Customizing the default pipeline for expense reimbursement

Introduction

The workflow for approving expense requests is governed by the configured default pipeline.

We have provided all businesses with a global default pipeline for expense reimbursements, which is already configured as your default pipeline.

As a platform admin, you can do any of the following to implement a custom workflow for expense approval:

• Customize (edit) the global default pipeline to implement your requirements.

  When you do this, a local pipeline ("local" to your business), which overrides the global one, is created.

• Create a new pipeline and configure your requirements.

  You can create a new local pipeline based on your requirements, activate it, and set it as the default pipeline for expense reimbursement.

Objective

In this tutorial, you will learn how to do the following:

1. Create a new custom local pipeline.
2. Customize the pipeline to implement your required expense reimbursement workflow.
3. Set it up as the default pipeline for expense reimbursement.

Procedure

Step 1: Creating a new custom local pipeline

1. In the sidebar, in the Business section, click Settings.

   

2. Go to Customization > Pipelines.

3. Click + Add a new pipeline.

   

   The Add Pipeline page, which enables you to create and configure pipelines, is displayed.

4. Enter the following details:

   1. Enter a Name for the pipeline.

   2. In the Application area drop-down menu, select Requests.

   3. In the Component drop-down menu, select Expense Reimbursement.

      You must select the specified values in the Application area and Component fields so that you can set the pipeline as the default pipeline for expense reimbursement in a later step.

   4. (Optional) Enter a Description to add details or notes about the new pipeline for future reference.

   5. (Recommended) Enable the Strict mode toggle button and select a Default audience.

      Strict mode is a convenient way to implement end-to-end access control and security in your pipeline. In this mode, if you do not configure an audience for any pipeline state, the default audience is automatically assigned to the state.

      This is especially useful in stages of the workflow where access and/or the ability to take action must be restricted, for example, the approval that includes expense reimbursements in pay runs.

   6. (Recommended) Enable the Show buttons for actions toggle button to display action buttons instead of a drop-down menu when providing users with options for permitted actions in any stage of the workflow (Dummies mode).

   

5. Click Save.

Your pipeline is saved as a draft.

You can set a pipeline as the default pipeline for a feature only if it is activated. However, before activating this pipeline, you must first configure the workflow that you want to implement. You can do this using the pipeline editor.

Step 2: Customizing the pipeline

1. In the Customization > Pipelines tab in your business settings, click your new pipeline.

   The View Pipeline page is displayed.

2. Click Edit.

3. Scroll down to the pipeline editor.

   The pipeline editor has a UI similar to an art board or canvas, complete with grid indicators, to enable you to create and represent pipelines as flowcharts. In the pipeline editor, states and transition states are represented as boxes, as the progression is represented by arrow connectors. You can reposition boxes by dragging them.

   Initially, a pipeline only has an Initial State, an Object State, and a Transition (state) in between.

   

   You can add additional states. The associated transitions are automatically added.

4. Add states (and transitions) to the pipeline.

   To add a state, click the box that represents the preceding state and click the arrow in the direction that you want to add the new state (  ,  ,  , or  ).

   A new state and a transition with default configuration are added to the pipeline editor.

   

5. Customize each state and transition you added. For details, see Customizing states and transitions.

6. On the View Pipeline page, click Save (above the pipeline editor).

   

7. Test the pipeline. For details, see Testing pipelines.

8. After finalizing the pipeline, click Activate.

   The new pipeline is activated. You can now set it as the default pipeline for expense reimbursement.

Customizing states and transitions

After adding states (and associated transitions), you can customize them. You can do the following:

• Customize states
• Customize transitions

Customizing states

To customize a state, do the following:

1. In the pipeline editor, the box that represents the state and click  .

   

   The Edit state dialogue is displayed. In the dialogue, the settings that you can customize for the state are grouped by type in different tabs. By default, the Basic tab is displayed.

2. Customize the basic settings of the state:

   1. Enter a Name for the state.

   2. (Optional) To display custom information at this stage of the workflow, in Data container for state, select a previously-configured data container.

   3. (Optional) To integrate a different pipeline into the workflow at this stage, select a pipeline in Link pipeline.

   4. (Optional) To set up a read-only restriction at this stage of the workflow, enable the Read only toggle button.

   

3. To restrict access to this stage of the expense approval process to only authorized users, do the following:

   1. Go to the Audiences tab.

   2. In Audience, select one or multiple audiences (assignee groups).

   3. (Advanced mode) Additionally, to implement conditions when selecting employees, in Audience post selection script, enter a script.

   For example, when defining the request approval stage of the expense reimbursement workflow, you can assign the audience that contains your organization's HR and payroll managers to the state.

   This ensures that only authorized employees (who are included them in the audience) can perform actions such as granting approval to requests.

   You can use scripting to dynamically authorize additional approvers based on specific requirements or even manipulate the selected audiences. For example, you can include the manager of the employee who requested an expense reimbursement (and therefore, initiated the pipeline), or set up an alternate approver.

   The following image illustrates this example:

   

   Note that the audiences you assign to a state determine the list of users who can send the object to the state.

   Creating audiences

   You can create a new audience directly from the Edit state dialogue if the one you want to assign to a state wasn't previously created. Do the following:

   1. Click the Audience field to expand the drop-down list.

   2. Scroll to the bottom of the list and click + Create New.

   3. In the Create Assignee Group dialogue, based on your requirements, enter values for the fields.

      See the following example:

      

   4. Click Save.

   The new audience is added to your selection in the Audience field.

4. Go to the Script tab and in State action script, enter a script that defines the processes or events that occur at this stage of the workflow.

   

5. (Optional) To add a pending task for the employee who needs to perform an action at this stage of the workflow, do the following:

   1. Go to the Task tab.

   2. Enable the Integrate with task toggle button.

   3. (Optional) To display custom information, such as only general details of the expense request, in the associated task, in Task Data container, select a previously-configured data container.

   4. (Optional) To send email notifications to the selected audiences about the status of the expense request and their new pending task, do the following:

      1. Enable the Notify audience toggle button.

      2. (Optional) In Email template, select a previously-configured email template.

   

6. Click Save.

   The changes are saved and displayed in the pipeline editor.

Customizing transitions

To customize a transition, do the following:

1. In the pipeline editor, click the box that represents the transition state and click  .

   

   The Edit state dialogue is displayed. In the dialogue, the settings that you can customize for the state are grouped by type in different tabs. By default, the Basic tab is displayed.

2. Customize the basic settings of the transition:

   1. Enter a Name for the transition.

   2. (Optional) If you have set up the pipeline to display action buttons instead of a drop-down menu in the associated pipeline state, you can customize the look and feel of the buttons. Do the following:

      1. In Color, select the previously-configured color theme of the button.

      2. In Icon, select an icon.

      For example, at the stage where a manager can approve or reject expense requests, to prevent errors, you can display a warning-themed Reject button. You can also display a danger icon in the button for emphasis.

   3. (Optional) To display custom information during this transition, in Data container for transition (dialog), select a previously-configured data container.

   4. (Optional) To execute a system action during this transition, select an option in Transition (Workflow | Integration).

      Yomly provides you with a number of pre-configured standard system actions that you can execute at any stage of the workflow.

      For example, you can select EmiratesHR-Expense-Email-Send-To-Audience to enable email notifications (in a template suitable for information about expense requests) for all audiences assigned to the associated state.

      If you have enabled a system action, you might need to provide additional data through parameters. For details, see step 3.

   5. (Optional) To set up automatic transition between the states, enable the Automatic toggle button.

      For example, you can enable automatic transition for stages of the workflow that represent an automated processes.

   

3. If you have selected a system action that requires input or need to feed any external data to the platform, do the following:

   1. Go to the Properties tab.

   2. In Option, enter the name of the parameter.

   3. In Value, enter the value of the parameter.

   

4. Click Save.

   The changes are saved and displayed in the pipeline editor.

Testing pipelines

To test your new pipeline before activating it, do the following:

1. In the View Pipeline page, click Test Pipeline.

   

   The Playground page, which is a sandbox for testing your pipeline, is displayed.

2. In the upper-right corner, click Create New Instance.

   

3. In the Create New Instance dialogue, do the following:

   1. Enter a dummy reference ID in Reference Id for your test.

   2. Click Create Instance.

   

   A new test instance of the pipeline is created.

   Starting at the initial state of the pipeline, you are taken through the entire workflow. The Pipeline Actions section displays the different actions you are allowed to perform at each state.

4. Click an action button.

   

   The respective transition is applied and action buttons that correspond to the next transition are displayed.

   

5. Continue to perform actions to test the pipeline until you get to the end.

   At each stage, in the pipeline editor, the completed states are highlighted in green color.

   

6. In the upper-right corner, click Back to Pipeline to return to the previous page and edit or activate your new pipeline.

   

Step 3: Setting the new pipeline as the default pipeline for expense reimbursement

1. In your business settings, go to the Organisation > Default Pipelines tab.

   The Default pipelines page, which lets you set the default pipelines for different features, is displayed.

2. Click the Expense reimbursement drop-down menu and select the pipeline you created.

   

3. Click Save.

Your new pipeline governs the workflow of expense reimbursement requests for your business.