Setting Up Backup or Delegate Approvers
Backup or delegate approvers enable you to delegate approval request tasks and ensure that approval processes are not delayed waiting for someone to make a decision. You can add up to three delegate approvers for a single user. You can also add a custom link to the user layout so you can assign a backup or delegate approver for a user from the page layout itself.
Flow rules must be added to the system for the feature to work as expected, with selected backup or delegate approvers receiving delegated approval requests.
To create a Set in Effect on Effective Date rule
- Click the gray gear icon in the top right corner to enter Setup.
- On success, your screen will look like:
If you don't see the flow details, click the Start icon.
To add and configure scheduled path details
- Click the Save button. The successful exit state looks like:
To add update records to update Salesforce records
You can now add an element to the flow.
- Click the plus-sign button to raise the Add Element pop-up.
- Click Done. A successful exit state resembles:
To create Cancel Backup/Delegate User on Expiration Date
- In the Configure Start screen:
- Click Done.A successful exit from the Create step looks like:
- Click Done.
- Enter the following values in the Configure Scheduled Paths window:
- Click Done, raising the following view on success:
- Click Done, raising the following view on success:
- Click the navigation bar button at top left (
) to raise the nav bar.
- Hover your mouse over the ring immediately below Scheduled Path and click the plus-sign icon, raising the Add Element drop-down menu.
- Select Update Records to raise the New Update Records window.
- Click Done. On success, the flow will resemble:
- Click Done.
Associating a Backup Approver or Delegate Approver to a User
There are two ways to associate a backup or delegate approver to a user.
Backup approvers can be set via the Backup/Delegate Approver tab or from a User profile. Once past the initial entry point, the process of associating a backup or delegate approver to a user is the same.
Once you have set the backup or delegate approver for a user, you must always click Deactivate before you begin making changes and must click Activate again for the saved modifications to take effect.
If one user is the backup approver for multiple users and you have set it up to simultaneously reassign approvals to those original users, the system may not be able to complete that action.
To add the backup and delegate approver custom link for a user
- Click Edit for User Layout.
- Create a new section.
- Drag Set Backup/Delegate Approver from the Custom Links list and drop it in the Custom Links section of the page.
- Click Save.
To add multiple delegate approvers for a User
- Click Edit Layout.
- Drag Delegate Approver from the Visualforce Pages list and drop it in the new page section.
- Click Save.
The Set Delegate approver VF page is now available in the Custom section.
You can now select a user you want to delegate approval requests for and complete the Associate backup approver to a user task.
Before associating a backup or delegate approver, remove the Backup/Delegate User field from the Backup Approver layout.
To associate a backup approver
The user's page is displayed and approval requests will now be delegated to the backup approver when the effective date is reached. The Activate action occurs automatically on that date. When the expiration date is reached, the Deactivate action occurs automatically.
To Create Delegate Approvers
- Select the Backup/ Delegate Approvers tab or click and select Backup/Delegate Approvers. If the custom link has been added, you can also complete this task from . Select the user you will assign a delegate approver to, go to the Custom Links section, click Set Delegate Approver and go to step 4.
- Click New to display the Backup/Delegate Approver Edit page. By default, Transfer in-flight and Is Active are selected, while In Effect is cleared.
- To set a delegate user, select the Is Delegate check box, which raises the Suppress Delegate Notification check box. Selecting this check box enables you to restrict notifications to the delegate user for every approval request assigned to the primary approver.
- Click the lookup icon for the current user to select the user to assign a backup approver.
- Click the lookup icon for Delegate Approver 1, Delegate Approver 2, Delegate Approver 3 to select the user to act as a delegated approver. Approval requests are routed to the primary approver as well as all the delegate approvers. Delegate approvers can perform the same actions as the primary user.
- Select Transfer in-flight for approval processes already underway to be transferred to the delegate approver; otherwise clear the option so that only new approval processes are routed to the approver. The Transfer in-flight check box is always selected for a delegate approver, making the approval request available to both the primary user and the delegate approver.
- Enter the effective date and the expiration date for the period that the current user's approvals will be transferred to the backup approver. Cancellation Date has no effect and is only used to flag when someone manually ended the effective period before the expiration date. Do not specify an effective date and an expiration date for a delegate approver.
- Click Save.
- Click Edit Layout and remove the Backup/Delegate user field.
When required, you can return to the User Detail page to edit or deactivate the backup or delegate approver. If you want to edit the backup or delegate approver, you must deactivate the backup or delegate approver first, make your changes, and then activate it again. This is required because the Backup or Delegate Action (Activate/Deactivate) initiates workflows and logic required for the Current User/Backup User relationship.
We recommend that you do not select the In-Active, In-Effect, Is Delegate, or Suppress Notification check boxes from the All Records view.