Workflow Assignments tab

Each bid package is unique and might require various levels of approval. The Workflow Assignments tab lets you set up the applicable approval steps.

Conversion to a contract is not dependent on approval. You can still convert the bid package at any time; however, you cannot publish the purchase order for the contract until the bid package workflow is approved. Bid packages that require approval are not available in a contract for association from the Associate a bid package icon until they are fully approved.

Add workflow assignments

Set up workflow assignments at the bid package level when there are approval steps specific to the bid package. Steps added at the bid package level are performed before those at the project level and organization level.

Workflow steps can be assigned to users, roles, or groups. Groups must be created in the project settings before they can be added to an approval workflow. Only users or roles that have permission for approving and rejecting bid packages are shown when setting up the workflow.

  1. From any page in a bid package, go to the Workflow Assignments tab.

  2. Click the Add approval icon. The Add Approval slide-out panel opens.

  3. Enter the step title, and then choose whether the step applies to users, roles, or groups.

  4. Enter the name of the user, role, or group.

  5. Repeat steps 2-4 as needed.

  6. Click Add.

The steps are added to the workflow before the project-level and organization-level steps. The Save and start approval button is added to the Overview page, and you can start the approval.

Start the approval workflow

Start the approval process when the bid package is ready for final approval.

Approval steps must be configured at the organization, project, or bid package level. If you want to make changes to the approval steps, you must go to the Workflow Assignments tab to make your changes. If your organization has chosen to not allow workflow when the bid package is over budget, an error message shows when you start the approval. See Organization settings for more information about allowing a bid package type to go to approval when over budget.

  1. Go to the Overview tab for a bid package, and then click Save and start approval. The Start approval dialog box opens to the approval steps page.

  2. Review the approval steps as necessary, and then click Next.

  3. Review the bid package budget. Contract converts the workflow values from the project currency to the contract currency to see if you have exceeded budget. If there is no conversion rate listed in the project details, the conversion rate is assumed to be 1:1. When the bid package is over budget, a yellow warning banner shows at the top of the Budget check tab, and the loss is shown in red in the Gain/Loss column.

  4. Choose one of the following:

    • If you do not want to add a message and attach supporting documents, click Start. The approval process starts.

    • If you want to add a message or attach supporting documents, click Next. The Add messages page opens.

  5. Choose one of the following;

    • If you want to add a message to be included in the workflow email, type and format it, and then click Next. The Attach supporting documents page opens.

    • If you do not want to add a message, click Next. The Attach supporting documents page opens.

  6. Choose one of the following:

    • If you want to attach supporting documents, click Next. The Attach supporting documents page opens.

    • If you do not want to attach supporting documents, click Start. The approval process starts.

  7. Select one or more supporting documents from the list of documents.

  8. Click Start. The approval process starts.

The approvers receive a notification of the approval item. If you are an approver, the workflow step is shown on the Action items tab. When you start the approval process and you are the first approver in the approval workflow, the first step of the workflow is automatically approved, and continues with the next step, if applicable. If you are the only step in the approval, you receive a second email confirming the new issue has been approved.

Users who are added to roles associated with active workflows can approve or reject workflow items. They do not get a workflow notification, but the workflow item is shown in the Action items tab.

Worklfows that are not completed within 90 days are terminated and automatically removed from the Action items tab.