Is your organisation still relying on paper or emailed approvals to process invoices?
If a query comes up during processing, does your team have to create an email trail outside of the system to escalate and clarify before proceeding?
Or would you like to apply a streamlined approval/verification process on new setups in the system?
Consider utilising Yardi’s workflows, which is available on most object types, to streamline your approval processes.
Within workflows you can keep it simple, set approval limits depending on roles, send notifications to users if required, even kick off another workflow and much more.
The workflow dashboard then becomes your centralised location to see all items needing your attention.
Let’s look at some more of the specifics.
1. Map it out – understand the existing process that you have and identify what you want to achieve with the new workflow setup and map it out.
2. Involvement – connect and liaise with all the personnel or departments that this workflow will impact. Firstly, to gauge from them what their needs are and the benefits the workflow could give them and secondly, to bring them into the process and on board with the changes which will increase the likelihood of success.
3. Accurate Data – before the workflow is put into operation, you will need to ensure that all the relevant data and who is assigned where is up to date and accurate to ensure the workflow will work seamlessly. Going forward, you’ll also need to ensure the data is being maintained (i.e. when someone leaves the company they are removed from their prior roles and replacements are added).
1. Steps – from your preparation and how you’ve mapped out the new workflow, define each step that will be required. In a simple workflow each step will be just moving the workflow along to someone else for the next stage of approval until the workflow is complete. A more complex workflow may have steps that are decision based for where the workflow will go next, or a particular action that needs to occur on that step, as well as standard review and approval steps.
2. Roles – in each step, you’ll need to define which role(s) are responsible for the workflow item at that step. This could be the originator of the record, another role or multiple roles. Any user(s) assigned to that role will have access/permission to move the workflow on to the next steps configured. You can also “mix and match” with one role having permission to send the WF on for approval, and the approver role that can jump straight to the approval step.
3. Actions – at the start or completion of a step you can nominate if an action needs to occur. The most common would be for an email notification to trigger at the start of a step, to let someone know they have a workflow item for review. More complex items is that a process could trigger that would generate and attach the record (for example a Purchase Order or a Lease Deal letter), or that a validation takes place before the workflow is allowed to move forward.
Here is a list of other configuration items to consider where you may be able to utilise what you have, or you may need to expand or setup to suit your workflow needs:
That is a quick overview to get you started on your Yardi workflow journey, so what are you waiting for? Clean up your inboxes and dive into workflows instead!
