Product documentation
Executing a project is not always easy. Before, during and after project execution, many risks can affect financial results, harm employees or, in extreme cases, lead to the companys bankruptcy. It is wise to know and evaluate the risks before sending the quote to the potential customer.
If a quote is sent to a potential customer, it is a commitment to this potential customer. For this reason, many organizations have an approval procedure before an opportunity will be transferred to a quote or before a quote is sent to a potential customer.
In a simple approval process, an Opportunity or Quote can be approved by a manager. In that case, a workflow using standard functionality could meet the approval requirement. In larger organizations the approval procedure depends on the amount of the opportunity or quote, the risk level and given discounts. Sending a quote for EUR 1.000 is not a problem, but for EUR 1.000.000 it might need approval of a C-level manager.
The starting point is a process listed in Active Approval Entities. The relevant data to be approved should be entered in the Opportunity or Quote.
For opportunities and quotes there are tabs Approvals in the form.
For other entities, these tabs can be configured by an application administrator. First step is to select the Process. After selecting the process, click the Submit for approval button which will display the relevant approval steps.
An approval step can have one of the following statuses:
Approved: The approval step has been approved.
Open: The approval step is awaiting approval.
Pending: The approval step is awaiting completion of the preceding steps. Once these have been approved, its status changes to Open.
Disapproved: The approval step has been rejected. Entering a reason in the Remarks field is mandatory.
Cancelled: If an approval step is disapproved, all subsequent steps in the approval process are automatically cancelled.
In the My Work section of the Tender Management app, users can view a list of approvals that require their action.
Users with the System Administrator security role can access additional views to review approvals and approve or reject any open approval steps. Approvals can also be managed from the Approve tab on the relevant records where an approval process is applicable.
The approval process is based on standard Dynamics 365 activity functionality, which has been extended to support the approval process. This functionality can be used for configuration purposes within CE but is not relevant to regular end users.
By clicking on an approval the approval is selected. Go to the Approvals tab and select an approval.
An open Approval can be selected to approve or disapprove.
When an approval step is Approved, its status changes to Approved, and the next approval step in the process becomes Open.
If an approval step is Disapproved, the approval process is cancelled, and all subsequent approval steps are automatically set to Cancelled.
Approvals can also be approved or rejected using mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones. To use this functionality, the Dynamics 365 for Phones app must first be installed and configured on the device.
The approval process works the same way on mobile devices as on desktop computers. Simply select the approval step and use the appropriate button to approve or reject it.
