Approval workflow engine for services procurement timesheets, progress logs, and expenses

A method of approving progress logs using an approval workflow engine, the method comprising:

• generating, with one or more processors associated with one or more computer systems, information configured to display a user interface with at least one or more input fields associated with one or more stages for workflows for processing progress logs, one or more input fields associated with one or more paths in each of the one or more stages, and one or more input fields for each step of each path in each of the one or more stages;
• receiving, at the one or more computer systems, information via the user interface specifying a set of progress log approval rules for at least one path of at least one stage of a workflow for processing progress logs, each progress log approval rule in the set of progress log approval rules identifying one or more progress log attributes and specifying one or more conditions that need to be satisfied by progress log information for the progress log approval rule to apply to a progress log represented by the progress log information;
• storing the set of progress log approval rules in a database associated with the one or more computer systems;
• receiving, at the one or more computer systems, information representing a progress log, wherein the information representing the progress log includes a plurality of progress log attributes and corresponding attribute values;
• applying, with one or more processors associated with the one or more computer systems, one or more progress log approval rules in the set of stored progress log approval rules to the information representing the progress log to determine whether the one or more progress log approval rules are satisfied by the corresponding attribute values of the plurality of progress log attributes;
• and
• generating, with the one or more processors associated with the one or more computer systems, one or more approval notifications to one or more approvers or reviewers based on application of the progress log approval rules.

A method of approving expense approvals using a workflow engine, the method comprising:

• generating, with one or more processors associated with one or more computer systems, information configured to display a user interface with at least one or more input fields associated with one or more stages for workflows for processing expense approvals, one or more input fields associated with one or more paths in each of the one or more stages, and one or more input fields for each step of each path in each of the one or more stages;
• receiving, at the one or more computer systems, information via the user interface specifying a set of expense approval rules for at least one path of at least one stage of a workflow for processing expense approvals, each expense approval rule in the set of expense approval rules identifying one or more expense attributes and specifying one or more conditions that need to be satisfied by expense information for the expense approval rule to apply to an expense represented by the expense information;
• storing the set of expense approval rules in a database associated with the one or more computer systems;
• receiving, at the one or more computer systems, information representing an expense, wherein the information representing the expense includes a plurality of expense attributes and corresponding attribute values;
• applying, with one or more processors associated with the one or more computer systems, one or more expense approval rules in the set of stored expense approval rules to the information representing the expense to determine whether the one or more expense approval rules are satisfied by the corresponding attribute values of the plurality of expense attributes;
• and
• generating, with the one or more processors associated with the one or more computer systems, one or more approval notifications to one or more approvers or reviewers based on application of the expense approval rules.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code executable by a processor of a computer system for approving timesheets using an approval workflow engine, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:

• code for generating information configured to display a user interface with at least one or more input fields associated with one or more stages for workflows for processing timesheets, one or more input fields associated with one or more paths in each of the one or more stages, and one or more input fields for each step of each path in each of the one or more stages;
• code for receiving information via the user interface specifying a set of timesheet approval rules for at least one path of at least one stage of a workflow for processing timesheets, each timesheet approval rule in the set of timesheet approval rules identifying one or more timesheet attributes and specifying one or more conditions that need to be satisfied by timesheet information for the timesheet approval rule to apply to a timesheet represented by the timesheet information;
• code for storing the set of timesheet approval rules in a database;
• code for receiving information representing a timesheet, wherein the information representing the timesheet includes a plurality of timesheet attributes and corresponding attribute values;
• code for applying one or more timesheet approval rules in the set of stored timesheet approval rules to the information representing the timesheet to determine whether the one or more timesheet approval rules are satisfied by the corresponding attribute values of the plurality of timesheet attributes;
• and
• code for generating one or more approval notifications to one or more approvers or reviewers based on application of the timesheet approval rules.