WAP Help and User Guide – Approval Routes v20
Help and User Guide for Sicon WAP Approval Routes
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Help and User Guide maintained for WAP version 20.0.0
The WAP Approval Help and User Guide will take you through the features and settings for approval in WAP. WAP Approval Routes allow separate approval routes to be created for each type of document within the system, e.g. Purchase Requisition, Sales Order, Invoice, Expense, Timesheet, Holiday Requests, HR Absences, Project Requisitions, new supplier, customer or stock requests. Approval routes can be based on Nominal Account, Requesting User, Sicon Project or Sicon Project Header (Sage Project Accounting Project or Sage Project Item), Sicon Project Manager (Sicon Projects only), Document Value or Supplier. Approval routes can be built on a combination of these options, e.g. nominal account and requesting user, but it is advised to keep routes as simple as possible to allow for easier administration within the live system. The most common approval route for requisitions and invoices is approval based on nominal account (this refers to a combination of Nominal Code, Cost Centre and Department). Other modules such as Expenses, Holiday Requests or Absences are usually configured based on requesting user while Timesheets can either be based on requesting user, Sicon Project or combination of the both.
Approval routes can contain more than one approver in a step; i.e. if a document of high value requires approval from multiple developers, the approval step can contain a User Type or User List.
The route (from top to bottom) is the order in which the documents will be processed. A document will go as far as is required until it reaches a user with sufficient approval value at which point the document will be fully approved. If any users in the approval route have been marked as mandatory or mandatory over budget (and the document is over budget), these users will need to approve before the document is fully approved and posts to Sage.
1. WAP Navigation v20.1
In v20.1, the look and feel of WAP has changed and screens within WAP may look different to the screenshots contained in this HUG. We are working to update the HUGs with new screenshots and other new features however in the meantime, the main functionality outlined in this User guide remains the same.
The main difference is the navigation throughout WAP. The existing side menu has been replaced with a drop-down menu, and clearer icons on the top of the screen. To navigate to Approval Route setup screens, as a user with enough permissions, click on the system settings cogs which will then show the system settings where approval route configuration is completed:
2. Approval Settings Tab
The WAP Approval Routes system provides a number of options to create approval routes for documents which need to be configured within System Settings cogs – System Settings – Approval Tab.
2.1. Display Banner
View PDF Attachments Inline: this must be enabled if using a document management system within the Invoice module; this setting will allow the attached invoice to be viewed during the approval process.
Use Acrobat Viewer for Inline PDFs: if Adobe is installed on client machines it will use this to open the attachment; if not enabled, the WAP viewer will be used.
Hide Budgets tab on approval pages: this setting will hide the budget tab on all approval pages.
2.2. Functionality Banner
Various parameters can be turned on and off to create the required approval route settings per document within the WAP system. These settings are configured per WAP install rather than per Company. Once routes have been created or there are documents awaiting approval, these settings cannot be changed without deleting routes. Combinations of approval options are possible (for example, requisitions could be approved by both requesting user and nominal account) but it is recommended to keep the routes as simple as possible to allow for easier administration.
All applicable document types are listed, e.g. Requisitions, Sales Orders, Invoices, Project Requisitions etc. and approval route functionality is set per document type. Some document types may not have all approval options available; e.g. Holiday Requests can only be approved by requesting user.
Document Requires Approval: by default this will be on, but if documents do not require approval, this can be unticked.
Approve as Single Document: if this is ticked it would mean that only one nominal account can be set per document; usually more than one nominal code would be needed on a document so this wouldn’t need to be switched on.
Approval Type: set at either document item value or document value; document value will use the total value of the document for approval while document item value will total the lines with the same nominal code for approval.
Nominal Account: approval to be based on nominal account (combination of account number, cost centre and department); if a new nominal account is added in Sage, corresponding approval routes would need to be created in WAP.
Supplier: approval to be based on Purchase Ledger supplier account; if a new supplier account is added in Sage, corresponding approval routes would need to be created in WAP.
Value Band: value bands would need to be created to allow for documents to skip approvers; for example if documents over a certain value should go straight to a Director for approval rather than going through line managers before reaching the Director. Value bands are usually used in conjunction with another functionality option, e.g. nominal account or requesting user.
Requesting User: approval to be based on the user who submitted the document; if new users are added in WAP, corresponding approval routes would need to be created.
Project: approval to be based on the project selected; if new projects are created in Sage, corresponding approval routes would need to be created.
Project Header: approval to be based on the project header (or project item) selected; if new project headers or project items are created in Sage, corresponding approval routes would need to be created in WAP.
Project Manager: this can only be used in conjunction with Sicon Projects; approval would be based on the project manager linked to the project selected. If new project managers are created in Sage, corresponding approval routes in WAP would need to be created. If projects are being created in Sage regularly, it can be advisable to have approval in WAP based on project manager (rather than project) as this would mean less maintenance in WAP; approval routes only need configuration if new project managers are created, rather than every time a new project is entered.
Approval Configuration per Document Type
Requisitions: if no costing module is configured, approval would usually either be based on nominal account or requesting user; if a costing module is configured, approval may be based on project or project manager.
Sales Orders: usually approval would be based on requesting user.
Sales Order Quotes: usually approval would be based on requesting user.
Sales Order Returns: usually approval would be based on requesting user.
Invoices: if invoice approval is used in conjunction with the requisition module, the invoice approval routes will usually mirror requisition approval routes. However, note that Requesting User can only be used in conjunction with invoices that are entered directly into WAP (i.e. when Commercials are not configured in Sage).
Project Requisitions: approval is usually always to the same set of users, i.e. the Procurement Team, so a default approval route is usually sufficient. Approval routes can also be configured based on requesting user or value band.
Expenses: usually these would be approved based either on requesting user or on the nominal code.
Timesheets: usually these would be approved based either on requesting user or on project selected.
Holidays: these can only be approved based on requesting user.
Construction Applications: if this functionality is to be used; approval will be based either on supplier, project or project manager.
Customers: these can only be approved based on requesting user. Usually a default approval route for this document type will be created to either a Finance user or set of users.
Supplier: these can only be approved based on requesting user. Usually a default approval route for this document type will be created to either a Finance user or set of users.
Stock Item: these can only be approved based on requesting user. Usually a default approval route for this document type will be created to a Procurement user or set of users.
Expense Supplier: these can only be approved based on requesting user. Usually a default approval route for this document type will be created to a Finance user or set of users.
Suggested Payments: these can only be approved either based on value or supplier. A default approval route for this document type may be sufficient to the Company’s MD or FD.
Absence: these can only be approved based on requesting user.
2.3. Approval Route Deletion Options
Once an approval route option has been configured above and approval routes have been created, it is not possible to change the approval configuration while approval routes exist or there are documents awaiting approval; i.e. changing Requisition approval from being based on nominal account to requesting user.
Once all documents have been approved, clicking on Approval Route Deletion Options will show buttons provided to clear down all approval routes for each document type allowing new options to be selected and new routes configured. Routes can be deleted per Sage database and per module type.
N.B. deleting all routes will stop the WAP system being able to be used until there is a default approval route (all menu options on the left will disappear). A global default approval route will need to be created; we would advise this to be an Admin user who does not appear in other routes.
2.4. Approval Route Functionality Options
These settings can be changed while approval routes are configured in the system.
Auto escalate approval to next approver if not approved within number of hours: If this option is selected, a document awaiting approval will be automatically sent to the next approval step if it has not been approved or rejected within the allocated time period. We recommend this is set to a minimum of 48 hours to cover for weekends. If the document reaches the final step of the approval route, it will not escalate any further.
Approval Routes for a document are restarted on changes made to a document by any user (not just the requestor): by default, any changes made to a document by the requester will cause the document to restart the approval route, but checking this option will mean changes made to the document by any user will restart the route.
All Document Approval Routes are restarted when an approval route is changed: if an approval route is changed while a document is awaiting approval, this option will cause the document to start the approval route from the beginning, rather than carrying on from the current stage.
Prompt for confirmation before approval when using ‘Approve All’ option: this option will cause a pop up to appear to ask the user for confirmation when they are approving documents using the multi select option.
Prompt for confirmation for individual item lines before completing approval (only when single document approval is disabled): this option will cause a pop up to appear to ask the user for confirmation when they are approving a single document item or line.
When single document approval is enabled, compare the actual approval routes for the items rather than the approval options (e.g. the routes are the same instead of the nominal accounts being the same): this will mean the routes are checked during document entry; i.e. items can only be entered if the approval route is the same, rather than only checking nominal accounts (i.e. if document approval is based on another option other than nominal account). All lines on the document will be approved or rejected at the same time.
Approval history display type for report grids: this affects how approval progress is displayed in all reports with approval details. Combined – all details are combined into a single column per step. Discrete – all the details are separated into multiple columns per step. All – shows all columns from combined and discrete. None – approval step columns are hidden.
2.5. Invoice Approval Banner
These settings are only applicable if using WAP Invoice Approval.
There are three options for approving invoices entered against POs, only one of these options can be selected. If any settings are changed here, please restart the WAP service.
Option 1 – Automatically approve invoices that are linked to Purchase Orders. This setting will mean an invoice linked to a related requisition will be automatically approved but variance checking can be enabled using the below options. The recommended settings are shown below but these can be configured per install as required; please refer to the WAP Add-on Help and User Guide for further information and examples around this setting.
Check for variance when auto approving invoices (Requires WAP Addon configured in Sage): Using the WAP Add-on in Sage, this setting will check for any variance in conjunction with the other settings configured on this screen.
Acceptable variance percentage with purchase order line: This setting will check the value of the invoiced line against the total of the matched PO lines with the figure here. If the invoice falls outside of this acceptable percentage it will require additional comments to explain the discrepancy (if it is within the variance, comments are not mandatory), and will then be sent for approval.
If the invoice falls within this variance, the invoice will be automatically approved in WAP.
Acceptable variance value with purchase order line (WAP base currency): This setting will check the value of the invoiced line against the total value of the matched PO lines with the figure here. If the invoice falls outside of this acceptable monetary value it will require additional comments to explain the discrepancy (if it is within the variance, comments are not mandatory), and will then be sent for approval.
If the invoice falls within this variance, the invoice will be automatically approved in WAP.
Note; these two settings work together. If a company would prefer to only check % but not a value, a high value would need to be entered into the Value setting.
Check the invoiced quantity matches the Goods Received quantity: this setting will check the invoice quantity against the total goods received quantity. If the order is to be over-invoiced, this will not be counted as a variance that requires approval, but an additional comment will be displayed for the user keying the invoice to explain that the Invoiced Quantity doesn’t match so they can query this with the supplier or the user who raised the requisition if required prior to continuing. However, if three-way matching is turned on in Sage and there is no GRN at all, a warning will be displayed to the user to explain that “Order X has been invoiced for X items but no items have been delivered.” The user will then need to enter a reason for this discrepancy (or close the screen if this is a mistake and query with the user who raised the requisition).
Automatically approve if invoice line is less than purchase order line: this option can be configured if company policy is to approve automatically an invoice that is received less than the purchase order.
Invoices that are not auto approved should be approved first by the requisition requestor, then the normal approval route for the invoice (when there is no default route configured for invoices with variance): If there is no ‘Invoice & Credits with variance’ default route configured, this setting routes a PO invoice first to the PO requesting user in WAP, before moving onto the normal approval route for the invoice. Each user who could raise a requisition would need to also be given permission to approve an invoice with a suitable invoice approval value (this could be £0). If the user has enough Invoice Approval to cover the whole invoice, it will not move onto the usual approval route and will fully be approved by the original requisition requester.
N.B. a default approval route can be created for all invoice that have a variance (under Global Default approval routes); this will send all variance invoices to one user (or User Type or List, depending on how the route has been configured) to approve.
Option 2 – Invoices linked to requisitions should be approved by the requisition requester. This option generates a custom approval route for each invoice that is linked to a requisition and the route will only contain the user account who raised the requisition in WAP. This means the user who raised the requisition will also require unlimited invoice approval value. N.B. this setting is for invoices entered into Sage 200 only.
Option 3 – All invoices require approval. If this option is configured, all invoices entered into Sage 200 and picked up by WAP, or entered directly into WAP, will use the standard configured approval routes created for invoices.
If any settings are changed here, please restart the WAP service.
2.6. Mandatory Approval - Custom Fields Banner
This feature allows up to three additional mandatory approval labels to be included in approval routes and have a custom label so they can be personalised per installation. An example of this being used is the Cap-Ex Spend option below; it might be that when the user is raising a requisition they identify the purchase as cap-ex and so additional approval would be required.
When adding or amending an approval route, any custom fields that have been enabled will appear as selectable options, similar to the standard mandatory flags, see below.
If enabled, the label is displayed when submitting either a requisition or an invoice for a user to select.
2.7. Self-Approval Banner
Each WAP user can be set with a self-approval value (User Setup – Users – Account Options) per document type (although this will not work for Invoices entered in Sage, only invoices entered directly in WAP). There are three options available for configuring self-approval when a requester is also in the approval route. One of these options must be selected; by default the first option is checked at install.
N.B. self-approval will override mandatory approval routes, expect if the nominal or project is over budget.
Use the requestor self-approval value instead of the document approval value: as a general rule, self-approval value is usually less than the user’s document approval value and this will accommodate the scenario where a user can approve other user’s documents at one value but they can only approve documents submitted by themselves at a lower value or at 0.00, forcing the document through the approval routes.
Use the approvers alternate user account where available, or remove the requester from the approval route for that document when there is no alternate user available: the alternate user is set on the WAP user’s profile; if there is no user configured here, the document will go to the next stage of the approval route.
Use the normal approval value that would be used if approving a document requested by another user: the user’s document approval value or specific nominal approval value will be used rather than their self-approval value. Use this option if different nominal codes have different requisition approval values.
3. Approval Route Reports
There are four reports that can be run from the approval route report section.
3.1. Approval Routes
This report will show all approval routes for a particular document type and Sage database. Depending on approval route configuration, options will appear to select a nominal code, requesting user, project etc. when running the report. Once the report has been run, it will show each route configured with each approval stage; if single users are in the approval step, their approval value will show in brackets with M marking Mandatory and MOB showing Mandatory over Budget.
Selecting a Document Type, Sage Database and then clicking Run without any nominal code, requesting user, project etc. selected will return all routes for the Sage Company and Document Type chosen.
Selecting a Document Type, Sage Database and nominal code, requesting user, project etc. will return the routes for that combination only.
Selecting a Document Type, Sage Database and ‘Any’ will only return routes if the ‘Any’ option has been configured in any routes (see next section for further detail on creating routes using the ‘Any’ feature).
Once the report has been run, right-click on a column header to view additional options for sorting, searching or exporting the report. All reports can be exported to XLS, XLSX and PDF. Click the ‘Column Chooser’ option to see any additional columns that can be added to the report or to drag columns from the report if they should no longer be seen.
If the ‘Filter Row Menu’ option is ticked, this will switch on additional pin filters on each column search box that can be used to search for specific lines. N.B. reports are cookie based so to allow for this customisation, ensure the browser settings allow cookies from the WAP website. Customised columns may return to the standard configuration following a WAP or browser upgrade as cookies may be cleared.
3.2. User Approval Values
This report will show all users with their item, approval and self-approval values for each document type. The report can be run for one user or if the user filter is left blank, data will be generated for all users.
Right click on a column header to view additional options for sorting, searching or exporting the report. All reports can be exported to XLS, XLSX and PDF. Click the ‘Column Chooser’ option to see any additional columns that can be added to the report or to drag columns from the report if they should no longer be seen.
If the ‘Filter Row Menu’ option is ticked, this will switch on additional pin filters on each column search box that can be used to search for specific lines.
3.3. Custom User Nominal Values Report
This report will show per database and per user nominal codes with overridden approval value per nominal code. If the ‘Show Nominal with no custom value’ option is ticked, all nominal codes allocated to the user will be displayed. This report is the best to run to show nominal codes allocated to users. The report can be run for one user or if the user filter is left blank, data will be generated for all users.
Right click on a column header to view additional options for sorting, searching or exporting the report. All reports can be exported to XLS, XLSX and PDF. Click the ‘Column Chooser’ option to see any additional columns that can be added to the report or to drag columns from the report if they should no longer be seen.
If the ‘Filter Row Menu’ option is ticked, this will switch on additional pin filters on each column search box that can be used to search for specific lines.
3.4. User Nominal Accounts List
This report will show per database and per user nominal codes allocated to the user. The report can be run for one user or if the user filter is left blank, data will be generated for all users.
Right click on a column header to view additional options for sorting, searching or exporting the report. All reports can be exported to XLS, XLSX and PDF. Click the ‘Column Chooser’ option to see any additional columns that can be added to the report or to drag columns from the report if they should no longer be seen.
If the ‘Filter Row Menu’ option is ticked, this will switch on additional pin filters on each column search box that can be used to search for specific lines.
4. Approval Routes
Once the initial functionality set up has been completed, approval routes can be created. By selecting the System Settings cogs icon and choosing the Approval Routes option from under the Approval Route Setup banner, the Approval Routes menu will be displayed as below.
4.1. Edit Single Route
Create or edit a single approval route based on the configured approval options for the selected document type. When a route is chosen, the existing route will be shown and amendments can be made or a new route created.
In the below example an approval route is being created/edited for a requisition raised in the Demo Data company against nominal code 89100-ADM-ADM and value band 0 – £25,000. Once the route components have been selected, click Edit Route.
If a route has been created, this will be shown, if no route has yet been created, an empty Approval Route screen will be displayed.
Approval routes will always work from the top down (e.g. James to Henry); the first approver will always need to sign the document and if it is within their approval value, will look for any other steps marked as mandatory or mandatory over budget. If no other steps are mandatory, the document will be fully approved. If the first approver does not have sufficient approval value to approve the document, it will go to the next approval step and keep progressing until a user has adequate approval value. Any further steps will be checked for mandatory or mandatory over budget flags and either direct for additional approval or the document will be fully approved.
In the example below, if a requisition is raised for £22,000, the document will first be approved by James King as she appears first in the list. Although James can approve up to £25,000, the document will also go to Henry Hooper if the nominal is over budget. Once the document has been through the approval process and the requisition is authorised, the requester will be notified by email and the PO can be sent to the supplier.
Clear Route: use this to empty all approval route steps previously created, if new steps are to be configured.
Simple: by default this radio button is selected to allow for single users to be selected from the drop down box and users added. Users will only be visible on the drop down list if they have permission to approve the document type.
Advanced: select this radio button for further configuration options, e.g. to add a User Type or User List to an approval step.
Name: this will show the user(s) included at the approval step; their User Type is shown in brackets.
Type: this will show details on the approval step; either a single user, User Type or User List will be shown.
Maximum Approval Value: if the step is a single user, this will show the user’s maximum approval value with an explanation of where the approval value is taken from. If the step includes multiple users (e.g. a User Type or User List step), this will show the lowest maximum approval value and the highest maximum approval value. For example, if James and Henry from the example above were both in an approval step as a User List, the maximum approval value would show ‘25,000 to 999,999,999’ (James can approve up to £25,000 and Henry can approve up to £999,999,999).
Req. No. App (Required Number of Approvers): this will show the required number of approvers at the step; if the step contains a User List or User Type it might be that more than one approver is required.
Mandatory: tick if the approver at the step must sign of all documents regardless of value. An example of a user being marked as Mandatory is a final Finance approval step of all expenses.
Mand. Ovr. Bud. (Mandatory over Budget): tick if the approver at the step must sign off documents if the nominal or project is over budget.
Blue Directional Arrows: use these arrows to move configured steps either up or down the route.
Cross Icon: use this to delete the step from the route.
Users Icon: this will show the number of approvers at the current step; if clicked, the approval route will be shown in more detail with all approvers listed, required number of approvers etc.
Back To Route Selection: use this option to return to the previous screen to select another route if additional changes are to be made.
Copy Route: use this option to copy the current route to another configuration. Make sure to save the current route first if changes have been made.
Save: use to save the route if changes have been made.
Close: use to return to the approval route management options.
4.2. Creating a Route - Any Nominal
In addition to the example explained in the last section, if approval functionality is driven by Nominal, it is also possible to create a route for “Any” nominal:
By selecting this and creating a route based on it, any nominal that does not have a specific route configured will follow the approval route set up in this stage. This can be useful where the majority of routes are the same, just the exceptions will have routes created.
4.3. Creating a Route - Any Project
In addition to the examples explained previously, if Sicon Projects is in use and approval functionality is driven by Project, it is also possible to create a route for “Any” project:
By selecting this and creating a route based on it, any project that does not have a specific route configured will follow the approval route set up in this stage. This can be useful where projects are added regularly and the majority of routes are the same, just the exceptions will have routes created.
4.4. Creating a Route - Any User
In addition to the examples explained previously, if functionality is driven by Requesting User, it is also possible to create a route for “Any” user:
By selecting this and creating a route based on it, any user that does not have a specific route configured will follow the approval route set up in this stage. This can be useful where users are added regularly and the majority of routes are the same, just the exceptions will have routes created.
4.5. Creating a Route - Any Supplier
In addition to the examples explained previously, if functionality is driven by Supplier, it is also possible to create a route for “Any” supplier:
By selecting this and creating a route based on it, any supplier that does not have a specific route configured will follow the approval route set up in this stage. This can be useful where suppliers are added regularly and the majority of routes are the same, just the exceptions will have routes created.
4.6. Creating a Route - Simple Option
By default this radio button is selected when using the wizard or creating a single route to allow for single users to be selected from the drop down box and users added. Users will only be visible on the drop down list if they have permission to approve the document type. Add as many users as required until the route is completed; approval values should start with the smallest amount and finish with a user with unlimited approval value. Up to ten approval steps can be configured.
4.7. Creating a Route - Advanced Options
When using the wizard or creating a single route, select this radio button for further configuration options, e.g. to add a User Type or User List to an approval step.
- Add User. Select a single user, add the selected user and save the step. Users will only be visible on the list if they have permission to approve the document type.
- Add User Type. Select the required User Types from the list, add the selected user types and save the step. Before saving, make sure the required number of users is correct. User Types will only be visible on the list if they have permission to approve the document type.
- Add User List. Select the required users from the list, add the selected user and save the step. Before saving, make sure the required number of users is correct. Users will only be visible on the list if they have permission to approve the document type.
- Add Requester. If this is added into the approval route for any document type, the document will go back to the Requester of that document for approval. If there are other users in the approval route prior to the Requester, these will need to be marked as Mandatory so that all levels are picked up (otherwise the approval route starts from the Requester and the first level approvers will not see the document for approval). If the Requester is to be the last approver in the route, they must have sufficient approval values to cover the document. Note. This setting will only work for invoices if entering invoices directly into WAP rather than into Sage.
Required Number of Approvers for this Step: enter the required number of approvers at this step; if the step contains a User List or User Type it might be that more than one approver is required. For example, the document may be sent to four directors and any two can approve.
This Step is Mandatory: tick if the approval step must sign of all documents regardless of value. An example of a user being marked as Mandatory is a final Finance approval step of all expenses.
This Step is Mandatory only if Over Budget: tick if the approval step must sign off documents if the nominal or project is over budget.
Allow previous approvers to approve this Step: make sure this is ticked if a user is being added to the approval route twice; e.g. if a Finance User Type is the first step and the last step, when adding the last step make sure this option is ticked. If it is not ticked, the Finance approvers will not be able to approve at the final stage.
4.8. Editing Default Approval Routes
The default approval route is used when a document is processed and there is no specific route configured. There is a default route for each document type and a global default that is used if no document default has been set.
A global default route must exist before the system can be used; at installation this will be set to go to the Admin user account. If the Admin user exists in an approval route they will take up a licence; replace this user with a named user to free up the Admin licence. Note; if all routes including defaults are deleted, the system will not be able to be used – all menu options on the left will disappear.
If the invoice approval module is enabled, it is necessary to create a default route for rejected invoices or credit notes; usually this is either one Finance User or a Finance User Type who would edit the nominal code and resend for approval.
The first route to configure within this section is the Global Default which is used when no approval route exists for the selected nominal code, user or project and should be used as a ‘catch all’ for these situations.
For some document types; i.e. Customer, Supplier, Stock or Expense Supplier requests, a default route may be created rather than individual routes – if the requests will always require approval from the same user or group of users. Default routes for each document type are created in the same way by clicking on the relevant button for the document above and then creating the route in the usual way.
4.9. Approval Route Wizard
The approval route wizard can make configuration much quicker and simpler; multiple routes can be created and maintained at once. If the approval route configurations are the same (i.e. based on nominal account), multiple document types can be selected.
The wizard cannot display any existing routes configured; either edit a single route or use the approval route report to view current routes.
In the below example, routes will be created for requisitions based on a set of nominal codes. Firstly select the correct document type; only documents enabled in the licence string will show.
Select the required Sage Database.
The next step is to choose the nominal codes the approval routes should be assigned to. In the example below, the Cost Centre and Department ‘ADM’ have been entered in the top search bar. Once listed, either click the nominal codes required or tick the top box to select all. Once nominal codes have been selected, different cost centres or departments can be entered in the search bar – previous selections will be retained. Click on the column headers to sort; by default the nominal account name will be listed A-Z. Once all required nominal codes have been chosen, go onto the next step.
N.B. this step shows here as nominal codes; if approval route configuration was based on e.g. requesting users, this step would list all users in WAP or if configuration was based on Projects, this step would list all Projects.
Build the approval route as required adding users/user types/user lists as applicable; see further explanation above – Section 3.4 – Creating a Route
Once the route has been built correctly, move onto the next step.
The final step will show a summary of what is to be created, click through the next step to confirm the wizard to create new approval routes. Depending on system configuration, any documents currently awaiting approval will either remain at their current step or will reset to the beginning of the new route.
4.10. Global Replace for User
This function will allow for a user to be replaced in approval routes with an alternate user; as changes occur in the organisation such as promotions, users leaving etc. amendments will need to be made to the routes to reflect these changes. Users can be marked as leavers in their user profile so they will not take up a licence but their user history remains, however they cannot be marked as a leaver while they are configured as an approver in a route. In order to replace a leaver with another user in all the approval routes, first make sure the new user is setup with the appropriate permissions (access to nominal codes, projects, user type permissions and approval values). When the new user is set up correctly, click the Global replace user button.
Choose the user to replace from the User to replace menu box and the new user from the second menu box. Once the save button is clicked, this will replace the old user with the new user wherever they appeared in approval routes in the WAP system. Users will not appear in these drop down fields if they do not have permission to login.
4.11. Import/Export Approval Routes
Import templates are generated from within WAP, completed and then imported into the system to allow for multiple routes across multiple documents and Sage Companies to be created at once. When a template has been generated, please ensure columns and rows with sample text are not deleted and the file is saved with the same name as when generated. If these are not retained, the file will fail validation.
Approval routes can be exported per Document Type and Database, select the required option from the drop down filters and click export. A CSV file is then generated in the format of the import ready for any changes to be made and imported back in. Again, please ensure columns and rows with sample text are not deleted and the file name is saved with the same name as when exported. The option to export current routes, change and re-import is particularly useful if many changes are to be made or if a user is leaving and they cannot be globally replaced just with one user.
5. Restrict Nominal Accounts
This function allows for a list of nominal accounts to be configured that cannot be authorised within the WAP system, e.g. if a set of nominal codes temporarily cannot be used. To add a nominal to the list, choose the Company and the Nominal Account from the drop down options and click Add Nominal Account. A list will show all the nominal codes that are currently restricted (N.B. the WAP cache may need to be cleared if nominal codes have been added but are not showing here). If a nominal code can be approved at a later date, click Remove to take the nominal off the list and allow documents to be approved.
If a document has been entered using a nominal on the restricted list, the approver will see the below message as they try to approve the document. The approver could either reject the line or document with an instruction for the requestor to change the nominal code, or speak with the WAP Superuser to unblock the nominal so the document can be approved.
6. Value Bands
Value Bands are configured in System Settings cogs – Approval Route Setup Banner – Value Bands.
6.1. Using Value Bands
Value bands are a way to separate approval routes depending on the value of the document. For example, if higher value documents do not require approval from lower steps of the route but would just go to the user who has sufficient approval value (e.g. to ‘skip’ steps). Value Bands can also be used to target approval to certain approvers; e.g. if the document is to be sent to four directors but if over a certain value, one in particular must approve, value bands can be set so the lower value would go to all four and any two could approve while the higher value would go first to one specific director and then go onto the remaining three for any additional one to approve. Value bands still work in conjunction with whether the approval functionality is based on Document Value or Document Item value.
You do not require value bands to be set up for general approval values, i.e. to set approval values at a user level, value bands are only required to skip steps or for targeted approval requirements as outlined above. Further examples of each can be found in the following sections.
6.2. Creating Value Bands
Value bands can be created for a particular document type; i.e. if Requisitions require different value bands to Invoices, or default bands can be created if they are to be applicable across all modules. To create or edit bands for a document type, select the document type from the drop down box and click ‘Edit Bands For’.
The Description is used when creating approval routes, either a single route, using the wizard or the import and for ease of reporting etc. should be named as per the band start and end. Ensure band end and start figures do not overlap and are sequential; e.g. as above ending at £25,000.00 and then starting at £25,000.01 – not £25,001. Make sure there are no gaps in the end and start figures but they cannot overlap; e.g. a band cannot end at £25,000.00 and the next band then start at £25,000.00.
Once bands have been created correctly, make sure to click Save at the bottom of the screen before moving away to a different screen.
6.3. Why Use Value Bands?
As mentioned, value bands are not required for general approval values, i.e. setting approval values at a user level. WAP in its simplest form will route a document through the approval route until someone with a high enough approval value approves the item – starting with the lowest value and onto the highest.
Value bands are only required to ‘skip’ steps or for targeted approval requirements.
We will look at a couple of examples in the sections below.
Targeted approval explanation
Value Bands can be used to target approval to certain approvers; e.g. if the document is to be sent to four directors but if over a certain value, one in particular must approve, value bands can be set so the lower value would go to all four and any two could approve while the higher value may go first to one specific director and then go onto the remaining three for one to approve.
The company approval matrix for this scenario may look like below:
| Levels | <25,000 | 25,000-200,000 | 200,000+ |
| Who needs to sign? | Budget Holder only | Budget Holder Any 2 directors | Budget Holder 1x Departmental Director Any 1 of the other directors |
Skipping approval steps explanation
Value bands can also be used to ‘skip’ approval steps. For example, if higher value documents do not require approval from lower steps of the route but would just go to the user who has sufficient approval value.
The company approval matrix for this scenario may look like below:
| Levels | <25,000 | 25,000-200,000 | 200,000+ |
| Who needs to sign? | Budget Holder only | Any 2 directors | 1x Departmental Director Any 2 of the Board level directors |
So the budgetholder only sees items under 25,000. Documents from 25,000-200,000 would go straight to 2 directors for approval. Anything over 200,000 would go to different approvers again.
6.4. Value Bands Examples - targeting approval (Document Item Value)
First, we need to determine whether it is the value of the lines that triggers these limits (Document Item Value), or the value of the whole document (Document Value).
In this example, it is the total of the nominal lines that determine who should approve so we will work with Document Item Value and the below approval functionality by nominal and value band:
Document Item Value means WAP will look at the individual lines for nominals and group them together to determine which value band will be picked up for those nominals. For example, if 5 different lines were entered on one document, 2 of which are for the same nominal at 500 each, WAP groups the value of the 2 identical nominals together to 1000. At the point of going for approval, that is the value WAP looks at to determine whether the approving user has enough value to approve them or not. It is possible to amend a users’ approval value for specific nominals and this would be taken into account as well.
If approval functionality was set to Document Value, WAP would instead look at the overall value of the document to determine which value band will be picked up. For example, if 5 different lines were entered on one document, 2 of which are for the same nominal at 500 each, WAP looks at the overall value of all 5 lines on the document to determine whether the approving user has enough value to approve them or not. It is possible to amend a users’ approval value for specific nominals and this would be taken into account as well, so long as the overall document value is under the approver’s overridden nominal approval value.
We will walk through this example using the sample matrix from the previous sections:
| Levels | <25,000 | 25,000-200,000 | 200,000+ |
| Who needs to sign? | Budget Holder only | Budget Holder Any 2 directors | Budget Holder 1x Departmental Director Any 1 of the other directors |
Creating the 25,000-value band route
Let’s now look at how to configure the route at each level:
For under 25k, the approval only needs to come to the budget holder.
| <25,000 |
| Budget Holder only |
When the approval route is built using the wizard, the Sage company and relevant nominals are selected as usual:
And on the next screen, the relevant value band selected:
And finally, the approvers that are required for this criteria are selected (a Requisition where the lines for this Material nominal fall under 25k):
The result of this <25,000 value band route
A requisition submitted under 25,000 for a material nominal will go to the budget holder. Once the budget holder has approved it, the line will be fully approved as no further approval is required for this line as it falls within the Document Item Value limits. If there are other lines for the same nominal, these will be added together.
Creating the 25,000-200,000 value band route
For orders over 25k and under 200k, the approval still requires the budget holder, but this time it will also require any 2 of 4 directors.
| 25,000-200,000 |
| Budget Holder Any 2 directors |
When the approval route is built using the wizard, the Sage company and relevant nominals are selected as usual:
And on the next screen, the relevant value band:
And finally, the approvers that are required for this criteria are selected (a Requisition where the lines for this Material nominal fall between 25k – 200k):
In the example above, the advanced functionality has been used with Usertype. If directors are not all in the same usertype, then a User List can achieve the same results. The important part is to say how many within the list need to approve it:
The director step does not need to be marked as mandatory as the Budget Holder can only approve up to £25,000 and the value band selected is for orders more than £25,000, so additional monetary approval is required from the second step. If the budget holder had a higher approval value, then the second step in this band would need to be marked as mandatory.
The result of this 25,000-200,000 value band route
A requisition submitted between 25,000-200,000 for a material nominal will go to the budget holder first;
Once the budget holder has approved, it then moves onto all 4 directors. Only 2 of them need to approve it.
Once the second director has approved it, the line will be fully approved and no further approval is required for this line as it falls within the Document Item Value limits.
Creating the 200,000+ value band route
For over 200k, the approval still requires the budget holder, but this time requires a specific director to approve before moving on to require any 1 of the remaining directors.
| 200,000+ |
| Budget Holder 1x Departmental Director Any 1 of the other directors |
When the approval route is built using the wizard, the Sage company and relevant nominals are selected as usual:
And on the next screen, the relevant value band:
And finally, the approvers that are required for this band and nominal are selected (a Requisition where the lines for the Material nominal falls over 200k):
In the above example, two individual named users have been listed. In the third and final step, the advanced functionality has been used with Usertype. If directors do not belong to the same usertype or need to be restricted, then a User List can achieve the same results. There are a few important parts to note when using a list or usertype;
- Firstly, if this step is mandatory (in the example above, all directors have unlimited approval value, so unless the third step is marked as mandatory, WAP will never move it on to the final stage as the first director, Helen, had enough to approve it).
- Secondly, how many within the list need to approve it?
- Finally, because our 2nd approver Helen could also be approving in the 3rd step, is that allowed within the authority matrix? It not, ensure “Allow previous approvers to approve this step” remains unticked:
The result of this 200,000+ value band route
A requisition submitted over 200,000 for a material nominal will go to the budget holder first;
Once the budget holder has approved, it then moves onto the director in step 2.
Once the named director has approved, it then moves onto the remaining 3 directors (because we did not allow previous approvers to approve this step). Only 1 of them need to approve it.
Once one of the directors has approved it, the line will be fully approved and no further approval is required for this line as it falls within the Document Item Value limits.
6.5. Value Bands Examples - targeting approval (Document Value)
First, we need to determine whether it is the value of the lines that triggers these limits (Document Item Value), or the value of the whole document (Document Value).
In this example, it is the total of the document that determines who should approve so we will work with Document Value and the below approval functionality by nominal and value band:
Using Document Value, WAP will look at the overall value of the document to determine which value band will be picked up. For example, if 5 different lines were entered on one document, 2 of which are for the same nominal, WAP looks at the overall value of all 5 lines on the document to determine whether the approving user has enough value to approve them or not. It is possible to amend a users’ approval value for specific nominals and this would be taken into account as well.
If it was set to Document Item Value, WAP would look at the individual lines for nominals and group them together to determine which value band will be picked up for those nominals. For example, if 5 different lines were entered on one document, 2 of which are for the same nominal, WAP groups the value of the 2 identical nominals together. At the point of going for approval, that is the value WAP looks at to determine whether the approving user has enough value to approve them or not. It is possible to amend a users’ approval value for specific nominals and this would be taken into account as well.
The routes are set up in the same way as the last section, so in this section we will focus on the differences and results for Document Value set-up.
| Levels | <25,000 | 25,000+ |
| Who needs to sign? | Budget Holder | Directors |
User setup:
Hiroshi (budget holder) has a document approval value of £25k (User setup – Account tab).
Harvey (budget holder) has a document approval value of £25k (User setup – Account tab).
However, for the Stationery nominal below, Harvey has an overridden requisition approval value of £100k (User setup – Nominal tab).
In this section, we will focus on 3 nominals and the associated Value band approval routes set up:
| Nominal Under 25k | Nominal Over 25k | |
| 89200-ADM-ADM (IT) | Hiroshi (Budget Holder) | Hiroshi (Budget Holder) Hugo (Director) |
| 73100-ADM-ADM (Maintenance) | Harvey (Budget Holder) | Harvey (Budget Holder) Hugo (Director) |
| 83200-ADM-ADM (Stationery) | Harvey (Budget Holder) | Harvey (Budget Holder) Hugo (Director) |
Example 1 – document value under 25k
The approval bands are created in the same way as the last section. However, at the point of choosing the approving users in the route, because we have added in a nominal account value override for stationery, this will show in the approval route (a Requisition where this nominal and the total document value falls under 25k):
The result of this <25,000 value band route
If the total value of the requisition is under 25,000, each line will go to the nominal budget holder as usual. Once the budget holder has approved it, the line will be fully approved as no further approval is required for this line as it falls within the Document Value limits. If there are other lines for the same nominal, these will be added together.
Example 2 – document value over 25k, individual lines under users Document Approval Value
The approval bands are created in the same way as the last section. However, at the point of choosing the approving users in the route, because we have added in a nominal account value override for stationery, this will show in the approval route (a Requisition where this nominal and the total document value falls under 25k):
The result of this >25,000 value band route
In this example, multiple lines were entered. For Maintenance, this was under Harvey’s document approval value (25k), and for IT Costs, the collated values are just over Hiroshi’s document approval value (25k). The stationery costs are under Harvey’s nominal overridden approval value (100k). Because the total value of the requisition is over 25,000, each line will go to the nominal budget holder as usual:
For the Maintenance and IT costs, the total value of the document is over their approval value so these lines proceed to director level of approval. However, the total value of the document is under Harvey’s stationery approval value of 100k, so this line is authorised:
Once the Director Hugo has approved the remaining three lines, the document is then authorised and posted to Sage:
Example 3 – document value over 25k, individual lines under users Document Approval Value, but collated value takes the nominals over the approver values
Using the same scenario as Example 2, finally we’ll look at what happens if multiple lines are added that equate to more than the users approval values. So in the example below, each line is under the users’ approval value for that nominal, but the collated values take them all over the Document approval values, and the Nominal override that Harvey has:
So Stationery = 100500, Maintenance = 28,000 and IT costs = 27,000.
Once submitted, all the lines come through to the budget holder as usual:
This time, the collated value of all nominal lines equates to more than anyone’s document or nominal override values, so all lines progress to the director level:
Only once the director has approved all lines will the document be fully approved and posted to Sage:
7. Creating Ad-Hoc Approval Routes
If a user has appropriate permissions, they can edit an approval route on a line to create a new approval route for that instance; the standard approval route will not be changed.
When creating or editing a line, the route can be changed through the Approval Tab; click Edit Route and then either clear the route and start again or make changes to individual lines. The standard Simple and Advanced options are available to include User Types, User Lists etc. in on the new route. Make sure the new route is saved before the line is saved for the changes to be picked up. The document will need to be re-submitted for the new route to be picked up.
8. User Type Approval Permissions
There are a couple of User Type permissions relating to the general Approval Process.
8.1. General Tab
Create Ad-hoc approval routes: the ability to create a bespoke approval route to override the pre-configured approval route. This is usually only given to Superusers or Administrators. See Section 6 – Creating Ad-Hoc Approval Routes
Use ‘Approve Selected’ option on approval pages: the ability to select multiple documents to approve at once, rather than approving each document individually. This is usually only given to Superusers or Finance staff who may have many documents at a time to approve.
8.2. Users Tab
Amend Users: this permission will allow for existing users to be edited or new users to be added onto the system – e.g. if approval values are to be changed, it would be done against the user’s profile.
8.3. System Tab
Amend approval routes: the ability to create or amend approval routes. This permission will also allow for approval route reports to be run.
9. User Approval Permissions
Approval values are set against each user, under the Account Options of their User profile.
Set the Item and Approval values per document. All approval values are entered in the system base currency; any documents entered with a different currency will be converted to the base currency; Sage exchange rates are used when converting. If a user has unlimited approval value (i.e. for users at the end of an approval route), set the approval value as 999,999,999. When editing or adding new values, make sure to click Update before saving at the bottom of the screen.
Document Type: choose from the drop down box the applicable document type. It is recommended to select a document type to specify approval values against.
Item Value: this sets the maximum document value that the user can enter into the WAP system; if there is no limit to the value of a document that can be raised, enter 999,999,999 as an unlimited value.
Approval Value: this sets the maximum approval value for the user, if they were to be approving a document submitted by another user.
User Self-Approval Values: if a user is allowed to enter and automatically approve a document up to a certain value, set a maximum self-approval value per document type as shown below. Certain document types (e.g. Expenses) would not usually have a self-approval value allocated. Make sure to click Update before saving.
