Approval chains
Quotes, time and materials go to the right people in order before they reach the customer or the invoice. You add levels, such as a service manager for large quotes, without code.
PLANSFrom Growth
The problem it solves
- A technician's estimate for a new compressor reaches the customer before anyone in the office has checked the price.
- Overtime and costly parts get billed without a lead looking at them.
- A director wants to see every quote above an amount, and the software knows only one approver.
How it works
- Each kind of request has a chain per Entity, made the first time it is needed. With no set-up, team leads approve ticket time and ticket materials, and ticket quotes need no approval.
- To check large quotes, a service manager adds a Ticket quote chain under Helpdesk > Configuration > Routing and Service Levels > Approval Chains. It has Only For an estimate above an amount, and its levels.
- A team lead clicks Send Quote on the ticket. If a chain asks for approval, Quote Approval shows Waiting for a Manager and Quote Waits At shows the level; the customer gets nothing yet.
- The approvers of the level are told and decide on the ticket, in the time and material lists, or under Approvals > To Approve.
- When the last level approves, the quote goes to the customer at once. A refusal returns to the person who asked, with a to-do to revise it.
Everything it does
What goes through a chain in SmartMy Desk
- Ticket quote: Approved at Once to start with; add a chain with Only For to have some quotes approved first (Growth)
- Ticket time: the team leads, with no set-up (Growth)
- Ticket material: the team leads. For costly lines, add a chain with Only For the lines whose cost is above an amount, with a level of service managers (Growth)
- Asset change: revaluing, impairing, changing the life of, selling or scrapping a fixed asset; the asset managers (with fixed assets, Growth)
- With SmartMy Feast: a refund or wallet credit asked from a ticket about a meal; the outlet's managers, else the food administrators
How the helpdesk uses it
- A team lead's Approve on time or material lines asks for the approval. It decides it at once when the lead is an approver of the level
- If the estimate changes while a quote waits, the request is withdrawn and the quote must be sent again
- Quote approvers get a to-do on the ticket; time and material approvers get a notice
Who approves a level you add
- Named users, a group, a field of the request, or the usual approvers (service managers for quotes, team leads for time and materials)
- Any one approver of a level decides; for two signatures, add two levels
- If a level finds nobody: the request cannot be submitted (to start with), the level is skipped, or its usual approvers decide
Rules
- Requester May Approve: on for every Desk chain the system makes, so a lead who asks may decide a level they approve
- Only For chains are tried from the top; keep one chain with an empty Only For for everything else
- A new Entity copies the chains of its parent
Who uses it
Team leadApproves time and material lines and sends quotes.
Service managerApproves quotes and costly materials at the levels you add, and sets up the chains.
DirectorApproves the largest quotes at a level of a chain for amounts above a value.
Where you use it
- Web: Helpdesk > Configuration > Routing and Service Levels > Approval Chains (service managers); Approvals > To Approve and My Requests
- Web: on the ticket (Quote Approval, Quote Waits At), Helpdesk > Tickets > Time to Approve, and the Materials list filtered To Approve
- The SmartMy Desk app: My approvals lists what waits for you, with Approve and Reject (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Not on Starter: Starter has no chains; a team lead approves time with Action > Approve
What you control
Settings
- Levels and their approvers, per kind of request and Entity
- Ticket quote: Approved at Once to start with
- Only For conditions, such as an estimate total or a material cost above an amount
- If Nobody: The request cannot be submitted, to start with
Notifications
- Quote to Approve (Manager): to the approvers of the level, in the app inbox; app push once the app is in the stores
- Time / Materials to Approve: to the approvers of the level, in the app inbox
- Quote Answered: to the person who asked, when the chain refuses the quote, with a to-do to revise the estimate
Works with
SmartMy FeastRefunds and wallet credits asked from a food complaint ticket go through the Feast chain before the diner gets them.
Questions
Do quotes need approval to start with?
No. The Ticket quote chain starts as Approved at Once, so a quote goes straight to the customer. Add a chain with Only For, such as quotes above an amount, to have them approved first.Can a costly part need a manager's sign-off?
Yes. Add a Ticket material chain with Only For the lines whose cost is above your amount, and a level of service managers.Is there an approval limit in the settings?
No. Amounts live on the chains as Only For conditions. Each customer person's limit for accepting quotes is set on the portal.Related features
QUOTES, BILLING AND PURCHASEQuotes the customer accepts or declines onlineFor work the contract does not cover, the technician prepares an estimate on the ticket and a team lead sends it as a quote. The ticket waits and its clock pauses until someone of the customer with a high enough approval limit signs it or declines it online.QUOTES, BILLING AND PURCHASEBilling of approved time and materialsApproved, billable time, parts and call-outs go on an order at the customer's prices, with contract discounts and markup. A draft invoice follows for your accounts team. A customer's ticket does not close while billable work is left unbilled, unless a service manager waives it with a reason.WORKING A TICKETMaterials used on a ticketRecord every part used on a ticket and where it came from. It can be your stock, bought for the job, bought by the customer or supplied by them. Each source is priced its own way, and a team lead approves the lines before they are billed.WORKING A TICKETTime on tickets with a timer, work types and timesheetsTechnicians log time on each ticket with a timer or by hand, by work type: normal hours, after hours, holiday, emergency, call-out or travel. The team lead approves the hours before they are billed, and each line can also land on the technician's timesheet.ACROSS SMARTMY DESKNotificationsCustomers hear when a ticket is received, a visit is planned, the technician is on the way and the job is solved. Your team hears what needs them. Email and the in-app inbox work with no set-up; WhatsApp and SMS use your message credits.ASSETSFixed assets: register and depreciationYour vans, test instruments, tools, laptops and loaner units sit in one register with their cost, depreciation and book value. Depreciation posts to your books each month, and selling or scrapping an asset waits for your approval chain first.
See one of your own jobs run through it.
Tell us how a complaint reaches you today and what you bill for. We will show you the same job in SmartMy Desk.