Understanding Default Approvers
In organizations that require approvals as a part of their AP workflow, figuring out who approves which invoice can be a tedious and time consuming task. With eMessaging, finance teams can enhance their workflow and reduce handling times of inbound documents substantially by assigning default approvers to specific vendors and/or to the Purchase & Payable flow.
Organizations that have specific rules, roles or responsibilities for certain vendor relations can add default approvers to a vendor card. Once a default approver has been set , any inbound documents from the vendor will be routed to that user for approval, unless any other rules state otherwise.
As a fallback option, a user may be designated as the default approver for Purchases & Payables as a fallback option. Once set, any approvals that have no rules assigned to them will be routed to them.
The approver assignment workflow
To understand how default approvers are assigned, it is important to understand the approver assignment workflow. This workflow runs on all inbound documents to assign the right approver based on the predefined rules. As these are a complex rules structure, there is a hierarchical priority system where more specific configurations override general ones.
The system evaluates approval assignments in ascending order of priority:
Priority 1 (Lowest) - Purchases & Payables Default Approver
Priority 1 (Lowest) - Purchases & Payables Default Approver
System-wide fallback option. Initial assignment for all inbound documents unless overwridden by higher-priority assignments
Priority 2 - Vendor Default Approver
Priority 2 - Vendor Default Approver
Default approver defined on the card for the vendor specified on the inbound document. Enables approval routing based on vendor relationships
Priority 3 - Posting Template Approver
Priority 3 - Posting Template Approver
Approver assigned to the applied posting template. Enables approval routing based on transaction types or accounting categories
Priority 4 - Advanced Posting Template Approver
Priority 4 - Advanced Posting Template Approver
Approver assigned from the applied Advanced Posting Template. Enables taylored approval workflows for complex scenarios or exceptions
Priority 5 (Highest) - Item Posting Setup Approver
Priority 5 (Highest) - Item Posting Setup Approver
Most granular approver level. Item-specific or line-level approval requirements that override all other rules & configurations.
Tip: Assigning Default Approvers to the lower priority items will support the continuity of the approval workflows in your organization and prevent tedious manual tasks to identify and re-assign missing invoices!
Assigning Default Approvers
Default approvers may be be set to Vendors and/or the Purchases & Payables setup
Default approvers may be set on the Vendor Card
Search for Vendors and open the vendor list
Find the specific vendor to which you wish to assign a Default approver
Scroll down to the Posting Setup tab
Assign a default approver
Default approvers may be defined on Purchase setup
Search for and open Purchase & Payables Setup
Scroll down to the Centara Approvals Tab
Assign a default approver
You're all set!