Using the Approval Schedule and Approval History

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Within records that require an approval process, TeamConnect provides two different views of the approval process: approval schedule and approval history.

Approval Schedule

The Approval Schedule displays as a status of all assigned approvers for the entire process. The status information is useful for checking how much progress a request has made, in the context of the whole route. By reviewing the approval status, you can learn how many stops are in the process, who the approvers are in each stop, and whether each approver has approved or rejected the request.

If the Process Manager made any reassignments, you can also view this information in the approval status.

Note: If it appears that a number is skipped in the Stop column, it may mean that there are no assignees with the specified on the selected record. The details of the skipped stop appear in the approval history.

For each active request, the approval status displays in the following locations:

On the Workflow page, in the Active Requests section while a request is still pending approval.
On the General page, the record displays the Pending Approval status on its toolbar, where it can be seen by the requestor while the request is pending approval.

Note: Once a request is completed—approved, rejected, or canceled—the approval schedule no longer displays in the record. Instead, you can view the approval history.

The following table lists the fields in the Approval Schedule section. Fields are listed in alphabetical order.

Approval Schedule Field Descriptions

Field/Button	Description
Request Section
Expiration Date	(optional) The expiration date of the request. The expiration action is based on options set by your system administrator.
Request Date	The date that the request was triggered.
Request Name	The type of action being requested.
Requestor	The name of the user who is responsible for sending a record into an approval process.
Status	The current status of the entire request. Options are as follows: Pending—The request remains in this status until all stops are complete. Other possible statuses include Rejected, Error, or Canceled.
Stop Section
Action Date	The date on which the action occurred.
Expiration Date	The date by which the approver must submit a decision.
Internal Comment	The reason that the request is approved or rejected, if necessary. This information is originally entered in the Internal Comment field when the action is approved or rejected.
Performer	The members of this stop who may approve or reject the request. Clicking this link opens this user's contact record.
Status	The current status of the approval on the stop route. Possible options are as follows: Pending—The request remains in this status until all stops are complete. Approved—This stop is approved by all members and moves on to the next approval stop on the route. Rejected—Someone on this stop did not approve this action. Error—The stop contains an error, such as a member in this stop is assigned a role that does not exist. You can review the history to view the error, and then make the appropriate corrections. Canceled—This stop on the route is canceled. None or empty field—This request has not reached this stop. Note: Your system administrator may provide additional statuses.
Stop	The approval rule check points where members and groups are assigned to handle a request, such as wanting to post an invoice. The route follows the order in which you organize the stops, starting with Stop 1.

Approval History

The Approval History section records each event as it occurs during the approval process on the Workflow page of records. Once a request is completed—approved, rejected, or canceled—the complete approval history for that process displays in the Completed Requests section. Events that are tracked in the approval history include the following:

Requestor cancels the request.
Approver approves or rejects the request.
Approver sends for review.
Reviewer submits review.
Approval time expires.
Approval request is sent back to first stop by Process Manager (restarted).
Process Manager assigns another user or reassigns the same user.
Process Manager returns request to requestor (rejects).
Request is automatically approved or rejected upon expiration.
Error that a user is not found for a certain role or path in the system.
Error that a user group assigned to approve is empty.
Error that a user assigned to approve is inactive.