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VPVI-81:Create a Complex Workflow for Vision Expense Approvals
Jodi Burke, PMA Consultants
“ It isn’t necessary to imagine the world ending in
fire or ice. There are two other possibilities: one is
paperwork, and the other is nostalgia. ”
“ No more misquoted forms, lost invoices,
redundant entries, missing checks, or delays
caused by incomplete paperwork. ”
— Frank Zappa
— Bill Gates
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BACKGROUND
Construction Management
Consulting Firm
14 Offices
220+ People
Approximately 2,000 expense
reports submitted annually
Rolled out Deltek Expense
Module October 15, 2018
180 employees submitting
expense reports
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PREVIOUS METHOD
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PREVIOUS ACCOUNTING PROCESS
• PMA provided Excel file containing 5 days of expenses, or
employee developed document.
• Receipts taped to paper;
scanned/emailed or hard copies
snail mailed.
Accounting:
• Accounting writes a consolidation sheet.
• Accounting contacts the employee for missing or
incomplete information.5
PREVIOUS ACCOUNTING PROCESS (cont’d)
• Enter each line item in Deltek.
• Photocopy project-related expenses
for billing support.
• File the paper copies.
• 2000+ expense reports!
• 4 banker boxes per year sent to storage!
Accounting:
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• Convincing Management
• Initial cost outlay, but savings overall
⁃ Accounting time
⁃ Contracts time
⁃ Space reduction
⁃ Use of mobile app
VISION EXPENSE IMPLEMENTATION
Implementation path:
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• Our implementation team consisted of 2 people, making it very easy to discuss topics and make decisions.
• We developed a new process and presented to upper management prior to beginning the work.
• Main objectives
– Move responsibility to the employee
– Reduce the amount of time Accounting spends chasing documentation
– Implement stricter allocation methods
THOUGHT PROCESS
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• Set up the Expense Module using Deltek Vision 7.0 Implementation Guide (detailed, easy to follow)
• Utilized a test environment to set up the Expense Module and test the workflow.
EXPENSE IMPLEMENTATION
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• Important to correctly set up Expense Group Administrators: they approve expense reports.
CONFIGURATION – EMPLOYEE GROUPS
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• After creating Approval Workflow, select from the drop-down.
CONFIGURATION – SET UP
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CONFIGURATION - MISCELLANEOUS
• Message demonstrates when expense reports are
submitted.
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CONFIGURATION – EXPENSE CATEGORIES
• When setting up expense categories, we opted
for generic terms.
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CREATING THE
APPROVAL
WORKFLOW14
We utilized a test
environment.
Approval workflows
identify
Steps in an approval process The
approvers/employees assigned to each step
Notification alerts to send
for each step to keep approval
process on schedule.
CREATING THE APPROVAL WORKFLOW (CONT’D)
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• Select the Approval Workflow.
• Select New, then select Employee
Expenses as the Application. Give
workflow a meaningful name.
• Select Default Due Date that is in line with your company’s
policy. Use this date to set up reminder notifications.
GENERAL OPTIONS
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• Select Inactive from Status drop-down while the workflow
is under construction; update to Active once completed
GENERAL OPTIONS (CONT’D)
• Select the project routing basis⁃ Top Level: WBS1
⁃ Chargeable Level: WBS1, WBS2, and WBS3
• Select an administrator. Administrator will receive workflow error notifications.
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GENERAL OPTIONS (CONT’D)
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• Select the following as needed.
• Since we have one project per report, we selected Expense Report
Approval Level.
PMA-SPECIFIC WORKFLOW
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• Due to client requirements, we require
employees to submit separate expense
reports for project work (billable or
non-billable) and overhead expenses.
• Each expense report is only for one
project.
WORKFLOW – PMA SPECIFIC (CONT’D)
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• First approval
⁃ Project Lead (project-related expenses) OR
⁃ Expense Group Administrator (overhead expenses).
• Second approval
⁃ Accounting reviews details of the expense report (matching receipts, GSA allocation, proper signature on attachments, etc.).
• Final approval
⁃ Accounting verifies information and approves expense report; processes payment.
GENERAL WORKFLOW
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• If Validate Error at Start conditions are not met,
employee will be required to correct the error
before the expense report can be submitted.
• Each workflow Approval Step can
have multiple actions (e.g., validation, emails, and
alerts).
• The workflow starts when the employee submits
the expense report.
EXPENSE REPORT WORKFLOW EXAMPLE
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VALIDATE ERROR AT START
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• Receipt for $25 and over
VALIDATE ERROR AT START (CONT’D)
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• To/From details
⁃ Required for mileage
VALIDATE ERROR AT START (CONT’D)
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• Business reason
⁃ Required for meetings, meals, etc.
VALIDATE ERROR AT START (CONT’D)
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• List of attendees
⁃ Required for meals, employee entertainment
VALIDATE ERROR AT START (CONT’D)
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• No parentheses when creating Conditions
⁃ Use of ‘Or’ does not work.
⁃ Cannot add line Non-Inv – Client Meals to this condition.
ACTION IF CONDITIONS NOT MET
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Skip to next step
Moves to next step.
Approve stepMarks with unmet
condition approved by the Approval Administrator.
Assign to Administrator
Assigns approval to Approval Administrator.
Final Approval
Marks approval as final.
APPROVAL STEPS
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• Whether project-related or overhead
• Condition
WORKFLOW STATE
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In Approval
• Allows approvers to approve, reject, or reassign but not to edit
In Review
• Allows approvers to edit, review, or reassign
In Progress
• Allows approvers to edit, approve, reject, or reassign
ASSIGNED TO
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• Assigned To
⁃ Person who will approve.
• Project-related reports
⁃ Project Lead indicated in Project Info Center.
• Overhead reports
⁃ Expense Group Administrator assigned to that person.
REJECTION NOTIFICATION
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• Placed on each approval step
FINAL THOUGHTS
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• Initial resistance, but overall very
successful process.
• Reduced amount of paper consumption
and storage.
• Significantly less time spent by
Accounting to process expense reports.
