Approvals

Approvals are authorisations given for work to be carried out on a particular vehicle (or contract). Typically approvals are given out in a call centre environment. When a service provider (supplier) calls, the user searches the database for the vehicle (or contract) and creates a new approval if required. Existing approvals may be edited while they are in a pending status. Once a physical invoice is received from the supplier it is reconciled to the approval with information such as the invoice number added by the user. The approval can then be verified and posted. Once posted no further editing may be performed.

Approval Status

Approvals are not physically deleted from the database and will appear in table data downloads but not in online searches or reports.

Action Buttons

• New — Allows a new approval to be created. An approval number is displayed immediately and can be given to the supplier. Details can be entered immediately or over multiple sessions using edit and save options.

• Edit — An approval may be edited anytime it has an active status. Changes should be saved using Save, or ignored using Cancel in edit mode.

• Save — Saves the approval when complete or after editing.

• Cancel — Cancels changes made during creation or editing.

• Check — Verifies data entered before allowing the approval to be posted.

• Attach — Attaches a document to an approval. Attached documents are available to all user roles including external fleet managers and novated drivers.

• View — Views attached documents via the paperclip icon. Also available on the Maintenance screen.

• Post — Becomes available after a successful check. Once posted, the approval can no longer be edited and transactions become available for Recharge Invoicing and MYOB export.

• History — Saves the approval as history only, producing no accounting transactions, recharge invoices, or export entries.

• Un-Post — Reverts a posted approval back to active status if it has not been exported or used in recharge invoicing. Batch references in maintenance records are removed.

• Delete — Marks an approval as deleted if it has not yet been posted. It is retained in the system but excluded from accounting and reporting.

Header Section

• Approval (Num (search)) — Enter an approval number directly or use search.

• Supplier (Text (10)) — Supplier code lookup or entry.

• Invoice Date (Date) — Defaults to system date; supplier invoice date used for Purchase Ledger exports.

• Contact (Text) — Supplier contact name (editable).

• Tel. (Num) — Supplier telephone number (editable).

• Reimbursement (Tick Box) — Enables driver reimbursement via ABA file. Requires driver BSB and bank account details.

• Parts (Num %) — Display only from Supplier/Account screen.

• Labour $/hr (Num) — Supplier labour rate (editable in supplier record).

• Oil Price (Num) — Display only.

• Sundries (Num) — Display only.

• Status (Text) — Active or posted.

• By (Text) — User who created or last edited the approval.

• Client Tel. (Text) — Client telephone number (editable).

• Last Edit (Date/time) — Last edit timestamp.

• Driver (Text) — Driver name (editable).

• Tel. (Num) — Driver telephone number (editable).

• Odometer (Num) — User-entered odometer with system estimate shown in brackets.

• Date (Date) — Odometer date used as transaction date for reporting.

• Valid (Tick Box) — Odometer validation flag set by system rules.

• Invoice No (Alpha/Num) — Supplier invoice number (entered on reconciliation).

• Posted (Date) — Date invoice is reconciled and posted.

• Clipboard (Symbol) — Opens notes screen. First 60 characters display on maintenance hover. Indicator turns yellow when notes exist.

Details Section

• # (Num) — Row number (10 rows initially; more added as needed).

• Tick Box — Marks row for deletion on save.

• C (Code) — Class code (required).

• R (Code) — Recharge flag (Y/N) based on contract type and class rules.

• W (Code) — Work code shortcut (e.g. FN = fit new).

• VMRS (Code) — Standard service/work codes (e.g. S10 = service 10,000 km).

• Description (Text) — Auto-filled from codes; editable free text.

• Qty (Num) — Quantity for labour, products, or proportional allocation.

• G (Code) — GST flag (Y/N).

• Parts (Num) — Parts cost (net GST).

• Labour (Num) — Labour cost (net GST or calculated via rate).

• GST (Num) — Defaults to 10% when applicable; editable.

• Total (Num) — Total of parts, labour, and GST.

• N (Symbol) — Toggles between net (N) and gross (G) display.

Reminder Note

Reminder notes can be created for a Contract Type in the Contract Types / Details screen and for a Client in the Clients / Client Defaults screen. These are displayed when an approval is created, edited, or checked. The user must acknowledge the reminder before proceeding.

Suspended, Terminated and Imminent Expiry

Contracts that are suspended, terminated, or ending within 6 weeks can only have approvals issued by users with Admin, Manager, or Accounts access. These users must acknowledge a validation message before proceeding. If the suspension date is future dated, approvals are permitted.

Odometer Validation Flag

After editing the Date or Odometer fields, a warning is triggered if the odometer differs from the estimated value by more than the configured tolerance (typically 20%).

Exceptions:

• Odometer within tolerance is automatically marked valid.

• Blank or zero odometer is automatically marked invalid.

The system prompts the user to confirm or override the validity flag. This ensures awareness of odometer accuracy, which affects multiple system processes.

Items checked on "Save"

• Invoice date must be a valid non-blank date (defaults to today if not changed).

Items checked to enable "Check" to appear

• At least one approval line must exist.

Items checked on "Check"

Header validation

• Supplier code must be entered.

• Invoice number must be populated.

• If Reimbursement is enabled, driver BSB and bank account must be present.

• Reference number must be populated.

Line validation

• Class code must be entered.

• Recharge flag must be set.

• Description must be entered.

• GST code must not be blank.

• GST must be 0 if GST flag is set to N.

• GST must be within tolerance.

Totals validation

• Total GST must be within configured tolerance (see GST Checks).

Reimbursement Notification emailed on "Post"

If the Reimbursement Flag is enabled and the driver’s “Stop BECS” field is not checked, the system prompts:

“Send Reimbursement Notification email?”

• OK opens an editable email popup and sends it.

• Cancel stores an unsent event for later processing.

This feature does not work if gbcontrols.approvalreimbursementnotificationflag is set to "no".

Header Field - Tyres?

The Tyres field in the Contracts/Header area indicates tyre limits:

• U = Unlimited

• N = No tyres allowed

• = Number of tyres budgeted

The second position shows tyres used but not recharged.

Workflow Contract setupnoquote

Create the Contract

Go to Fleet / Administration / Contracts and create contract details. This creates a contract with “ORDER” as the registration number.

Place and Manage the Vehicle Order

• Update Order Information in Contracts/Order and generate Dealer Order (Excel) if required.

• Use Fleet / Administration / Order Management and Reports / Orders to manage orders.

• Update status to “Delivered” when the vehicle arrives.

When Delivered

• Update Contracts/Vehicle with registration, FBT value, odometer, VIN, engine number, service intervals.

• Update Contracts/Finance with financier and payment details.

• Add Events:

  • Registration Change

  • Driver Change (driver must exist; pool drivers recommended for pool vehicles)

  • Cost Centre Event (if applicable)

Contracts/Billing

• Set lease term and contract type.

• Configure invoicing periods and start period.

If Invoicing a Client

• Set deferred periods (often 2).

• Set invoice start period.

• Verify lease budgets and ECM budgets.

Contracts/Insurance

• Set billing type (e.g. Driver Reimbursement if applicable).

Contracts/Maintenance

• Enter opening odometer reading for reporting and validation accuracy.