Configuring MLP Rules
MLP Rules
An MLP rule is a process that allows specific people (collected in an MLP Level) to take specific actions on specific proposals. MLP rules are configured using diverging approval paths for different trade or category. You will configure each MLP rule based on your organization’s proposal approval workflow.
You can have multiple rule sets representing different approval workflows that are determined by trades and categories. There is also a default rule set which is applied if other rules sets cannot be applied.
MLP Rules and the Approval Workflow
MLP rules check each proposal to determine the appropriate approval workflow:
- First, it checks the trade and category of each proposal.
- Then, it checks the MLP Level to see who should receive the proposal, which Actions users in that MLP Level can take (approve, reject, place on hold, or return back), and the maximum proposal amount (or Limit) allowed for each action.
- Once the MLP Level user takes action, the rule determines if the proposal should be either forwarded or sent back (returned) to other levels.
- Finally, when the user takes action, the proposal is set to a certain proposal status.You may also determine the number of days each MLP Level has to take action before the proposal automatically escalates to the next stage in the approval process. See Auto-Escalating Proposals, below, for details.
Auto-Escalating Proposals
The main goal of the auto-escalation function is to automatically move the proposal to the higher level of the employee who decides on its approval under the following conditions:
- The employee assigned to the previous level has not taken action for a prescribed period of auto-escalation.
- The employee who has not taken action is not the last level of approval.
- The proposal amount is outside the area of the previous employee level’s responsibility.
Please, note that the auto-escalation process does not aim to approve proposals without the participation of your employees.
The last level of approval still has to approve a proposal manually.
Navigate between the tabs to have a look at the examples with the 3 variants of proposals amount and how the auto-escalation will work for each of them.
Here is an example of how to fill in the template for auto-escalation.
| DO |
|
| DO NOT DO |
|
Overrides and Skips
In MLP rules, you can override a level. You may also skip a level if the proposal amount exceeds the level's approval limit.
- Override: An approver does not have to wait for the level below to take action on a proposal. Users on that level can take action at any time.
- SkipOverLimit: Any proposal with an amount higher than the level's approval limit will not appear in the user's proposal list. Should the proposal amount be within the user's approval limit, the employee can approve the proposal even if the SkipOverLimit option is enabled (set to "1").
You cannot enable the Override and SkipOverLimit options for the same MLP level.
Configuring Rule Sets
Once the MLP approval level is configured, you may then create the rule sets to define your approval hierarchy. These rule sets define your business rules on how you want proposals to route for assigned trades and categories.
- In the upper-left corner, click the menu icon, and select Admin >Proposals > MLP Configuration.
- On the MLP Configuration page that appears, under MLP Rules, click Blank Template to download the MLP rules configuration template.
To configure a default rule set, on the RuleSetMatrix sheet of the template file, enter a trade and category of proposals to which the default set rule will apply. Should you leave the fields blank, the MLP rules will apply to all proposals in any trade or category. Note that you can add more rule sets and then set them up on separate sheets of the template file if needed.
Do not delete the DefaultRuleSet rule set.
- On the DefaultRuleSet sheet of the template file, fill out the following fields:
- Level Name: This matches the Level names you put in the MLP Level template.
- Override: Enter “1” in the row with the Approve action if you want to allow specific levels take action on proposals before they are reviewed by previous levels. This setting applies to all actions even though "1" is entered for the Approve action.
SkipOverLimit: Enter "1"' in the row with the Approve action if you want proposals that are above the level's approval limit to be automatically escalated to the next level. If the proposal amount is within the user's approval limit, the employee can approve the proposal even if the SkipOverLimit option is enabled (set to "1"). This setting applies to all actions even though "1" is entered for the Approve action.
You cannot enable the Override and SkipOverLimit options for the same MLP level.
- ActionNotification: Enter "1" if you want all users from that level to get notifications of the actions that have been taken on the proposals.
- Action: The actions users at each level can take on the proposals, such as Approve, On hold, Reject, or Return.
Limit: The amount within which the level user can take final action on the proposal. Proposals above the limit can only be reviewed by level users and will be escalated to users of a higher level for final actions.
Should you need to change the decimal point (.) to decimal comma (,) on monetary amounts, contact your ServiceChannel representative.
- Forward To: The next level the proposal will go to after being reviewed by users at the current level.
- Set Status To: The actions the current level user can take on proposals.
- AutoEscalate: Indicate the number of days after which proposals will be auto escalated to the next level users without being reviewed by the current level users.
- (Optional) To add another rule set, enter the rule set name on the RuleSetMatrix sheet, create a sheet that has the same name as the rule set you added, and then configure the parameters on that sheet as specified in the previous step. Repeat this for all rule sets that you want to add.
- When finished, save the template file.
To upload the template, click Upload Template on the MLP Configuration page, select the file that contains the configured MLP rules, and click Open.
If you see an error message, it means something is wrong in your file. Make the required changes, and try to upload the file again.
The file is uploaded, and the rules you configured are immediately applied.
Below is an explanation of how the configured rules displayed in the image above work.
- Trade and Category: This MLP rule covers all proposals in any selected trades since the Trade and Category cells on the RuleSetMatrix sheet are empty.
- Levels and Actions: Users in the General Manager MLP Level are permissioned to take action on proposals costing up to 10.99 in local currency. Note that a blank Limit field means there is no monetary limit up to which the user may take action on a proposal, and level users cannot make the final actions on the proposal — they can only review and escalate them to next level users.
- Override: Director of Facilities can take actions without waiting for the Director of Operations to take actions on proposals.
- SkipOverLimit: Proposals that are over 50.99 in local currency will skip Director of Operations and go directly to Director of Facilities for further actions.
- Forward To and Set Status To: Specifies the level the proposals shall be sent to and level users who can take actions on when proposals are over the limit.
- AutoEscalate (in Days): Users in the General Manager level have 5 days to review proposals before they are automatically escalated to Director of Operations.
