Sicon Approvals Help and User Guide – Requisitions Module

1. Approvals Requisition Prerequisites

Before adding requisitions onto the system, the below steps will need to be followed; these steps may not all be relevant depending on whether a costing module is being used and how the system is to be configured.

Further information on these sections can be found throughout this Help and User Guide.

*Please make sure the Approvals Service is restarted following any changes.

2. Requisition Flow

Requisitions will generally follow the same flow through the system, see below.  There will be some that may require multiple goods received against or may go through the approval process a number of times until all lines have been fully approved.  The stage after receiving goods would be invoicing; this is covered off in our Approvals Invoices Help and User Guide.

3. Requisition Enable Configuration

For the Requisition module to be available the enable module must have the Requisition module ticked.  Once this is configured, Requisition options will then be visible within the system.

For further information on licencing, please speak with your Business Partner in the first instance.

4. Costing Module Integration Prerequisites

The Approvals system can be configured to integrate with Sicon Projects, Sage Project Accounting or Approvals Projects.  Select accordingly with System Settings – Costing – once a costing module has been set, please restart the Approvals service.

4.1. Sicon Projects

Below are a number of things to consider when setting up Projects to be linked with Approvals.  For more information on any of these points, please see the Projects Help and User Guide.

Make sure Project Headers have been created that correspond with how purchases are to be costed; default nominal codes can be set against each header.  Headers need to be linked to a Header Type with an Approvals type ‘P’ for them to be visible when users raise requisitions.

It is possible for Cost Centre and Department overrides to be set against the Project.

Default projects and project headers can be set in Projects settings which will get picked up by Approvals when entering a requisition.

If using Stock in Sage, it is possible to set a default project header per stock item – this will get used in Approvals if raising a requisition against the stock item.

4.2. Sage Project Accounting

Below are a couple of things to consider when setting up Sage Project Accounting to be linked with Approvals.  For more information on any of these points, please discuss with your Sage Business Partner.

Ensure Project Accounting has been linked with Purchase Order Processing.

Ensure Projects have Project Items setup for spend to be allocated against; default nominal accounts can be linked with Project Items.

4.3. Approvals Projects

Approvals Projects is a simple costing module which sits within Approvals and does not post to Sage – it can only be used if no other costing module is in use.

Ensure Projects have been created for users to select.

Ensure Project Items are available for use on the Requisition module (Project Item Types are linked with a document type; project items are then linked with the project item type).

5. New Requisitions

This section will go through how to raise a requisition; all options have been switched on for documentation and the Approvals system linked with Sicon Projects.  These options below can be configured as required either in System Settings or User Type permissions.

To enter a new requisition, click the Quick Link ‘New Requisition’ – this will only show if the user has permission to enter a new requisition.  Alternatively, use the menu structure on the left and select ‘Create New’.

New Requisition Entry screen:

Company:  the user’s default company will be selected here and greyed out if the user only has access to one.  If the user has access to multiple companies, they can select a different company here.  Ensure the company is correct before a supplier is searched for.

Supplier:  select the correct supplier from the drop-down list either by typing the supplier name or code.  All suppliers will be pulled through from Sage; if a supplier is on hold in Purchase Ledger, it will appear in the list with an On-Hold status, but will be unavailable to use for the requisition.  The information dot can be clicked to provide more information on the supplier such as address, contact and payment information.  If required, the supplier list may be restricted to show only Approved Suppliers as defined in Sage 200. For more information please see the Approved Supplier section of this Help and User Guide.  The system can be configured to allow users to leave the supplier field blank when raising and submitting a requisition, although one must be selected for the order to post through to Sage.

Supplier Ref:  this will be automatically populated with the supplier reference from Sage 200 once a supplier has been selected.

Document Date:  this will be automatically populated with the current date but can be overridden as needed.  By default, it is not possible to enter a requisition in the past although this can be allowed if needed.  This is the date that is used for budget checking purposes so if a spend is to hit a future month’s budget, this date can be moved to a future date.

Default Project:  if linked with Sicon Projects, a default Project here will ensure under the Delivery tab, addresses linked with this Project will show.  This project will also populate on any free text or stock item lines but can be overridden per line if required.  If Phases/Stages/Activities are enabled within Projects, once a default project has been selected, make sure to also pick the correct P/S/A.

Delivery Date:  this can either be automatically populated to match the document date or can be left empty to force the users to pick a delivery date.  This is a mandatory field – users will not be able enter a free text or stock line until a delivery date has been selected and this date will be used to generate Goods Received notification reminders if configured.  Individual delivery dates can also be set per stock item or free text line if required.

Urgent:  if the user marks a requisition as urgent they will need to enter a reason for the urgency in the Urgent pop-up box.  Once the requisition is then submitted an email will be sent instantly to approvers advising them there is a requisition awaiting approval.  Notifications are also highlighted to ensure users have visibility of urgent orders.  It isn’t possible to remove the urgent flag from the requisition entry screen.

Confidential:  if the user ticks the requisition as confidential, the only users that will be able to see the order will be the user who raised the requisition, the approver(s) and users with the User Type permission to view all orders.  If Business Units are setup, other users within the business unit will not have visibility of confidential orders (unless they have permission to view all orders).  Switch on within System Settings – Requisitions the ability to mark requisitions as confidential.

Call Off:  call off orders can be created for free text lines only; this will switch the value and quantity fields on the entry screen to enable calling off orders by value rather than quantities. For more information please see the Call Off Orders section of this Help and User Guide.

Capex Spend / Strategic Purchase:  these options (not shown here) are as configured within the Custom Mandatory Approval options (System Settings – Approval) – if selected, additional mandatory approval steps could be required.  These can be labelled as required; for more information, please see the Approvals Help and User Guide.

Save Only:  clicking this will allow the user to save the requisition before submitting; i.e. if extra lines need to be added before the requisition is submitted.

Save & Submit:  this will send the requisition for approval.

Print Quote Request:  if configured, this option will show and allow the user to send a request for quote to the supplier before the order is approved.

Print Summary:  this option is not possible until a requisition has been fully approved; it will open a pop-up that would allow the PO to be emailed to the supplier.

Copy Order:  this will allow the user to select a previously approved order to copy and create a new requisition for approval.

Show Related Project Requisitions:  this option is not possible until the requisition has been fully approved; if applicable, it will open a pop-up showing the project requisition the requisition was created from.

Show Goods Received:  this option is not possible until the requisition is approved and has had goods received against; a pop-up will open showing goods received.

Reset Lines:  this option will reset the approval route for all lines back to the beginning of the approval route.  This is useful if changes have been made to the lines or to the approval route and the document needs to be re-approved.  Once the lines have been fully approved, they cannot be reset.

Close:  this will close the screen and return the user to the Existing Requisitions screen.

5.1. Add a Free Text Line

Select Add a Free Text Line and complete as required.  Certain fields (such as Project and Header selection) will only show if configured and other fields can be hidden to simplify the screen for end users.

Populate from catalogue Item: Only relevant where the Sicon Distribution module, Catalogue Item is also in use.  If enabled, click on ‘Populate from catalogue Item’ to bring up the catalogue for the supplier associated with the order, highlight the item and select ‘Add’ to pick the required item. See Distribution HUG for more information on this feature.

Item Details:  free text field to enter the description of the item required.  There is a maximum of 6,000 characters in this field.

Quantity:  free text box, enter the quantity required.

Unit Price (£):  free text box, enter the price per unit as required.  The symbol in the bracket field is pulled through from the currency set against the supplier in Sage PL.

Buying Price Unit:  free text field to enter further details of the item, e.g. box of 12 or pack of 6.  This field can be configured to show on the PO layout to the supplier, or hidden from view when entering requisitions if not needed.

Delivery Date:  this will pull through the delivery date as selected on the front page but can be overridden as needed.  This is particularly useful if expecting staggered delivery or part invoicing an order.

Tax Code:  this can be configured to pull through the tax rate configured against the supplier in the PL or the standard tax rate against the Sage Company in Sage Connections.  This field can be hidden from view if required.

Discount Percent:  if applicable, enter a discount percentage to apply to this line.  This field can be hidden from view if required.

Confirmation Method:  this will pull through from the standard configuration in Sage but can be overridden per line if required.  This field can also be hidden if needed.

Save:  click to save the order line to the requisition.  Once saved, the free text line details box remains on the screen ready to add further lines if required.  By default, the previously selected project or nominal code will remain but can be changed.

Close:  when no further lines are required on the order, click Close to return to the requisition header page.

Project Tab

This tab will only appear if Sicon Projects, Sage Project Accounting or Approvals Projects has been configured as the Costing Module.  If the Requisition is linked to a Project, select the correct Project and Project Header/Project Item from the drop-down boxes.  Note; if activities are being used in the Project structure, these will be available for selection and the Tree option can be used to ensure the correct Project Activity and Header are chosen.

If a user has ‘Access all Projects/Projects’ ticked on their User profile, all live Projects will appear in the drop-down list.  Alternatively, users can be given access to specific Projects and Project Headers/Project Items.

With Sicon Projects, only Project headers that belong to a Project Header Type with an Approvals type of ‘P’ will be shown.  If a project header isn’t showing as expected, check the Project Header Type is setup correctly.

Nominal Tab

If a Project and Project Header/Project Item have been selected, the nominal code will be automatically populated based on the selection and by default, users will not be able to change this code.  This can be configured if required.  If both the N/A project and header have been chosen, a nominal code will need to be selected.

If a costing module is not integrated with Approvals, the user will need to select a nominal code for this line item.  Nominal codes can be searched for either by typing an account number or name.  Users can be given permission on their User profile to ‘Access All Nominal Codes’ but it is advised to restrict user nominal access so they see a limited list of codes.  If the user has a large number of codes assigned, the magnifying glass can be clicked on to allow further filtering which can aid selection.

Nominal codes can be set to pull through automatically from the supplier’s default nominal code but this can be switched off to make sure the user selects from the drop-down list the correct code.

Approval Tab

The approval tab will display the route configured for this line item.  Users will not be able to make any changes to the route, unless they have the User Type permission to ‘Create ad-hoc Approval Routes’ – this is recommended for Finance or Admin users only.

5.2. Add a Stock Item Line

Select ‘Add a Stock Item’ and complete as required.  Stock items will pull through from Sage – the nominal code set against the stock item will be used.

If using Sicon Projects and the stock item has a default POP project header set, this will be populated and the nominal code set against this project header used.

If no project header has been set against the stock, the default POP project header will be used, alternatively if this is not set, the user will need to select a project header from the list allocated to them.  Only project headers belonging to a Project Header Type with Approvals type ‘P’ will be visible for selection.  Default project headers (either set against the stock item or in Projects settings will still be used even if that header is not configured as available against the Project chosen).

Filter Items by Supplier: this can be ticked to only show products linked to the supplier selected; untick this to show all stock items set up in Sage.  This setting can be hidden if required and either defaulted to be on (to only show stock items linked to that supplier) or off (to show all stock items).  Within Requisition System Settings it is also possible to force users to only use products linked to the supplier selected.

Product Group:  by default, all product groups will be selected but stock items can be filtered by a product group to show only stock items within that product group.

Stock Item:  select either by typing a stock name or item code.  Supplier part and free stock numbers will be visible on stock item selection.

Warehouse:  select the correct warehouse for the stock item.  If required, users can be restricted as to the warehouses they can see.

Image:  if an image has been added onto the stock item in Sage, this will be visible within this screen.  To add an image against the stock item, amend the item in Sage, click on the Sicon tab and the ‘Stock Item Images’ and add an image.  Multiple images can be added against an item but only the Default image will show in Approvals.  Images will only show if the Sicon WebAPI has been configured.

Amend Line Description:  users are able to tick this to amend the line description on the stock item; this would then change the description on the PO to the supplier but would not update the stock item in Sage.

Confirmation Method:  the confirmation will be set as per configuration within Sage on the Product Type and can be hidden if preferred.

Quantity:  selection box, enter the quantity required.

Buying Unit:  select the correct buying unit from the drop-down menu, as configured from Sage 200.

Buying Price Unit:  choose the correct buying price unit from the drop-down menu, as configured in Sage 200.

Unit Price (£):  the price will be pulled through from Sage but can be overridden if needed.  The symbol in the bracket field is pulled through from the currency set against the supplier in Sage PL.

Tax Code:  this will pull through the tax code configured against the stock item in Sage but the users can override.  This field can be hidden from view if required.

Delivery Date:  this will pull through the delivery date from the lead time as set on the stock item but can be overridden as needed.  This is particularly useful if expecting staggered delivery or part invoicing an order.

Project Tab

This tab will only appear if Sicon Projects, Sage Project Accounting or Approvals Projects has been configured as the Costing Module.  If the Requisition is linked to a Project, select the correct Project and Project Header/Project Item from the drop-down menus.  Note; if activities are being used in the Project structure, these will be available for selection and the Tree option should be used to ensure the correct Project Activity and Header are chosen.

If a user has ‘Access all Projects/Projects’ ticked on their User profile, all live Projects will appear in the drop-down list.  Alternatively, users can be given access to specific Projects and Project Headers/Project Items.

With Sicon Projects, only Project headers that belong to a Project Header Type with an Approvals type of ‘P’ will be shown.  If the default Stock or POP project header isn’t showing, check the Project Header Type is setup correctly.

Nominal Tab

If a Project and Project Header/Project Item have been selected, the nominal code will be automatically populated based on the selection and by default, users will not be able to change this code.  The system can be configured to allow this if required.

If a costing module is not integrated with Approvals, the user will need to select a nominal code for this line item.  Nominal codes can be searched for either by typing an account number or name.  Users can be given permission on their User profile to ‘Access All Nominal Codes’ but it is advised to restrict user nominal access so they see a limited list of codes.

Stock Movements Tab

This tab will show the stock movements against the stock item and Warehouse selected, if there is free stock in that warehouse.

Approval Tab

The approval tab will display the route configured for this line item.  Users will not be able to make any changes to the route, unless they have the User Type permission to ‘Create ad-hoc Approval Routes’ – this is recommended for Finance or Admin users only.

5.3. Add a Comment Line

Any additional comments that need to appear on the requisition as a line item can be added here and can be marked to show on supplier documentation.  By default, the comment will not be set to appear on supplier documents.

5.4. Add a Charge Line

When adding a charge line the charge code will be pulled through from Sage 200 (as configured in POP – POP Maintenance – Additional Charges).  Choose the appropriate charge code and the corresponding name, value and nominal code will auto populate.  Values can be overwritten if different to the default.  If linking with Sicon Projects, choose a project and header.

Some sites may not use charge codes as they will not be linked with a Project; alternatively, either enter a free text line or create a stock item for postage.

5.5. Update Nominals

This screen can be used to update nominal codes on multiple lines at a time; a nominal code can be chosen from the top drop-down box, tick to select the appropriate lines and then click to replace nominal codes on the selected lines.

Access to this option is a User Type permission and would usually only be given to Admin or Finance users.  It can be beneficial if there is a requisition with many lines that need the nominal code changing, rather than editing each line individually.

5.6. Line Values Tab

This tab will show a breakdown of the lines on the order with the quantities, unit prices, discount percentage, tax rate and net value.  These lines can be edited or deleted, depending on the order’s approval status and User Type permissions.

5.7. Line Quantities Tab

This tab will show a breakdown of the order lines with the Buying Unit description and the quantities that have been ordered, received and invoiced with individual line delivery dates.  Lines can be edited or deleted, depending on Approval status and User Type permissions.  When the line has goods received against it or is invoiced, these figures will be automatically updated.  If Goods Received Note attachments have been added when receiving the goods in Approvals, clicking on the Received Quantity hyperlink will show receipt information and a thumbnail of the attachment.

5.8. Authorisation Tab

Once the requisition has been submitted, the lines will be updated to show who is needed to approve the line and the status of the document.  The document will not be fully approved until all lines have been approved.  Clicking Restart will cause the line to be sent back to the beginning of the approval route.  Comment lines do not require approval.

Clicking on the Waiting For hyperlink will open a pop-up to show the current approval step and future approval steps.

5.9. Budget Tab

If budget checking has been enabled, budget information will be populated on the budget tab on the item line.  Double click on the budget line to see the drilldown – users will only be able to see the drilldown if they have been given access to the nominal code.

Nominal codes can be set as overbudget if there is no budget set in Sage.  If a line is over budget, the requisition and the line will be flagged as over budget – a flag icon will show under the Flag column on the Existing Requisition and Approval screens.

5.10. Projects Tab

If Sicon Projects, Sage Project Accounting or Approvals Projects are enabled and the line is linked to a Project, the details will be shown on this tab.

Comment lines cannot be linked to a project.

5.11. Delivery & Invoicing Tab

This tab will show information on supplier, delivery and invoice addresses, order discount percentages, Sage analysis codes, and if required database Spare Fields.

Supplier Address:  this will be automatically populated from the Sage PL Account once a supplier has been selected.

Supplier Contact:  supplier contact information will be automatically populated from the Sage PL Account default contact.  This will usually be a finance contact but Supplier Roles can be created in Sage to allocate a purchasing contact to a supplier which Approvals will then use.  To create a Purchase contact, create a role title ‘SendPLOrderTo’ (Accounting System Manager – Settings – Customer and Supplier Roles) and then when creating a contact against the supplier account, link the contact through to this role.  Approvals will then pick up this contact to use for delivery details.

Deliver To:  this address must be populated before lines can be added to a requisition – a default delivery address is linked through to a user on their Approvals User profile (under the Company Access tab).  Delivery and invoice addresses are added in via System Settings – Delivery Addresses.  If a user has permission to do so they may be able to change the delivery address.  Alternative addresses such as Supplier/Customer/Project or Free Text Addresses can be made available within Approvals System Settings if needed.  The option to select a Warehouse only relates to purchases of stock items and the warehouse these items would be booked into when they are received in.

Invoice To:  this address must be populated before lines can be added to a requisition – a default invoice address is linked through to a user on their Approvals User profile.  Delivery and invoice addresses are added in via System Settings – Delivery Addresses.  If a user has permission to do so, they may be able to change the invoice address but this is not usually allowed.

Order Discount/Surcharge (£):  an overall discount percentage can be applied to all lines on the requisition if required; enter the order discount percent and the discount value will be calculated and applied automatically.  Users will not be able to change the discount value.

Analysis Codes:  analysis codes set up and configured in Sage POP – POP Maintenance – Maintain Analysis Codes, will be drawn through to select.  Ensure the analysis codes have been setup as selectable in Sage (POP – POP Utilities – System Setup – POP Settings – Order Entry tab – Order Header Entry – allow amendment of analysis codes and Order Line Entry – allow amendment of analysis codes).

Spare Fields:  if another application is using Spare Fields in the database for additional analysis options, these can be configured in Approvals system settings to appear on requisition order entry.  Any values entered will then post through to Sage (but will not be visible to the end user as this is linked to the database only).

5.12. Justification Tab

This tab is used to provide a narrative and add file attachments to clarify or support why the items have been requested.  These documents are intended for internal use only; if Approvals is linked with Sicon Documents, any attachments added here will post through to Sage and be visible against the PO.

Requested By:  this is automatically populated with the user’s name but can be changed to another user, if the permissions have been configured (User Setup – Users – Account Options).  If approval routes are based on Requesting User, the system will pick up the user from here.

Business Unit:  the ‘Requested For’ box is a free text field that can be completed as required.  The ‘Department’ is a drop-down box for the user to select the business unit.  The user’s default business unit will be populated initially but if the user has access to other business units they will appear to be chosen.  Business units are used to allow other users to have further visibility of orders, for more information please see our section on Business Units and Requisitions.

Notes:  free text notes can be added here, once added a post-it note icon will appear in the Flag column on the requisition summary grid tables and approval grid page.  These notes will not post into Sage.

Link:  if configured, a hyperlink (e.g. https://www.www.sicon.co.uk) can be added here; once a hyperlink has been added, a globe icon will appear in the Flag column on the requisition summary grid tables and approval grid page.  If a user clicks on this icon a new window will open through to hyperlink.

Attachments:  supporting documents can be uploaded and attached to the requisition using the drop files or browse option; if one document is attached, a single paperclip will appear in the Flag column on the requisition summary grid tables and approval grid page, if further documents are attached, two paperclips will show.  If Approvals is linked with Sicon Documents, any attachments added here will post through to Sage and be visible against the PO.

Order Justification:  justification bands can be configured (System Settings – Requisitions) so based on the value of the requisition a specific number of quotes need to be attached; e.g. up to £5,000 must have 1 quote, up to £10,000 must have two quotes and over £10,000 would require three quotes.  If configured, this will show the user how many attachments are required and allow for quotes to be added.  It is not possible to restrict this feature per nominal code, supplier or user.  For more information, please see our section on Order Justifications.

5.13. Approval History Tab

This tab will start to be populated once the requisition has been submitted and starts through the approval process.  Only lines that require approval will be displayed, i.e. comment lines will not show.

Filter by Item:  by default, all requisition lines will show – use this drop-down box to filter to view history of one specific line.

Urgent Reason:  if the user ticked the option to mark the requisition as urgent, the reason given will be displayed here.

5.14. Audit History Tab

If configured, this tab will be populated with information on the order lines; when they were created, amended or deleted and by which user.  By default, all requisition lines will show but the filters can be used to only show specific lines, audit actions (e.g. create, edit, delete etc.) or a date range when the action occurred.

Auditing is switched on in System Settings – Auditing.

6. New Requisition Entry - Nominal Account Code Selection

Where the nominal code will be selected from will be determined by configuration (whether APPROVALS has been linked with Sicon Projects or there is no costing module) and the item being raised (whether it is a free text line or stock item line) and settings within the Requisition module.

6.1. Free Text Line, Approvals is not linked with Sicon Projects

6.2. Free Text Line, Approvals is linked with Sicon Projects

6.3. Stock Item Line, Approvals is not linked with Sicon Projects

6.4. Stock Item Line, Approvals is linked with Sicon Projects

7. Existing Requisition

Select ‘Show Existing’ from the menu to display the requisitions under various tab headings.  Additional icons will appear in the Flags column to show if the order is over budget, has notes, attachments or a hyperlink or has been printed or emailed.

7.1. Requisition Header Status

New:  requisitions that have been saved but not yet submitted for approval.

Submitted:  requisitions that have been submitted and are awaiting approval.  By hovering over the information icon on the left, the lines will be displayed showing who they are awaiting approval from.

Approved:  requisitions that have been approved, posted through to Sage and now show a Sage POP Order Number and are ready to be emailed to the supplier.  Once printed, a printer icon will appear and if emailed, an envelope icon will appear.  Approved orders will remain in this tab until they have been fully goods received and invoiced.

Rejected:  requisitions that have been rejected during the approval process will show under this tab.  It is up to the user who submitted the requisition to either delete or edit and resubmit for approval.  If an order has 10 lines on where one has been rejected and all others approved, it will show in the Rejected tab until no lines have the Rejected status.  A requisition will not post through to Sage if there is a rejected line.

Completed:  once an order has been fully goods received and invoiced it will move through to Completed, mirroring the process within Sage.

Failed:  if a requisition fails to post through to Sage it will appear in this tab and will need the error flag removing before it can be posted again.  The permission to clear the error and repost orders is usually just given to Administrators or Finance users.  Common reasons for a requisition failing are POP auto numbering in Sage not being on, or if the supplier has been placed on hold within Sage once the requisition has been submitted, lines being entered with a negative value or the project has been closed following the order being submitted.  More details on any error flags can be viewed through the Event Viewer.

Archived:  users can archive their completed orders.  If there are a large number of completed orders, it is recommended users do this on a regular basis to avoid potential speed issues.  There is no option to archive all completed orders in the system, it has to be done at an individual user level.  When searching for a requisition, archived requisitions will not appear in the results unless searched for specifically.

7.2. Requisition Line Status

New:  the line has not yet been submitted.

Waiting:  the line is awaiting approval from an authoriser.

Authorised:  the line has been fully approved.

Rejected:  the line has been rejected; all lines must be authorised before the requisition will post to Sage.

No Authorisers:  there are no authorisers for the line; the line will need to be reset and the requisition submitted for the correct approval route to be used.

7.3. Requisition Notifications

When a user submits their requisition for approval they’ll receive notifications on their homepage; these are split out per individual line on the requisition.  Lines may show on different tabs; e.g. if one line had been rejected this would show under the ‘Rejected’ tab but if another line was still awaiting approval, this would show under the ‘Approve’ tab.

Low Priority:  as this notification is showing to Rami that the lines have gone to Rosana for approval, it is low priority as there is nothing for Rami to action.

Message Hyperlink:  if Rami was to click on the hyperlink notification, this would open the requisition for him to either view or edit if required.

Dismiss:  this notification can be dismissed (there is nothing for this user to action); Rami would get new notifications if something changed – e.g. Rosana approved and the requisition went to another approver, Rosana approved and the requisition was fully approved or if Rosana was to reject it.

When an approver has a requisition to approve, they’ll receive notifications on their homepage; these are split out per individual line on the requisition.

Normal Priority:  as this notification is showing to Rosana that this requisition requires her approval, the priority is normal as there is an action to complete.

Message Hyperlink:  if Rosana was to click on the hyperlink notification, this would open the requisition approval page to allow for the claim to be either approved or rejected.

Dismiss:  this notification cannot be dismissed as it is requiring an action – notifications will be sent until the approver has completed the task (or if a time limit has passed – by default this is set to 14 days.  If after this time the approver has still not approved, the notification will automatically dismiss and they won’t receive any further notifications although they must still approve).

If a user had flagged the requisition as Urgent, this will set the priority as Urgent to both the user who submitted the requisition and the approvers.  Notification emails will be sent automatically rather than waiting for the standard email threads.

7.4. Searching for Requisitions

By default, users will always be able to see requisitions they have raised or approved.  If permission is given, users may also be able to view all requisitions within the system or all raised by users in the same business unit.

There are two options to search for an existing requisition; either use the Search filters or the Quick Links.

Search filters:  depending on configuration, the user will either be able to search for their own, within their business unit, delegates or all users’ requisitions.  Search filters can be used to find orders with a particular Approvals ID, Sage PO number, supplier and if using a costing module, Project.  Use the Show Deleted option to show any requisitions or orders that have been deleted.

Quick Links:  either click ‘Refresh Requests’ to update the grid and retrieve the most recent status of orders or other specific links to show particular orders.  If users have permission, they will be able to archive their completed orders.  All orders within the current grid can also be exported to Excel – note this is just at header level.  If line level information (such as nominal code or project information) this will have to be viewed through either viewing a single requisition or running the requisition reports.

7.5. Searching for Requisitions raised by Colleagues

If a user belongs to a business unit and they click the Quick Link to view requests raised by my business unit, they will be able to view their own requisitions and any raised by users within their business unit(s).

7.6. Editing Existing Requisitions

By clicking Edit on an existing requisition, this will open up to allow for viewing of order lines, delivery information, quantities received etc.  Depending on User Type permissions, the user may be able to make changes on an order once it has been approved, up until the order has been goods received or invoiced.  Any changes would need to be submitted for re-approval.  Alternatively, users may not be allowed to make any changes to an order once it has been approved and a Sage PO number has been generated.

It is recommended that the only users who could change an order once it has been approved would be Administrators or Finance users.

If a line is amended, the value increased and the line submitted for approval, the variation amount between the original and new line is what requires approval, rather than the value of the line.  For example, the first approver has approval value of £100 and the line was originally £75 – this is fully approved by the first approver.  The user who raised the requisition originally amends the order and increases by £50 to give the line a new total of £125 and this line is then submit.  The first approver is still able to approve because the variance (£50) is within their approval value (£100).  If secondary approval should be required as the line value (£125) is now over the first approver’s limit, the original line would need to be deleted and a new line created.

7.7. Copying Existing Requisitions

Once an order has been fully approved it can be copied to create a new requisition.  This functionality is useful if repeat orders are being placed regularly, or orders with many lines.  The user should find the correct order to copy using the search functionality and click to Edit.  Once the order is open, click the Copy Order button at the bottom of the screen.

Sage Database:  select the correct Sage company for the new order to be raised in.  Only companies the user has access to will be visible.

Copy From:  this is the order that will be copied; the order number will be automatically populated based on the order that was found but can be changed if required.

Supplier Filter:  if analysis codes are being used to filter and group suppliers, select the correct group here, or leave as the default to show all suppliers.

Supplier:  choose the correct supplier the new order should be raised for; start typing either the supplier name or account number to find.

Copy Order Line Prices and Discounts:  this is ticked by default but untick if prices should not be entered on the new requisition from the existing order.

Copy:  click here to create the new requisition, or cancel out to avoid completing this.

Once copied, a new requisition is created.  This new requisition can then be edited if required; i.e. if lines need to be added or deleted, or changes to quantities etc. need to be made.  Once the requisition is correct, this can then be submitted for approval.

7.8. Deleting Existing Requisitions

If the user has permission to do so, they will be able to delete a requisition using the ‘Delete’ button.  An order can be deleted once it has been approved unless goods have been received or an invoice has been entered.  If an order has been approved and posted through to Sage but is then deleted, it will show in Sage as Completed with a zero-order value.  If a user does not have permission to delete requisitions, they will see a message advising this:

7.9. Printing Quotes

Before an order is approved, a quote can be printed; this can be useful if a price is required from a supplier.  It is a User Type permission to be able to print Quotes and quote layouts are configured in Sage Connections.

8. Approve Requisition

To approve a requisition, either click on the approval notification quick link, the hyperlink notification on the user’s Approvals homepage, or navigate to the Approve Requisitions page from the side menu.

8.1. Requisitions to Approve

All requisitions awaiting the user to approve will be listed; click on the arrow on the left to expand and view the requisition line details.  Only lines awaiting the current user for approval will be visible.

Lines:  this tab will show all lines awaiting approval from the user with information on quantity, price, nominal and project.  The View Order Details button will take the approver through to the main requisition page to view the requisition fully or to make any amendments, see below for further information on viewing order details.  Individual lines can either be approved or rejected, or the whole order can be approved or rejected.  See below for further information on Rejecting Requisitions.

Attachments:  this tab will allow for any attachments added to be viewed.  The number of attachments will be shown in brackets on the tab.

Order Justification:  this tab will allow for any quotes added to be viewed.  The number of quotes will be shown in brackets on the tab.

Notes:  if any notes were added during creation of the requisition, these will be visible here.  Notes can also be viewed by hovering over the post-it note icon under the Flags column.  Additional notes can be added by the approver in this tab too.

Budgets:  if configured, budget information can be viewed here showing further information on whether the nominal, or Sicon project is within or over budget.  If a line is over budget it will be highlighted on the Lines tab in red and there will be a red flag under the Flags column.

Analysis Codes:  if analysis codes have been configured in Sage and completed during requisition entry, these will be visible here.  Approvers are not able to change values selected on this tab.

Approval History:  each line requiring approval will be displayed showing approval history.

If the approver has permission to approve multiple orders at a time, they will be able to select multiple requisitions to approve without needing to open to view individual lines.  It is recommended that the only users who could approve multiple orders at once would be Administrators or Finance users.

8.2. Requisitions to Approve - Reject

If an approver wishes to reject one or all lines, they can click either Reject or Reject All; they will then need to enter a reason for rejecting before choosing to reject.

The user who raised the requisition initially will be sent a notification containing the rejection reason and the requisition will appear under the Rejected tab under Existing Requisitions.

The user who submitted the requisition can now:

Delete the requisition if the approver has not allowed the purchase to be made (if the user has permission to delete a requisition).

If the requisition has multiple lines, one which has been rejected and other lines which have been approved, delete the rejected line and resubmit the requisition. This will cause the requisition to move through as Approved and will post through to Sage.

Edit the requisition to correct the rejected line and resubmit for approval.

To correct the rejected line (option 3); Edit the requisition, edit the rejected line, make the correct change and save the line.  In this example the quantity is being reduced from two to one.  Once the change has been made, click the Authorisation tab and Restart the approval route.  This is necessary to clear the rejected flag and allow for the requisition to be resubmitted for approval.

Once the line has been reset, save and submit the requisition for approval; this will start the approval process again.

8.3. Requisitions to Approve - View Order Details

If during approval the approver wishes to see the original requisition, they should click the ‘View Order Details’ button.  If approval routes are configured based on nominal code or project, lines could be sent to other users to approve.  Approvers are able to make changes to lines; by default, this would not cause the document to restart its approval route although the system can be configured so changes made by approvers will cause the document to restart the approval process.

The approver will have options at the bottom of the requisition screen to either approve or reject lines without need to go back to the existing Approve Requisitions page.  This will only approve or reject lines waiting for the current approver, it will not approve or reject lines waiting other users to approve.

8.4. Fully Approved Requisitions

Once approved, the requisition will move through the configured approval route until approved by an approver with sufficient approval value rights and any mandatory checks have been completed; at this point the requisition is posted into Sage as a PO and a Purchase Order number is generated within Approvals.

The user who submitted the requisition would get a notification advising them it has been fully approved – the lines will show as Fully Approved and when all lines are fully approved, the order header will show as Completed.

Lines –

Order –

9. Printing and Emails Purchase Orders

Orders can only be printed and emailed once they have been fully approved and a PO number has been generated.  The option to print orders is a User Type permission.

9.1. Emailing Purchase Orders

Once the order has been found under the Approved tab, click on the Print Summary option and a preview will be generated – see below for details on configuring and linking PO layouts.

Some sites may have two PO layouts configured (e.g. for one to be sent with Project information on, one without) so there may be Print Summary and Print Detailed options.  If only one layout has been configured under System Settings, only Print Summary will show.

The print PO preview screen is a pop-up so the Approvals website must be configured to allow pop-ups.

The PO can be saved, printed if required, exported as a PDF document or emailed directly to the supplier by clicking the ‘Click here for email options’ banner.

From:  by default, the option to send from the user’s email address will be selected but can be changed so the email is sent from the system email address as configured in System Settings – Email.

Supplier Contact:  this email is pulled through from the supplier contact field on the requisition but the user is able to override if needed.

CC:  enter an email address here if someone else should receive the email.

Subject:  this text can be configured within System Setup – Sage Connections.

Include me:  tick this box if the user should receive a copy of the email as well as the supplier.  When this is first selected, a pop-up will display that allows the user to default to the selection chosen when emailing future orders.

Body:  this text can be configured within System Settings – Sage Connections although users are able to override to include any other information required when sending through to the supplier.

Attachments:  up to three attachments can be uploaded to be emailed out to the supplier along with the PO.

Once the order has been sent through to the supplier, an envelope icon will appear in the Flags column against the order, under the Approved Requisitions.  If printed, a printer icon will show.

9.2. Automatically Emailing Purchase Orders

Configure within System Settings to automatically email orders (System Settings – System Settings banner – Requisitions).

Once the PO number is generated, Approvals will automatically email out the default layout from within Sage Connections to the supplier on the order.  An email address will need to have been entered on the order for this to have been successful.  It is possible to configure an email address to be copied in on all automatic orders; this can be useful to ensure a Procurement team are aware of which orders have been sent out.

The email address to send the POs to the supplier can be set as either the System (the email account configured under System Settings – Email) or User (the user who raised the requisition).

The setting to automatically email purchase orders is a global setting and not per Sage Company or per Supplier.  Therefore, it is recommended to only be switched on once a site is live and not during testing, unless Suppliers are updated in Sage to not have real supplier email addresses.

Please restart the Approvals service following any changes to these settings.

9.3. Supplier Contact Email

Supplier contact information will be automatically populated from the Sage PL Account default contact.  This will usually be a finance contact but Supplier Roles can be created in Sage to allocate a purchasing contact to a supplier which Approvals will then use.

To create a Purchase contact, create a role title ‘SendPLOrderTo’ (Accounting System Manager – Settings – Customer and Supplier Roles).

When creating a contact against the supplier account, link the contact through to this role.

Approvals will then pick up this contact to use for delivery details.

9.4. Purchase Order Layouts

PO Layouts are stored within System Settings – Reports.  A number of layouts are pre-configured at install – hover over the thumbnail image to view the layout.  A report can be renamed by clicking Edit but to make any changes to the layout, click Design.  Layouts can also be Exported and then imported if changes are to be made.

The reports are designed using DevExpress and we strongly advise only experienced report writers make changes to a design layout.  Please ensure a backup is taken before any changes are made by exporting the layout as a .xml file.  Any issues resulting from making changes may incur chargeable consultancy to resolve.

Up to two layouts can be used per Sage Company; these are configured in Sage Connections – Company Details – Purchase Order – Purchase Order Report.  There is an option within Sage Connections to upload Terms and Conditions which would be emailed to the supplier along with the Purchase Order.  However, many companies now prefer to include standard text on the PO layout or email body text stating e.g. “For full Terms & Conditions please visit www.companyname.co.uk/terms-and-conditions”.  If Terms and Conditions are to be emailed along with the PO, there is an option to print them in a landscape format.

10. Goods Received

To goods receive an order, click on the Goods Receive option on the menu – the permission to Goods Receive is User Type permission.  As soon as goods have been received in Approvals against a PO, the quantities will update through on the Sage PO in Sage POP.

By default, the list displayed will show approved orders raised by that user that have not been fully received.  Depending on configuration, the user may also be able to see orders raised by other users within their business unit(s), their delegate list or all orders raised in the system.  Specific orders can be found using the filters at the top of the screen to search by supplier, Project or a PO number.  There are also filter boxes on each column header.

To receive goods, select an order using the tick box and click Receive.  If required, multiple orders can be received against the same supplier, as long as they all have the same confirmation intent type (e.g. Confirm with Goods Received, Confirm as Service/Free Text – as configured in Sage POP).

10.1. Receiving Goods or Services

Once an order has been selected, the individual lines requiring goods to be receipted will be displayed.

Receipt Date:  this will default to the current date.

Supplier Document No:  this is a mandatory field and will either be the delivery note number (if applicable) or an agreed text for all users to enter, e.g. their initials and the date.

GRN Number:  the system will populate this automatically when the goods received screen is saved.

Supplier Document Date:  this will default to the current date but can be changed if needed.

Narrative:  free text field to allow the user to record any additional information if required.

Final Receipt:  if the user has the User Type setting to Confirm Final Receipt, when recording a final, part delivery, this button can be ticked to amend the PO in Approvals and Sage.  Please see below for more information on using the Final Receipt Functionality.

Attach Goods Received Note:  goods received documentation can be uploaded through this banner using the drop files or browse option.  If Sicon Documents is enabled, this document can be viewed in Sage POP by users with a Documents view licence, either by viewing the delivery history of the order line, through the Sage Amend Goods Received screen or by using the Search functionality within the Sicon Document Management menu option.  It is also visible in the Quantities tab of the Approvals order, by clicking on the Received quantity hyperlink.

Project/Project Header:  if Approvals has been linked with a Costing module, the Project on the requisition line will show – hover over the tree icon to view the Phase/Stage/Activity (if linked with Sicon Projects).

Warehouse:  on stock items, the warehouse the item was ordered for will appear, but it is possible for the user to override this on this screen and selecting the appropriate warehouse to receive the item into.

Qty Received:  enter the quantity that has been received against each line.  By default, the system will not allow over receipt of goods but will allow for a part delivery to be recorded (over receipt can be switched on in the Requisition System Settings).  If a part delivery has been received, the remaining items will stay on the PO as to be received at a later date; the order will stay as an approved requisition and will remain as a live PO in Sage until all items have been delivered.

Print Note on Save:  tick to allow for a pop-up to appear on Save which can then send an email confirming goods have been received; this email can either be sent to the supplier or to an Approvals user.  The GRN generated at this point would be a temporary GRN from Approvals.  If using Sage GRN to track orders, we recommend printing the GRN from within the Approvals Amend Goods Received tab instead (at which point the correct GRN has been generated by Sage).

Save:  once goods received quantities have been entered, click Save to confirm.

Cancel:  click to close out of this screen without saving any changes.

Receive All:  click to populate all lines with the outstanding order line quantities.

Justification tab

If a single order is being received, the Justification tab will show at the top which will show any information added when the requisition was originally input.  The user will not be able to make any changes, this information is read only.  Click on the Notes or Attachment banner to view these.

Confirmation Intent Warning

If lines on the requisition have different confirmation intents (receipting methods, as configured in Sage), these lines must be receipted separately; this is done to ensure that all good receipts are posted correctly through to Sage.  If lines have different confirmation intents; i.e. if there is a stock line and a free text line with confirmation not required, the below message will be shown.  One receipt per confirmation intent will need to be done.

10.2. Receiving Batch or Serial Number Goods

When goods receiving stock items which belong to a product group where ‘Items use Batch or Serial Numbers’, an option will appear to select the Batch/Serial field.  Click the arrow to expand the line and enter the batch or serial number and the appropriate goods received quantity.  If each item needs a separate batch or serial number, click the ‘Add new Batch/Serial button’.  Enter sell by or use by dates and any batch attributes if configured within Sage.  Once all lines have been allocated the correct numbers and quantities, click to save.

10.3. Amending Goods Received

If an error has been made when goods receiving, the option to amend goods received will allow users to change the quantity received.  Under the tab to amend, find the correct order using the filter options and click to edit.

This option is not possible if a user has marked a goods received as ‘Final Receipt’.

In the below example, the original quantity received was four but on checking the delivery it was found to actually be three.  The ‘Amended Received’ quantity is changed to 3 and saved; this will then update the PO in Sage and Approvals to show the correct quantity.

10.4. Final Receipts

If an order has been part delivered and it is known that outstanding quantities will not be received, tick the ‘This is the Final Receipt’ button; this will update the PO in Approvals and Sage so the order quantity will be the same as the goods received quantity.  If an order is final receipted, it will mean the order can no longer be edited or the goods received quantity amended so should therefore be used with caution.  To be able to Confirm Final Receipt is a User Type permission.

In the below example the original order was for 16, 12 are being final goods receipted so this will change the order in Approvals and Sage to be for 12.  This means that when an invoice is entered for 12, the order will then move to Complete.  If the remaining four were to be delivered at a later date they cannot be goods received on this order; a new PO would need to be raised, approved and then goods receipted against.

Extra warnings are shown to the user when the final receipt has been selected.

The Approval History will show that the goods were final receipted.

10.5. Zero Value Final Receipts

If a final receipt leads to an order having no lines with a quantity greater than zero, the order will be deleted in Approvals and cancelled in Sage; the system is being told the order is no longer to be received or required.  In the example below, one desk was ordered but the order cannot be fulfilled so the user final receipts this line at zero; this will then cancel the order which moves it to Complete in both Approvals and Sage.  It is a User Type permission to Final Receipt.

The order can be found in Approvals using the search filters and including the option to ‘Show deleted’.

Once the order is found, it is possible to then view the deleted lines and use the Approval History tab to see which user goods receipted the order which caused it to be deleted and set to completed within Approvals and Sage.

In the example below, because the Admin2 user had logged in, delegated as Rami and final receipted, the Admin username shows as the final user to have affected the order.

The order in Sage is Completed at zero value – the same status of the order as in Approvals.

11. Call Off / Service Requisitions

11.1. Why use Call Off Orders?

Call off orders will allow free text line orders to be goods received (or ‘called off’) by value rather than quantity by automatically switching the value and quantity fields around.

An example of using call off orders would be if purchasing time of an engineer who will then invoice for odd amounts depending on time worked.  Another example may be if purchasing a stand for an exhibition where invoices need to be paid in stages.

If an order is to be set as a Call Off order, all lines on the order will be treated as call off lines – it is not possible to raise a requisition with a mix of call off and standard lines.

11.2. Approvals Configuration

Within System Settings – System Settings banner – Requisitions – Functionality Banner.

Enable ‘Call off’ Requisitions:  if enabled, a check box will appear on the requisition header page for the user to flag the requisition as a call off order.

‘Call off’ requisitions label:  the call off field can be renamed as required.

Requisitions are ‘Call off’ requisitions by default:  if all, or the majority of orders are call off orders, this can be ticked.  Users are still able to untick the box is a non-call off order is being raised.

11.3. Call Off Requisition - Entry

If call off orders are switched on, users will see the option to mark an order as a call off order at the requisition header.

If this check box is selected, when a free text line is added the unit price and quantity fields will be swapped – the unit price field will be showing as 1 and cannot be changed.  The order line will need to be completed as standard; i.e. enter a description, select either project or nominal code.

Additional free text lines can be added to complete the requisition but no stock items should be added onto a call off order; the Unit Price and Quantity columns are also swapped on the requisition lines grid pages to match the free text entry page and on the PO to the supplier.

11.4. Call Off Requisition - Approval

Once the requisition entry has been completed, it will need to be submitted and approved as standard.  The preconfigured approval routes will be used – there is no option to configure different approval routes if an order is a call-off order.  However, during approval the order is marked as a Call Off order in grids to highlight to the approvers as such.

Once fully approved, within Sage POP the free text line has been amended in the same way to switch the quantity and unit price field on the call off order.  The unit price field will be hidden and locked to 1 to show in the same way as within Approvals.

An additional tab has been added onto the order within Sage to show the order has been created from Approvals and is a call off order.  This tab will only appear if the Sicon Approvals Addon pack has been installed.

11.5. Call Off Requisition - Goods Received

When goods receiving a call off order, the ‘Quantity’ field has been updated to show the ‘Price’.  Enter in the ‘To Be Received’ field the value of the order that has been received, e.g. in the example below, £1,246 of a £5,000 order has been received.

As with standard orders, once the goods have been received in Approvals the quantities will post through to Sage.

11.6. Call Off Requisition - Invoicing

When invoicing within Sage, the quantity to be invoiced will show the value that has been received within Approvals.

12. Order Justification

12.1. Why use Order Justification?

These are useful to ensure that for higher value orders users are completing quote requests and finding the best price for an item from suppliers.  Different bands can be setup per Sage Company so depending on the value of the order, the number of justification documents will differ.

Justification explanations and documents are only visible in Approvals.

12.2. Approvals Configuration

Within System Settings – System Settings banner – Requisitions – Justification, create justification bands.  These are set per Company – it is not possible to create differing bands for suppliers or requesting users.

It is important to ensure when creating bands that they do not overlap (otherwise the document will not know how many documents are required).

In the example below, if a user is raising a requisition up to £5,000, they will not be required to attach a quote, if the order is between £5,000 and £50,000 they must upload one quote and if over £50,000, they must upload three.

If the order is for a supplier in a currency other than base, the order will be converted using Sage currency rates to determine how many justification documents are required.

12.3. Entering Requisition with Justification

Justification documents are added on a requisition under the Justification tab, Order Justification banner.

Click Add to enter a new attachment, enter details as applicable and update when correct.

The required number of attachments will vary depending on the value of the document.

Preferred:  tick this slider to confirm if this quote from the supplier is the preferred choice.

Preferred Justification:  enter a reason for why this supplier is preferred.

Quoted Price:  enter the price quoted.

Delivery Days:  confirm the number of days the supplier has quoted.

Supplier:  select from the drop-down list the supplier; suppliers will be pulled through from Sage.

Currency:  the currency will populate from the supplier chosen.

Notes:  enter any additional notes if required.  These notes will not be visible to the supplier but will be shown during approval.

Attachments:  upload (either browse or drop into the box) the quote provided.

If a user tries to submit a requisition where a justification document is required but hasn’t been entered, a warning will show preventing this.

12.4. Approving Requisition with Justification

During approval, justification documents will show under the Order Justification tab.  Click the arrow to expand each quote and view details and attachments.

13. Approved Suppliers

13.1. Why would you use Approved Suppliers?

By default, all suppliers entered into the Sage Purchase Ledger will be visible in Approvals for users to select when raising requisitions.  Some sites will however require only certain suppliers to be visible and so will use analysis codes against suppliers to group them together and restrict which ones will show.  Some sites may go a step further and link supplier groups to users to provide additional control over the visible suppliers.

13.2. Sage Configuration

Create an analysis code called ‘PRS’ in Sage (Accounting System Manager – Settings – Maintain Analysis Codes) with the appropriate supplier groups as values.

Add the PRS analysis code to the Purchase Ledger analysis code setup (Purchase Ledger – Utilities – Ledger Setup – Maintain Analysis Codes). The Field label must also be set as ‘PRS’.

Each Sage 200 Supplier account can then be linked with a specific PRS analysis code.  If the supplier should not appear in the list available when entering a requisition in Approvals, do not select a code from the drop-down box but instead leave it blank.

13.3. Approvals Configuration

Within Approvals when raising a new requisition, the supplier can then be selected based on the All Suppliers or by Approved Suppliers.

If required, Approved Suppliers can be enforced by enabling or disabling the Supplier Filter options within Approvals System Settings banner – Requisitions (i.e. if users should only be able to select Approved Suppliers, remove the All Suppliers option).

Configure this under System Settings – System Settings banner – Requisitions – Display banner.

13.4. Restricting Approved Suppliers per user

If users are to be linked with certain supplier groups so can only raise requisitions against specific suppliers, enable within System Settings – Requisitions – Display, configure to enable supplier code filters.

If this is enabled, all users will need to be allocated either certain supplier categories or given access to all supplier categories.  If a user is created and cannot see any suppliers when they try and raise a requisition, ensure they have been allocated the correct supplier categories.

Once enabled, configure against the correct User Type the permission to be able to maintain user supplier filters.  This permission is found under the Requisitions banner in User Types.

Once the Administrator has the User Type permission configured, manage user supplier allocation under User Setup banner – Supplier Filter Codes.

Select the User, the database and link the user with the correct supplier filters.  If the user should have access to all, click the View All box.  If this isn’t ticked or the user has no supplier categories linked, they won’t be able to pick a supplier when entering a requisition.

When the user enters a requisition, they will only be able to select from suppliers within categories assigned to them.

14. POP Analysis Codes

14.1. Why use Analysis Codes?

Some businesses wish to capture additional information or add custom fields to report on in Sage. There are various analysis fields in Sage that can add this kind of information to transactions that can then be reported on in Sage. If POP Analysis codes are configured in Sage, Approvals requisitions will pull these through on requisition entry.

In the example used here, the company wish to report on marketing campaigns that take place, and when the transaction relates to.

For further information on using analysis codes for your company needs, speak with your Business Partner in the first instance to determine whether using these may provide the additional reporting required.

14.2. Sage Configuration of POP Analysis Codes

Create analysis codes as required in Sage 200 (Accounting System Manager – Settings – Maintain Analysis Codes). In the example below, the users will be entering free text information rather than choosing from a specified list.

Add the analysis code to the Purchase Order Processing setup (Purchase Order Processing – POP Maintenance – Maintain Analysis Codes). The field label can be edited to give an appropriate description and ensure the analysis field is configured to be amended if users will be editing this:

Once saved, make a note of the number the number (in this example, Analysis Code 6).

14.3. Approvals Configuration of POP Analysis Codes

Analysis codes will automatically be available for users to choose on the requisition, so this next step is optional depending on the information required.

In our example, we want Analysis Code 6 to appear in reports, so from System Settings – Requisitions – Analysis Codes, find the relevant analysis code and ensure it is configured to Show in Grids:

It is also possible to give the Analysis field a custom label which would then be visible on reports instead of the Analysis code number:

Refer to the ‘Analysis Codes Tab’ section later in this guide for further information on customising analysis fields.

14.4. Entering Analysis Codes against Requisitions in Approvals

When a user enters a requisition, on the Delivery and Invoicing tab the user can select or type the analysis information, depending on configuration in Sage.

This will then be visible in the users’ Existing Requisitions as well (if configured in previous step).

Please note, analysis codes can only be marked as mandatory if they are mandatory in Sage, and to do this a default value must be applied in Sage. Please speak with your Sage Business Partner for further information on configuring this.

14.5. Running a Report on Analysis Codes

Once the configuration in the previous sections is complete, analysis fields will be visible on the reports available within Requisitions. See the section on Reports later in the User Guide for more information on running and exporting Approvals reports.

15. Internal Purchase Orders

15.1. Why use Internal Purchase Orders?

There are three ways to create internal orders in Approvals – internal orders are ones that have been raised and approved within Approvals but will not post into Sage as a Purchase Order.

By marking the Supplier in Sage as an ‘Internal’ supplier.  Please see below for further information on setting up these analysis codes.

Alternatively, if the site is not linked with Sage Commercials (i.e. does not use Sage Purchase Order Processing to post orders into), any orders raised and approved in Approvals will remain within Approvals without suppliers needing to be marked as internal suppliers.

If using Expenses and Requisitions, users can raise requisitions against their own PL Expense supplier which will not post into Sage once approved and can be used to link with expenses; for more information on this, please review the Expenses Help and User Guide– Linking an Expense Claim to a Requisition.

15.2. Sage Configuration

Create an analysis code called ‘PRS’ in Sage 200 (Accounting System Manager – Settings – Maintain Analysis Codes) and make sure a value has been created called ‘Internal’.

Add the PRS analysis code to the Purchase Ledger analysis code setup (Purchase Ledger – Utilities – Ledger Setup – Maintain Analysis Codes).  The field label should also be named ‘PRS’.

The internal supplier must be linked with the PRS analysis code and set as an internal supplier.

15.3. Approvals Configuration

Within Approvals Settings – Sage Connections – Company – Settings, the next Purchase Order number can be configured.

15.4. Entering Requisitions in Approvals

When entering a requisition, first select from the Filter ‘Internal’.

Then from the restricted list, select the correct internal supplier.  Make sure the supplier is chosen this way, rather than just selecting the supplier from the main supplier drop-down list.

Complete requisition entry and submit for approval.  Internal orders will follow the same pre-configured requisition approval route.

15.5. Approved Internal Order

Once the order has been submitted the pre-configured approval route will be used.  As soon as it has been fully approved, a PO number will be generated but the order will not post into Sage so the PO number will not follow previous PO numbering.

15.6. Goods Receiving Internal Orders

When goods receiving, make sure the filtering is ticked to show internal orders.

16. Warehouse Nominal Code Overrides

16.1. Why would you use nominal code overrides?

If for example users are to be purchasing stock across different warehouses and the nominal cost centre will vary depending on warehouse chosen, this functionality can be setup.

In this example we’re going to be linking the London and Manchester warehouses with the corresponding Cost Centres.

16.2. Sage Configuration

Ensure the stock item is linked with the correct Warehouses.

Ensure the stock item is linked with the correct nominal code.

Ensure the corresponding nominal combinations exist with Sage Nominal Ledger (so in this example the code and department will remain as above, but the Cost Centre will change in Approvals depending on the Warehouse – as long as the combination exists in the Nominal Ledger).

16.3. Approvals Warehouse Nominal Override Configuration

Under System Settings – System Settings banner – Requisitions – Functionality banner, switch on to use Warehouse Nominal Overrides.

Once configured, under System Settings – System Setup banner – Warehouse Nominal Overrides, edit each applicable warehouse, link through the cost centre (and department override if needed) and tick to override the cost centre (and department if needed). Ensure changes are updated at line level before navigating away.

16.4. Approvals Restricting User to Warehouses Configuration

An extra step, if required, is to link warehouses to users.  This step is not mandatory for the nominal override based on the warehouses, although is required if users should only be able to select certain warehouses.

Configure under System Settings – System Settings banner – Miscellaneous – Functionality banner – enable user warehouse allocation.

Once switched on, under System Settings – User Setup banner – Warehouses, select the user from the top drop-down box and link with the warehouses they should see.  Make sure to add the warehouse to the user before moving away.

In this example, Rami is being linked with the London warehouse while Rodriguez has been linked with the Manchester warehouse.

There is a wizard option to link a warehouse to multiple users which can speed up allocation.

16.5. Entering Requisitions in Approvals

When the user (Rami) enters a stock line on a requisition, they will only see the warehouses linked with them, rather than all warehouses linked with the stock item (if warehouses have been linked with users – above step).

As the user only has access to one warehouse, this will default.

The nominal code and department will be pulled from the stock item while the cost centre will be determined from the warehouse (this will only happen if the nominal combination exists in Sage).  The nominal code will change when the line is saved – either edit the line or click on the Authorisation tab to check the coding is correct.

If another user linked with another warehouse (Rodriguez) was to enter a requisition for the same stock item, the cost centre will be different.

17. Importing Requisitions

17.1. Why would you import a requisition?

The ability to import a requisition can be really helpful if requisitions with tens of lines are being created regularly or if orders are being raised frequently that are either the same or very similar and the option to copy orders is not appropriate.

17.2. Approvals Configuration

It is a User Type permission to be able to import requisitions so would need to be allocated to users accordingly (System Settings banner – User Setup banner – User Types – Requisitions tab).

17.3. Importing a Requisition

Follow the top left menu to Requisition – Import.  The first time a user goes to import, a template will need to be generated.  It is advised to keep a record of a template that has then been used to allow for quick and easy editing and uploading following the first successful upload.

On the file generated, complete as per help text in the file.    In the example below, just one free text line is being lined with the supplier DIR002 although it is possible to import multiple requisitions per import.

Once file is completed, browse and validate in Approvals.  Once the ‘file is valid’ message has been returned, the file can be imported.  Select whether the requisition(s) created should be submitted for approval – if not submitted for approval, the requisition will stay in the New tab for the user to amend (e.g. if supporting documentation is to be added) before submitting for approval.

If checking budgets in Approvals when a requisition is submitted, users will need to manually check and submit requisitions deemed over-budget.

Once the file has been imported, a requisition ID number will be shown.

The requisition will then show under Existing Requisitions in the appropriate tab.  If submitted, the standard pre-configured approval route will be used.

18. Templates (to be used with Stock in Sage)

18.1. Why use Templates?

If a site is using Stock within Sage 200 it is possible to create templates in Approvals that can then be used for repeat stock requisitions.  Users are given permissions with templates under User Type settings; if a user has permission to create or amend templates, a menu option will show for ‘Templates’.  Any templates previously created will show here and can be edited, or new templates can be created.

18.2. Creating New Templates

It is a User Type permission to be able to generate templates so would need to be allocated to users accordingly (System Settings banner – User Setup banner – User Types).

To create a new stock template, click the New Template option.

Company:  pick the correct Sage Company from the drop-down list.

Default Warehouse:  pick the correct Warehouse from the drop-down list.

Delivery Date:  if the template is to be generated, enter the required header delivery date.

Description:  enter a description for this template; users will see this to enable them to pick the correct template.

Add Stock Item:  click to add individual stock items to the template; once the stock item has been added, enter the quantities, amend the price if not correct, choose the nominal code and save.  Additional stock items can be added as needed.

Add / Edit Stock Items:  this option can be used to select multiple items to appear on the template for one supplier.  All stock items provided by the supplier will be listed and can either be selected individually or by ticking ‘Auto Add Items with Quantities’ and editing the quantity accordingly; the complete list will be added to the template once saved.

Once the correct stock items have been added to the template, the template can either be saved or used to create a new requisition.

Save:  use this to save the template so it is available to other users when entering a requisition.

Close:  use to close the screen without saving any changes.

Copy Template:  use this option to copy template and make changes if required.

Generate:  create a requisition based on the template; this will not be submitted for approval and so will appear on the New tab allowing edits to be made before the requisition is submitted.

Generate and Submit for Approval:  create a requisition based on the template that is submitted for approval.  Standard pre-configured approval routes will be used, either based on nominal, Project, requesting user etc. and if configured, budgets are checked either against the nominal code or the Sicon Project, as configured.

Update all items to use Preferred Supplier:  if the template was created and the supplier was not the preferred supplier (as set in Sage 200), this will update the template so the preferred supplier is used.

18.3. Editing Existing Templates

Once a template has been created, it is possible to edit by clicking the Edit button and deleting or making changes to existing lines or adding new lines.

Users are only able to edit a template if they have permission to amend templates; if they don’t have this permission they will not see the edit options.

18.4. Creating a Requisition from a Template

If a user is configured to be able to use a template, there will be the option to create a new requisition based on a template from the New Requisition screen.

Select the required template from the drop-down box and click to create.  The delivery date and quantities can be edited if needed and then either choose to generate or generate and submit for approval.

Generate:  create a requisition based on the template; this will not be submitted for approval by appear on the New tab so edits can be made before the requisition is submitted.

Generate and Submit for Approval:  create a requisition based on the template that is submitted for approval.  Standard pre-configured approval routes will be used, either based on nominal, Sicon Project, requesting user etc. and if configured, budgets are checked either against the nominal code or the Sicon Project, as configured.

Close:  use to close the screen without saving any changes.

If a costing module is configured, a template cannot be submitted for approval until all lines have a Sicon Project and Sicon Project header allocated.  The template will need to be generated, all lines allocated a Sicon Project and Sicon Project header and then submitted for approval.

19. Business Units and Requisitions

19.1. Why use Business Units with Requisitions?

Business units can be created to match an organisation’s departments or sections and used to group users together.  Users can belong to multiple business units if required and can be given permission to run reports or view documents based on business units.

With requisitions, users within a business unit have visibility of each other’s orders to allow for enquired to be made on what has been ordered, emailing of approved orders to suppliers or allow for goods to be received.

19.2. Linking users with Business Units

Business units are created (System Settings – User Setup banner – Business Units) and users can be linked here – multiple users can be moved across using Shift or Control keys.

Alternatively, on a user’s profile under the Business Units tab, units can be linked with a user and if a user is to be linked with multiple units, one set as the default.  When raising a requisition, the default business unit will be set but users can select another if applicable.

When initially setting the Approvals system up, business units can be imported.

19.3. Entering requisitions with Business Unit

When entering a requisition, the user’s default business unit will be shown under the Justification tab.

If a user has more than one business unit, the default will be shown but users can change from the drop-down list.

If a user has been linked with a business unit after requisitions have already been raised and approved, these requisitions won’t be linked with a business unit retrospectively.

A requisition can only be linked with one business unit; if lines are to be linked with different units, separate requisitions would need to be raised.

19.4. Viewing requisitions with Business Unit

By default, when a user views their existing requisitions, they’ll be shown their own orders but either using the Quick Links or Search functionality can view orders raised by their business unit.

When either of these options are used, the requisitions that will show will be all orders raised by other users within their business unit.  However, if a requisition was marked as confidential, it will not show (unless the user also has permission to view all orders).  Users can then scan down the flag column to see if there are any approved orders that have not been emailed to the supplier and need sending on behalf of someone in their team.

19.5. Goods Receiving for Business Unit

When goods receiving the user will be able to change the ‘Raised By’ option to then show orders raised by someone else in their business unit that have not been fully goods received.  The option to show either My orders, My Business Unit, My Delegate or All Users is remembered so the next time the user access the Goods Received screen, the last chosen option will show.

20. Requisitions from Sicon MRP

20.1. Why use Approvals with MRP?

If using Sicon Manufacturing and running MRP, it is possible for the suggested purchase orders to be created as requisitions in Approvals which will require approval before becoming a purchase order.  Some sites will require this to have more control over what is ordered.

20.2. Approvals Configuration

Within System Settings – System Settings banner – Requisitions – Functionality banner – switch on to link with MRP.  The Approval service should be restarted following any changes to this setting.

20.3. Sage Configuration

Sicon Material & Resource Planning must be installed; by default, the option to create Approvals Requisitions will show when running MRP along with the option to create Purchase Orders in Sage.  If the site should only have the option to create requisitions in Approvals, enable within the MRP Settings.

20.4. Running MRP in Sage

Once MRP has been run in Sage and the results produced, the option to create requisitions can be selected.

Once created, it is possible in MRP to view the purchase requisitions in Approvals and see whether the requisition has been approved and at line level, who the requisition is awaiting approval from.

20.5. MRP Requisition in Approvals

Once created in Sage, the requisition will be in Approvals under the Submitted tab as awaiting approval.  It will be ticked as an MRP order (this will also show if the Urgent Exclamation point is hovered over) and the post-it note icon will show the reason for creation from MRP.

The requested by user is the ‘Admin Account’; this is by default and cannot be changed.  There is no link between the user that ran MRP and the user who requested the requisition in Approvals.

A new tab will also show if the requisition is edited –

During approval, the order is flagged as an MRP order and the Notes will show the creation reason.

21. Requisition with Nominal Budget Examples

In this example, we will look at the nominal budget set in Sage and show how Approvals reads this depending on what settings have been configured in Approvals.

21.1. Sage Nominal Budget Configuration

In Sage, the budget for this account has been set as 6,000,000 which gives a monthly budget of 500,000:

In the example above, many transactions have already occurred, so the current YTD actual is 5,017,520.39.

21.2. Approvals Budget Configuration

In Approvals – System Settings – System Settings Banner – Budgets – Functionality banner, the below budget settings have been configured so that Monthly, YTD and Annual budgets will all be checked during submission (there’s no specific setting for Annual, these are always checked if budget checking is enabled):

21.3. Example - Requisition checking Nominal Budget

In the example we are going to work through, it’s currently Period 10.  When a user enters a requisition against this nominal during that period, they will see a picture of the Monthly, YTD and Annual Budget for that period.  By turning on the setting to ‘Check Nominal Budgets during submission’, an additional Budget tab is displayed with a summary of whether the item is within budget or not:

By drilling into the hyperlink, further information can be gained.

Current Period

1 – 3: Current period details, as per the accounting periods in Sage (Accounting System Manager – Accounting Periods – Maintain Accounting Periods):

Nominal Transactions

4, 6 and 7 are taken from the budget and transactions against the nominal in Sage (Nominal Ledger – Nominal Enquiries – Account Enquiry):

Part 4 is also considering existing items and will be explained in more detail by the second half of this Approvals budget drilldown screen.

Current Approvals document

Part 5 is the value of the current Approvals requisition in Approvals:

Current Month, YTD and Annual Budget summary

In the bottom half of the Approvals screen, more specific detail about each budget is displayed, depending on what settings have been set:

The value within the pending Approvals document columns includes all orders in Approvals that are not completed, deleted, rejected or sent to Sage. It will also include approved orders that haven’t posted to Sage (e.g. orders that have failed to post or haven’t posted yet).

Note, the annual budget will always be shown if budgets are being checked in Approvals, there is no setting to ignore this.

Remaining Budget Summary

Value 11: Remaining Monthly budget – actual/pending budget spend.  E.g. 500,000 – (51,800.76 + 9,943.76 + 150) = 438,105.48

Value 12: Remaining YTD budget – actual/pending budget spend.  E.g. 5,000,000 – (1,869,528.72 + 9,943.76 + 150) = 3,120,377.52

Value 13: Remaining Annual budget – actual/pending budget spend.  E.g. 6,000,000 – (5,017,520.39 + 9,943.76 + 150) = 972,385.85

22. Requisition with Project Budget Examples

In these examples we will work with budgets against Sicon Projects.

22.1. Sicon Projects Budget Configuration

In Sage, a budget has been configured against the project and when viewed By Project Header looks like this:

These are further broken down into the phases, stages and activities across the project, which can be seen in detail by selecting the ‘By Phases & Stages’ view and expanding the individual lines as required:

Within Sicon Projects, the system allows maintenance of budgets by project, with budgets being split at a project header level.  Further information on Project budget setting is available in the Projects Help & User Guide.

22.2. Approvals Budget Configuration

Once the budget is set up in Projects, within Approvals, System Settings > System Settings Banner > Budgets > Functionality banner, project budgets can be checked during submission, during approval or both:

In the example, both settings will be applied.

22.3. Example 1 – within budget, one activity within the Project Header

Taking the example of Overheads (Phase) – Office Costs (Stage) – and Office Costs (Activity), and Sundry (Project Header), a 5,000 budget has been set:

In Approvals, costs are entered against this combination in Approvals on a requisition:

Navigating to the Budget tab within Approvals shows the user a snapshot of whether the line is in budget or not:

In the example above, because this is within budget, it is showing the overall Sundry budget here, minus the net value of the requisition (5000 – 3000):

By clicking on the link in Approvals, the specific budget levels can be viewed:

At the top of this pop-up, Approvals will show the Project, Phase, Stage, Activity and Project Header that the line refers to.

In the bottom half of the pop-up, each relevant budget is listed out:

Job: overall project budget

Phase: The phase budget this line applies to

Stage: The stage budget this line applies to (within this phase)

Activity: The activity budget this line applies to

Job Header: The project header budget this line applies to

The value within the Approvals Items column includes all orders in Approvals that are not completed, deleted, rejected or sent to Sage. It will also include approved orders that haven’t posted to Sage (e.g. orders that have failed to post or haven’t posted yet).

22.4. Example 2 - within budget, multiple activities within the Project Header

Taking the example of Overheads (Phase) – Software (Stage) – Software (Activity), and Material (Project Header), a 7,000 budget has been set at this level:

However, as the Material header also has budgets set in other stages, these are collated to give an overall Header budget of 19,000:

In Approvals, costs are entered against this combination in Approvals on a requisition:

Navigating to the Budget tab within Approvals shows the user a snapshot of whether the line is in budget or not:

In the example above, because this is within budget, it is showing the collated Material Header budget here, minus the net value of the requisition (19,000 – 5,500):

By clicking on the link in Approvals, the specific budget levels can be viewed:

At the top of this pop-up, Approvals will show the Project, Phase, Stage, Activity and Project Header that the line refers to.

In the bottom half of the pop-up, each relevant budget is listed out:

Job: overall project budget

Phase: The phase budget this line applies to

Stage: The stage budget this line applies to (within this phase)

Activity: The activity budget this line applies to

Job Header: The project header budget this line applies to

The value within the Approvals Items column includes all orders in Approvals that are not completed, deleted, rejected or sent to Sage. It will also include approved orders that haven’t posted to Sage (e.g. orders that have failed to post or haven’t posted yet).

22.5. Example 3 - over budget, only one activity within the Project Header

Taking the example of Overheads (Phase) – Office Costs (Stage) – and Office Costs (Activity), and Sundry (Project Header), a 5,000 budget has been set:

In Approvals, costs are entered against this combination in Approvals on a requisition:

Navigating to the Budget tab within Approvals shows the user a snapshot of whether the line is in budget or not.  In the example here, because this is outside of budget, the view changes to show what budget has been exceeded.  Approvals shows the relevant exceeded Sundry budget, minus the net value of the requisition (5000 – 5001):

By clicking on the link in Approvals, the specific budget levels can be viewed, and the over budget area is highlighted:

At the top of this pop-up, Approvals will show the Project, Phase, Stage, Activity and Project Header that the line refers to.

In the bottom half of the pop-up, each relevant budget is listed out and the over budget line highlighted:

Job: overall project budget

Phase: The phase budget this line applies to

Stage: The stage budget this line applies to (within this phase)

Activity: The activity budget this line applies to

Job Header: The project header budget this line applies to

The value within the Approvals Items column includes all orders in Approvals that are not completed, deleted, rejected or sent to Sage. It will also include approved orders that haven’t posted to Sage (e.g. orders that have failed to post or haven’t posted yet).

22.6. Example 4 - over budget, multiple activities within the Project Header

Taking the example of Overheads (Phase) – Software (Stage) – Software (Activity), and Material (Project Header), a 7,000 budget has been set at this level:

However, as the Material header also has budgets set in other stages, these are collated to give an overall Header budget of 19,000:

In Approvals, costs are entered against this combination in Approvals on a requisition:

Navigating to the Budget tab within Approvals shows the user a snapshot of whether the line is in budget or not.  In the example here, because this is outside of budget, the view changes to show what budget has been exceeded.  Approvals displays the relevant exceeded Sundry budget, minus the net value of the requisition (7000 – 7001):

By clicking on the link in Approvals, the specific budget levels can be viewed, and the over budget area is highlighted:

At the top of this pop-up, Approvals will show the Project, Phase, Stage, Activity and Project Header that the line refers to.

In the bottom half of the pop-up, each relevant budget is listed out:

Job: overall project budget

Phase: The phase budget this line applies to

Stage: The stage budget this line applies to (within this phase)

Activity: The activity budget this line applies to

Job Header: The project header budget this line applies to

The value within the Approvals Items column includes all orders in Approvals that are not completed, deleted, rejected or sent to Sage. It will also include approved orders that haven’t posted to Sage (e.g. orders that have failed to post or haven’t posted yet).

23. Reports

There are five reports within the Requisition module, which are accessible based on User Type permissions.

All reports can be exported to Excel or PDF and can be adapted either by dragging column headers to change the order or group data by a particular header.  For additional options or to export, right click on the report header or report lines.  Reports are cookie based so to allow for this customisation, ensure the browser settings allow cookies from the Approvals website.  Customised columns may return to the standard configuration following an Approvals or browser upgrade as cookies may be cleared.

Depending on User Type and User configuration, users will be able to see either information relating to their orders, their delegate or business unit orders or all orders on the system.  Use the database filter and if available, date range, header or line status options to filter data as required.

23.1. All Order Lines Report

This report will show a breakdown of all requisitions with their line detail, quantities, approval status and approval history.

23.2. Outstanding Orders Report

This report will show orders which have not yet been fully goods received or invoiced.  Quantities outstanding as well as value and quantity to accrue will be listed against each line.

23.3. Goods Received Not Invoiced Report

This report will show orders which have been goods received but not yet invoiced against.  Quantities requiring invoicing will be shown against each line as well as quantity and value to accrue.

23.4. Goods Received History Report

This report will show the history of who received, when, and the exact quantities on orders within the selected criteria, in addition to the original quantity ordered.

23.5. Good Invoiced and Received

This report will show PO invoices recorded in Sage and the associated receipt history.  This report could be used to identify items that have been invoiced but not yet received (as opposed to items received but not yet invoiced).  The report also highlights items that have been ‘over invoiced’ and can be filtered specifically by this.  Over invoiced lines will be highlighted in red only once the invoice has been fully approved and updated through to Sage.

24. Project Requisitions

Project Requisitions allow a user to create a ‘shopping list’ of items they require where they do not know the supplier or price.  Project requisitions will then require approval from a member of a Procurement Team who will add in prices and suppliers; once all lines have been completed, the project requisition will become a requisition that will go for approval based on pre-configured approval routes.  Once the requisition has been fully approved it will become a PO ready to be sent to the supplier and will post through to Sage.  If the project requisition has multiple lines and multiple suppliers are allocated, multiple requisitions will be created.

Project Requisitions can be used even if no costing module is configured with Approvals.  If Approvals is linked with a costing module (either Sicon Projects or Sage Project Accounting), a project can be picked on the project requisition line.

24.1. Project Requisition or Requisition

If users are unsure whether to proceed with a Project Requisition or a Requisition, the below overview outlines the process Approvals follows between the two:

24.2. Project Requisition Approval Route Options

Approval routes can only be configured based on requesting user; it could be that only one default approval route needs to be created that will work for all project requisitions; for example, if any user submits a project requisition it will require approval from a member of the Procurement Team.  When building the route either use the User List or User Type option to allow for the requisition to be sent to multiple users but require only one user to complete. For more information please see our Approval Routes Help and User Guide.

24.3. Project Requisition System Settings

A number of system settings for project requisition entry are under System Settings – Requisitions – Functionality.

Project Requisition – Enable ‘Free Text’ line entry:  untick this setting if users should not be able to enter a free text line on a project requisition.

Project Requisition – Select Stock Item Default Nominal Account when a Stock Item has been selected:  if configured, when entering a stock line on a project requisition, the nominal code will be populated from the stock item selected, rather than the user having to select manually.

Project Requisition – Set default Project at header level:  if this setting is on, it will allow a user to select a project at the header level which will then be defaulted when entering the stock or free text lines.

Project Requisition – Enable Stock Item entry:  this option will remove the ability for a user to enter a stock item line on a project requisition; only free text lines can be added.

Project Requisition – Show Description field:  if users should not see or be able to update the header description, hide this here.

Project Requisition – Copy Supplier selection from previous line (free text lines only): if required, suppliers users select on a free text line can be copied onto the next free text line entered.  This setting will only work if the user belongs to a user type with permission to select supplier on project requisition entry.  If a user saves a project requisition, reopens and adds a new line, the supplier will need to be selected again.

24.4. Project Requisition User Type Permissions

Permissions for whether a user is able to submit, approve or view project requisitions are set at a User Type level, under the Project Requisition tab.

Submit Project Requisitions:  the ability to submit a project requisition.

Set Supplier on new Project Requisitions:  whether a user is able to choose a supplier when entering a project requisition.

View all Project Requisitions:  the ability to view all project requisitions entered by all users in the system.

Approve Project Requisitions:  the ability to approve project requisitions.  If a user does not have this permission, they cannot be selected when building an approval route.

View Approval comments on Project Requisitions:  the ability to view any comments made during the approval process.

Enter Approval comments on Project Requisitions:  the ability to enter comments during the approval process.

View Project Requisition Report:  the ability to run a report on project requisitions.

System Settings Overrides – it is possible to override a number of project requisition system settings per User Type.  This can be useful if different User Types have different uses of the project requisition module.  If no User Type should have any different settings than either the system settings, no configuration needs to happen on this screen but if any of these settings should be different for this User Type from the main System Settings, configure here.

Enable ‘Free Text’ line entry:  the default from the system settings will be configured but if this is to be overridden at a User Type level, can show here (e.g. if by default no users should be able to enter a free text line it will be off, but could be allowed for a particular group of users).

Enable Item Description Amendment:  the default from the system settings will be configured but if this is to be overridden at a User Type level, can show here (e.g. if by default no users should be able to override an item description it will be off, but could be allowed for a particular group of users).

24.5. Project Requisition User Approval Values

If a user is to be approving a project requisition, they must be given an approval value on their user profile.  Members of the Procurement Team should be given unlimited approval value to ensure that all project requisitions can be fully approved.

This approval is separate to requisition approval value; i.e. a procurement team member may approve project requisitions but not requisitions.

24.6. New Project Requisition

Select the option to add a new project requisition from the quick link on the homepage or from the Project Requisition side menu option.

Company:  if the user has access to more than one company, select the correct Sage Company from the drop-down list.  If the user only has access to one company, this will be defaulted, greyed out and cannot be changed.

Document Date:  by default, the current date is selected; a future date can be added but it is not possible to back date a project requisition.

Urgent:  if the project requisition is urgent, tick the box and enter the reason.  Once submitted, an email is sent to the approvers immediately.  The urgent reason will appear on the Approval History tab and be visible to approvers.

Save Only:  click to save the project requisition; this will not be sent for approval but can be edited for additional lines to be added or changes to be made before the requisition is submitted.

Save & Submit:  click to send the project requisition for approval.

Print:  click to open a pop-up to allow the project requisition to be printed.  This would not be sent to a supplier but could be emailed to another Approvals user for visibility.

Close:  click to close without saving changes.

24.7. Adding a Stock Item Line

Click to add a stock item line; if stock is not being used, this option can be hidden.

Select a product group, stock item and warehouse from the drop-down options available.  If a costing module has been configured, a Sicon Project and Sicon Project Header will need to be selected as well as the nominal account.  If no costing module has been configured, select only a nominal code.

A unit price can be added if known but can be left blank if not but a quantity would need to be added.  The tax code will be pulled through from Sage 200 configuration and the delivery date will be based on the document date, although these can both be overridden.

If the user has permission to do so they can select a supplier, or this is left blank for the approvers to select.  Notes and Attachments can be added against each line by clicking the Post It Note or the Paper Clip Attachment icons.

Click Update to save the line and then either add another stock item line or click cancel to be returned to the project requisition entry page.

Once a line has been added, click on any of the columns highlighted below to amend individually without the need to edit the whole line.

24.8. Adding a Free Text Line

Click to add a free text line.

Enter a description on the line item line of the item that is required.  If a costing module has been configured, a Sicon Project and Sicon Project Header will need to be selected as well as the nominal account.  If no costing module has been configured, select only a nominal code.

A unit price can be added if known but can be left blank if not but a quantity would need to be added.  The tax code will be pulled through from Sage 200 configuration and the delivery date will based on the document date, although these can both be overridden.

If the user has permission to do so they can select a supplier, or this is left blank for the approvers to select.  Depending on system configuration, the supplier selected may be copied onto new free text lines.  Notes and Attachments can be added against each line by clicking the Post It Note or the Paper Clip Attachment icons.

Click Update to save the line and then either add another free text line or click cancel to be returned to the project requisition entry page.

Once a line has been added, click on any of the columns highlighted below to amend individually without the need to edit the whole line.  Hovering over the line item on a free text line will also show the full description – this is useful if a lot of text is being entered.

24.9. Delivery and Invoicing Tab

This tab will show information on delivery and invoice addresses and Sage analysis codes.

Deliver To:  this address must be populated before lines can be added to a project requisition – a default delivery address is linked through to a user on their Approvals User profile.  Delivery and invoice addresses are added in via System Settings – Delivery Addresses.  If a user has permission to do so they may be able to change the delivery address.  Alternative addresses such as Supplier/Customer/Project or Free Text Addresses can be made available within Approvals System Settings if needed.

Invoice To:  this address must be populated before lines can be added to a project requisition – a default invoice address is linked through to a user on their Approvals User profile.  Delivery and invoice addresses are added in via System Settings – Delivery Addresses.  If a user has permission to do so, they may be able to change the invoice address but this is not usually allowed.

Analysis Codes:  analysis codes set up and configured in Sage POP – POP Maintenance – Maintain Analysis Codes, will be drawn through to select.

24.10. Justification Tab

This tab is used to provide a narrative and add file attachments to clarify or support why the items are being requested.  These documents are for internal use only; they will not post through to Sage or appear to the Supplier.

Requested By:  this is automatically populated with the user’s name but can be changed to another user, if the permissions have been configured (User Setup – Users – Account Options).

Business Unit:  the ‘Department’ will be a drop-down box for the user to select the business unit.  The user’s default business unit will be populated initially but if the user has access to other business units they will appear to be chosen.

Notes:  free text notes can be added here, once added a post-it note icon will appear in the Flag column on the project requisition summary grid tables and approval grid page.

Attachments:  supporting documents can be uploaded and attached to the project requisition using the drop files or browse option; if one document is attached, a single paperclip will appear in the Flag column on the project requisition summary grid tables and approval grid page, if further documents are attached, two paperclips will show.

Approver Comments:  if comments have been made during approval, these will show here.

24.11. Approval History Tab

This tab will start to be populated once the requisition has been submitted and starts through the approval process.

Filter by Item:  by default, all project requisition lines will show, use this drop-down box to filter to view history of one specific line.

Urgent Reason:  if the user ticked the option to mark the project requisition as urgent, the reason given will be displayed here.

24.12. Linked Orders Tab

Once the Project Requisition has been approved, this tab will populate to show which orders have been created – each line that has been approved will show the linked requisition ID.  This allows the user who raised the project requisition to easily identify the orders created.

24.13. Existing Project Requisition

Select Existing Project Requisitions from the menu to display the project requisitions under various tab headings.  Additional icons will appear in the Flags column to show if the requisition is over budget, has notes or attachments etc.  The Existing Project Requisition page can be added as a user favourite page to allow the user to browse to this page from their Approvals homepage.

New:  project requisitions that have been saved but not yet submitted for approval.

Submitted:  project requisitions that have been submitted and are awaiting approval.  By hovering over the information icon, the lines will display and show who they are awaiting approval from.

Approved:  once a project requisition has been fully approved and turned into a requisition, it will move though to this tab.

Rejected:  if a project requisition has been rejected, it will show in this tab for the user to either amend and resubmit or delete.

Other tabs are not used with Project Requisitions.

24.14. View Project Requisitions

By default, users will always be able to see project requisitions they have raised or approved.  If permission is given, users may also be able to view project requisitions raised by other business unit members or all project requisitions raised in the system.

There are two options to search for an existing project requisition; either use the Search filters or the Quick Links.

Search filters:  depending on configuration, the user will either be able to search for their own, within their business unit, delegates or all project requisitions.  Search filters can be used to find project requisitions with a particular Approvals ID, status and if using a costing module, Project.  Use the Show Deleted option to show any project requisitions that have been deleted.

Quick Links:  either click ‘Refresh (with search)’ to update the grid and retrieve the most recent status of project requisitions or other specific links to show particular project requisitions.  All project requisitions within the current grid can also be exported to Excel.

24.15. Edit Project Requisition

By clicking Edit on an existing project requisition, this will open up to allow for viewing of requisition lines, delivery information, justification documents etc.  A user is able to edit and make changes to a project requisition until it is approved; any changes would need to be resubmitted for approval.  Once the project requisition has been fully approved, the user is unable to make any amendments.

24.16. Delete Project Requisition

If a user has permission to delete a requisition, they will be able to delete a project requisition once it has been saved.  If they do not have permission, they will see a message advising this if the delete button is clicked.

24.17. Approve Project Requisition

To approve a project requisition, either click the link on the user’s Approvals homepage, on a hyperlink notification or navigate to the Approve Project Requisitions page from the side menu.   All project requisitions awaiting the user to approve will be listed; click on the arrow on the left to expand and view the project requisition line details.

Lines:  this tab will show all lines awaiting approval from the user with information on line details, quantities, and nominal and Sicon Project.  Against each line a unit price and supplier must be allocated before the project requisition line can be approved – a warning will show to the approver if the price is left as zero to confirm this is intended.  In the example above, only line 1 will have a requisition created once approved.  This is to allow for multiple purchase orders to be raised from one project requisition as and when needed.  The View Order Details will take the approver through to the main project requisition page to view the project requisition fully or to add any Approver Comments under the Justification tab.

Individual or all lines can be rejected; a reason must be entered and the project requisition will return to the user who initially created to either edit and resubmit or delete if not required.

Attachments:  this tab will allow for any attachments added to be viewed.  The number of attachments will be shown in brackets on the tab.

Notes: Notes can be viewed by hovering over the post-it note icon under the Flags column.

Budgets:  if configured, budget information can be viewed here showing further information on whether the nominal or Sicon Project is within or over budget.

Approval History:  each line requiring approval will be displayed showing approval history.

On Hold Reason:  if the project requisition is to be put on hold, enter a reason in the box and click Hold.  It is possible to notify other users that the project requisition is on hold – it might be that the user who submitted the project requisition should be informed, or other members of the Procurement Team.

Once the project requisition has been completed and approved, it will move to become an existing requisition submitted by the same user that submitted the project requisition.  For the user who submitted the project requisition, this will show under the Approved tab under Existing Project Requisitions and they will also see either one or multiple Requisitions under the Submitted tab; depending on whether there was one or multiple suppliers allocated during approval.  Standard pre-configured approval routes will be used, either based on nominal, Sicon Project, requesting user etc. and if configured, budgets are checked either against the nominal code or the Sicon Project, as configured.

If the user creating the project requisition has a requisition self-approval value, this will be considered when the requisition is created.

Approved Project Requisition:

Linked Orders tab will be populated (click to View):

Submitted Requisitions:

The Linked Project Requisition column will show the ID of the PR the order was created from – clicking on this ID will take the user through to the project requisition view page.

24.18. Project Requisition Reports

This report will show a breakdown of all project requisitions with their line detail, quantities, approval status and approval history.

The report can be exported to Excel or PDF and can be adapted either by dragging column headers to change the order or group data by a particular header.  For additional options or to export, right click on the report header or report lines.  Reports are cookie based so to allow for this customisation, ensure the browser settings allow cookies from the Approvals website.  Customised columns may return to the standard configuration following an Approvals or browser upgrade as cookies may be cleared.

Depending on User Type and User configuration, users will be able to see either information relating to their orders, their delegate or business unit orders or all orders on the system.  Use the database filter and if available, date range options to filter data as required.

25. Approvals Tendering

25.1. Why use Tendering?

Tendering is an extension to standard Project Requisition entry; when the Procurement team are allocating pricing or supplier information, they can send out requests for quotes (RFQ) to suppliers and once the information is returned, this is entered onto the project requisition.  Once the project requisition is approved, a standard requisition is created.

25.2. Approvals Configuration

System Settings – Requisitions – Functionality

Enable Tendering:  switch on if using tendering with Project Requisitions.  If this is enabled, once the project requisition has been approved, the requisition will be created against the project requisition final approver’s name and will not show as a requisition raised by the user who raised the project requisition originally.

Use Excel for Tendering quote requests:  if quotes from suppliers are to be sent out in an Excel spreadsheet that the supplier will complete and send back, tick here.  If this is not on, pricing information from the quotes returned from suppliers will need to be entered manually.

Only show suppliers that quotes have been sent to in quote processing:  if this is on, prices can only be entered for suppliers that have had quotes sent to.  If this is off, the approver will be able to select from all suppliers from the list.

Stop Tendering Quote lines from processing if quantity is changed: this setting will stop the approver being able to process a line if the supplier has increased the quantity on a line greater than was on the original quote request.  This setting works in conjunction with the Excel form.

25.3. Entering Project Requisition

Project requisitions will be entered in the standard way; in the example below, Rami has raised a project requisition with four lines on.  Notes have been entered by the user – these will show on the quote request that will get sent to the supplier.  All lines have been linked with the same nominal code and no supplier or unit price has been entered.  The project requisition is submitted for approval and will use pre-configured approval routes.

25.4. Approving a Project Requisition – Tendering

The approver will see the project requisition; expand out to view the lines entered and select ‘Tendering’ if quotes are to be sent to suppliers.

Approvals will prompt to confirm the user is to be moved from the current page to the Tendering page.

If the Tendering and Process Quote buttons are greyed out, please ensure a default Tendering layout template has been configured in System Setup – Sage Connections.

25.5. New Quote Request

On this page, the lines from the project requisition will show as well as the suppliers from Sage.

Select the lines to create a quote request for and choose the suppliers to send the quote to.  Multiple suppliers can be moved into the ‘Selected Suppliers’ box – search for a supplier either by scrolling the list or typing in a supplier name.

If a supplier should be removed from this list, highlight and use the ‘Remove’ option.

Once the lines and the suppliers have been selected, click ‘New Quote Request’.

A popup will appear containing the email to the suppliers; this can then be emailed directly to the suppliers selected.

Page Numbering:  depending on the number of suppliers selected, the number of pages will change.  In the example above, three suppliers have been selected so there are three pages (Page 1 of 3).

PDF:  as the setting is not configured to send the quote using Excel, the format is defaulting to PDF.

Reference:  in this example the reference is 20053_1 – the project requisition ID is 20053 and this is the first quote sent to the supplier.  If another quote needed to be sent (e.g. the supplier hasn’t replied in time so is being chased, the reference would then show as 20053_2).

Various other fields (e.g. the logo) and text at the bottom, can be changed if required.  Please discuss with your Sage BP or Sicon Consultant.

Clicking the email banner at the top will show the email template that will go to the suppliers; text on here can be edited and additional attachments added if required.  As the email is being sent to multiple suppliers, the supplier name and email addresses are hidden – in the example below the text says #SupplierName# – this will get populated correctly on the email sent.  The contact from the supplier as configured in Sage will be used.  If the user emailing out needs a copy, tick to ‘Include me’.

Click Create and Send to send the email(s).

A notification banner will show in the bottom corner that this has been successful.

The email will show to the supplier with the PDF or Excel attachment, depending on Approvals configuration.

25.6. Emailed Quote Requests

Once quotes have been emailed to suppliers these are also shown on the Project Requisition Approval page, under the Quote Requests tab.  Hovering over the project requisition will show the number of quotes sent out (this is the total number of lines multiplied by the number of suppliers the quote was sent to).

This will allow for any other approvers to see what has been sent and avoid duplication of quotes.  These quotes are grouped by Supplier and Reference.  Clicking on the Attachment flag will open a copy of the attachment sent to the supplier – depending on configuration this will either be a PDF or Excel sheet.

This information can also be viewed by clicking on the Lines tab, Tendering button and the Emailed Quote Requests tab.

The quotes are grouped by supplier and reference and the date of when the quotes were emailed will be shown.  Clicking on the Attachment flag will open a copy of the attachment sent to the supplier – depending on configuration this will either be a PDF or Excel sheet.

If the setting is on to send out quotes in an Excel format (to allow for suppliers to enter details on the excel form and return), complete the quote request email as described above (select the suppliers and send a quote request.

The supplier will receive an email with an excel form for them to complete; the fields in yellow are the fields to update with pricing information and delivery dates.

25.7. Process Quote (PDF)

Once the quote has been returned by the supplier, this can be uploaded against the project requisition through the Approval page, expand the project requisition and click ‘Process Quote’.

Browse for the supplier (depending on configuration, all suppliers will show or only the suppliers quotes have been sent to), upload the quote returned from the supplier and enter justification text (this is mandatory).  The justification and quote attachment will be linked with the requisition that gets created.

Select the lines that the quote covers (use the tick box to select all if easier) and update pricing and delivery date information as provided by the supplier.  This information has to be entered manually.

Once the information is correct, click Process.  This will then approve the project requisition and create a requisition for the selected lines.  The project requisition will no longer show in the awaiting approval page if all lines have been processed.

25.8. Process Quote (Excel)

If an Excel spreadsheet was sent to the supplier, how to process the quote will vary slightly than processing a PDF quote.  The supplier will have received an Excel form to complete rather than a PDF document.

On the approval page, select the order and click to ‘Process Quote’.

Browse for the supplier, upload the quote returned from the supplier and enter some justification text (this is mandatory).  The justification and quote attachment uploaded will be added to the requisition that is created.  Any fields changed as a result of the quote uploaded will be highlighted in a different colour to show to the approver.  Tick the lines to process and click Process.

Processing will create a requisition for the lines selected against the supplier chosen – the project requisition will no longer show in the awaiting approval page if all lines have been processed.

Note; not all lines need to be processed together – e.g. if multiple suppliers are to be used, lines can be processed individually – please see next section, “processing quotes from multiple suppliers”.

25.9. Processing quotes from multiple suppliers

If quotes are sent to multiple suppliers and therefore lines will be actioned either individually or separately, when processing the quotes these will need to be done per supplier.

In the example below, the charging cable is being processed against Simpsons Stationery Supplies – the quote returned only had information entered against this line.

If this line is selected and processed, it will remove from the list – a requisition will be created – and the other line will remain for additional quotes to be uploaded.

Select the next supplier, upload the quote, select the lines and check pricing and then process the quote.  The processed lines will be removed from this list and a requisition created.  Repeat this process until all lines have been processed.

25.10. Approving a Project Requisition - without Tendering

A line can be approved without completing the tendering or quote process if required; enter the unit price and select supplier as applicable, tick the line and approve.

25.11. Requisition Requested For/Requested By

When a project requisition is raised, the ‘Requested By’ will show as the user who raised it – in the below example, this is Rami.

With Tendering enabled, once the project requisition has been approved and a requisition created, the requisition will show the ‘Requested By’ as the final approver of the Project Requisition and the ‘Requested For’ as the user who raised the Project Requisition.

If Tendering was not enabled – the ‘Requested By’ on the Requisition would remain as the user who raised the Project Requisition.

The user who raised the original project requisition will be able to view any requisitions created by viewing the project requisition and checking the Linked Orders tab.

25.12. Restricting suppliers when processing quotes

If the below setting is configured, when the quote is processed you will only be able to select suppliers that a quote was sent to.

The quote request will be sent out in the standard way with lines and suppliers selected and the request for quote sent.

Once the quotes have been returned and are being processed, the only suppliers able to be chosen to upload quotes against will be the ones selected above.

The supplier restriction only applies to processing quotes; if on the Project Requisition approval page, the values and suppliers were to be entered manually here (i.e. rather than through the Process Quote option), all suppliers will be visible.

25.13. Preventing quantity changing

The below setting will prevent suppliers from amending quantities when returning a quote; this setting works in conjunction with the setting to use Excel for quote requests.

The quote emailed to the supplier had three lines with the below quantities –

The supplier amends quantities on a couple of lines –

The phone quantity has been decreased from 5 to 2 and the head set quantity has been increased from 4 to 8.

When the quote is processed and uploaded, only the middle line is edited so the other lines would need to be changed manually, if the quote is to be accepted.

25.14. Tendering Layouts

Before tendering can be used and quotes requested, the default quote request layout and default email subject and body text must be configured.  This is done by editing the company in System Setup – Sage Connections, Company Details tab, Tendering sub tab.

26. Planned Purchases

26.1. Why use Planned Purchases?

With Planned Purchases a list of items (both stock items and free text) can be entered that are expected to be purchased for a Sicon Project, along with a supplier and price, if known.  These planned purchases can then be turned into either a Project Requisition (for a Procurement team to enter supplier and prices) or a Requisition (if supplier and price are known) which once fully approved, will become a PO.  Planned purchases that have been allocated to a Sicon Project will show in the applicable budgets tab.

Planned Purchases can only be used if Approvals is linked with Projects and the Sicon Web API has been configured (System Settings – System Settings banner – Miscellaneous – Functionality).

26.2. Planned Purchases Import

Within this screen users can generate a template and then import planned purchases.  Once a template has been created, enter the correct details, see example below.  In the Line Type column, enter either 0 for a stock item or 1 for a free text line.  If the user knows suppliers to use or prices for an item, these can be entered on the import.

To import, browse for the file and once uploaded, click to Validate; project, project header, stock, warehouse and supplier details will be checked and if correct, the file will be flagged as valid.  Once successfully validated, the file can be imported.

CSV File does not contain column headers:  tick if no column header line is on the import.

Show all lines:  tick to view all lines when validating; if this is not ticked, only lines that have failed validation will show.

Show imported values:  tick to view lines that have imported.

Company Name:  select the correct company to import the transactions into; if a user only has access to one company, the company field selection will be greyed out.

Browse:  use this to find the saved planned purchases file.  Once uploaded, the name will show under the file location – only once this shows will you be able to validate or import the file.

Validate:  once the file has uploaded, validate.  Any errors that are highlighted will need to be resolved before the file can be validated again.

Import:  once the file has passed validation, import the file.

Generate Template:  use this option to create a new template to complete.

26.3. Maintain Planned Purchases

Once the template has been imported into Approvals, the planned purchases will be visible within Approvals and Sage.

In Sage against the job, they will show in the Job Enquiry against the Planned Purchases tab –

The lines will also be visible under the Budgets and Planned Purchases tab –

Within Approvals under the Sicon Projects menu – Maintain Planned Purchases – the imported lines will show.

Company Name:  select the correct company to import the transactions into; if a user only has access to one company, the company field selection will be greyed out.

Show Completed Purchases?  Tick and then select to display any planned purchases that have been added onto a purchase order within Sage.  Lines cannot be amended.

Show Waiting?  Tick and then select to display any planned purchase lines that have been added to a project requisition or requisition within Approvals.  Lines will be highlighted in orange and cannot be amended.

Add to Requisition:  if the supplier and prices are known, select lines to add directly onto a requisition.

Add to Project Requisition:  if the supplier and prices are not known, select lines to add onto a project requisition.  This can then be submitted for approval so this information can be added before a requisition is then created.

Hover the ‘I’ flag to see information as to what project requisition or requisition the line has been added to and prices that have been entered.

Example 1 (Creating a Requisition)

When a supplier and price is known, the lines can be added to a requisition by selecting the line and clicking ‘Add to Requisition’.

The requisition can then have any details updated if required, e.g. additional notes or documents added or comment or charge lines.  Once correct, the requisition can then be submitted for approval or saved if not ready for submission.

Example 2 (Creating a Project Requisition)

If a supplier or price is not known, the lines can be added to a project requisition by selecting the lines and clicking ‘Add to Project Requisition’.

Additional information can be added here, e.g. if a line item description needs changing or additional notes or documents uploaded, or the project requisition can just be submitted for approval.

The approver of project requisitions can then complete this process by adding pricing and supplier information and approving lines as required.  Individual lines can be approved at a time which will then create a requisition to be approved.  For more information, please see Project Requisition section.

26.4. Planned Purchases Sicon Projects Updates

Once the order has been completed in Approvals, the planned purchases tab will update to show the quantity purchased, the status will move to Completed and the Purchase Order number will show.

26.5. Planned Purchases User Type Permissions

For users to be able to access the Import and Maintain Planned Purchases screens, users will require permission to view the Sicon Projects screens.

27. Requisition System Settings

System Settings relating to the Purchase Requisition module are accessed under System Settings banner – Requisitions.

27.1. General Tab - Display Banner

Show ‘Additional Reference’ field:  if configured, an additional free text field will show on the requisition header which can be populated as required; this column will also show on the Existing Requisitions page.

‘Additional Reference’ field label:  the additional reference field can be renamed as required.

Show Nominal Budget column on Budget tab:  if configured, this setting will show the nominal column on the budget tab.

Show Project Budget column on Budget tab:  if configured, this setting will show the project column on the budget tab.

Show Supplier Currency information:  if configured, this setting will show the supplier currency information on the requisition header page.

Show Tax rate column on ‘Values’ tab:  if configured, this setting will show the tax rate column on the values tab.

Show ‘Requisition Number’ on screens:  if configured, this setting will show requisition IDs from the Existing Requisitions and Approval pages.

Show ‘Discount Percent’ on free text line entry:  if configured, this setting will show the option for users to enter a discount percentage on a free text line.

Show Tax Code on free text line entry:  if configured, this setting will show this option will show the tax code selection box on the free text entry screen.  If hidden, the standard tax rate as configured against the Supplier in Sage will be used.

Show Buying Unit on free text line entry:  this option will show the buying unit free text field on a free text line for users to provide detail as required; i.e. to say it was a Pack of 6 or Box of 12 being ordered.

Show Delivery Date on free text line entry:  if configured, this setting will show the delivery date on free text lines.  If there should only be one delivery date on a requisition, disable this setting.

Show Confirmation Method on Free Text Line Entry:  this option will make the confirmation options visible when entering a free text line.  The default will be populated based on configuration within Sage POP.

Show ‘Discount Percent’ on Stock Line Entry:  if configured, this setting will show the discount percent field on a stock line entry.

Show ‘Tax Code’ from stock line entry:  if configured, this setting will show the tax code selection box when entering a stock line.  If hidden, the default tax code from the stock item will be used.

Show ‘Nominal Account’ on Stock Line Entry:  if configured, this setting will show nominal account selection box when adding a stock line entry.  If hidden, the default nominal code on the stock item will be used.

Show Confirmation Method on Stock Line Entry:  if the default confirmation method should be used when entering a stock item line, disable this setting to hide the confirmation entry box.

Allow ‘Confirm as Service’:  if users should not be able to pick this option as a confirmation method, disable this setting.

Show ‘Delivery Date’ on stock item entry:  if configured, this setting will show the delivery date on stock item lines.  If there should only be one delivery date on a requisition, disable this setting.

Enable adding hyperlink to Header:  if the user is to be able to add a hyperlink to the requisition header, allow here.  If added, a flag will show under Existing Requisitions.

Supplier Filters – Show ‘All Suppliers’ option:  disabling this setting will stop all suppliers being available to select from when raising a requisition; only suppliers marked as approved in Sage can be chosen from.

Supplier Filters – Show ‘Approved Suppliers’ option:  disabling this setting will remove the option to see approved suppliers when choosing from the supplier list; all suppliers in Sage will be visible if the setting above is enabled (if the Supplier is on hold, this will show to the user).

Supplier Filters – Enable User Supplier Code Filters:  if configured, this will allow users to be restricted to only be able to raise requisitions against suppliers linked with particular supplier groups.  See Section 13.4 – linking suppliers to users.

Supplier Filters – Supplier Stock Filter Configuration:  choose whether the supplier stock filter option should be visible or hidden, and then either filtered or not filtered (e.g. whether a user should be able to select stock marked against a different preferred supplier).

27.2. General Tab - Functionality Banner

Sicon MRP Integration Enabled:  this will only be switched on if orders generated via MRP should be pulled through to Approvals for approval.

Allow out of hours’ orders:  if enabled, out of hours’ requisitions can be raised that will post straight through to Sage and create a PO number, but will need to be approved retrospectively.

Enable ‘Free Text’ line entry:  untick this setting if users should not be able to enter a free text line on a requisition.

Enable ‘Stock Item’ line entry:  untick this setting if users should not be able to enter a stock item line.

Enable ‘Comment’ line entry:  untick this setting if users should not be able to add comment lines on a requisition.

Enable ‘Additional Charge’ line entry:  untick this setting if users should not be able to add additional charge lines on a requisition; it may be that postage or carriage costs should be added as either a free text or stock item line.

Auto populate Order Date with current date:  by default, this setting is on but can be unticked if the user should select the required order date.

Auto populate Delivery Date with current date:  untick this setting if users should be forced to select the correct delivery date rather than the date being automatically populated with the order date.

Automatically post to Sage when raising a requisition:  this setting should only be used where a PO can be created and a PO number raised before the requisition is approved.  This setting is not commonly used; a requisition should be fully approved before a PO is created.

Allow requisitions to be submitted without a Supplier:  this setting will allow users to enter lines on a requisition without selecting a supplier – a supplier must be selected prior to the requisition posting through to Sage.

Auto populate supplier from stock item preferred supplier (if no supplier set):  this setting would be used in conjunction with the setting above so when a stock item is selected, the preferred supplier will populate the supplier field on the requisition header page.

Stock Item Preferred Supplier must match Order supplier (if supplier set):  if this is configured and a user selects a supplier on a requisition and then picks a stock item that is not linked with that supplier, a warning will show stating that the supplier chosen is not the preferred supplier and so the line cannot be saved.  The preferred supplier will be shown to allow users to change the supplier selected on the requisition header page.

Include Stock Item description in Search filter:  tick this option to view the stock item description when searching for an item.

Use supplier price breaks (Enhancement pack required):  if Sicon Enhancement pack is configured in Sage and a stock item has been configured to use supplier price breaks, these can be read by Approvals.

Allow requisitions to be saved without lines added:  by default, if a requisition is added with no lines, the system will prompt users to allow for the requisition to be saved but if this shouldn’t be possible, this setting can be configured to not allow this.

Value to use for Document Date when posting Requisitions:  this can either be set to use the requisition document date or the current date; i.e. the date when the requisition is approved and posts through to Sage.

Allow Past dates on Requisition Entry:  by default, the system won’t allow requisitions to be raised in the past but if this is required, this box can be ticked.

Maximum Number of lines on a requisition:  by default, this is configured to allow no more than 200 lines on a requisition but this can be amended accordingly to match company requirements.

Enable submitting of over budget requisitions:  if required, users can be prevented from saving a requisition if the line has a nominal or project that is over budget.  If users are prevented, it can cause users to select another nominal code or project that is within budget but may not be the correct one.

Select Stock Item Default Nominal Account when a Stock Item has been selected (Requisitions):  if configured, when entering a stock line on a requisition, the nominal code will be populated from the stock item selected, rather than the user having to select manually.

Use Supplier Catalogue on free text line entry: Only relevant to users of Sicon Distribution.  If this setting is switched on, users can pick items from the Sicon Distribution supplier catalogue.  Further information is available in the Distribution Help and User Guide. See Distribution – POP Management Help and User Guide.

Select Free Text line Default Nominal when a new Free Text Line is created:  if this setting is switched on, the default nominal code set against the supplier will be used on the line.

Allow amendment of Discount Percent on Requisition Entry:  this will allow users to make changes to any discount percent against an item.

Stock Item Pricing Mode:  select from the drop-down list the appropriate stock pricing mode; by default, this is configured as set on supplier.

Use standard pricing methods for miscellaneous product group items:  miscellaneous items will use the stock item standard cost unless this setting is on, in which case it will get the pricing the same as it does for standard items.

Use Warehouse Nominal Account Override:  if configured, the nominal cost centre or department can be overridden based on the warehouse selected on the stock item line.

Enable Document Number Prefix:  this setting can allow a prefix to the PO number; the prefix is pulled from Sage Connections against the specific company.  This prefix will only show in Approvals, it will not post into Sage POP.

Enable Free Text Delivery Addresses:  this option will allow users to free type a delivery address on a requisition; this is usually not recommended as the preferred option is to allow users to select an address from a drop-down box.

Enable Supplier Delivery Addresses:  this option allows users to select the supplier’s address as configured in Sage.

Enable Project Delivery Addresses:  if a costing module is configured, addresses from Sicon Projects can be selected.

Enable Customer Delivery Addresses:  if applicable, the customer’s address from the costing module project can be selected.

Disable Nominal Selection when a project is selected:  if enabled, the nominal code will pull through from the Project Header/Project Item on the requisition line, instead of the user having to select the nominal code.

Retain Line Information on Save:  with this ticked information such as the nominal code or Project will be held when the line is saved.  This can speed up the requisition entry process for users who input requisitions with lots of lines where the nominal code or Project is not changed.

On line delivery date, use the order header requested delivery date rather than the stock lead time date:  by default, if a stock item has a lead time set against it in Sage, the line delivery date will be changed to reflect this.  If this setting is configured, the line delivery date will remain as the delivery date set on the order header page.

Load default tax rate on new orders:  if enabled, the default tax rate will be pulled through from how the company has been configured in Sage PL.  If disabled, users will need to select the appropriate tax rate for that line on the requisition.

Use ‘Standard’ tax rate only (Charge Items):  configure so only the standard tax rate can be used on charge lines.

Use Supplier Default Tax Rate (Charge Items):  configure so the tax rate set against the supplier in Sage PL is used; if not configured, the standard tax rate set against the company in Sage Connections will be used.

Load Existing Orders on Page Load:  by default, this will be on and if a user clicks on Existing Requisitions, orders they have raised will be loaded automatically.  If this is causing speed issued, this can be turned off to force users to search for specific orders.

Allow confidential requisitions:  if enabled, a check box will appear on the requisition header page for the user to flag the requisition as confidential.  This means the requisition will only be seen by the requester, required approver(s) and any users with the View All Requisition User Type permission.

Enable ‘Call off’ Requisitions:  if enabled, a check box will appear on the requisition header page for the user to flag the requisition as a call off order.

‘Call off’ requisitions label:  the call off field can be renamed as required.

Requisitions are ‘Call off’ requisitions by default:  if all, or the majority of orders are call off orders, this can be ticked.  Users are still able to untick the box is a non-call off order is being raised.

Update delivery date on approved PO without requiring additional approval:  if the delivery date field can be changed on an approved order and this update through to Sage without the PO requiring additional approval, configure here.  On an approved order if the date is being changed, the order will not need to be submitted again, once the change has been made, save the order and the date will update through to Sage.  If any changes require approval before posting to Sage, leave this setting unticked.

Tendering – Enable Tendering:  switch on if using tendering with Project Requisitions. For more information on tendering, please see the Approvals Tendering section earlier in this Help and User Guide.

Tendering – Use Excel for Tendering quote requests:  if quotes from suppliers are to be sent out in an Excel spreadsheet that the supplier will complete and send back, tick here.  For more information on tendering, please see the Approvals Tendering section earlier in this Help and User Guide.

Tendering – Only show suppliers that quotes have been sent to in quote processing:  if this is on, prices can only be entered for suppliers that have had quotes sent to.  If this is off, the approver will be able to select from all suppliers from the list.    For more information on tendering, please see the Approvals Tendering section earlier in this Help and User Guide.

Tendering – Stop Tendering Quote lines from processing if quantity is changed: this setting will stop the approver being able to process a line if the supplier has increased the quantity on a line greater than was on the original quote request.  This setting works in conjunction with the Excel form.    For more information on tendering, please see the Approvals Tendering section earlier in this Help and User Guide.

Automatic printing – Automatically print Requisition and email to Supplier on Posting to Sage:  if configured, once a requisition has been fully approved it will email the PO to the supplier straight away.  This will only send an email if an email address has been set against the PL supplier account.

Automatic printing – Email address to copy automatic requisition prints to:  if sending a PO once the requisition has been fully approved, a copy email can be sent to an email address if required.  For example, it might be that a ‘procurement@companyname.co.uk’ address should have visibility of all POs sent to suppliers.

Automatic printing – Email address to use to send automatic PO emails:  by default, automatic PO emails are sent from the system address.  Change this to User Email Address if the POs should be sent from the email account linked with the Requesting User of the requisition.

Project Requisition – Enable ‘Free Text’ line entry:  untick this setting if users should not be able to enter a free text line on a project requisition.

Project Requisition – Select Stock Item Default Nominal Account when a Stock Item has been selected:  if configured, when entering a stock line on a project requisition, the nominal code will be populated from the stock item selected, rather than the user having to select manually.

Project Requisition – Set default Project at header level:  if this setting is on, it will allow a user to select a project at the header level which will then be defaulted when entering the stock or free text lines.

Project Requisition – Enable Stock Item entry:  this option will remove the ability for a user to enter a stock item line on a project requisition; only free text lines can be added.

Project Requisition – Show Description field:  if users should not see or be able to update the header description, hide this here.

Project Requisition – Copy Supplier selection from previous line (free text lines only):  if required, suppliers users select on a free text line can be copied onto the next free text line entered.  This setting will only work if the user belongs to a user type with permission to select supplier on project requisition entry.  If a user saves a project requisition, reopens and adds a new line, the supplier will need to be selected again.

27.3. General Tab - Goods Received Banner

Enable Receive All button on Goods Received:  if enabled, a Receive All option on the goods received process will automatically populate the quantity to be received from the outstanding quantity values.

Allow over receipt of goods:  if enabled, users will be allowed to over receipt goods.  By default, this is not configured.

Goods Received Reference Source:  the reference recorded in Sage can either be the Goods Received Supplier Document Number (Reference), the Approvals Username, or both.

Goods Received Attachment is mandatory:  if users must upload a GRN document when goods receiving, tick here for an attachment to be mandatory.  This may be used mostly by sites ordering in goods rather than service or free text items.

Enable editing Free Text line description when partially received/invoiced:  if allowed, free text line descriptions can be edited when the line has been partly goods received or invoiced.

Allow duplicate Supplier document number entry:  if GRN document numbers should not be duplicated for individual suppliers, configure here.  This setting may be used mostly by sites ordering in goods rather than service or free text items.

27.4. General Tab - Order Templates Banner

Auto Populate Delivery Date:  if ticked, the delivery date will auto populate to the current date.  If unticked, the user must select a specific delivery date.

Override Warehouses based on User:  the warehouse selected on templates can be defaulted to that set per user (User Setup – Warehouses).

Enable All Supplier Stock Items Template:  if enabled, this template will be available to users when raising a stock requisition.

Enable User Order Template Allocation:  if enabled, multiple templates can be crated and users allocated to them as required (User Setup – Requisition Templates).

27.5. General Tab - Justification Banner

Sage Database:  select whether the justification bands are for one specific database or valid across all Sage Companies.

Enter Justification bands as required; in the example above, documents under £5,000 do not require a quote to be attached, documents between £5,000 and £50,000 must have one quote attached and documents over £50,000 must have three quotes attached.  When creating the justification bands there cannot be any overlapping; e.g. £0 – £5,000 band and also £2,000 – £4,000.  For more information please see the section on Order Justification.

27.6. General Tab - Spare Fields Banner

If another application is using Spare Fields in the database for additional analysis options, these can be configured in Approvals to appear on requisition order entry.  Values will then post through to Sage (but will not be visible to the end user as this is linked to the database only).  Rename each field within here if appropriate to assist end users from populating the data in the correct location in the database.

27.7. Analysis Codes Tab

Approvals Requisitions can pull through up to 20 Sage POP Analysis Codes as required; these are configured in Sage (Accounting System Manager and POP Maintenance).  Selecting Default will populate the requisition with the corresponding code from Sage POP.  If the Approval settings are configured to ‘Populate from Order’, the analysis codes will appear at the bottom of the requisitions Delivery and Invoicing tab, but if the setting is changed to ‘Validate on Line’, the codes can be selected at the time of entering each line and therefore can be different per line.

The codes can be marked as Mandatory and if they need to appear on the Existing Requisitions or Approve Requisitions grids in Approvals, check the ‘Include in Grids’ option.  If the code labelling needs to be changed to make it more user friendly, tick the custom label box and enter the new narrative as required.

It is also possible to populate the Sage POP Analysis Codes with particular Approvals fields.  Create new analysis codes in Sage (Accounting System Manager – Settings – Maintain Analysis Codes) for the corresponding Approvals label, then set in Sage to link the next POP analysis code with the next one from Approvals (i.e. in the example below, this would be analysis code 2 – Purchase Order Processing – POP Maintenance – Maintain Analysis Codes) – make sure to edit the analysis code and set permission to amend on each order.  Once the Approvals service is restarted, new orders posted through to Sage would then show this information in the matching analysis code field.  It can be useful to add this analysis code into the POP list columns to make for finding POs easier.

28. Requisition User Type Permissions

Permissions for whether a user is able to submit, approve, print or view requisitions are set at a User Type level, under the Requisitions tab.

Submit Requisitions:  the ability to create and submit requisitions.

Approve Requisitions:  the ability to approve a requisition.  If a user does not have this permission, they cannot be selected when building an approval route.

Delete Requisitions:  the ability to delete a requisition.  A requisition cannot be deleted if goods have been received or invoiced against.  If an approved order is deleted, it will show in Sage with 0.00 value and a status of Completed.

View all Requisitions:  the ability to view all requisitions in the system.

Import Requisitions from CSV:  the ability to be able to import requisitions into Approvals based on a CSV template.

Batch update nominals:  the ability to update nominal codes across multiple lines on a requisition.

Print Requisitions:  the ability to open the print pop-ups to email an approved order to a supplier.

Print Quote Requests:  the ability to open and print or email quotes attached to a requisition.

Archive Requisitions:  the ability to archive completed orders; i.e. orders that have been fully goods received and invoiced against.  Completed requisitions should be archived regularly for speed and performance benefits – these requisitions can still be searched for using the search filters.

Amend Requisitions Posted to Sage:  the ability to amend a requisition in Approvals once fully approved and posted to Sage.  This is usually a permission only given to Finance or Administrator User Types.

Amend delivery addresses:  this is the permission to be able to add or edit delivery addresses in Approvals; this is access to the setting under System Setup – Delivery Addresses, rather than the ability to pick different delivery addresses on the requisition entry screen.  This is usually just a Superuser permission to be able to create delivery addresses.

Confirm Goods Received:  whether the user is able to goods receive.

Confirm Final Receipt:  whether the user is able to Final Receipt in the Goods Receive screen.

Amend Templates:  the ability to make changes to a generated template.

Generate Templates:  the ability to create new templates.

Can Delete All Templates:  the ability to delete templates.

View all Order Lines Report:  permission to run the all order lines report which will list all orders, their values, status, approval history etc.

View all Outstanding Orders Report:  permission to run the outstanding orders report showing all orders that have goods outstanding.

View Goods Received Not Invoiced Report:  permission to run the goods received not invoiced report showing all orders that have been goods received but not invoiced.

View Goods Received History Report:  permission to run the goods received history report which till show who received an order, when and the quantities on the GRN as well as the original quantity ordered.

View Goods Received and Invoiced Report:  permission to run the goods received and invoiced report which will show invoices recorded in Sage and the associated receipt history.

Can View ‘Include Not Sent to Sage records in Approvals Pending Records’ option in Budget Enquiry Report:  permission to be able to view costs of requisitions in the pending columns on the budget enquiry report.  We do not recommend this as a commonly used setting as it can show duplicated data.  This permission is also behind a security level on the User Type for this reason.

System Settings Overrides – it is possible to override a number of requisition system settings per User Type.  This can be useful if different User Types have different uses of the requisition module.  If no User Type should have any different settings than either the system settings, no configuration needs to happen on this screen but if any of these settings should be different for this User Type from the main System Settings, configure here.

Supplier Filters – Supplier Stock Filter Configuration:  the default from System Settings will be used initially but if required can be changed; for example, it might be for one User Type stock items can only be ordered from the preferred supplier while for another User Type stock can be purchased from any supplier.  In the above example, as this setting has the ‘Derive’ option selected, this setting is the same for this User Type as the system setting.

Supplier Filters – Supplier/Unit Pricing Display:  the default from System Settings will be used initially but if required it can be changed; for example, it might be that for one User Type the pricing will be visible per supplier but for another User Type it shouldn’t be visible.

Enable ‘Free Text’ line entry:  the default from System Settings will be used initially but if required it can be changed; for example, it might be that for one User Type free text lines can be entered on a requisition but for another User Type, they should only be able to raise stock lines.

Enable Item Description Amendment:  the default from System Settings will be used initially but if required it can be changed; for example, it might be that for one User Type they are able to amend an item description on a stock item but another User Type shouldn’t be able to change the description.

29. Requisition User Permissions

A number of permissions can be set on the user profile relating to entering, viewing or approving requisitions.

29.1. Account Options Tab

Against a user set their Requisition Item and Approval values; item value is the amount the user is able to enter a requisition for and approval value is the amount a user is able to approve a requisition for.  If a user is not allowed to approve a requisition, leave the approval value as zero.  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.

A user can also be given a self-approval value; any requisitions raised up to the self-approval value will automatically post through to Sage without going down an approval route – even if an approver has been marked as mandatory.

Users can be given permission to override various budgets –

Check Budgets on Self-Approval:  if a user has a self-approval value, all requisitions raised up to that value will automatically approve.  However, if this is ticked and a requisition is raised that is over-budget, the requisition will require approval.  If this setting is not ticked, any requisitions raised up to the user’s self-approval value will automatically post to Sage, even if the nominal or project is over-budget.

Can change requested by:  if ticked, the user is able to change the user raising the requisition – as set on the Justification tab when entering a new requisition.

View all Nominals on Budget Enquiry:  if the user has permission to view the budget enquiry they will be able to view budgets against nominal codes they have access to; if this is ticked they will be able to view all nominal codes.

Can Override Budgets:  various options for users to be able to override nominal or project budgets when entering a requisition.  If a user has permission to override a budget, the requisition will not be flagged as over-budget and therefore not require additional approval – if approval routes have been configured as such.

29.2. Business Units Tab

If the user belongs to a business unit they will be able to view any requisitions raised by other users within the business unit.  If a user has access to multiple business units, they can change the business unit on the Justification tab when entering a new requisition.

29.3. Nominal Tab

This tab can be used to view nominal codes the user has been given access to, or to set that the user is to have access to all nominal codes.  These codes will be visible to the user when entering a new requisition or if the user has permission to, to view the budget information against.  Different approval values can be set against a nominal code that would be used during requisition approval.

29.4. Projects Tab

If a costing module has been configured, this tab can be used to view projects or project headers the user has been given access to, or to set that the user is to have access to all projects or project headers.  These projects and project headers will be visible to the user when entering a new requisition.

29.5. Company Access Tab

This tab will show what companies the user has been given access to along with their default delivery and invoice addresses.  Generally, users will be able to change the delivery address when entering a requisition but wouldn’t be able to change the invoice address.  A nominal code can be set against a company which can be used when entering a requisition.

30. System User Permissions - Requisitions

It is possible to override a number of requisition system settings per user.  This can be useful if different users have different uses of the requisition module.  If no user should have any different settings than either the system settings, leave this screen.

Supplier Filters – Supplier Stock Filter Configuration:  the default from System Settings will be used initially but if required can be changed; for example, it might be for one user stock items can only be ordered from the preferred supplier while for another user stock can be purchased from any supplier.  In the above example, as this setting has the ‘Derive’ option selected, this setting is the same for this User as the system setting.

Supplier Filters – Supplier/Unit Pricing Display:  the default from System Settings will be used initially but if required it can be changed; for example, it might be that for one user the pricing will be visible per supplier but for another user it shouldn’t be visible.

Enable ‘Free Text’ line entry:  the default from System Settings will be used initially but if required it can be changed; for example, it might be that for one user free text lines can be entered on a project requisition but for another user, they should only be able to raise stock lines.

Allow Over Receipt of Goods:  the default from System Settings will be used initially but if required it can be changed; for example, it might be that for one user they are able to over receipt when goods receiving but another user shouldn’t be able to.

31. Release Notes

The release notes page shows which release of the system includes new features or issues resolved.

At the release of Sicon v21 we announced that going forward, we will only be supporting Sage 200c and as such we are able to drop the year from our version numbers. We moved from 201.201.0.0 to 210.0.0.

New features detailed in the Release Notes relating to Pre-Release versions will not be detailed in the current Help and User Guide until the end of development phase.

32. Help & User Guide Archive

33. New Features & Important Information