Setting up Approval Levels

When an application requires approval, it usually has to be signed off on by a number of people. This guide will show how to set up those signatures.

Signatures are usually set up to allow only certain employees to be able to sign. This is done by setting up an employee group and assigning users to it, then using that group in the Approval level setup.

Setting up an Employee Group

1. Click “Administration” under the “User” tab at the top of the page
2. Click the "Employees " tab near the top of the page
3. Click the "Groups" link under the "Add" button
4. Click "Add Employee Group"
5. Fill out the fields
   
   1. Name the group
      
      1. ex. "Sewer Permit Read Only" or "Utility Approvers"
   2. Optional: Add a description
   3. Choose privileges
      
      1. Administration
         1. Gives the user high level administrative abilities (Only recommended for account administrators)
      2. Read/Write
         1. Allows the user to both view and edit information
      3. Read-Only
         1. Only gives the user that ability to view information, not edit or delete
   4. Optional: Choose an Employee Role
   5. Optional: Choose an App Group for this group to be restricted to
      1. This is helpful for creating groups that only have access to certain App. Groups
   6. Choose if you want this group to ignore access control
      1. This should always be set to "no" unless the group is supposed to be a Super-User Admin account
   7. Choose if this group is valid
      1. Choosing "No" will allow you to hide the entry without actually deleting it
   8. Choose which employees are a part of this group from the list at the bottom
6. Click "Add this Employee Group"

Setting up an Approval Level

1. Click “Administration” under the “User” tab at the top of the page

2. Click “App Groups” in the “General” section near the top of the page

3. Click “Manage” next to the App. Group for the permit you want to add the approval level for

4. Click “Manage” next to the permit you want to add the approval level for

5. Click "Approvals"
6. Click "Add Approval"
7. Fill out the fields
   1. Choose an Approval Level
      1. This will determine the order that the approvals need to be signed in

      2. Level (1,2,3,...) of Approval

      3. If multiple approvals are required in no particular order, they can share a level

      4. For example, could have 3 approvals at level 1, then only 1 at level 2

   2. Choose a name for the Approval Level
      1. This name will show next to the signature on the application
   3. Choose if this group is valid
      1. Choosing "No" will allow you to hide the entry without actually deleting it
   4. Choose the group you want to be able to sign this Approval Level
   5. Choose individual employees you want to be able to sign this Approval Level
      1. If there are individual employees that need to be able to sign and aren't included in the groups that are allowed, you can choose those employees here
8. Click "Add this Approval"

Setting up a Conditional Approval

A conditional approval will add an approval level only if a certain condition is met.

1. Follow the instructions "Setting up an Approval Level", selecting 'yes' for conditional approval.
2. In the 'Rules' tab of the App Group Administration, click on "Add"
3. Begin by naming the rule so it can be found (example: Add Level 4 approval)
4. Select if the conditional approval rule will apply to new, renewals, or new and renewals
5. If this is the first time setting up a conditional approval, you will not have an action setup yet and will need to click on 'Add new action'.
6. Select 'Add Approvals' from the Action drop down list, then select the Conditional Approval previously set up.  You may optionally type in a message and description for the trigger and rule.  
7. Click on 'Save'.  This will automatically select the action you just created.  Continue by clicking on 'Add new condition'.
8. Select the field from the form that will determine the condition of the rule.  For example: An applicant selects 'yes' on a field, which will require an additional approval.  Select that field selection at this step.
9. Select the 'Comparison Method'.  Each method will allow you to select a range of values or a single value.  Use the 'value' options for fields from the previous step that have text entries or selections and use the 'number' options for fields from the previous step that have a numeric applicant entry.
10. Enter the Comparison 'Value'.  This is the value(s) that must be entered by the applicant in order for the condition to be met and the extra approval to be required.
11. Click on 'Save'.
12. To add additional conditions to the rule, click on "Add new condition" and follow steps 8-11 again.  If there are no other conditions, click on 'Save' to complete the setup.