Alfresco Workflow Budget Management (PR/PO Process)

What is Budget Workflow?

The Budget Workflow addon for Alfresco is a fully-functional Business Process Management (BPM) platform that runs within the same system as the Enterprise Content Management and Document Management Systems. The genius of having a BPM platform integrated with these other systems is that it provides seamless systematic operations. There is no need to purchase or integrate outside software. There are no issues with incompatibility. The platforms communicate flawlessly.

This means that Budget Workflows in Alfresco can be used to execute budget processes operations, monitor budget workflows, generate workflow reports, and record budget approvals at every stage of the process—all within in the same product.

Why is Budget Workflow so important?

• Save time & money – familiarity with Alfresco means there is no understanding gap when moving from one platform to another– no need to train your staff on secondary software
• Seamless functionality –easy access to your company’s files; no danger of incompatibility
• Continuity of business operations – company procedures are already built into the Alfresco system so the Budget Workflow module is consistent with your company policies
• Increased productivity – managers can control permissions, track staff activity, and check financial approvals at all levels
• “Paper” Trail – every project, authorization, task, and business expense will have a recorded trail in the system that can be reviewed at a later date

The Benefits of Budget Workflow

Skytizens has developed the Budget Workflow addon so that Alfresco can meet all the budget-related needs of your company while maintaining uniformity across platforms. Budget Workflow being part of Alfresco adds a huge piece of system functionality to your company’s productivity. As a solid BPM platform, the Budget Workflow module creates a way for financial projects to be initiated, approved, passed interdepartmentally, and tracked every step of the way. Last but certainly not least, records of activity created by the Budget Workflow module are important to review in the future. Budget Workflow records include vital information for HR, staff performance reviews, accounting, company-wide strategic planning, financial audits, and more.

How Does It Work?

Setup for any Workflow module requires an in-depth analysis of your company’s existing business processes. The goal is to reproduce your existing budget processes in the Budget Workflow module. Using input from your company’s organizational chart and the correlating authorization processes, the Budget Workflow module will reproduce your real-world procedures into the system.

The BPM uses your organizational chart to label users involved in each workflow as Requesters, Officers, Auditors, Approvers, Managers, Accountants, etc. so the system correctly assesses the hierarchies in your company.

Once the system “understands” how your company’s budget functions, managers can assign workflow tasks or employees can initiate their own tasks. Each step in the process—whether sequential or parallel–is guided along by Alfresco. The project bounces from person to person according to your organizational chart.

When a task is initiated, the user receives notification by email or SMS. Active Tasks appear in the Task area on the user’s main dashboard and in My Tasks on the toolbar.

The look and feel of a task depends on what kind of work the employee is responsible for. It may be an expense request, a document editing project, or a simple assignment.

The module creates a tangential Budget Workflow Record that tracks every step along the way. This Budget Workflow Record reports rejections, loop-arounds, and approvals until the Budget Workflow is complete.

When the process requires more information such as photo evidence, electronic signatures for authorization, etc. the system generates an attachment that includes these items. The attachment is saved to the Budget Workflow Record and can be retrieved later.

When your company uses the Alfresco Budget Workflow module, authorizations also incorporate fiscal responsibility. Not only does the supervisor have to approve the completed work of the staff member, they must also approve expenses while looking at their department budget.

When all tasks in a Budget Workflow are completed, the record is saved and the Task is removed from the users’ active task lists.

The Alfresco Budget Workflow module functions like any BPM, but it gives Skytizens Alfresco clients two exceptional abilities that Standard Alfresco workflows cannot provide:

• Workflow Monitoring – The ability for supervisors to review detailed information about staff activity.
• Generate Reports – The ability to regularly analyze the functionality of your BPM.

Main Features 

Budget Workflow Diagram Setup – Input of business process analysis findings and company’s organizational chart. All users have a clear view of the staff Roles and process diagram on their tasks.

Budget Setup – Companies will input departmental budget information so that authorizations given throughout the BPM process include a financial component. The system will continuously track expenses. Managers are required to designate expenses as “in the budget” or otherwise.

Site Tasks Setup – Site managers must add the Tasks dashlet to the current site pages.

Configure Budget Workflow – Administrators and site managers must configure how Tasks are recorded by the system.

1. Create document policy – designate the pattern to set filename
2. Java ID format – %03d is a 3-digit identification number
3. Budget Workflow Code Template – includes static text (e.g. budget) and dynamic text (e.g. ID information above)
4. Draft Root Path – folder for storing Budget Workflow documents during works in progress
5. Approved Root Path – storage location of approvals
6. Default Destination File Path – use variables to create folders for finished Budget Workflows; help menu available for copy/paste throughout
7. QR Code – unique QR Code is automatically generated by the Budget Workflow module. The code appears on the Budget Workflow Record throughout the process and can be retrieved for future audits.

Initiate Task – Tasks can be initiated by employees or assigned by managers. Users can initiate Tasks in three locations in Alfresco:

1. Start Budget Workflow
   • Start Budget Workflow button on the Active Tasks page
   • Start Budget Workflow button on the Tasks page located on the Site Toolbar
   • Action Menu on a file or folder that will be used in the Task
2. Parameters
   • Budget Workflow type
   • Purchase information – for expenses (for, item, staff, etc.)
   • Budget field – This area will auto-populate based on a running calculation of the budget
   • Include staff – similar to CC for including other users as task monitors

Workflow Task Alert – Users with tasks assigned can receive a notification in two ways:

1. Email notification – via the Alfresco profile contact information
2. SMS notification – mobile phone alerts for systems with SMS Gateway Integration 

Authorizations – In the case of authorizations, users can approve or reject a proposed action in a task. In cases where signatures are required as part of the company’s procedure, the module will automatically record the user’s e-signature onto the Workflow Record.

Budget Management – The Alfresco Budget Workflow module incorporates financial responsibility. The system tracks spending so that supervisors have a glimpse of their annual fiscal budget before every approval. Supervisors can assign expenses to other departmental budgets, assign other staff for final approvals on use of funds, and see a running calculation of budgets.

1. Items – a list of requested expenses; can be expanded to an infinite number
2. Withholdings – company must inform Skytizens about financial requirements
3. VAT – company must inform Skytizens about including VAT calculations
4. Budget Status – Expense requests are designated as one of the below. The automatic stop point will not allow the task to move forward if the status does not correlate with the department’s budget.
   1. In Budget – within guidelines, does not exceed budget allowance
   2. Over Budget – within guidelines, exceeds budget allowance
   3. Out of Budget – not within the guidelines of this specific budget; a shared budget or float funds can be applied–this expense will be sent to an alternate supervisor for approval 

Access to Budget Workflow – Active Tasks can be viewed by a task owner in three locations.

1. My Task Dashlet – Active tasks appear on the user’s dashboard with the following filters:
   1. Active tasks
   2. Completed Tasks
   3. High Priority Tasks
   4. Tasks Due Today
   5. Tasks Assigned to Me
   6. Unassigned (Pooled Tasks)
   7. Overdue Tasks

2. Tasks in the Main Menu Toolbar
   1. My Tasks – The full Task menu for each user; displays a detailed list along with a sidebar to filter by activity status, due date, priority, and assignee. The action items on each task include the following:
      1. Edit Task
      2. View Task
   2. View Budget Workflow – detailed Budget Workflow summary, general information, items, current tasks, and history of this Budget Workflow including access to the process diagram
   3. Budget Workflows I’ve Started – filter Tasks for a limited view
   4. Budget Workflows I’m Monitoring – users can be assigned to watch certain Budget Workflows

3. Site Activities – Tasks related to each site are listed on the Site Dashboard with filters.
   1. By User
      1. My activities
      2. Everyone else’s activities – from this site
      3. Everyone’s activities I’m following – social media style monitoring
   2. By Item
      1. All items
      2. Comments
      3. Content
      4. Memberships
   3. By Timeframe
      1. Today
      2. In the last 7 days
      3. In the last 14 days
      4. In the last 28 days

Tasks – Each task presents detailed information for process management.

1. Message – short description of requested action
2. Owner – user who initiated the task
3. Priority – levels of designated importance
4. Due – date
5. Identifier – number used by the system to organize tasks
6. Status – designation of progress:
   • Not Yet Started
   • In Progress
   • On Hold
   • Cancelled
   • Completed
7. Items – Users can attach documents necessary for task completion.
8. Response – text field for comments (max 4,000 characters)
9. Task Done – completion button
10. Save Form/Recover Form – ability to recover past Budget Workflow Documentation about this task

Budget Workflow Record Keeping –The final step in a Budget Workflow process is usually the final approval by a budget manager (forwarded to the Accounts Department or a funds disbursement supervisor). The Budget Workflow Record is saved in Alfresco for later audit. Pertinent information is recorded on an attachment and saved in the Record.  It can be viewed as a list or in the form of a diagram. This Budget Workflow Record is now available for other Alfresco activities such as QR Code scan, SkyArea OCR, or sorting.

Real-Time Workflow Monitoring – Users, Supervisors, and Administrators can have up-to-the-minute monitoring ability of workflow activity that they are responsible for.

Business Reporting – Using the Skytizens Business Reporting addon, it’s possible to generate regular reports in Alfresco about system usage related to this module. For example, a Department Director can generate a quarterly spending report for company board meetings.

Conclusions

Centralize your system. Give your supervisors the ability to oversee Budget Workflow, manage tasks, and continuously control the annual fiscal budget from the same place in the system. Make management easy!

This Alfresco addon was developed by Skytizens to centralize a company’s Budget Workflow. Now companies can perform Business Process Management activities in the same place as their Enterprise Content Management system. There is no need for extra software or staff training when the systems work together seamlessly.

The Budget Workflow addon for Alfresco is a fully-functional Business Process Management (BPM) platform that incorporates budget approvals every step of the way. No more end-of-quarter surprises. Supervisors love this module because they can plainly track everything from finances to staff performance. Employees love this module because they can easily make progress on team projects, get budget approvals in seconds, and save time with automated recordkeeping. Everybody works faster and productivity skyrockets with this practical module.