Routing and Approvals
Approvals in the Kuali Financial System (KFS) are accomplished through electronic routing of the documents created in the system. KFS users access and approve documents through their Action List.
When a document Initiator clicks Submit on a document, routing is begun; the system records this as an “approval” by the initiator.
- Routing FlowAfter a document initiator clicks the Submit button, the following routing steps may take place. Note that not all levels of routing indicated below will occur on every document.
Routing Step Type Description Document to Set-Up Routing 1 Fiscal Officer (Account Manager) This level of routing approval is standard for most documents in KFS.* All accounts require a fiscal officer to be assigned. An account delegate can approve on behalf of the fiscal officer at this level. Account or Account Global for Fiscal OfficerAccount Delegate for Account Delegate 2 Organization Review Optional routing, established by the department; it can be to an individual (not recommended) or a group (recommended). This type of routing can be based on the chart and organization of the account, the document type, or the dollar amount. This routing can be set up to require an approval, FYI, or acknowledgement. Organization Review 3 Special Conditions This routing approval exists on some documents, based on the document type, object level, etc.; this routing is maintained by central business units (e.g., Accounting). Maintained centrally, no user-access documents 4 Account Supervisor (Account Reviewer) Optional routing maintained by departments; it is for information only, not for approval, and occurs once all approvals are complete. Account or Account Global In addition to the routing levels described above, Ad Hoc routing can be added at any point in the routing process, and can be initiated by any user in the routing chain. Note that a document cannot be ad hoc routed to someone who has already approved it. Ad hoc routing is activated by selecting the Ad Hoc Recipients tab on any document and entering the user ID of the KFS user/Group ID you wish to ad hoc route the document to.
*The following documents do not employ Fiscal Officer / Account Delegate routing:
Organization, Project, Sub Object, Group, KFS User, Organization Review
You may want to set up an Organization Review for these documents. - Three Levels of NotificationIn KFS, there are three levels of notification that you will see when accessing your Action List.
These notifications can also be used for ad hoc routing or Organization Review:Request Option When To Use Approve You are asking the individual to verify that the transaction is acceptable. Approved financial documents continue routing to additional approvers, or if fully approved, are included in the next update to the General Ledger. FYI You want the individual to see that a document has been created, but do not necessarily need them to open it up and review it. In KFS, a user can clear documents sent FYI without viewing them. Acknowledge You want the individual to view and acknowledge a transaction, without the need for giving formal approval. The individual will be required to open the document from their Action List to clear it out. This type of action request is generated to prior approvers and the initiator when a document is disapproved.
- Routing StatusesRouting statuses are identified by the status names below:
Status What It Means Canceled The document is denoted as void and should be disregarded. This status is applied to a document when an initiator creates a document and cancels it before submitting it for approval. Disapproved The document has been disapproved by an approver. Enroute The document has pending approval requests. Exception The document has been routed to an exception queue because workflow has encountered an error when trying to process its routing. Final The document has been routed and has no pending approval or acknowledgement requests. Documents in Final status are considered approved in that documents in this status affect the General Ledger or update Chart of Accounts values. Initialized The document has been created but has not yet been saved or submitted. Processed The document has no pending approval requests but still has one or more pending acknowledgement requests. Processed documents are considered approved, so they impact the General Ledger or update Chart of Accounts values. Saved The document has been started but not completed or routed yet. The save action allows the initiator of a document to save his or her work and close the document. The document may be retrieved from the initiator’s action list for completion and routing at a later time.
Approvals in the Kuali Financial System (KFS) are accomplished through electronic routing of the documents created in the system. KFS users access and approve documents through their Action List. When a document Initiator clicks Submit on a document, routing is begun; the system records this as an “approval” by the initiator. Routing FlowAfter a document…