It would be a nice addition to Manager, if authorizations for entiries is implemented.
It is useful feature when a user enter a voucher, then a manager approve as some type pf entries require authorization before it can affect financially.
A tab could be added to notify the top level user of transactions that require approval.
I do agree with this very much. Transaction approval is a very powerful control feature.
In an environment with two or more officers using the app, a senior officer should be able to approve or disapprove transactions, this is like the last control point to prevent unauthorized transactions into the general ledger.
This means the audit trail will also show âApproved Byâ.
Users should be able to toggle the feature on or off because some users in a small organisation may want direct posting like the app does now.
This feature maybe more complex than you think.
For example, In a situation where an organisation has a very busy account payable department and therefore a leader who oversees account payable activities, you may want to give him the function of approving bills or invoices before they are finally entered into the purchases record in the system. Now the problem is that, the app will have to be designed in such a way that even though that officer approves bills and invoices of suppliers, he shouldnât be able to approve anything else (payslips, journal entries, sales invoices etc in the system).
In other words, approval previledges would have to be managed as well should such nice feature be implemented.
So Mr A may approve payslip transactions but may not be allowed to approve debit notes or sales invoices or Payment and receipts.
To finally end, One auditor asked me how we approved suppliers in the system but I told her the procedure and she wasnât satisfied, she wanted to know if the approval could be controlled from the application. I may be an officer in the procurement department who enters Purchase Orders but my HOD should be able to approve the creation of suppliers/Vendors or the deletion of suppliers/Vendors
Interesting topic.
I support
+1
At the moment, this can be achieved by using a custom field to indicate the current status (Approved / Not Approved).
However, you donât have any level of control over who edits that field - someone could just mark it as âApprovedâ immediately. So having a process, and trusting your employees, would be important.
Itâs a possible solution for some, while waiting for more advanced functionality to be added.
You donât understand, it is about an entry being approved before being posted into the accounts.
Before you support such a feature, you should think about how to handle transactions that might be entered but not yet or ever approved:
That short list is the product of two minutes of not-very-exhaustive thinking. But it illustrates that much more is involved than a checkbox on a form.
My point is that Manager is an accounting application, recording what has happened. It is not meant as an employee management tool. Businesses need processes for reviewing and approving financial activity before it happens and is entered into the accounting record, not after. People who cannot be trusted should not be allowed to enter transactions.
Multi Level Authorization procedure is different from one company to another, answers below reflect my use case and not necessarily apply to all.
Yes, usually approval just modify description / account.
No delete is required, just modifications.
Sale invoices should effect the stock, and only the financial effect shall be awaiting for approval.
Yes, authorization doesnât effect stock.
All authorizations are usually completed before the end of a financial period.
Whenever necessarily a company always has a reliever. If not there comes the advantage of cloud edition, where he can approve from anywhere.
It can apply if you all the users are in the same office, but it is difficult when you have multiple offices.
So, @Drew_Mike, you have answers to some of my quick list that satisfy your business. But there are more than 5,000 permutations and combinations of even that list. And the list was only put together to illustrate a point. The next question anyone thinks up jumps the possible options to over 40,000.
You also selected the least impactful choice for everything and ignored the question about taxes. These questions cannot be resolved independently in several cases. What you do for one will affect others.
I think the problem is still more complex than you realize.
It is just the same for Tax.
Multi Level Authorization is something you do on daily basis. You donât keep anything pending for days or weeks.
The concept is that a user enter a voucher and a higher level user audit and approve same day or next day.
It is not as complex as you might think as I previously used accountant application having the same feature.
Having multiple users require such feature. I can use an example here:
Purchase department usually generate Purchase Vouchers which effect both Inventory and Finance. The financial effect (if the feature is implemented) shall remain pending till the accountant receive the supplier invoice and verify that everything is accurate, then he can approve and the purchase voucher can effect financially. By his approval the purchase voucher value is credited to the supplier account.
@Drew_Mike, if by âpurchase voucher,â you refer to what in Manager is called a purchase order, you have given an example that already has no financial impact. So whether a purchase order is approved or pending makes no difference. A simple custom field would accomplish what you want, authorizing release of the purchase order to the supplier.
It is one use case as an example.
In our organization we have our sales guys have access to sales quotes, sales orders and purchase orders on occasion. Once approved, we convert to sales invoice and send the document to the customer and copy the rep on the sale.
Purchase Voucher = Purchase Invoice.
Then all the questions I listed earlier apply, and probably others I didnât think of yet.
Approval in accounting systems is not new. Many accounting systems have it.
Authorization comes together with audit trail and user permission level I Imagined. As long lubos yet to made later both flexible and reliable. Authorization have to wait. This is complex feature.
A post was split to a new topic: Location permission control
Hi, Looking at the communication on the topic, what Tut says is right in view of program integration. But surely this requirement is a thing which every company having a hierarchy will want for.
To simplify this idea to work, lets look at this way: why we need levels of authorization is to maintain a work flow and to avoid duplicates, errors and doubtful transaction and also the fact that to excercise the authority by the senior officer in the line.
So, lets solve this all, by introducing a work flow in Manager : System should allow in setting to create a workflow from quotation to invoice.( quote - sales order - PO - PI - GR - SI -DO ) each company can set its own way, â So,this will avoid duplication, errors and confusion.
the server and cloud system allows muti user, and allows to assigning Tab (function) to user. So System only need to print automatically the user name. â So, this solves the problem to show the ownership of document/transaction.
i think its worth realizing that the Manager or its use is been put to much advanced now than merely being an accounting software. i believe the developers and most active members in this forum can realize that. so these requirements are no surprise and it only shows the growth of satisfied customers.
This features requires some other functionalities to be added and it will make manager more close to ERP. I worked with Oracle E-Business Suite and provided consultancy as well. It has such a big engine for this purpose you canât take complete hold of it.
For this function you requires an automation process most likely workflow, notifications, hierarchy on each process in company and authorization control. Complete user features which are defined with employees and software users together. Forms status and auto status change upon approval or rejection and you canât delete any record after it has been sent to approval engine. Thus it will just increase your database size and load to your software.
I am not against this functionality but @Tut has asked questions, are first to consider before asking such features. BTW manager is for small business. Consider your business scale before over loading your employees with such huge responsibilities.
In some smaller accounting systems, the posting (or as you call it authorization) is made with below reasons:
Normally, posting is just a way of controlling. No changes should be made on logic and rules, especially on costing, etc. No matter how many levels of authorization will there be, the final step is posting, and that is where the accounting entry is made in the ledgers.
Generating of financial reports should have the ability to incude unposted transactions or not.