Available "Actions" in Rules

"Alert User/Requestor" Action

When a request meets the criteria for a rule that includes an "alert user" or "alert requestor" action, the rule will trigger a unique notification (written as part of the rule) that will be shared with the user or requestor as part of the purchase request flow.

When can I use this?

Alert actions can be useful if you are using other actions such as "auto-approve" or "auto-reject" and want to attach notifications to these actions.

I.e. You do not want employees using virtual cards for expense >$50,000 so you create a rule that auto-rejects such rejects and includes an "alert user" action that lets them know why.

Alert actions can also be useful if you want a non-approver to be notified of purchase requests they wouldn't otherwise see.

"Stop" Action

When a request meets the criteria for a rule that includes a "stop" action, any succeeding rule that would normally be triggered in a sequence WILL NOT be triggered as a "stop" action will freeze any additional downstream approval.

A rule with a "stop" action should be ordered above any other rule that would be otherwise triggered under the parameters of that rule.

When can I use this?

Stop rules can be useful in situations where some or all of your standard rules should be skipped.

For example, let's say you have multi-step approval, but your CEO has asked you to assure all audit expenses go straight to her and not to any default manager or department head.

With the "stop" action, you can create a rule based on that expense category with a "stop" & "assign" action as illustrated below.

In the test illustrated below, the rule with the stop action sits above the other trigger rules and as such cancels the rules below it that would be otherwise triggered in the sequence (represented by the greyed-out rules).