Updated on January 12, 2024
Accounting Segments managed in the Accounts Payable role allow for users to add Watchers or Approvers to any segment. Watchers are notified when an order has been submitted using the segment. Approvers are notified and added to the approval path of the order once submitted. Flexibility with Segment Approvals (GL Account, Project, Department, Class, etc.) can be applied to Requisition Approvals. This allows for Approval Paths to be based solely on Segments as opposed to relying on Personal Approval Paths for Spend Limit.
Updates to Segment approvals are made in Accounts Payable while updates to Personal Approval Paths for Spend Limits are made in Admin.
*Please note that adding Segment Approvers is completely optional and Approval Paths can rely solely on the Personal Approval Paths for Spend Limits set in the Admin role.
Past Process for Segment Approvers
What's New for Segment Approvers
Checklist for Switching to Segment Approval Only
Past Process for Segment Approvers
In the past each Segment could only have one Approver. The Approval for Segments requires a dollar amount threshold set for the Segment Approver.
In the example below, John Ulrich is set as the Approver for the BioPhysics segment (Class) with an amount of $65,000. If a user submits a cart using this Segment and the amount of the order is $65,000 or more, John will be added to the approval path for the order:
Segment Approval works differently than a Personal Approval Path. In the Personal Approval Path, any Requisition that exceeds the user’s Spend Limit requires approval. The Spend Limit approvers must also have an Approval Limit higher than the Requisition total. Segment approvers can also be approvers in a user’s Personal Approval Path with different approval amounts.
In the example below, Christine’s Personal Approval Path for her Spend Limit ($1,000) is shown. If Christine submits a requisition for $2,000, Rachel Dent (Approval limit $2,500) will need to approve before the order can continue.
If Christine submits a requisition for $15,000, Rachel, Joanna, Susan, and John will all need to approve the requisition. Rachel, Joanna, and Susan need to approve as they are in Christine’s path; however, their approval limits are not enough to cover the $15,000 order. John has a limit of $30,000, enough to cover the order and will be the final approver required before the order continues:
What’s New for Segment Approvers
Prendio has introduced several settings providing flexibility regarding Segments and Requisition Approvals. Multiple approvers can be added to a segment and Approval Paths can also be adjusted to be based solely on Segment Approval as opposed to relying on a user’s Personal Approval Paths for Spend Limit.
In a Segment setup and details, the Watchers tab has been updated to note that this is where a Segment’s Watchers and Approvers are designated. This has also been updated to show each in their own space:
Keep in mind the differences between Watchers and Approvers. Watchers are notified when an order has been submitted using the segment and within the dollar threshold inidcated; however, Watchers are not on the Approval Path and do not need to Approve the order. Approvers are not only notified but will need to review the order and Approve the order before it continues.
When adding a new user to the list or update an existing user by clicking the Edit button, both the dollar threshold and Approver/Watcher designation can be set.
When adding a new Segment Approver, the dollar threshold is automatically set to the user’s Approval Limit managed in Admin > Users. This amount can be adjusted as needed.
$60,000 Defaulted as Gloria’s Approval Limit:
Adjusted to $100,000:
Users will automatically be added as a Watcher. To have the user as an Approver, check the box next to Approver:
More than one user can be set as an Approver for Segments. The most recently added Approver will always appear at the top of the list. Users can custom set the Approval order for Segments using the up and down arrows.
In the example below, Gloria (approval limit of $100,000) is listed before Rachel (approval limit of $5,000), and Susan (approval limit of $2,500). Gloria will approve the order first followed by Rachel and Susan if a requisition requiring all three approvers is submitted:
Each Segment also includes a check box to “Include Personal Approval Path”
By default, this option is turned ON. When Include Personal Approval Path is turned ON, any Segment Approvers appear first on the Approval Path followed by any Spend Limit Approvers.
Please note that Include Personal Approval Path will automatically be turned ON until it is adjusted.
Turning Include Personal Approval Path option OFF (uncheck) will:
- Exclude the Personal Approval Path for Spend Limit (found in Admin > Users > User Details).
- Alter the Segment Approval processing to follow the logic of Personal Approval Paths. This flexibility allows for users to set up Approval Paths based solely on Segments as opposed to relying on Personal Approval Paths (and thus needing to maintain Personal Approval Paths for each user).
In a Segment’s Users section, a column for “Apply Spend Limit” has been added. A user’s Spend Limit (set in the Admin role) will appear in this column. If the user’s spend limit is higher than any of the Segment approvers, selecting Apply Spend Limit will skip segment approvers with an approval limit lower than the user’s spend limit:
Examples for Turning Include Personal Approval Path (On or Off) and Turning Apply Spend Limit (On or Off)
*Please note that depending on a company's setup and configurations, Segment Approvers may be listed multiple times for another Segment or as a Spend Limit Approver in a user’s Personal Approval Path. If this occurs, the Approver approves once and will not need to approve again as this will be noted as a Prior Approval.
Below are several examples of Include Personal Approval Path (On or Off) and how this relates to Apply Spend Limit (On or Off)
Examples feature a user with a $3,000 Spend Limit submitting two different carts for $4,000 and $8,000. Note the following in regard to approvals for the examples:
Segment Approvers (Class: Lab Department):
Susan - $2,500
Rachel - $5,000
Gloria - $100,000
Personal Approval Path (Spend Limit Approvers shown in the path with Approval Limit):
Rachel - $5,000
Joanna - $10,000
Include Personal Approval Path is ON, Apply Spend Limit is OFF:
$4,000 Requisition
Any Segment Approvers needed to approve the $4,000 order are listed first followed by any spend limit approvers in the user’s Personal Approval Path. Susan Belham is added as a Segment Approver for Class (Lab Department) as the order is over $2,500.
Since the order exceeds the user’s Spend Limit of $3,000, Rachel Dent with an Approval Limit of $5,000 is also listed from the user’s Personal Approval Path. Since Rachel’s Approval Limit is enough to cover the order amount, additional Segment Approvers are not included:
$8,000 Requisition
If the user submits a cart for $8,000, Susan and Rachel appear as Segment Approvers. Rachel also appears again as a Spend Limit Approver along with Joanna. Even though Rachel is listed on the approval path twice, she only needs to approve once and Prendio will note this as a Prior Approval. Joanna is added as another Spend Limit approver as the $8,000 order exceeds Rachel’s approval limit of $5,000.
Include Personal Approval Path is ON, Apply Spend Limit is ON:
$4,000 Requisition
In this example, Apply Spend Limit is ON and Susan Belham (Class Approver, $2,500) is skipped because Susan’s Approval Limit is less than the user’s Spend Limit, $3,000.
Since Include Personal Approval Path is ON, and the order exceeds the user’s Spend Limit of $3,000, Rachel Dent with an Approval Limit of $5,000 is listed from the user’s Personal Approval Path. Rachel’s Approval Limit is enough to cover the order amount and Segment Approvers are not required.
$8,000 Requisition
For a cart totaling $8,000, Rachel appears as a Segment Approver as the order is over $5,000 and she appears again as a Spend Limit Approver along with Joanna. Rachel needs to approve once and Joanna is added as another Spend Limit approver as the $8,000 order exceeds Rachel’s approval limit of $5,000.
Include Personal Approval Path is OFF, Apply Spend Limit is OFF:
$4,000 Requisition
In this example, due to Include Personal Approval Path being OFF, Segment Approval follows Personal Approval Path logic. There must be an Approver(s) with a Limit equal to or higher than than the order total. Since Apply Spend Limit is also set to OFF, Susan Belham (Class, $2,500) still must also approve this order:
$8,000 Requisition
For a cart totaling $8,000, Gloria with an approval limit of $100,000 is added as another Segment Approver as the $8,000 order exceeds Rachel’s approval limit of $5,000.
Include Personal Approval Path is OFF, Apply Spend Limit is ON:
$4,000 Requisition
Segment Approvers (GL Account, Project, and Class) needed to approve the $4,000 order are listed. Since Include Personal Approval Path have been turned OFF for all selected segments (Class, GL Account, Project) and Apply Spend Limit is ON, Spend Limit Approvers are not included the approval path for this order.
Susan Belham ($2,500 Approval Limit) is not included in the Approval Path as the user’s Spend Limit, $3,000, exceeds Susan’s approval limit of $2,500:
$8,000 Requisition
For a cart totaling $8,000, Gloria with an approval limit of $100,000 is added as another Segment Approver as the $8,000 order exceeds Rachel’s approval limit of $5,000.
Important Notes to Consider
If an order has a Segment selected where Include Personal Approval Path is ON, the Personal Approval Path will be included.
In the example below, Include Personal Approval Path for the Department selected is turned OFF; however, this is turned ON for the GL Account selected on the order. The order exceeds the user’s Spend Limit and Rachel is added to the Approval Path again as a Spend Limit approver:
Once Include Personal Approval Path is turned OFF for the other segments selected in the cart, spend limit approvers will not appear on the approval path for the order:
When Include Approval Path is turned OFF, please again ensure that the segment includes an approver with a limit high enough to cover any order amount submitted by a user. If a user submits an order where a segment approver does not have a dollar threshold enough to cover the order, an error message will appear for the user:
Apply Spend Limit is not available for the GL Account segment as users are not assigned GL Accounts. GL Accounts are associated with the Department segment and Users cannot be assigned direct membership to a GL Account.
Checklist for Switching to Segment Approval Only
To change approvals to rely solely on Segment Approval from Personal Approval Paths, please update the following:
Update ALL Segments to turn Include Personal Approval Path OFF (unchecked) via Watchers/Approvers.
This setting must be updated for every segment listed (Class, GL Account, Project, etc) at a company:
Turn Include Personal Approval Path OFF by unchecking the box:
Add Approvers (as needed) via Watchers/Approvers and set each approver’s dollar threshold:
Adjust the order of the approvers as needed using the arrows to the right of their names:
If Apply Spend Limit should be turned ON for any users, navigate to the Users section of each segment and adjust as needed. Please note again that Apply Spend Limit is not available for GL Accounts:
Approval Paths will switch over to rely completely on Segment Approval. All settings can be adjusted at any point.