project team member roles, for approvals based on Supervisor status. Instead of workflows based on cost type, expense approval workflows are based on company division.
1. Update Vendor Invoice Approvals Routing
Establishing Approvals Workflow is an important part of the accounting setup process. It is used to route Vendor Invoices for approval by members of each project team. To set up this matrix of approvals, you will need to configure the Approvals Workflow under the Configuration section of RedTeam.
Example: a typical Approvals Workflow may have 3 levels of approval:
Project Manager -> Operations Manager (if over $10,000) -> Project Accountant
In this case, the PC receives the Invoice from the Vendor and enters it into RedTeam. It routes to the Project Manager for approval, then to the Operations Manager, and finally to Accounting for the final approval and execution.
The Approval Matrix can be configured with as many or as few levels of approval as you need, as well as dollar limits for each role (in the above example, all Invoices approved by the PM under $10,000 go straight to Accounting, but anything over $10,000 must also be approved by an Operations Manager). If an Invoice is rejected for any reason, it returns to the last person in the Matrix, who can made changes accordingly.
Steps:
From Configuration, locate "Approvals Workflow" (under the heading: Accounting)
Choose the Approval Workflow you want to update: Material or Subcontract
Click the tools icon
Click "Open"
Click the tools icon next to an Approval Level to change the info (i.e. maximum approval limit) using the "Edit" button or to delete the Approval Level entirely with the "Delete" option.
Click the New (+) icon to add a new Level to the Approval Matrix. You can add a new Approval Level to be inserted anywhere in the Matrix.
Click "Save" after making any changes while Editing or Adding an Approval Level
Click "Close" when finished
2. Update Employee Expense Approval Routing
Employee Expense Approvals are used to route through supervisors and project team members, as needed. To use Employee Expense Approvals as an accounting tool, the workflow must first be configured. The expense workflow is set up in Expense Approvals within the Configuration Menu. Each company division will have its own workflow.
Project expenses will use the company division assigned to the customer facility to determine which approval workflow will be used.
Overhead expenses will use the company division assigned in the payroll section of the employee's profile to determine which approval workflow will be used. Note that only direct supervisor and next-level supervisor roles will be counted for these expenses. Project-specific roles such as project manager, operations manager, etc, will be skipped.
Here is an example workflow with four levels of approval:
Project Manager -> Direct Supervisor -> Next-Level Supervisor -> Controller
In this case, after the employee has created their expense and routed it, the expense will first go to the project PM for approval. From there, it is sent to the employee's direct supervisor, then to the supervisor's supervisor, then to the project's controller. If an Invoice is rejected for any reason, it returns to the previous person in the Matrix, who can make changes accordingly.
Steps:
From the Configuration Menu, click "Approvals Workflow" (under the heading: Accounting)
Select the Expenses tab of the Approval Types
Choose the company division Approval Workflow you want to update
Click the tools icon.
Click "Open"
Click "Save" after making any changes while Editing an Approval Level
Click "Back" or the (x) button in the top right to close out the window.
3. Approvals Workflow Configuration Metadata
When changes are made to the Approvals Workflow for Vendor Invoices, RedTeam tracks those changes and records them. The metadata is tracked separately by type of invoice (material or subcontract). The metadata records who made the change and when the change was made. Within the expanded metadata information you will find the details of which approval role was changed and what specific change was made.
Most commonly, access to the Configuration Menu is limited to small numbers of employees with specific roles that grant them the permissions.
Steps:
Go to the configuration menu and click Approvals workflow within the Accounting section.
Click the toolbox of the workflow type, then click Open. Metadata is listed separately by workflow type.
Click the more icon in the top right, then click Metadata.
When viewing the metadata, click the + icon to the left of the entry to view expanded details.
