Audience: System Administrators and Power Users
Overview
The Approval Workflow feature allows you to define:
when approvals are required
who must approve
the sequence for a multi-step approval
Approval workflows are driven by Approval Rules, which detect and update the contract status to move the contract to the next stage of its approval workflow.
This article provides a high-level overview of how approval workflows operate.
For step-by-step configuration guidance, see How to Define Approval Workflows.
For detailed instructions on approving or rejecting contracts, see Participating in an Approval Workflow.
How Approval Workflows Work
Approval workflows are configured by administrators in the Configuration -> Approval Rules screen. Approval Rules may be chained together in sequence by defining a "Status after approval" which triggers the next approval rule.
Each approval rule defines one step in the approval workflow. Each step starts with the creation of an Approval Request, followed by Approve or Reject decision.
1. Approval Request created
When a change is made to a contract record, the applicable approval workflow is started:
The approval rule is applied based on the Primary Business Unit, Contract Type, and Contract Status.
Approval request notifications are sent to the designated approvers.
The approval status of the contract is set to Awaiting Approval.
2. "Approve" or "Reject" decision made
Approvers review the contract within Contract Eagle and choose to approve or reject it.
All relevant parties (requester and all approvers) are notified of the decision via email.
The contract status may be changed automatically, as defined in the approval rule.
Which Approval Rule Applies?
The Approval Rules screen allows for the definition of more than one approval rule.
It is possible to:
define catch-all rules for “All Business Units”, “All Contract Types”, and “All Statuses”.
define rules which apply to specific business units, contract types, and statuses.
However:
Only one rule will apply at any one time.
More specific rules always take priority over catch-all rules.
Approval rules are evaluated using the principle:
“The first matching rule applies”
Priority | Contract Primary Business Unit | Contract Type | Contract Status |
1 | Same | Same | Same |
2 | Same | Same | All Statuses |
3 | Same | All Contract Types | Same |
4 | Same | All Contract Types | All Statuses |
5 | All Business Units | Same | Same |
6 | All Business Units | Same | All Statuses |
7 | All Business Units | All Contract Types | Same |
8 | All Business Units | All Contract Types | All Statuses |
The list of approval rules in the “Approval Rules” screen is shown in priority order. The first rule which matches your contract is the rule which will determine your approval workflow.
Searching for Approval Rules
The Approval Rules list can be filtered by:
Contract Primary Business Unit
Contract Type
Contract Status (triggering status, on-approved status or on-rejected status)
Approval Rule Name
This makes it easier to locate and validate specific rules.
Approval Flow Visibility
The Approval Flow option displays the expected sequence of approvals for a specific:
Business Unit
Contract Type
Contract Status
This helps quickly validate approval logic and ensure that the rules are sequenced as expected.
The Approval Flow option is also available on the Approval Rule Edit screen for the rule being viewed/edited.
View Approval Steps from a Contract
On the Contract Summary, View, and Edit screens, a link "View Approval Steps" opens a pop-up showing:
Which approval steps have already been completed
Which approval steps are still pending
The expected order of the remaining approval flow
This provides immediate clarity on the contract's progress through the approval workflow and what needs to happen next.