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How do I set an authority limit?

Ensure that the right people are approving trade invoices

Bayden Douglas-Blackmore avatar
Written by Bayden Douglas-Blackmore
Updated over a week ago

When accessing the progress invoices component, your authority limit will be checked before changing the status of a Trade Invoice. Authority limits in Crunchwork now connect to the progress invoices table in purchase orders with an approval workflow.

You can set your authority limit per user in the admin portal, or have your manager update it for you.

How to set an authority limit

  1. Open admin portal and find the user you'd like to set a limit for.

  2. Use the field 'Authority Limit' to supply a numerical value.

  3. Click 'Save'.

How does it work?

Progress Invoice Authority Limit

Each trade invoice can be updated with a status to indicate approval/payment. When a user accesses the trade invoices, the dollar amount of the invoice will be checked against the user's authority limit.

In the event of over-budget trade invoices:

1. Supervisor updates trade invoice status to "Approved - Review Required" OR "Declined - Review Required"

2. This notifies the manager with new task type "Trade Invoice Review Required"

Note, The supervisor and manager roles need to be mandatory.

Below are some example scenarios:

#1 - User has adequate Authority Limit - Approved Trade Invoices.

  1. Barry has an Authority Limit of $1000 set against his profile.

  2. Barry wants to approve a trade invoice for a purchase order with a sum of $1000, so he opens the PO in Crunchwork, and adds a new row into the “Progress Invoices” section.

  3. Upon adding the new row and clicking ‘Save’, Barry changes the progress invoice line status to 'Pending Approval', which creates a "Trade Invoice Pending Approval" Task, assigned to the 'Job Supervisor' of the job.

  4. If they have an adequate authority limit, the Job Supervisor then updates the progress invoice line status to 'Approved', which then completes the task and updates the PO status to 'Reconciled'.

#2 - Admin Coordinator & Supervisor don't have adequate Authority Limit - Approved Trade Invoices

  1. Ben (The assigned Admin Coordinator) has an Authority Limit of $500 set against his profile.

  2. Ben wants to approve a trade invoice for a purchase order with a sum of $1430 (outside of his authority limit), so he opens the PO in Crunchwork, and adds a new row into the “Progress Invoices” section.

  3. Upon adding the new row and clicking ‘Save’, Ben updates the progress invoice line status to 'Pending Approval' (as it's a two step process). which automatically creates a "Trade Invoice Pending Approval" Task, assigned to the 'Job Supervisor' of the job.

  4. The Job Supervisor then changes the progress invoice line status to 'Approved - Review Required', because he doesn't have an adequate authority limit. So he needs approval from the Manager.

  5. This automatically completes this "Trade Invoice Pending Approval" Task, and creates a "Trade Invoice Review Required", assigned to the 'Manager'.

  6. The Manager (with adequate authority) then changes the status of the Progress Invoice to 'Approved', which automatically completes the "Trade Invoice Review Required" task, and changes the status of the PO to 'Reconciled'.

#3 - User has adequate authority limit - Declined Trade Invoices

  1. User has an Authority Limit of $1000 set against his profile.

  2. User wants to 'decline' a trade invoice for a purchase order with a sum of $1000, so he opens the PO in Crunchwork, and adds a new row into the “Progress Invoices” section, and saves.

  3. User updates the progress invoice to 'Pending Approval', which automatically creates a "Trade Invoice Pending Approval" Task, assigned to the 'Job Supervisor' of the job

  4. The Job Supervisor then changes the progress invoice status to 'Declined - Notify Trade', which completes the "Trade Invoice Pending Approval".

  5. A modal will appear and prompt you to email the trade regarding the reason the Invoice was declined.

#4 - User doesn't have adequate authority limit - Declined Trade Invoices

  1. Tim has an Authority Limit of $500 set against his profile.

  2. Tim wants to decline a trade invoice attached to the purchase order (with a sum of $1000), so he opens the PO in Crunchwork, and adds a new row into the “Progress Invoices” section.

  3. Upon adding the new row and clicking ‘Save’, Tim updates the status to 'Pending Approval' (as it's a two step process), which automatically creates a "Trade Invoice Pending Approval" Task, assigned to the 'Job Supervisor' of the job.

  4. The Job Supervisor then updates the progress invoice status to 'Declined - Review Required'

  5. This automatically completes this "Trade Invoice Pending Approval" Task, and creates a "Trade Invoice Review Required", assigned to the 'Manager'.

  6. The Manager (with adequate authority) then changes the status of the Progress Invoice to 'Declined - Notify Trade', which automatically completes the "Trade Invoice Review Required" task.

  7. A modal will appear and prompt you to email the trade regarding the reason the Invoice was declined.

These workflows have been highlighted below:

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I just added a new trade invoice within my authority limit, but I can't update it to an 'Approved' status.

A: Please save the purchase order and update the trade invoice to 'Pending Approval', then check the status again. There is always a two-step process required.

Q: What is the difference between the 'Cancelled - Notify Trade' and 'Cancelled' status?

A: The 'Cancelled - Notify Trade' status will open a modal and prompt users to send a notification email to the Vendor of a PO, if their Purchase Order Trade Invoice status is set to Cancelled - Notify Trade or Declined - Notify Trade. Cancelled or Declined statuses won't prompt you to email the trade with a reason why.

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