Planyard approval flows

In this article, you will learn how to set up approval flows for different features in your Planyard company account

Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Cost approval flow
   1. Setup Approval Workflow on the Company Account Level
   2. Approvals project-level
   3. Notifications
   4. Approvals Overview
3. Purchase order approval
   1. Activate purchase order approval workflow
   2. Purchase order approval workflow

Introduction

You are able to set up approval flows for different workflows in Planyard, including costs, purchase orders, and approvals for tendering processes.

Approval flows help you keep tight control over your costs and budgets. By setting up rounds of approval, you make sure every expense gets the thumbs-up from the right people, cutting down on unnecessary spending and sticking to your budget.

Every approval gets logged, giving everyone a clear view of what's happening with finances and purchases. 

Cost approval flow

Approval flows for costs are conducted in rounds. This means that a cost will only be forwarded for approval in the next round if it was approved in the preceding round.

There are two levels to the approval workflows. The first level is at the company account level. By adding one or more approval rounds at the company account level, every cost processed through Planyard will go through this approval, independently of which project the cost comes from.

The second level of approval is at the project level. Adding one or more approval rounds here means that all costs for the specific project must be approved by the selected approvers. 

When both levels are used, costs must first be approved at the project level before being automatically sent to the company-level approval round. A cost will not proceed to company account approval until it has passed through all project-level approval rounds.

Setting Up Approval Workflows at the Company Account Level​

Note that in order for a user to set up approval flows at the account level, correct user rights are required. If you currently do not have the necessary permissions, please speak with your account owner to adjust this.

To activate and set up a round of approvals at the account level:

1. Click 'Company' in the top menu.
2. Click 'Settings' on the far right of the company menu bar.
3. Click 'Company-wide features' to access all feature settings for your account.
4. Scroll down to 'Cost approval flow' and toggle the feature on. A pop up will appear that will give you two options:
    

   1. If you want to add an approver at the company level, select your colleague from the drop-down list and click ‘Create workflow round’.

   2. Alternatively, you can opt to click 'Configure separately within projects'. This allows you to set up approval flows at the project level without having any approvers added to the company account level. 
5. If you have added the first approver on the company level, you can now create the next round by clicking 'Add next round'. 

You will now see the initials of your colleagues, to the left of each initials there will be a numbering. Then numbering tells you the order of approvals:

In the example in the picture, CE is numbered as #1 and TM as #2, this means that any costs will first be approved by CE before being forwarded to TM for approval. 

You can at any time adjust the user for an approval round by clicking 'Update approvers', then remove the initial approver and add a new one. 

Setting Up Approvals at the Project Level

When we establish approval rounds at the project level, it involves adding a user who is responsible for reviewing all processed costs for this specific project. Once a cost is processed within the project, it will automatically enter the approval workflow and be sent to the first approver for review.

Note that for a user to be added to an approval flow at the project level, they must have access to the project.

To set up approval rounds on the project level:

1. Navigate to the project where you wish to add approval rounds.
2. Click on 'Settings' in the project menu.
3. Scroll down to 'Cost approval workflow', where you see an overview of the approvals for the project. Not that any approval rounds set at the account level will be visible here and are not editable. 
4. Click 'Select approvers', choose the desired colleague in the drop-down, and then click 'Create workflow round'.
   
5. To add an additional round, click 'Next round' and select another colleague.
   

You can adjust the recipient of an approval round at any time by clicking 'Update approvers' and replacing the current user with a new one. 

Notifications

Notifications are triggered and sent to users based on specific events. They are delivered via email, and you can also access them directly in the platform. In-platform notifications appear under the notification bell in the top right corner. In the table you will see an overview of the notifications connected to the approval workflows:

 

 

If preferred, you can disable the email notifications in your personal account settings.

1. Click on your name in the top right corner and select 'Settings'.
2. Under 'Settings', find and deactivate 'Approval workflow notification'.

Approvals Overview

In the top menu, there's a button labelled 'Approvals'. This section provides an overview of all approvals awaiting your response as well as an overview of all processed costs. 

You can approve items directly from this view or click on a cost item to review more detailed information before making a decision. 

Purchase order approval

By enabling approvals for purchase orders, all created purchase orders must be approved before they can be issued to vendors. This is particularly suitable for projects where goods or materials are ordered by site engineers (or other administrative roles) but require approval from the project manager. The purchase order approval process is activated centrally and becomes immediately active for all ongoing projects.

Activate purchase order approval workflow

In order to activate the purchase order approval flow, follow these steps: 

1. In the top navigation bar, click on ‘Company’
2. From the drop-down menu, select ‘Settings’
3. In the settings menu, click on ‘Company-Wide Features’
4. Scroll through the list to find the ‘Purchase Order Approval Workflow’ option
5. Toggle the setting to activate the purchase order approval workflow

Note: Only users with permission to edit company settings and integrations can activate this feature.

Purchase order approval workflow

Once the purchase order approval workflow is activated, a mandatory field will appear when creating a purchase order. This field requires the user creating the purchase order to select the approver.

Once all information has been added and the purchase order is submitted for approval, the approver will receive a notification on the platform and via email. All purchase orders awaiting approval will be available in the Approvals overview. The approver will have the option to either reject or approve the purchase order. After approval, the approver can issue the purchase order directly from Planyard.