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Approval chains

Fee bills, measurements, stage overrides, subcontract work, expenses, budgets and client choices go to the right people in order, set up without code. Every decision is kept with who made it, when and why.
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The problem it solves

  • A design fee bill goes to the client before anyone has checked the amount.
  • A site measurement nobody checked becomes the design, and a whole kitchen is cut to a wrong wall length.
  • A supervisor pays a subcontractor's running bill on his own say-so.
  • A client changes their mind on the 3D page and the price moves, with nobody in the studio agreeing to it.

How it works

  1. Each kind of request has a chain per entity, ready to use: to start with, an Interiors Manager approves.
  2. Add levels in order, such as the site supervisor, then the design manager. At each level any one of its approvers decides.
  3. Add a second chain for some requests only, such as client choices above an amount. Chains are tried in order and the first that fits is used.
  4. When a request is sent, the first level is told. They find it in To Approve and on the Interiors screen.
  5. Each level approves or rejects with a reason. When the last level approves, Interiors does its part. The fee bill makes its draft invoice, and the design follows the client's choices.

Everything it does

What goes through approval in SmartMy Interiors

  • Design Fee Bill (every plan): stage, retainer, round and hourly bills, with Send for Approval
  • Stage Override (every plan): to pass a stage whose checks are not met, with Ask to Move On
  • Subcontract Work Order and Subcontractor Bill (every plan): the work order before it goes to the subcontractor, the running bill before it is paid
  • Site Measurement (Growth): a measurement submitted from the web or the Site app
  • Project Expense and Expense Payment (Growth): expenses, advances and settlements, and their payment
  • Project Budget and Budget Change (Scale)
  • Client Choice (Scale): the rooms a client approved or took from another option on the choice page, with the price as chosen

Who approves with no set-up

  • Interiors Managers for Design Fee Bill, Site Measurement and Client Choice
  • Project managers for stage overrides, subcontracts, expenses and budgets; every Interiors Manager is one
  • A client choice is asked for on behalf of the design's designer; its amount is the price as chosen, for conditions

Who approves a level

  • Named users, a group, or the usual approvers of the request
  • Any one approver of a level decides; for two signatures, add two levels
  • If a level has nobody: the request cannot be submitted (to start with), the level is skipped, or the usual approvers decide

Rules

  • Requester May Approve: on with no set-up for the Interiors chains, so a manager can approve the fee bill they raised. Turn it off on a chain to stop that
  • Only For: a chain for some requests only, such as an amount above a value
  • Approved at Once: a chain with no approval, when you do not need one
  • A reason is needed to reject, and Send Back on a measurement counts as a rejection. A refused client choice shows the client why on the page

What happens on approval

  • Design Fee Bill: the draft customer invoice is made, where accounting is installed
  • Site Measurement: marked approved, with the person who measured made the project's measurement lead. The design takes its rooms from the approved sheet first, or from a submitted one while it waits
  • Client Choice: the design follows, through its client decision or a to-do to make the version from the choices
  • Subcontractor Bill: the draft vendor bill, less retention and advance, where accounting is installed
  • Budget and Budget Change: the budget becomes the project's budget

Record

  • An Approvals tab on each request: level, approver, status, decided by, date and reason
  • The document's history shows sent for approval, approved by and rejected by
  • Changes to the chains themselves are recorded
  • A new entity copies the chains of its parent

Not a chain in Interiors

  • The client's yes or changes on a brief, concept round, drawing, design, estimate, proposal, change order or handover: their own decision page
  • Certifying a subcontractor's measured work: a manager presses Certify
  • Closing a snag: a manager presses Close

Who uses it

Design managerApproves design fee bills and the client's choices, and checks measurements before the design uses them.
Project managerApproves stage overrides, subcontract work orders and running bills, expenses and budgets.
Site supervisorIs the first level for site measurements when you set the chain that way.
Approvals AdministratorSets up the levels, who approves them and the conditions, without developer mode.

Where you use it

  • Web: Approvals > To Approve and My Requests
  • Web, Interior Projects: Finance > Design Fee Bills, Subcontractor Bills, Expenses, Budgets, Budget Changes; Site > Site Measurements, Work Orders; Projects > Projects > Projects > Stage Overrides
  • Web: Interior Design > Briefs and Concepts > Client Choices
  • Portal: the Approvals page at /my/approvals for approvers who use the portal
  • The SmartMy Interiors and Site apps: an Approvals entry (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
  • The Projects dashboard counts what waits for approval

What you control

Settings

  • Levels and their approvers, per kind of request and entity
  • If a level has nobody: cannot submit, skip, or usual approvers
  • Requester May Approve (on to start with), Only For conditions, Approved at Once

Notifications

  • Request Waits for Your Approval: to the approvers of the level that is next. A phone notification when they use an app, otherwise email; always in the app
  • A to-do for each request waiting, for the approvers
  • Project Expense Decided: to the person who asked, in the app and by email
  • Client Decided: to the record's owner when the client answers on a decision page; phone notification and in the app

Questions

Can a measurement need two people to check it?

Yes. Give the Site Measurement chain two levels, such as the site supervisor and then the design manager. The design takes its rooms from the approved sheet once there is one. Until then a designer can use the submitted sheet, so tell the team to wait if you want the check first.

Can we have a director approve large client changes only?

Yes. Add a Client Choice chain with Only For, such as a price as chosen above an amount, with the director as a level. Smaller choices use the general chain.

Can a manager approve the fee bill they raised?

With no set-up, yes: Requester May Approve is on for the Interiors chains. Turn it off on the chain and someone else must approve.

Do approvals remind people or go to someone else after a few days?

Not in SmartMy Interiors today. Approvers are told when a request reaches them and get a to-do. Put two people on a level so one can decide when the other is away.

Is the client's approval of a design a chain?

No. The client approves or asks for changes on their own decision page, and the owner of the record is told. A chain runs only on the client's choices from the choice page, inside your studio.

Related features

DESIGNDesign fee agreements, retainers and hourly billsAgree the design fee as a flat sum, a share of the project value, a rate per area or room, or by the hour. Add a retainer and the stages it is billed at. Each bill, including extra concept rounds and hours, goes through approval and becomes a customer invoice.MEASURE AND MAKESite measurement by room, wall and openingYour measurement team records every room in mm: walls, ceiling height, doors, windows, beams and service points, with photos. They work on the web or in the Site app, also without signal. A manager approves the sheet, and its rooms go straight into the 3D design.DESIGN STUDIOThe client's choice page in 3DSend the client two options of a design. On their 3D page they compare them side by side and approve or ask for changes room by room. They can take a room from the other option and see the price as chosen. The studio approves their choices before they count.PROJECTSProject stages held by roles, with checksEvery home moves from Site Measurement to Handed Over through stages, each held by a role such as the designer or the site supervisor. A project leaves a stage only when its check passes, for example the measurement sheet approved or every cut list made. The client reads in their app what each stage means.PROJECTSWork plan and subcontract work ordersPlan the site work from your template and the approved estimate, with dates, the critical path and a Gantt. Give carpentry, false ceiling or painting to subcontractors on work orders at their rates. Pay them only on measured work your manager certified, and charge back the snags they caused.PROJECTSProject expenses, advances and settlementsSite staff and designers claim what they spent on a project with the receipt. Or they ask for an advance before buying hardware locally and settle it after. An Interiors Manager approves, payments are recorded by method with proof, and a supplier's expense can become a draft vendor bill.

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