FARM Approver Setup
Logging In
Fiscal officers and delegates can access FARM from:
Use your OHIO email and password to single sign-on to access FARM.
Overview
The Approver Setup page is categorized into two sections, By Organization and By User. The By Organization page allows fiscal officers or delegates to review and maintain all approvers for an organization. The By User page allows fiscal officers or delegates to review and maintain approval roles for a specific person.
By Organization
The By Organization page allows fiscal officers or delegates to add new approvers or edit approvers or end date approval access for an approver. The By Organization page lists approvers by organization and approval type.
By User
The By User page allows fiscal officers or delegates to:
- Add new approval organizations, types, and/or levels to approvers
- Copy approvals from one approver to another
- Replace an approver with another approver
- Remove approvals from an approver.
Navigating the By Organization Page
The By Organization Page results are listed by organization number. You can drill down into each organization into child organizations by selecting the check box under the organization’s name labeled “Show Child Orgs.” Any child organization that falls under the parent organization will appear. You can continue to drill down into each level of child organization into each account.
Additionally, you can view each approver per organizational level by selecting the “Show Approvers” check box under the organization name. Only the approvers for that specific level of the organization will be visible; child organization approvers will not appear.
Search for an Organization
- On the By Organization page, utilize, the "Organization" search bar to find the organization you are looking for.
- Note - The dropdown list in the search bar will not automatically show all your assigned orgs. It only displays 10 orgs, but you can still earch for any org that you have access to maintain.
Type the number and/or name of the organization you are searching for.
From the results, utilize the check boxes under the organization name to:
- "Show Approvers" which will provide a list of approvers that match the search criteria for that organization.
- Note - Only approvers set at the selected org level will be displayed. for example, if you have approvers set at the C-level and you are viewing an individual org, those approvers will not be shown unless you drill back up to the C-level to view the approvers.
- "Show Child Orgs" which will provide a list of child organizations under the parent organization you have selected.
- "Show Approvers" which will provide a list of approvers that match the search criteria for that organization.
Additional Search Bars
You can add additional parameters to an organizational search: “Approval Type” and “Approval Level.” If you are searching for organizations but want to limit the type of approvals (BobcatBUY, Concur, ICD, etc.), and further drill down to the level of approvals, you will need to add that criterion to the appropriate search bars.
Note: By adding additional search criteria, your results will be limited to exactly what you entered into the search bars. You will not be able to see approvers or organizations that do not pertain to the search. However, you are still able to drill down into child organizations if available.
Add an Approver
To add an approver, search by organization to set up Approver levels on the By Organization page.
- Search for and select the organization.
Select the “Show Approvers” checkbox to see a list of current approvers.
Below the checkboxes, but above the list of approvers, select the button labeled, “Add Approver.”
Fill in the correct information, including:
- User Name – start typing the approver’s last name or OHIO ID to locate the approver, then select the user from the drop-down list (failure to click the name from the drop-down list will result in an error).
- Approval Type – select from the drop-down list
- Approval Level(s) – select the appropriate approval level(s) from the drop-down list. Multiple selections are permitted.
- Start Date: Enter in MM/DD/YYYY format or select from the calendar popup.
- End Date: Not required. If applicable, enter date in MM/DD/YYYY format or select from the calendar popup.
Select the “Submit” button. The new approver has now been added to the organization.
End Date Approvals
You are also able to end date approvals for approvers, removing access to approvals for approvers.
- Search for and select the correct organization.
- Select the “Show Approvers” checkbox to see a list of current approvers.
From the list of approvers, listed by approval type and approval level, select the “Edit” button for the correct approval level.
Fill in the correct “End Date” in the column and select the “Save” button.
Navigating the By User Page
The By User page is organized by approver in alphabetical order*. Each approver has the list of approvals, organized by organization, approval level, and approval type in the chart next to their entry. Start and End Dates are also included for each approval. Fiscal officers and/or delegates are also able to add, copy, replace, or remove approval levels.
Note – if the user has changed their name or preferred name in the HR system, they will have multiple entries in FARM. The user’s name displayed shows a snapshot of the name that was applicable at the time that the approval role was assigned. Be sure to scroll up and down to view all their accounts. We hope to improve this behavior with future systems enhancements at a later date.
Using the Search Bars
You can search by name and/or approval type using the search bars at the top of the By User page. As soon as you enter in search criteria, the results will populate with results that match.
- Note: The search results will match the exact criteria entered into the search bar. If you use the “Approval Type” to narrow the search, only those approval types will appear, even if you have also searched for a name, which must match both criteria to be displayed.
You can view previous fiscal approvers by selecting the checkbox next to the search bars. This allows you to view and search for fiscal approvers who no longer have access to the approval type or level for an organization.
Add an Approval Level
To add an approval level to an approver:
- Search for the approver using the search bars.
Select the “Add” under the “Actions” column. A new pop-up menu will appear.
Enter the correct information, including:
- Organization - start typing the org number and/or name to locate the org, then select the org from the drop-down list
- Approval Type – select from the drop-down list
- Approval Level – select the appropriate approval level(s) from the drop-down list. Multiple selections are permitted.
- Start Date: Enter in MM/DD/YYYY format or select from the calendar popup.
- End Date: Not required. If applicable, enter date in MM/DD/YYYY format or select from the calendar popup.
- Select the “Add” button. New approval levels have now been added to the user.\
Note: You can add multiple approval types and levels at the same time by selecting the “Add Another Approval Level” button found under search bars in the pop-up menu. This will allow you to add another Approval Type for the same organization
- Note - If you’ve accidentally clicked “Add Another Approval Level” and added new rows that you don’t need, simply click the trash can icon on the left side of the new row(s) to delete those unnecessary rows.
Copy Approval Levels
When you Copy an Approver, you are applying the same approval levels, to the same organizations of a different Approver. This is a helpful feature if you have multiple approvers with mirrored responsibilities. Set it up once and copy the approval levels and types to as many approvers as needed.
To copy approval levels from one approver to another:
- Search for the approver using the search bars.
Select the “Copy” under the “Actions” column. A new pop-up menu will appear.
Search for and select the “New Fiscal Approver” in the search bar. Select a start date for the new fiscal approver.
Using the filters for Organization, Approval Type, and Approval Level, filter down to the approval levels needing copied.
- Select the correct approval types and levels for the new fiscal approver, using the checkboxes next to each approval level.
- Select the “Copy Approval Levels” button. Approval levels have been copied to a new fiscal approver.
Replace Approval Levels
When you Replace an Approver, you are applying the approval levels from an existing Approver to a new approver while replacing the primary Approver’s levels. This is helpful to use when transitioning responsibilities between employees. When replacing approvers, the FARM application will automatically end date the existing approver one day prior to the start of the new approver. This ensures that there is no gap in the approval setups which would cause transactions to error in systems such as BobcatBUY, Concur, and ICD.
To replace approval levels with one approver to another:
- Search for the approver using the search bars.
Select the “Replace” under the “Actions” column. A new pop-up menu will appear.
Search for and select the “New Fiscal Approver” in the search bar. Select a start date for the new fiscal approver.
- Note: You may add an end date for the new fiscal approver, if it is appropriate.
Using the filters for Organization, Approval Type, and Approval Level, filter down to the approval levels needing replaced.
- Select the correct approval types and levels for the new fiscal approver, using the checkboxes next to each approval level.
Note: Every approval type and level are automatically selected via checkboxes. To only select the approval levels or types needed, unselect the checkbox next to “Org.” Then select the checkboxes next to each approval level that is needed to copy to a new approver. Using the search boxes for organization, approval type, and level, the system will automatically unselect checkboxes that do not apply.
- Once the correct approval levels have been selected, select the “Replace Approval Level(s)” button. A new fiscal approver will now have access to the chosen approval levels, and the current fiscal approver will no longer have access.
Remove Approval Levels
When you remove approval levels from an approver, they are no longer able to approve for that level, based on the end date that you provide. This feature is used when removing an employee who has left their position or has changed responsibilities. The system will not delete any users, but removing will archive their data, allowing for the Show Previous Fiscal Approvers functionality.
To remove approval levels:
- Search for the approver using the search bars.
Select the “Remove” under the “Actions” column. A new pop-up menu will appear.
Select an end date for the current fiscal approver. This is the date that the current fiscal approver will no longer be able to approve the approval level you are removing.
Using the filters for Organization, Approval Type, and Approval Level, filter down to the approval levels needing removed.
- Select the correct approval types and levels to be removed, using the checkboxes next to each approval level.
Note: Every approval type and level are automatically selected via checkboxes. To only select the approval levels or types needed, unselect the checkbox next to “Org.” Then select the checkboxes next to each approval level that is needed to copy to a new approver. Using the search boxes for organization, approval type, and level, the system will automatically unselect checkboxes that do not apply.
- Once the correct approval levels have been selected, select the “Remove Approval Level(s)” button. The approval levels have been removed from the fiscal approver.