Always assign the requisition to yourself to gain ownership and access all available approval actions.
Approve to authorize the purchase, or Reject to permanently terminate the request from the workflow.
Return to Requisitioner is used to allow edits, resubmission, and workflow restart.
Place on Hold to resolve issues, or Forward your approval to another qualified approver.
Assign a Substitute Approver before being out of office to ensure business continuity for approvals.
Comments are used to communicate notes, clarify details, and provide updates on a transaction.
They become a permanent part of the document's history once they are added to the record.
To add a comment, navigate to the Comment section or click on the ellipses (three dots).
You can include context, email notifications to other users, and add attachments or links.
The recipient of the comment will receive an email that contains your message and a link to the document.
Adding an ad-hoc approver is a function available to the Requisitioner and any approver above them. The procedure is as follows:
Assign the Requisition to Yourself: As an approver, you must first assign the requisition to yourself to access the approval actions.
Select the Action: Choose the Add Ad-Hoc Approver action.
Identify the Approver: Select an additional approver who is outside the standard approval chain. This person must have the ability to approve a requisition.
Purpose: This step is typically added due to special circumstances, required expertise, or policy requirements. The ad-hoc approver is an additional step that is inserted into the workflow after your current step.
Keep in mind that ad-hoc approvers should be used sparingly as it is not a permanent workflow step.
You can find Requisitions to approve using two main options:
Option 1: Action Items in the upper right area of the screen [Flag icon]
Option 2: Requisitions to Approve in the Orders flyout menu > Approvals
Once you are in the correct section, expand it to display the requisitions needing approval, and then click on the Requisition No. hyperlink.
You assign a requisition to approve by clicking Assign & Further Actions.
The reasons for assigning it to yourself are:
It prevents others in the queue from taking action on it.
It allows you to edit it (though only a limited number of fields) and approve it.
The key steps an approver must take to review and act on a requisition in CSUBUY are:
Locate the Requisition: Find the pending requisition in your Approval Queue or navigate to it directly using the approval email.
Assign to Myself: Select the requisition and choose the "Assign" action. This is a crucial first step that marks ownership, prevents others from working on the same document, and enables all available approval actions, including editing.
Review the Requisition: Examine the details of the requisition to ensure it meets organizational policies, budgets, and requirements.
Comment (Optional but Recommended): Use the Comments feature to communicate important notes, clarify details, or provide updates.
Take an Approval Action: Decide on the appropriate action:
Approve: Confirms the purchase and allows it to proceed to the next step.
Return to Requisitioner: Recommended for small modifications; sends it back for the requester to edit and resubmit.
Reject Requisition: Terminates the document from the workflow permanently.
Forward Requisition: Transitions your approval right to another qualified approver.
Place on Hold: Used to pause the requisition while issues are resolved.
Add Ad-hoc Approver: Adds a one-time, non-standard approver after your step for special review.
For a requisition that requires small modifications, the recommended action is Return to Requisitioner. This allows the requester to make the necessary changes, resubmit the requisition, and restart the workflow.
If the requisition should not proceed at all, the action to take is Reject Requisition. This terminates the document from the workflow permanently, and no further edits or updates can be made.
The key differences between the "Return to Requisitioner" and "Reject Requisition" approval actions are:
Return to Requisitioner:
Sends the document back to the requester, allowing them to make changes, resubmit, and restart the workflow.
Recommended when the requisition requires small modifications (e.g., correcting an error, providing additional information) but should otherwise proceed.
Reject Requisition:
Terminates the document from the workflow permanently. The document cannot be edited or resubmitted—it is "killed forever."
Recommended when the request should not proceed to a purchase order at all because it contains fundamental errors or does not meet approval criteria.
Fiscal approval, referred to as Financial Approvals in the document, is one of the functional groups that checks a requisition in the workflow.
What it entails: It is a category of approvals that focuses on the financial aspects of the requisition.
Who performs it: The key role specifically mentioned in the slides is the DOA Approver (Delegation of Authority Approver). The DOA Approver's power is limited to overriding the account code only; they cannot change any other items.
When it occurs: This type of approval occurs relatively early in the overall workflow. In the workflow steps, DOA Approvals are one of the first major steps after the initial submission and initial review. It is part of the overall flow that ensures financial checks are complete before proceeding to compliance and procurement reviews.
The account override function is available to DOA Approvers (Delegation of Authority Approvers).
Capability: DOA Approvers can only override the account code on the requisition.
Limitation: They cannot change any other items on the requisition.
Action for Other Updates: If other updates to the requisition are needed, the approver must return the requisition to the requester.
Based on the possible decisions or actions an Approver can take on a requisition, here is how they affect the workflow:
Sends Forward in workflow:
Approve - Moves the requisition to the next step, which is either the next approver in the queue or to the Buyer for Purchase Order (PO) creation.
Forward to... Reroutes the requisition to a different individual for approval, moving it along the approval chain.
Sends Backward in workflow:
Return to Requisitioner - Sends the requisition back to the Requester so they can make necessary corrections or provide missing information.
Administrative/Stops Progress:
Place on Hold - Temporarily stops the requisition's progress in the workflow.
Return to Shared Folder (unassigns) - Removes the requisition from the current approver's queue so another approver can pick it up.
Reject Requisition - Terminates the requisition process, preventing the creation of a Purchase Order.
Compliance approval is one of the three main functional groups for requisitions in the Workflow Overview, alongside Fiscal and Procurement.
The following are examples of the numerous specialized review steps that ensure compliance within the workflow:
Secondary Review
IT Review
Accessibility/Security Review
Foreign Supplier Tax Analysis
Facilities Review
Independent Contractor Review
Police Review
Hospitality Review
Catering Review
Procurement approval is one of the three primary functional groups of approvals in the requisition workflow (along with Fiscal and Compliance).
What it entails: Procurement approvals ensure that purchases comply with organizational procurement policies and meet requirements before the transaction moves forward in the process.
Who performs it: It is performed by staff within the procurement function. The specific steps mentioned in the workflow include:
Procurement Review
Procurement Director Review
When it occurs: These steps occur late in the workflow, after various fiscal and compliance approvals (like IT, Legal Services, and EH&S Review), and immediately before the final steps, such as Executive Signature and the creation of the Purchase Order (PO).
The procedure for reverting a requisition or voucher to a previous workflow step is as follows, and this action is primarily available to System Administrators and Buyers:
Open the Record:
Locate and open the Requisition or Voucher.
In the Workflow panel on the right side, click the ellipsis (...) next to the Workflow header.
Select Revert Workflow to a Previous Step.
Choose the Step to Revert To:
Select an eligible prior step from the list that appears. You can only revert to a step that has previously occurred.
Add a Reason for Reversion:
Enter a reason for the reversion. This note is only visible in the document's History tab and is not emailed by default.
Optional: Send Email Notification:
If you need the approver to receive an email about the reversion, you must click back to the document, go to the Comments tab, add a message, and tag the previous approver(s).
Workflow Resets:
Once you complete the action, the document is routed back and re-enters the workflow starting from the step you selected.
See details of CSUBUY Workflow Overview of Approvals.