WORKFLOW/APPROVALS
Fiscal responsibility is everyone’s business at Wesleyan. We have a relatively decentralized purchasing process which places decisions on what to buy and how much to pay in faculty and staff hands. This flexibility is counterbalanced by approvals to make sure that Wesleyan is spending its limited resources appropriately, efficiently, and within Board of Trustee policies. In the past, there were relatively few systematic purchasing approvals and ones that existed were done manually and erratically. Ultimately, all invoices followed a paper trail with after the fact approvals for large purchases. In WFS, we have the opportunity to change this process through on-line purchase orders and vouchers with associated workflow approvals.
So what does this mean? All transactions will go through an approval process. The approval process will depend on the type of transaction and workflow directs the transaction to the appropriate approver or reviewer based on standard criteria (i.e. supervisor, dollar level, personal reimbursement, etc.).
The following chart illustrates workflow by type of transaction and dollar level:
Approvers will be notified that a transaction is awaiting their action through e-mail. You can click on the link contained in the email to go the transaction or you can find transactions requiring your approval in your in-box.
Approvals go live starting July 6.
While we have workflow training sessions to demonstrate the process, we have created two UPKs (on-line training programs that show you step by step instructions on how to use a particular WFS function). The programs take five minutes to view. You can access these UPKs from the UPK link on the left hand side of this post.
Click on the UPK link in this blog to bring you to a page that shows “Wesleyan Financial System.” Click on “Wesleyan Financial System (or the plus box next to it)” and you will see three options, Using UPK, Basics, and Smart Docs.
Click on “Basics” and then click on “Workflow” and you will see three selections under this section. You will be selecting either the “Approval from E-Mail” or “Approval Using In Box.”
Click on “Approval from E-Mail” and you will see a screen that provides written instructions.
Click on the See It! and it will show you the actual steps and screens of the approval process.
And then watch the process begin. You can follow the same steps and select “Approval Using In Box” for the alternative approval method.
If you have questions on the Wesleyan Financial System, please e-mail wfshelp@wesleyan.edu. We will answer questions through future blog postings or through direct response to the sender