Approval Workflow Settings

Related Articles Regarding the daily approval process Approval Hub See below. This article is intended for administrators and accounting managers who design and operate approval routes.

What you can do on this screen

The approval workflow settings screen allows you to manage multiple approval routes, such as purchase approval, expense reimbursement approval, and quotation approval, all on a single screen.

• You can set up approval steps for each amount range (who approves and in what order).
• You can define rules for escalating issues to higher approvers in exceptional cases such as budget overruns or expired deadlines.
• You can set budget limits on a departmental or project basis.
• Pre-testing allows you to verify the behavior of the authorization route before actually using it.
• This helps prevent accidents when changing company regulations.

Screen URL:/app/approval-workflow-settings

Target Audience:

• System Administrator
• Accounting Manager
• Business Design Team

List of Main Features

Features	Overview
Adding/Switching Approval Types	Routes for each type, such as Purchase Approval / Expense Reimbursement Approval / Quotation Approval
Approval Steps by Amount Range	Example: Orders under ¥10,000 are automatically approved; orders between ¥10,000 and ¥100,000 require only a primary approver; orders above that amount require multiple stages.
Escalation	Exceptions such as budget overruns and expired deadlines are automatically escalated to higher approvers.
Budget Management	Budget limits for departments and projects, and how to handle budget overruns
Pre-test	Calculate approval routes by entering amounts and departments (no actual data entered)
Detection of Unassigned Approval Officer	Warning issued for departments where an approver is not set in the department master

---

Overall view of the screen

The screen is divided into three main areas.

Area	Role
Top: Approval Type Card	Switch between approval types such as Purchase Approval, Expense Reimbursement Approval, and Quotation Approval
Center: Approval Route Chart	Approval steps for each price range of the selected type
Right side: Route simulator	Enter conditions to pre-test approved routes

Approval Type Card (Top of Screen)

The corresponding approval types are displayed in card format.

Card	Target
Purchase Approval	Approval of Purchase Request
Expense Reimbursement Approval	Approval of Expense Reimbursement
Quotation Approval	Approval of the quotation by the sales side
+ (Addition)	Add a new approval type

Note: The initially registered approval types vary depending on the environment. In some environments, only "Purchase Approval" is initially registered, while expense reimbursement and quotation approvals are added by the administrator. The image is an example from the demo environment of this project.

Valid cards will have a green checkmark. Each card will display the number of rules set, such as "X rules".

Summary section (below the card)

These figures represent the current operational status.

Indicator	Meaning
Number of applications this month	Number of approvals applied this month
Automatic Approval Rate This Month	Percentage of applications automatically approved (%)
Approval Time This Month	Average time from application to final approval (hours)
Escalation Activation Rate	Percentage of cases that deviated from the expected route and were promoted to a higher level

Approval Route Table (Center)

This table defines the approval route for the selected approval type.

Column	Content
Amount Range	Applicable amount range (e.g., ¥0 to ¥10,000)
Automated	Automatic approval (✓) or human approval
Approval Steps	Order of Approver (e.g., Primary Approver → Department Head → Accounting Manager)

You can edit each line using the pencil icon at the right end.

Example of initial route for purchase approval

Price Range	Automatic	Steps
¥0 to ¥10,000	✓ Automatic approval	(No human approval required)
¥10,000 to ¥100,000	—	Primary Approver
¥100,000～¥500,000	—	Primary approver → Department head
Over ¥500,000	—	Primary Approver → Department Head → Accounting Manager

Escalation Rules

This defines who will escalate the case to in the event of an exception.

Rule Name	Condition	Threshold	Step
Budget Overrun Escalation	Budget Overrun	0%	Budget Manager → Accounting Manager

Approvers who appear multiple times within a step will be automatically skipped during the evaluation process.

Route simulator (right side)

This feature allows you to test the approval route before deployment.

Input Fields	Content
Amount	Application amount to test
Budget Exceeded	Check this box if the budget has been exceeded
Department	Department that submitted the application

button:

• Simulate: Display the approval route based on the specified conditions.
• Batch Testing: Validating multiple conditions simultaneously.
• Pre-test (dry run): Verification using real data (no writing)

Flowchart Display

The Flowchart Display button allows you to view the currently configured route as a diagram. This is useful for checking complex routes.

Detected departments where an approval officer has not been set.

An alert will appear at the bottom of the screen.

Departments without an approval manager: 7 [Customer Service, Dispatch, Human Resources, ...]

The department master automatically detects and warns of departments where the Department Head (Approval Officer) has not been set. If this remains unset, the department will not be automatically assigned during escalation, leading to application errors.

Bottom tab (Advanced settings)

Note: The tabs displayed will vary depending on the approval type. The following is an example of what happens when "Purchase Approval" is selected.

Tabs	Contents
Rules	List View (Initial Display)
Basic Rules	Basic settings for price ranges and approval steps
Escalation Rules	Exception Flow Details
Budget	Department/Project Budget Limit
Budget Lines	Setting monthly and quarterly budget lines
Approval Test	Re-verification using historical data
System	System integration and notification settings
Company Settings	Basic parameters per company

---

Basic Operations

1. Change the price range steps

For example, if you want to make it so that "approval from the department head is also required for amounts exceeding 100,000 yen."

1. Select the Purchase Authorization card at the top of the screen (confirm if already valid).
2. On the approval route table, click the pencil icon for the relevant amount range.
3. Edit the order of approval steps by dragging and dropping, or add approver roles.
4. Save to apply the settings.
5. Verify using the route simulator (e.g., Amount: 150,000 yen, Department A → Check if it's as expected).

2. Add an escalation rule

We will add a rule that automatically promotes approval to a higher-level approver upon expiration.

1. Open the Escalation Rules tab.
2. Add using + New
3. Specify the conditions (e.g., budget overrun / deadline overrun)
4. Set the roles of the threshold and the target for raising it.
5. Save

3. Verify with pre-tests

This must be done before any operational changes are made.

1. Enter the amount and department in the Route Simulator on the right.
2. Check this box if you want to test for budget overruns.
3. Click Simulate → The approval route will be displayed.
4. If it doesn't meet expectations, review the settings.
5. Pre-test (dry run) for comprehensive verification against real data.

4. Fill in the missing information regarding the approval officer.

The information will be completed from the warning at the bottom of the screen.

1. Click the link for an unconfigured department → Go to the department master screen.
2. Set the person in charge in the Department Head field.
3. Save
4. Return to this screen and confirm that the alert has disappeared.

5. Add a new approval type

For example, if you want to add "Purchase Order Approval" as another approval type.

1. Click the + (Add) card at the top of the screen.
2. Enter the approval type name and the type of document in question.
3. Set the initial route (duplicating an existing type is also possible).
4. Save

---

List of Approver Roles

This is a standard role related to approval.

Role	Purpose
First Approver	First approval of purchase request
Accounting Manager	Final approval for large-value purchases (Head of Accounting Department)
Department Head	Department-level approval (set in department master)
Budget Management Officer	Responsible for budget management (escalation point)
Purchasing Manager	Manager of all purchasing operations

Assigning roles is/app/user Therefore, this is done on a per-user basis.

---

Utilizing Metrics

The four metrics in the summary section are displayed to provide a quantitative understanding of the approval route's performance.

Indicators	Directions for Improvement
Number of applications this month	Check the trend in application volume
Automatic Approval Rate	Reduce workload by automatically approving small-amount transactions
Approval Time Required	If it's taking too long, review the escalation rules.
Escalation Activation Rate	If it's too high, review the basic route.

---

Tips for Use

• Always pre-test before making changes: Complex route changes should be verified with pre-tests immediately before being applied to production.
• The amount range is determined based on past performance: Look at the distribution of application amounts over the past year and set a reasonable boundary.
• Utilize automated approval: Automating approval for small-value projects dramatically reduces the burden on approvers.
• Budget Overrun Escalation: When linked with budget management, it effectively strengthens control.
• Do not leave unconfigured departments unattended: Departments with warnings will fail to establish an approval route when a new application is submitted, resulting in an error.
• Approval types should be separated by business function: Mixing purchasing and expense reimbursement under one type complicates the design. It is recommended to separate them by business function.

---

Operational Precautions

• Changes will be reflected company-wide immediately, so please thoroughly test them in a test environment before applying them to production.
• Existing projects currently under approval will be completed to the end using the original route (please check if there are any operational changes).
• This screen is a proprietary feature. It operates within the limits of not conflicting with standard workflow functions.

---

Next Steps

• Operational check after setup → Approval Hub Let's actually try approving it.
• Adding an approval officer →/app/user Then edit the user and assign roles.
• Maintaining departmental master data →/app/department Appoint a department head
• The overall purchasing flow → Purchasing workflow