Adding Approval Rules

• Updated on Mar 17, 2023
• Published on Jun 16, 2022
• 3 minute(s) read
• TL
• MS
• RS

Using Mobileforce CPQ you can create approval rules, conditions that trigger when quotes require approval. Approval rules can be created for quote templates as well as individual products.

The general structure of Mobileforce Rules is described Rules.

Example:

For example:

• You would create an approval rule for a product, if your company sells a product with regulations that require managerial approval before they are included in a quote.
• You would create an approval rule for a quote template, if your company requires approval for all quotes that exceed $100,000.

To create an approval rule, click the Add Rule button from the Approval tab of either a Product page or Quote Template page.

Approval Rule planning

Before creating the approval rule(s) that reflect your business model and needs, you should take time to determine the following:

• What do you specifically want your approvers to approve? (For example, do you want them to approve the sale of the product, or do you want them to approve the pricing of the quote.)
• What Mobileforce CPQ action should trigger the rule? (For example, your model requires managerial approval for all discounts above 10%)
• Who do you want to approve the quote when this rule is triggered? (For example, you could have a model where your sales managers approves all discounts above 10%, but an executive must approve all quotes above $1,000,000.)
• What message formats and messages should be sent to the approvers, as well as the sellers, when requesting approval of the quote, when the quote is approved, when the quote is declined, etc.

General options

Specify an alphanumeric name (without spaces) for the rule and optionally add a description for it.

When you save the rule, Mobileforce CPQ automatically populates the metadata values (such as Created Time) for the rule.

Trigger options

Use Trigger options to specify the actual rule expression that is evaluated at run-time. If this expression evaluates to true, then approval is required before the proposal can be saved to the CRM.

Trigger Condition: This is the actual rule expression that is evaluated at run-time. If this expression evaluates to true then the rule action is triggered.

Rule Evaluation Order: If you have multiple rules, enter a number to specify when the rule is to be triggered:

Notes:

• Mobileforce CPQ evaluates the rules based on their Rule Evaluation Order from lowest to highest.
• Mobileforce CPQ evaluates all of the product rules before evaluating all of the pricing rules, and finally evaluating all of the approval rules.

Watched Input: This is a mechanism that allows you to specify when a quote requires additional approval. Additionally, the input ensures that approval rules are not unnecessarily evaluated multiple times.

Example:

If your organization requires manager approval for all quotes, but also requires additional approval from the CEO for quotes over $200,000, you would use the Watched Input field to generate an expression.

For more information about trigger conditions and watched inputs in Mobileforce CRM, please refer to the MobileForce Expressions guide which describes the correct syntax as well as providing a comprehensive list of available functions and system variables that can be specified.

Response options

Use Response options to specify the group that Mobileforce CPQ assigns to the proposal for approval. Additionally, you must specify a reason for approval, which is sent via email.

Approval Email Templates

Click the applicable drop-down menu to override the email template that is sent to the applicable user(s) for the following conditions:

• Approval Request
• Approval Request Cancelled
• Quick Approve Confirmation
• Quick Approve Response
• Quick Decline Confirmation
• Quick Decline Response

Access Control options

Specify the following options:

Active: Specify whether the pricebook is currently active. By default, the setting is set to Yes. To deactivate the product, the setting should be set to No.

Effective Date: Click the field to select the date after which users can select the pricebook. Ensure that the date is before the Expiration Date.

Expiration Date: Click the field to select the date after which users can no longer select the pricebook. Ensure that the date is after the Effective Date.