How to prepare an approval

If your organisation is using Approval Workflows, you'll likely need to prepare an approval when using Felix for sourcing. Preparing workflows is a quick process that allows you to:

1. Provide key details for approvers to review - using a predefined form for your organisation; and 
2. Select the appropriate approval route (or routes) to obtain approval from the right stakeholders for your package.

Approval forms/templates are configured by Felix on behalf of your organisation. Reach out to your Customer Success Manager for new ones or modifications.

With the right permissions, you can add or modify approval groups and routes. See this article.

Preparing an RFQ approval

If your organisation has approval workflows required for RFQs, you will see a Step 5 in the RFQ preparation stepper.

To send an RFQ that requires approval, you will be required to prepare an approval for each service (RFQs can have multiple services/packages included). 

To prepare an RFQ approval:

1. Proceed to step five (5) of the RFQ preparation stepper.
2. Click the Prepare Approval Workflow button.
3. Review each section under the RFQ Details section.
4. Respond to the questions under the Questionnaire section.
   
   The maximum file size of a document that can be uploaded to Felix is 300 MB.
   
   
5. Select an Approval Group and Approval Route from the dropdowns.
   
   If you have multiple different stakeholder groups you need to route to for approvals (e.g. internal and "external" parties) in a staged fashion, you can add more approval routes using the "Add Approval Group" button.
   
   
6. Click the Save button.
7. Click the Send for Approval button to finalise.

Preparing an RFA approval

However, if you have already initiated the process, follow the steps outlined below.

1. Respond to the questions for each section of the Questionnaire. The questions may include a combination of mandatory and non-mandatory questions, as well as requests for document uploads.
2. In the Requires Approval By section, update the following:
   • Approval Group - Select the appropriate group of approvers for the RFA approval from the dropdown.
   • Approval Route - Select the appropriate approval route for the RFA approval from the dropdown.
     
     If you have multiple different stakeholder groups you need to route to for approvals (e.g. internal and "external" parties) in a staged fashion, you can add more approval routes using the "Add Approval Group" button.
     
     
3. Click the Send for Approval button.
4. To save the RFA approval if you want to continue later on, click the Save button.

If you have chosen to work on the approval process at a later time after creating a recommendation for award, go to the Awards tab (or Engagements & Awards tab if your organisation utilises the engagements feature) and click the Prepare Approval Workflow button to initiate the approval process.

• Once an RFA approval has been granted: 

  • It cannot be retracted.

  • It is generally not advisable to make any changes to the budget. It is recommended that your organisation establishes internal policies regarding the prohibition of budget modifications once the approval has been granted to ensure consistency and integrity in the procurement process.

• Use the Collapse All Panels or Expand All Questionnaire Panels button to quickly access more or less details of the RFA approval at once.

What to expect after the approval is Sent

• Once the approval workflow has been sent, email notifications will be sent to the first level approver(s) notifying them of their enrolment in the approval workflow. They will also see the approval workflow in their "My Tasks" menu item.
  
  
• You will be unable to make changes to the RFQ and approval responses once it has been sent for approval. Ensure you have completed all changes before submitting the approval.
  
  

• Pending and approved RFA approvals and Sent awards can be viewed on the Awards tab (or Engagements & Awards tab if your organisation utilises the engagements feature) within the RFQ. Additionally, you can navigate to Reports > Approval Instances or Projects > Awards (or Projects > Engagements & Awards).