Workflow Escalation

Overview

The Workflow Escalation feature in SEMINE ensures smooth invoice approval processes and prevents duplicate approvals. If the same person appears multiple times in the approval workflow for a single invoice, the system automatically escalates the approval step to the next manager in the hierarchy. This ensures that each approval step is completed by a unique approver.

The feature applies to each invoice individually, preventing any user from approving the same invoice more than once, even if multiple workflows exist for that invoice.

Enabling Workflow Escalation

To enable this feature:

• Go to Organisation Settings > SEMINE General and turn on Workflow Escalation.

• In the client-level settings, enable Inherit from Organisation Settings to automatically apply the organisation’s Workflow Escalation settings to the client.

On the Workflow page, ensure that the Don't escalate to manager option is unchecked. This allows workflow escalation to function. By default, this option is disabled for all users.

Escalation Logic

Workflow Escalation ensures that no user can approve the same invoice more than once.  If the same person is assigned as an approver in consecutive steps for the invoice, the approval is automatically escalated to their manager.  If that manager has already approved, the approval will escalate further up the hierarchy to the next manager who has not yet approved.

See Also : Getting started with Workflow to create new workflows

Example

In the workflow setup, Haima Ambily (User A) is listed as the first approver in Step 1, and the Buyer Reference in Step 2 is also User A. Since the same person cannot approve the same invoice twice, Step 2 is automatically escalated to User A’s manager, Shinda Venugopal (User B).

If User B is also listed again for the same invoice, the next approval step escalates to her manager (the manager’s manager). This process continues until an approver who has not yet approved the invoice is reached.

Workflow Status: Missing Recipient

If escalation cannot be completed—for example, if a manager is not registered—the Workflow tab will display the status Missing recipient. This indicates that the next approval step could not be assigned automatically and requires administrative review.

Tip: Ensure that all manager data is correctly registered in the ERP and synchronized with SEMINE to allow smooth escalation.

Out of Office Escalation

If an approver is listed multiple times in the approval process for the same invoice and has both a manager and an Out of Office (OOO) approver defined, the Workflow Escalation feature follows a specific order.

When the same user is assigned to approve more than once for the same invoice:

• The first approval step is assigned to the user’s Out of Office approver, who can approve on their behalf.
• The second escalation is assigned to the user’s manager, following the normal approval hierarchy.

See Also - Absence Assistance to configure the Out of Office approver.

Example: If an approver has XYZ registered as their manager and ABC as their Out of Office approver, the first approval step will go to ABC (OOO approver), and the second escalation will go to XYZ (manager).

Note: Ensure that all Out of Office approvers are correctly configured in SEMINE. If an OOO approver is not set, the escalation will proceed directly to the manager.

Note: Workflow Escalation events are visible in the Workflow tab but are not logged separately in the Activities tab.