The ad hoc approval feature enables you (approvers and submitters) to add additional approvers to an existing approval process. This is sometimes required so that all the necessary approvals can be taken for the clause approval in a single process. You can add one or more approvers (user or role or queue) to the existing approval process. Submitters can add ad hoc approvers to the existing approval process before submitting the request for approval. Approvers can add ad hoc approvers after the approval request is submitted. The following bulleted points are applicable for approver actions only:

  • If the status of the approval request is Waiting, you can add one or more approvers (user or role or queue) before, after, or parallel to other approvers.
  • If the status of the approval request is Pending, you can add one or more approvers (user or role or queue) only after, or parallel to other approvers.
  • You can view the newly assigned approvers' responses in OCC.

You can now override the rule-based approval process and create a new ad hoc approval process of your own before you submit a request for approval. This feature is described in detail later in this section.

The ad hoc approval feature is available for Edit, Negotiate, and Negotiate plus user profiles in the OCC access mode.

Prerequisites

Restrictions

  • You cannot remove an existing user or approval level from the approval process.
  • You cannot add approver(s) before or after or parallel to another approver for whom the status of approval request is “approved”.
  • Once the clause approval request is submitted for the approval process, the user cannot add ad hoc users to the ad hoc approval process. Only reassign requests are allowed.
  • If you open the new ad hoc approval dialog box, make changes, and close the dialog box without saving, the rule-based approval process comes into effect.

To add ad hoc approvers - Approver and submitter action

You (as an approver or a submitter) can add ad hoc approvers to the existing approval process. Submitters can add ad hoc approvers to the existing approval process before submitting the request for approval. You can see the list of approvers when you initiate the process to insert, replace, delete or edit a clause. To add ad hoc approvers:

  1. Choose either from approver action or submitter action (as per your role) from the table below.

    Approver actionSubmitter action


    1. Open the document and navigate to Smart Data > Clauses.
      The clauses list is displayed.
    2. Look for and click the yellow rubber stamp icon () for the clause to which you want to add an ad hoc approver.
      The approval pane opens showing clause status, approver action buttons, and the list of approvers.


    1. Start any one of the following processes:
  2. Hover over the name of the approver for whom you want to add ad hoc approver and click the Add Approver icon ().

  3. From the dropdown, select from Add parallel to, Add before, or Add after.
    The Add Approver pop-up opens.

    Approver action:

    For approval requests with a "waiting" status, select Add before, Add after, or Add parallel to. For approval requests with a "pending" status, select Add after or Add parallel to.

  4. Select User, Role, or Queue from the dropdown.
  5. Enter the approver's name in the search field and click Search.

  6. Select the required approver from the search results.

    You can use the Delete icon to delete the approver if it is not the intended one.

  7. Click Add.
    The ad hoc approver is added as a part of a sequential process to the list if you have selected Add before or Add after options. However, for Add parallel to option, the ad hoc approver is added parallel to the main approver. You can click the Cancel button anytime during the process to cancel the addition of an ad hoc approver.

To create a new ad hoc approval process - Submitter action

You can override the rule-based approval process and start a new ad hoc approval process before submitting a request for approval. This helps you to change the entire approval process. You can switch to a new ad hoc approval process, add approval steps, and add a user, role, or queue to these steps. You can decide if the approval request will be routed through a parallel or sequential approval process. The default value for the approval process is sequential for both Approval and Group orders. You can use the Cancel button to cancel the ad hoc approval process, then resubmit the request following the rule-driven conventional process. After you have saved the new ad hoc approval process, you can edit it by using the Edit Ad Hoc approval button before submission.

To create a new ad hoc approval process:

  1. Do any of the following actions:
  2. Click the New Ad Hoc Approval button.
    A New Ad Hoc Approval pop-up opens, showing Approval order, Approver Group, and Group order.
  3. From the Approval order and Group order drop-downs, select Sequential or Parallel.
  4. Within an Approver Group, add approvers by clicking the Add Approver button.
  5. Select User, Role, or Queue from the dropdown.

  6. Enter a name in the search field.
    Add as many approvers as you want.

    For the sequential process, the approver's names will be slightly indented if you add two or more approvers within the group. For a parallel process, there is no indentation in the approver's name list. For the sequential process, use the up and down arrows to move the approvers in the sequence. For both processes, you can use the Delete icon to remove the approver from the group.

  7. Click Add Approver Group to add a new approver group.

  8. Click the pencil icon to edit the approver group name, then click Update when you are done.

    You cannot leave the approver group name blank.

  9. Click Save.