New in BC v23: Introduction of approval workflow in the area of Finance - workflow of accepting instances and master journal lines

One of the most important aspects of effective business management is an efficient workflow and proper process approval.

In the latest version of Business Central—version 23—a useful new feature has been added to the document approval process that significantly simplifies the management of business processes: Approval Workflow, which offers significant business value.

Some transactions require greater oversight by managers and approval before they are posted. Ensuring that such transactions remain unchanged after approval is of the utmost importance, as it helps ensure compliance with company policy.

The benefits of Approval Workflow, which greatly simplify the management of business operations:

• ‍Automated Approval: With Approval Workflows, companies can configure rules that automatically route requests to the appropriate people for approval. This reduces the time needed to manually review and approve each request, thereby speeding up processes.
• ‍Increased accuracy: Automating the approval process helps reduce human error, which in turn leads to greater accuracy in the company’s operations. The ability to set system rules eliminates the risk of mistakes.
• ‍Ease of tracking processes: All requests and approval processes are logged in the system, making it easy to track the status of each order. This allows for better control over the company's processes.

Using the Approval Workflow feature in Business Central is intuitive. Company administrators can configure the approval workflow by defining approval rules for different types of transactions. Then, when a transaction meets the specified conditions, it is automatically routed to the appropriate person for approval by notifying them via the selected method, such as email.

Until now, it has been possible in Business Central to create workflows for, for example, purchase documents or customer files.

With Wave 2 (BC23), the system now includes the ability to approve General Ledger entries or entire instances. Information about the approval status (“Sent for approval,” “Pending approval,” “Approved”) appears in the upper-right corner of the General Ledger tab or, in the case of a workflow for approving entries, directly on the entries themselves.

To send an approval request, simply click the "Request Approval" button and select the appropriate option—"Log Instance" or "Selected Log Rows."

If the General Journal workflow is not enabled, none of these fields will be visible:

After sending a request for approval, the "Approval Status" field will update accordingly:

At that time, the person authorized to approve the document will be notified, for example, by email. Approval requests can be processed on the Approval Records page. Once a record is approved or rejected, the approval status in the Status field will change to Approved or Rejected.

To configure workflows for approving general ledger entries/lines, go to the Workflows page and activate the ready-to-use workflow template:

On the " Accepting User Configuration " tab, you should also configure the approving users and set up notifications by clicking "Notification Settings."

Next, we define the workflow user groups:

You can find more information about setting up workflows in one of our previous posts 👉 Workflows – the perfect way to link business process tasks:

In addition, when submitting General Ledger entries or selected General Ledger lines for approval, Business Central ensures that users cannot make changes to the data before or after it is approved.

If the approver detects a human error—such as an incorrectly entered account—an error message will appear in Business Central. This information will allow the approver to make corrections or return the unapproved General Journal to the sender.

In summary, the introduction of the function for approving entries and general ledger lines in Business Central v23 is a step forward toward more efficient and automated business process management. With the ability to approve transactions, companies can achieve greater efficiency, accuracy, and control over their operations. It’s worth considering implementing this new functionality to streamline your company’s processes.

We encourage you to follow the posts on our DynamicsBlog by Intersys, which highlight Business Central updates, as Microsoft is constantly introducing innovations that could revolutionize the way companies manage their operations.