Approval workflow setup

Configure how expense reports are routed for approval in Eloope, including role-based routing, amount-based rules, and auto-escalation.

Access approval management

1. Go to Admin Settings > Approval Management.
2. Use the six tabs to configure different aspects of your approval workflow: Roles, Rules, Relationships, Hierarchy, Org Chart, and Activity.

Roles tab

The Roles tab defines which roles have approval authority.

1. Click the Roles tab.
2. Toggle approval permissions for each role (e.g., enable approval for Manager and Finance, disable for Employee).
3. Click Save.

Only users with an approval-enabled role can appear as approvers in the workflow.

Rules tab

The Rules tab lets you set amount-based routing. Different expense amounts can require different levels of approval.

1. Click the Rules tab.
2. Click Add Rule to create a new amount threshold.
3. Define the amount range and the required approvers.
4. Click Save.

Example configuration:

Amount range	Required approvers
Under $500	Manager only
$500–$5,000	Manager + Department Head
Over $5,000	Manager + Department Head + Finance

Note: Rules are evaluated in order. If an expense report total matches a rule, it is routed to the specified approvers.

Relationships tab

The Relationships tab defines who reports to whom. These manager-employee relationships determine the default approval chain.

1. Click the Relationships tab.
2. For each employee, select their direct manager from the dropdown.
3. Click Save.

When an employee submits a report, it routes to their assigned manager first.

Hierarchy tab

The Hierarchy tab configures organizational hierarchy levels that define reporting structure and approval authority. Eloope supports up to 7 hierarchy levels (L1–L7).

1. Click the Hierarchy tab.
2. Define hierarchy levels. Each level has a code, display name, description, and approval settings.
3. Click Save.

Default hierarchy levels

Level	Code	Name	Description
1	L1	Entry Level / Staff	Individual contributors with no approval authority
2	L2	Senior / Mid-level	Experienced individual contributors
3	L3	Team Lead / Manager	First-line managers who approve team expenses
4	L4	Manager / Director	Department-level approval authority
5	L5	Director / Executive	Cross-department approval authority
6	L6	VP	Vice president level with broad approval authority
7	L7	Executive / C-Suite	Highest-level organizational authority

Each hierarchy level can be configured with:

• Can Approve: Whether users at this level have approval authority.
• Approval Limit: Maximum amount a user at this level can approve.
• Own Department Only: Whether approval authority is limited to the user's own department.
• Cross-Department: Whether the user can approve expenses from other departments.

Org Chart tab

The Org Chart tab provides a visual representation of your organization's reporting structure. Use it to verify that relationships and hierarchy are configured correctly.

1. Click the Org Chart tab.
2. Review the visual tree of your organization.
3. Click any node to see the person's role and direct reports.

Activity tab

The Activity tab records every change made to the approval workflow. Use it to audit who modified rules, relationships, or hierarchy and when.

1. Click the Activity tab.
2. Browse the log of past changes, including the date, user, and description of each change.

Auto-escalation

When an approver does not act on a pending report, Eloope can automatically escalate the request and/or send reminders. Escalation is configured per reporting relationship on the Relationships tab, so different teams can use different policies.

1. Go to Admin Settings > Approval Management and open the Relationships tab.
2. Open the relationship you want to configure (or create a new one).
3. Enable Auto-Escalation.
4. Set the Escalation Time (how long to wait before the action runs): 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, or 72 hours, or 1 week.
5. Set the Reminder Frequency (how often to nudge the current approver while pending): No reminders, Every hour, Every 2 hours, Every 4 hours, or Daily.
6. Choose the Escalation Action:
   • Escalate to Secondary Manager: Reassign to the current approver's own manager.
   • Escalate to Department Head: Reassign to the head of the submitter's department.
   • Escalate to Custom User: Reassign to a specific user you select.
   • Auto-Approve: Approve the report after the timer expires.
   • Auto-Reject: Reject the report after the timer expires.
7. Click Save.

Note: The escalation processor runs once per day, so sub-daily reminder cadences (e.g., Every hour) are bounded by that schedule — an item gets at most one reminder per day in practice.

Warning: Auto-Approve and Auto-Reject bypass human review. Use them with caution, especially with short escalation times, and ensure your expense policies catch issues before escalation.

For more detail, see Approval escalation.