Email Spending Request Approvals

Email Spending Request Approval that the changes to forms and procedures discussed below are effective only beginning on June 1st.

The University has adopted online approvals for purchase requests, and cheque requisitions to facilitate the application of the spending authority policy. The system workflow directs email request(s) to the employee(s) associated with the Departments(s), Division(s) or the Operation group(s) financially responsible for the purchase based on the total spend amount of the request. 

Impact

Delegates of spending authority will receive email requests to approve spending requests. As a delegate your responsibilities continue to include reviewing the spending request to confirm it follows the spending authority policy, and that the spending appropriately relates to your cost centre budget.  

The email approval requests are very simple to operate by responding with only a Y or N. Comments can be added to the approvals by using double square brackets ([[comments]]). Workflow will reassign the task to the backup delegate if it is left unanswered for 5 days. 

The email has basic financial and descriptive information on the spending request. In addition, a link is included in the email to a report where additional details and documents associated with the spending request can be accessed using the identifier referenced in the email.

Spending Authority Delegates Matrix

There are three responsibility groups used to define the Spending Authority Delegates Matrix. The Operation Group represents a major operating segment typically associated with a vice president. Each Operation Group has several Divisions assigned to it, and the Departments are assigned to Divisions. Each group typically has two or more employees assigned to it, with the first employee acting the primary approver, and additionnal employees acting as backup for that group.

The system workflow routes the spending requests to the appropriate individuals associated within matrix. A reporthas been developed to publicize the individuals and accounts associated with these groups. Typically, workflow will assign the approval requests to the following responsibility groups based on the spending request total amount as follows:

There may be cases where one employee approves the same request at two separate levels. This can occur in situations where the requestor is the primary Department delegate or where the second approver is also acting as the backup for first approver. In these situations, workflow will escalate approval request to a higher level to ensure two separate authorizers have approved the spending request.

In situations where a spending request is split between multiple cost centers, the workflow will request approvals from the distinct delegates required. The workflow will seek to obtain the approvals required by the spending authority policy based on its dollar threshold. 

Instructional Videos
How to Respond to an Email Spending Request Approval