Assign a cost object approver to a travel approval process

Use this article to create a travel approval process to a cost object's preferred approver and optional additional approvers. When someone selects that cost object at checkout, Perk sends the request to all of them, and any one can approve the trip.

Account admins can perform this task.

Before you set up the approval process, set up your travel cost objects and add their approvers. Then create the approval process and select Cost object approver.

Set up travel cost objects

To use cost object approvers in travel approval processes in Perk, each cost object needs the correct usage and approvers.

  1. Go to Settings > Cost management > Cost objects.
  2. Create or edit a cost object.
  3. Under Usage, select Travel. This makes the cost object available during booking checkout.
  4. In the Approval step, select an Approver. This person is the preferred approver for the cost object.
  5. Optionally, under Additional approvers, select other people who can also approve trips with this cost object.
    Additional approvers on a travel cost object
  6. Click Save.
Caution: Select a preferred approver before you save additional approvers. The preferred approver can't also be listed as an additional approver. Guest users can't be selected as approvers.
Note: Additional approvers apply to travel only. If the cost object is also used for expenses or invoices, additional approvers appear under For travel only. Expense and invoice delegate settings are separate from travel additional approvers.

For more information, see Set up cost objects for travel costs.

Create or edit the approval process

Once your travel cost objects have approvers, you can create or edit an approval process that uses cost object approver.

  1. Go to Settings > Travel management > Approval processes.
  2. Create or edit an approval process.
  3. Under Who should approve their trips?, click select approver and type or select Cost object approver.
  4. Click select setting and choose which types of bookings need approval. In-policy and out-of-policy rules depend on your travel policies.
  5. Hover over select setting, click + when, and select the cost object.
  6. Click Create approval process or Save.

When an approval request includes the selected cost object, Perk sends it to that cost object's preferred approver and all additional approvers. Any one of them can approve. If you use cost object approver in one step of a multi-step approval process, Perk creates a separate approval path for each additional approver in that step. For more information, see Set up a travel approval process by cost object. Additional approvers can also be backup approval recipients in travel out-of-office settings. To learn more, see Set up a travel delegate.

Checkout process

When someone books a trip that needs approval and selects a cost object in Perk:

  • The selected cost object determines which preferred approver and additional approvers receive the approval request.
  • Any one of those approvers can approve the trip.
  • The booking's approval rules still apply.

If they don't select a cost object, the cost object approval process isn't applied.

Tip: Set up preferred and additional approvers on all travel cost objects so approval processes work as you expect. You can also make cost objects mandatory for all travel bookings.

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