This article explains how a manager responsible at a level of the expense approval process answers the expense groups that reach them. The approver is the person named in the approval process, or, at a "Manager" level, the employee's line manager (Setting up the approval process).
Before you start
You are responsible at a level of an approval process (or you manage employees of a department with a "Manager" level). Then the Awaiting my approval card is shown on the Expense Management screen.
Step by step
Click the "expense request is awaiting your approval" notification, or go to Pay and expenses > Expenses in the left menu and open the Awaiting my approval card. The card badge shows how many groups are waiting. You can also open the group from the pending transactions card on the home page.
Click the group, or the Review and respond button at the end of its row. Groups whose turn is yours carry the Awaiting your approval tag and stay at the top of the list. The list also shows the step of the group and the Revision N and Over limit badges.
The card also lists groups you acted on before (a step you approved, groups you rejected, sent for revision or reopened). You open them with View; the approval buttons only appear on a group whose turn is yours. Use the status tabs (In approval, In revision, Awaiting payment, Paid, Rejected) to narrow the list.
In the group window that opens, review the summary tiles (Total amount, Payable to employee, Receipts, Submitted on, Department), the By expense type and Payment breakdown charts and the Receipts list. The receipt image is the thumbnail on the left of the card; click it to open it large in a new tab. For all fields and attachments of a receipt click the eye icon (View) on its card; the receipt opens in the same window and Back to receipts returns to the list.
If the group was sent over the department limit, a yellow box says Department limit exceeded, within the per-receipt limit with the amounts (Department limits).
If the group was resent after a revision, the box "This form is a revision of the earlier submission (Revision N)" is shown and the changed receipts are highlighted (Revision).
The History section lists the submission, approval, revision and rejection steps of the group with who did them and when.
Decide with the action bar at the bottom:
Approve: In the "The expense group will move to the next approval step. Do you confirm?" window click Confirm. Approval levels do not ask for an SMS code; the code is only asked when the payment is confirmed.
Send for revision: Sends the group back to the employee for changes (Sending for revision).
Reject: Go on with step 5 below.
In the Reject expense window write the Rejection reason (at least 3 characters). If the employee should be able to correct and resend the group, tick "Let the employee edit and resend (open for revision)"; then the group is not rejected and the button becomes Send for revision. Click Reject.
Result
Approve: If there is a next approval level, the group moves to it and the expense owner is notified. At the last level the group becomes Awaiting payment and users with Approve Expense are notified to confirm the payment (Payment approval).
Reject: The group becomes Rejected and "The expense group was rejected." is shown. The reason is visible as Rejection reason in the group window to the expense owner and the approvers, and is in the notification and e-mail to the owner. Later you (the person who rejected it) or an expense manager can open the group for revision with Reopen; the expense owner cannot.
Reject with revision: The group becomes In revision and your reason goes to the employee as the revision note. When the employee resends it, approval starts again from step 1.
Approving or rejecting at an intermediate level spends no digital credit. Every action is written to the History of the group.
Common issues
Symptom: The Awaiting my approval card is not shown.
Cause: You are not responsible in any approval process, or the department of the employees you manage has no "Manager" level.
Solution: Check your approval process (Setting up the approval process).
Symptom: A group you were told about has no approval buttons.
Cause: The group moved to another level, was rejected or was sent for revision; its row has no Awaiting your approval tag.
Solution: Find the group on the Awaiting my approval card with the status tabs and open it with View to see its current status and History.
Symptom: Your own expense is not in your approval list.
Cause: Your own level is skipped in the approval process; your manager or the next level approves.
Solution: No action needed.
Symptom: The window shows "You must enter a minimum of 3 characters.".
Cause: The reason is shorter than 3 characters.
Solution: Write at least 3 characters.
Symptom: The group has no Approve and Reject buttons, only Close.
Cause: You are not the approver of the group's current step; you opened it with a viewing permission only.
Solution: Check which level you are responsible for (Setting up the approval process).