Available in: Enxoo Commerce

Objects like Quotes, Contracts etc. can be submitted to approval processes and need specific rules to determine which user or department will be responsible for accepting or rejecting approval requests. Approval Rules are an extension to Salesforce standard Approval Process.

Approval Rule Security

This section is applicable only to Approval Rules configured prior to V10. Approval rules configured in later versions do not require Approval Rule Security to be set up.

In order to create approval rules, users must have permissions that are granted in the Approval Rule Security tab. Below you will find a step-by-step configuration instruction for this module.
Step 1 Go to the Approval Rule tab and press the Configure Security button. Only users with CPQ Administrator permission set have access to this button.

Step 2 Fill in the fields:

Object Name (it needs to be an API name) - this object will be available for Approval Rule definition,
User - a user will be able to create an approval rule

Step 3 Press Save to save the security rule or Save & New to create more.

Creating an Approval Rule

Step 1 Go to the Approval Rule tab and press the New button.

Step 2 Fill in all the required fields:

Approval Rule Name,
Object Type - select an object for which this rule will apply,
Approval Level - it can be set from Automatic up to Level 5, using Salesforce standard Approval Processes you can assign specific users as approvers for every level,
Order - indicates an order in which approval rules are checked. Once the approval engine finds a set of criteria that are met, the approval level is set and the rest of the approval rules are ignored
Approval Level Field - this field will be updated with the value picked for Approval Level.
Active toggle - This option activates the rule

When none of the Approval Rules are met, the Approval Level will be left blank.

Step 3 Press the Add approval rule condition button and define a set of conditions that must be fulfilled to trigger an approval rule.

Columns:

Order - values from this column are used while defining Conditions Logic
Source - Defines whether we want to add conditions to the selected object or its related objects
Source Object - It becomes editable when the selected source is "Parent Object" or "Child Object"

If you define approval rule conditions for child objects, all child items must meet the conditions to consider it as passed.

Field Name - field on an object that condition will be checked against,
Operator - determines the way object field and Value are compared,
Value - value that is compared with object field

Step 4 Create a Condition Logic using values from the Order field and operators:

AND
OR

Step 5 Next use Salesforce standard Approval Processes to assign specific users as approvers for every approval level defined in Approval Rule.

Example

Let's define Approval Rules based on Total Lifetime Value on Quote object for 4 different levels of approval:

Automatic

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

When a salesperson submits a quote for approval, the engine will determine the required approval level. Bigger deals will require the approval of managers that have a higher position in the company hierarchy.

After you defined all the rules, you need to set up an Approval Process. Please refer to Salesforce Documentation on how to set up a standard Salesforce Approval Process. When setting records that apply to the approval process, base your choice upon approval level that is an output field of Enxoo Commerce Approval Rules module.

After you have defined an Approval Process, you need a Quote. Create an Opportunity and configure the Quote.

Next, press the Submit for Approval button and check whether:

the Approval Level field has been set correctly,

the Approval Status is set to Pending,

an approver has been assigned and is visible in the Approval History Related List.

1 Approval Rule Security
2 Creating an Approval Rule
3 Example