Previously, if a budget workflow included an 'Approving Manager' step, users had to manually select the approving manager when submitting a budget request form. This often led to errors and potential violations of the company's approval policy, as users might not have selected the appropriate individuals.

An Admin can assign a manager to each user. With a manager assigned, if an approval workflow includes an 'Approving Manager' step, users submitting a budget request does not need to designate an approving manager, as it will be auto-populated.

A new improvement has been added to the budget approval workflow. An Admin can now designate a 'Default Approving Manager' when adding an approving manager role to an approval workflow. This ensures that requests do not get 'stuck' if a manager is not assigned to a user's profile.

A fallback mechanism has been implemented for a case where a user has a manager configured, an Admin adds an 'Approving Manager' step, but does not designate a 'Default Approving Manager'. In such an instance, the request will be directed to the company's owner (i.e., a user with an Admin that 'created' the Mesh entity) for the 'Approving Manager' workflow step. 

The following illustration depicts the routing mechanism. 

 

To add a 'Default Approving Manager', follow these steps:

1. Log in to the Mesh platform as a user with an Admin profile.

2. Navigate to 'Company Settings', scroll to 'Approval Workflows', and click 'Approval settings'.

3. Select a budget category, click 'New' or 'Edit' request, and then click 'Edit'.

4. Click the '+' icon to add a step.

5. For the 'Approval type' click 'Mesh Role', select the 'Approving Manager' role, select a 'Default Approving Manager' from the dropdown list, and click 'Add'.

6. Click 'Publish' to save the approval workflow.

Notes:

• Remember to assign a manager to each user. Managers can be added in various ways, including individually to the user's profile, in bulk via CSV, and through HRIS integration.
• The in-app messaging feature (aka Comments) allows users to communicate with potential approvers to resolve issues such as expediting approvals.
• Users with an Admin profile can 'approve on behalf of' other approvers including the designated approving manager.