Workflow Basics

This article explains the concepts of FYI Workflow, and how it is used to control any requests for changes, approval and how documents are locked from editing.

FYI Workflow is controlled by:

Approval Level set for each user in their FYI user profile
and
Status, Approver and Owner are selected in the workflow section in emails and documents.

Refer also to Using the Workflow for Approval - Examples.

Workflow Settings in the Document

Emails and documents include a Workflow section in the drawer.

Status shows the progress of the email or document through the FYI Workflow. The Status also controls which users can review and edit the document, and if relevant, whether the document needs to be approved.

Status can be set as one of the following. The sequence also shows the progression of the workflow:

Not Started
In Progress
Changes Requested
Waiting Info
Completed
Pending Approval
Approved
Pending Client Signature
Client Signed
You only see a Status if you have the Approval Level to select it.
Approver in the document is the user who will approve of the document. This is used when the Status is set as "Pending Approval".
Owner is automatically set as the person who created the document. This can be changed if required.

Note: If the Owner is changed to a different user at any time, a Comment is created automatically and pre-filled with the new owner, the old owner, the name of the user who made the change user and a message that the owner was changed. You can add to the message in the Comment if required. Click the Comment button to send the Comment.

Setting User Approval levels

The authorisation level for each user is set by an FYI Admin in the Approval Level of the User profile. Refer to Managing Users. The Approval Level controls which Status can be set in a document and who can edit a document.

The Approval Level for each user can be set as one of the following:

None
Approval

If your practice has enabled Advanced Workflow, you will see two additional Approval Levels of "First Review" and "Final Review". For information on First Review and Final Review Approval Levels and Statuses, refer to Multi-Person Review and Approval.

Which Status can be Selected According to your Approval Level?

You can only set a workflow Status on a document according to the Approval Level you have been assigned. Once the Status has been set, this also determines who can edit the email or document, or if it is read-only.

The following shows which Status can be selected in the Workflow section according to the Approval Level assigned to the user.

All users can select the Status as "Not Started", "In Progress", "Changes Requested", "Waiting Info", "Pending Approval", or "Completed".
A user with Approval Level of Approval can select any setting for Status.
An FYI Admin can select any setting for Status.

Who can edit a document?

All users can edit an email or document with a Status of "Not Started", "In Progress", "Changes Requested" or "Waiting Info".
Users with Approval Level of Approval can edit an email or document that is "Pending Approval".
When the Status of the email or document is "Completed", "Approved", "Pending Client Signature" or "Client Signed", the email or document is read only.

Changing the Status

The Status can be changed, but you can only select a Status that is permitted for your Approval Level. If you have selected a Status by mistake, for example, you can roll this back and select a Status that is 'earlier' in the progression.

An Approver can select any Status.
A user with Approval Level of None can only roll back to a Status up to "Completed".
Once a user with Approval Level of None has set the document as "Pending Approval", they cannot roll this back.

Locked Emails and Documents - Read Only Statuses

An email or document is Read Only and shows as locked when the Status is set as:

"Completed"
"Approved"
"Pending Client Signature" or
"Client Signed"

The Documents list displays as follows.

Hovering over the Locked icon displays details about why the document is locked, for example, "Read Only as workflow status is Completed", "Read Only as workflow status is Approved".

If needed, an approver can change the Status back to a lower level in the progression so that it is editable again. For example, if you have changed the Status to "Completed" by mistake. It can be rolled back to a lower level, for example, to "In Progress", "Changes Requested" or "Waiting Info" as relevant. Rolling back the Status is recorded as an action in the Activity section of the document.

Note: An "Approved" email can be sent by Users with any Approval Level.

Locked Emails and Documents - Pending Approval

When the Status is "Pending Approval" it also displays with the Locked icon (with the padlock) for all users apart from any users with an Approval Level of Approver.

Hovering over the Locked icon displays "Read Only as workflow status is Pending Approval".

Adding Workflow Status, Owner and Approver Columns to Views

For additional tracking, you can include the Workflow Status, Owner and Approver columns to views (refer to Adding/Removing/Moving Columns in the Documents Lists). You can then use these columns to sort and filter (refer to Adding/Removing/Moving Columns in the Documents Lists).

Notifications for Approvals

When the Status is set to "Pending Approval", a notification can be sent to the document approver using the Summary Notification feature in automation (refer below to Summary Notifications).
If the Owner is changed to a different user, a Comment is created automatically and pre-filled with the new owner, the old owner, the name of the user who made the change user and a message that the owner was changed.
When a document is approved, a notification can be sent to the Owner using the pre-filled Comment to let them know it has been approved.
If the Status is changed to "Changes Requested", a pre-filled Comment is created automatically and can be sent with a message that changes have been requested. This includes the name of user requesting changes and the name of the Owner to send the Comment to. You can add additional information to the comment text.

Summary Notifications

You can also set up a Summary Notification process in the Automations - Custom Processes to notify approvers.

The Custom Process can be set up to send out a scheduled notification to each of the relevant approvers, for example every 12 hours, with a summary of the number of emails and documents that person has outstanding for approval. Depending on the user's settings, this will also get sent as an email. The notification and the email include a link that the Approver can click to go directly to the Documents list automatically filtered to show only the emails/documents that are "Pending Approval" and where that user is selected as the Approver.

Refer to Summary Notification in Reviewing and Approving Emails and Documents.

For information on how an FYI Admin can set up the process, refer to Custom Processes using Views and Summary Notifications.

Default Workflow Status

A new email has the Status set as "Not Started".
An email that is sent has the Status set as "Completed".
An email that is received has the Status set as "Not Started".
Other documents have the Status set as "Not Started".
If a document is copied, the workflow Status for the copied document is set to "In Progress". Refer to Creating a Copy of a Document.

Automatic Workflow Status

The workflow Status is set automatically for the following.

When a document is sent for signature to via DocuSign, Adobe Sign, Annature or FuseSign, the Status is automatically set as "Pending Client Signature".
When the client has signed the document in DocuSign, Adobe Sign, Annature or FuseSign and FYI brings the signed document back into FYI the Status is automatically updates to "Client Signed".

Requesting a Signature for a Word Document

When a Word document is created that needs a signature, it would usually be set with a workflow Status of Pending Approval and the name of the Approver selected. For information about requesting a signature for a Word document, refer to Inserting your Signature into a Document.

Multi-Person Review and Approval

There are two additional Approval Levels and two additional Workflow Statues of First Review and Final Review which can be used if you want additional levels of review and approval. Refer to Multi-Person Review and Approval.