Product focus
The summer holidays are nearly here, so how can I transfer authorization rights in Ulysse T&E?
The summer holidays are approaching at last and many staff are off on vacation, not least the line managers who normally approve travel requests and expense claims! What is to be done during their prolonged absence? Wait for their return and cease handling expense claims and travel requests for several weeks? Out of the question! The company can’t simply put all T&E requests on hold.
To overcome this problem, there is a specific function in Ulysse T&E which allows a manager to transfer his approval rights temporarily to another colleague, with just a click of the mouse, and as such ensure that the company and its entire staff can continue to operate normally.
Ghislain Devouthon, Head of the Etap-On-Line Support Unit gives us an overview of this function.
What is an approval right in Ulysse T&E?
Ghislain Devouthon: Well first, let’s recall that when an employee creates a document (travel request, expense claim, etc.) in Ulysse T&E, this document is sent to their line manager (the approver) for approval before it is passed up the line for handling by accounts staff, reservations with a travel agency, etc. Without this approval being made in Ulysse T&E, the expense claim cannot be reimbursed and the travel request cannot be accepted. This approval circuit is specified in advance by the client and configured in the software. When a document needs to be approved, the approver simply receives an email notifying them that a request has been made, which they can then approve in one click. But what is to be done when the approver is absent for a possibly undetermined length of time and no replacement approver has been configured in the system? (E.g. ill health, a business trip during which they cannot log on to Ulysse T&E, holidays, etc.) One of the benefits of the Ulysse T&E solution is the way that approval rights can be transferred, with the “usual” approver being able to transfer their own approval rights temporarily to a colleague, who may be their superior, assistant, or any other member of their team.
How does it work?
Ghislain Devouthon: It really is a very simple, quick procedure, which can be activated directly by any employee who holds these rights in Ulysse T&E. Approvers just need to log on to www.ulyssetravel.com using a basic internet connection (ASP users or those with an external connection) and simply tick the rights transfer box on their Ulysse T&E profile page. What’s more, Etap-On-Line has maximised this function, enabling users not only to limit the rights transferred depending on their nature, but also to grant them to different people and for limited time periods. As such, a distinction can be made between document creation rights (e.g. to allow an assistant to create travel requests for their account, etc.), and/or approval rights (the power to approve expense claims or travel requests from their colleagues) and/or administrator rights.
The usual approver can then designate the person who will exercise these rights during their absence and fix an expiry date. The rights are then automatically transferred and any documents sent for approval during the affected period follow a new workflow: during this period, the designated approver takes over granting approval according to the usual procedure. Once this period has elapsed, the approval rights are automatically reattributed to the usual approver. As such, perfect continuity can be ensured in company procedures, without any break in the flow, delays to processing or bottlenecks… The usual approver can also deactivate or extend the transfer of rights just as easily.
What are the benefits for ULYSSE T&E administrators?
Ghislain Devouthon: By setting up this function, Etap-On-Line’s principal objective is to simplify the work of Ulysse T&E administrators, so that they’re not submerged by requests to transfer rights when holiday time approaches, for example. As a result, there’s no hold-up in approvals, which represents real added value for a company, which can then maintain a constant stream of requests and high-quality processing all year round. The major advantage of the rights transfer function in Ulysse T&E lies in ensuring that approval rights are so precisely defined, with exceptional speed and simplicity, even when the approver is absent. Today, for example, three of our clients – Roche, Capgemini and Total SA – are already using this rights transfer function, and have already made nearly 1,000 transfers to date.
