D365 - Understanding approval workflows – Help Center

Introduction

Microsoft Dynamics 365 provides workflow functionality that you can use to ensure that documents are processed and approved in a consistent and efficient manner.

A workflow is a set of steps with predefined rules and conditions that will result in a repeatable, controllable, automated process for approvals. Workflows are a way for users to ensure that predetermined actions take place after being triggered by specific events.

Users can find workflow set up spaces in almost every one of D365 F&O’s Modules. Workflow templates are unique to each module as there is specific logic and code behind the scenes that trigger the different events.

Quick Summary

In this article, we will demonstrate the below topics. These topics should provide you with the building blocks on how to create your own workflows in the future. I hope that the information in this article makes it easier to get started, I know it would have been useful to have it when I first gave it a go:

Where to find approval workflow
Workflow editor essentials
How do I create a workflow in D365
How to setup auto-approve in workflow
Out of the box workflow list Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations

Where to find approval workflow

To find the workflows and templates, navigate to the module where you want to configure the workflow. Most of the time workflows will be housed at a level below the Setup area page although they can also be a couple of levels down. If it exists for this module, it should be easy to find. For you reference, I copied the Out of the box workflows list Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations.

Workflow editor essentials

The workflow editor is supported only by Edge and IE: The Workflow Editor is started as a ClickOnce application. Only Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer (on a supported version of Microsoft Windows) support ClickOnce applications. The Workflow Editor ClickOnce application requires a 64-bit compatible operating system.

The workflow editor window you will be presented with is divided in four main components:

The ribbon displays four groups of buttons. At the far left, Navigate provides the ability to level up to design the end-to-end process or to drill down into a specific step to configure all the different conditions. The Edit group, a standard group of functions will enable you to cut, copy, paste and delete each step of the process. The Show group comes in handy when you want to hide your toolbars and have as much space as possible to work with the steps of the process. Click on the different buttons to show the different controllers. By default, the Toolbox and the Error pane will appear for the user.

With Modify element buttons you can set triggers, actions and notifications for the process step (element).

At the far left of the application, the Toolbox displays the list of elements you can add to your process. Approvals, Decisions, Flow controls, Sub-workflows, Automated steps and tasks are listed in the window and can be easily dragged and dropped to the canvas.

The workflow Canvas is where you work to arrange the different steps and connect them as per the design and result you are pursuing. When you first open the editor, the canvas will include the Start and End points of the workflow. As you build the process from step to step you connect them together in the order you want them to be executed.

At the bottom right of the canvas, the zoom controllers allow you to step back and look at the complete process from end to end or zoom back into a specific group of steps in your process.

The fourth and final frame in the application is the error pane. This is one of the most useful tools as will give you a list of all the errors that one must correct to be able to have a functional workflow. Just double click on the line and it will take you right to the place where you can solve the issue.

How do I create a workflow in D365?

Open the module that you want to create a new workflow for. Click the New button in the top left corner of the form prompting the Create workflow form to open. Select the type of workflow available out of the box and click Create workflow. In this example I selected Review budget review workflow.

This will open the form in which you will create the workflow. Notice on the left the Workflow elements column. These items need to be dragged and dropped into the workflow space to give the workflow functionality.

Since we are creating an approval workflow, let’s drag and drop the ‘Approve’ item into the workspace. Also be sure to connect the Start and End items to the Approval item.

First things first, click the Basic settings button at the top of the page and fill in the submission instructions. The end user will see this at the top of their window as an alert that it needs to be submitted to a workflow. Close out of that form when complete.

Next, double click the ‘Approval’ item and then select Step 1 as shown below. Once selected, click the Basic Settings button at the top of the form.

In the basic settings tab, fill in the work item subject and also the work item instructions box. Please feel free to use the Insert placeholder functionality to give the end user greater visibility as to what they are approving (these phrases are designated by the % symbol at the beginning and end of the text).

Next is the Assignment form. Choose User so that a specific user(s) in the system must approve.

In the User tab, select the user that will approve. Once selected, click the arrow to move him or her over to the selected users column.

Next, click on the Time limit tab so determine how long the approver has to approve. (Optional).

In the Completion policy tab, select the number of approvers required in order for the budget review to be approved. In our example, we only have one approver so we will just go with the ‘All approvers’ opinion.

Click Condition on the left hand pane to set any conditions may need to meet in order for the workflow to be used. In the example below, you can see to set up a condition in which the workflow is only used if the total cost amount in the budget review is greater than $9,999.99. There are almost a countless number of conditions you can create for your workflow. This tool can be especially helpful in determining which transactions in your system should be delegated to workflow.

If always must be go through the approval process then click always run this step.

The Escalation form will allow you to select a user to escalate the workflow to if deemed necessary. In the example below, I chose myself as the user to be escalated to and gave a 4 hour time limit to make a decision on the budget review. If no action is taken, then the budget review will be automatically rejected (as shown by the action icon). Once you are complete with this section, click Close in the bottom right hand form.

The workflow has been completed! Click Save and close in the bottom right hand corner of the form, enter notes for the version you created and then choose to activate the new version so that it can be used immediately.

How to setup auto-approve in workflow

Sometimes we need to have automatically approved steps there are some transactions that require an approval workflow to be able to process. One of them is the creation of the original budget and the revision of the budget in the project module. In these cases, it is sometimes necessary to configure the auto-approved step since the client does not need an approver.

Click the ‘Approval’ item and then click the Automatic actions button at the top of the form. Select Enable automatic actions and enter the conditions and select Approve on Action complete actions option.

Out of the box workflow list Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations

General ledger workflow types

The following workflow types are available for General ledger. Each type corresponds to a journal type:

Ledger daily journal workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for daily journals.
Ledger allocations journal workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for allocation journals.
Ledger eliminations journal workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for eliminations journal.
Advanced ledger entry workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for advanced ledger entries.

Accounts payable workflow types

The following workflow types are available for Accounts payable:

Freight Invoice Approval– This workflow supports invoice approval.
Vendor invoice line workflow– Use this type to create review workflows for vendor invoice lines.
Vendor invoice approval journal workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for vendor invoice approval journals.
Proposed vendor changes workflow– Approve the proposed vendor change.
Vendor disbursement journal workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for vendor disbursement journals.
Vendor invoice journal workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for vendor invoice recording journals.
Vendor settle promissory note journal workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for vendor settle promissory note journals.
Vendor redraw promissory note journal workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for vendor redraw promissory note journals.
Vendor invoice workflow– Use this type to create review workflows for vendor invoices.
Vendor bank remittance journal workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for vendor bank remittance journals.
Vendor invoice register journal workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for vendor invoice register journals.
Vendor draw promissory note journal workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for vendor draw promissory note journals.

Accounts receivable workflow types

The following workflow types are available for Accounts receivable:

Customer free text invoice workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for free text invoices.
Customer draw bill of exchange workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for customer draw bill of exchange journals.
Customer settle bill of exchange workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for customer settle bill of exchange journals.
Customer redraw bill of exchange workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for customer redraw bill of exchange journals.
Customer payment workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for customer payment journals.
Customer protest bill of exchange workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for customer protest bill of exchange journals.
Proposed customer change workflow– Approve the proposed customer change.
Customer recurring invoice workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for recurring invoices.
Customer bank remittance workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for customer bank remittance journals.

Budgeting workflow types

The following workflow types are available for Budgeting:

Budget plan workflow– Use this type to create and review workflows for budget plans.
Budget register entry workflow– Use this type to create review workflows for budget register entries.
Budget account entry workflow– Use this type to create review workflows for budget account entries.
Commitments approval workflow– Use this template to create approval workflows for commitment documents.
General budget reservation workflow– Use this template to review general budget reservation documents.

Cash and bank management workflow types

The following workflow type is available for cash and bank management:

Bank reconciliation journal approval workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for Bank Reconciliation journals.

Expense management workflow types

The following workflow types are available for expense management:

Travel acquisition workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for travel requisitions.
Expense line item auto posting– Use this type to create line item automatic posting workflows for expense reports.
Expense report auto posting– Use this type to create document automatic posting workflows for expense reports.
Expense line item– Use this type to create line item approvals for expense reports.
VAT tax recovery– Use this type to create approval workflows for VAT tax recover.
Cash advance request– Use this type to create approval workflows for cash advance requests.
Expense report– Use this type to create document approvals for expense reports.

Fixed asset management workflow types

The following workflow types are available for fixed assets:

Ledger post fixed assets journal workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for post fixed asset journals.
Ledger fixed assets budget journal workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for fixed asset budget journals.

Human resources workflow types

The following workflow types are available for human resources:

Worker project experience– Use this type to create workflows for worker project experiences from employee self service.
Transfer worker– Use this type to create workflows for transferring workers using Personnel actions.
Human resources actions workflow– Use this type to create workflows for personnel actions, such as to create new positions or to modify positions.
Change worker fixed compensation– Use this type to create workflows for requesting fixed compensation changes for workers by using Personnel actions.
Worker position of trust– Use this type to create workflows for worker positions of trust from employee self service.
Worker courses– Use this type to create workflows for worker courses from employee self service.
Worker loaned amount– Use this type to create workflows for worker loaned items from employee self service.
Worker review– Use this type to create workflows for worker review.
Worker image– Use this type to create workflows for worker images from employee self service.
Worker education– Use this type to create workflows for worker education from employee self service.
Worker identification number– Use this type to create workflows for worker identification number from employee self service.
Worker skills– Use this type to create workflows for worker skills from employee self service.
Worker certificates– Use this type to create workflows for worker certificates from employee self service.
Hire worker– Use this type to create workflows for hiring workers by using Personnel actions.
Worker professional experience– Use this type to create workflows for worker professional experiences from employee self service.
Worker course registration– Use this type to create workflows for worker course registration.
Terminate worker– Use this type to create workflows for terminating workers by using Personnel actions.

Organization workflow types

The following workflow types are available for organization:

Signing limits workflow– Use this template to create a workflow for review of signing limit requests.
Create management workflow– Use this type to create a workflow for cases.
Document handling– Workflow type for document handling.

Procurement and sourcing workflow types

The following workflow types are available for procurement and sourcing:

Invoice received notification workflow– Use this type to create invoice received notification workflows for unconfirmed product receipts.
Product receipt failed notification workflow– Use this type to create notification workflows for failed product receipts.
Vendor rebate approval– Vendor rebate workflow approval type.
Purchase agreement approval workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for purchase agreements.
Purchase order line workflow– Use this type to create review and approval workflows for purchase order lines.
Unconfirmed product receipt rejection notification workflow– Use this type to create notification workflows for rejected unconfirmed product receipts.
Purchase requisition line reviewUse this type to create review workflows for purchase requisition lines.
Catalog import approval– Use this type to create review workflows for imported catalogs.
Delivery due date notification workflow– Use this type to create delivery due date notification workflows for unconfirmed product receipts.
Vendor add application workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for vendor add application requests.
Purchase order workflow– Use this type to create review and approval workflows for purchase orders.
Catalog import product approvalUse this type to create review workflows for imported catalog products.
Purchase requisition review– Use this type to create review workflows for purchase requisitions.

Project management and accounting workflow types

The following workflow types are available for project management and accounting:

Review original budget workflow– Use this type to review an original budget.
Review timesheet line workflow– Use this type to review a timesheet line.
Request for quotes workflow– Use this type to review request for quotes.
Resource request line workflow– Use this type to review resource request lines.
Review timesheet workflow– Use this type to review a timesheet.
Review project invoice proposal workflow– Use this type to review project invoice proposals.
Review project quotation workflow– Use this type to review project quotations.
Review budget revision workflow– Use this type to review a budget revision.

Retail workflow types

The following workflow types are available for retail:

Retail sales line workflow– Use this type to review retail sales line price override.
Retail catalog line workflow– Retail catalog approval workflow type.
Retail sales quotation line workflow– Use this type to review retail sales quotation line price override.

Sales and marketing workflow types

The following workflow type is available for sales and marketing:

Create customer rebate workflow– Customer rebate workflow type

Time and attendance workflow types

The following workflow types are available for time and attendance:

Time and attendance journal registration workflow– Use this type to create approval workflows for time and attendance journal registration records.
Time and attendance days total workflow – Use this type to create approval workflows for time and attendance days total records.