Scenario "Employee Self-Service App"
Extension - SMART Employee Self Service (an add-on to SMART Payroll)
The SMART Employee Self Service app provides employees with access to their personal dashboard in Business Central (with a Team Member license). In the dashboard, employees can:
- Create, submit for approval, and approve requests for various types of absences
- View their vacation balance
- View their payroll documents and payments
- Create advance statements
- Create and approve timesheets
- Create tasks and track their status
Step 1: Role Interface
To access the personal dashboard in Business Central, users need to use the Self-Service Member role interface.
Before using the personal dashboard, users need to set their Employee No. on the User Setup page. The data in the Self-Service app will be filtered based on the specified employee code.
The role interface includes the following pages:
| Page | Description |
|---|---|
| My Profile | Page with information about the owner of the personal dashboard |
| My Payroll Documents | Payroll documents of the owner of the personal dashboard |
| My Employee Balance | Balance of operations for the owner of the personal dashboard |
| My Advance Statements | Expense reports of the owner of the personal dashboard |
| Posted Advance Statements | Posted expense reports of the owner of the personal dashboard |
| My Vacation Balance | Vacation balance of the owner of the personal dashboard |
| My Fixed Assets | Fixed assets of the owner of the personal dashboard |
| Organizational Units | Organizational structure of the company, list of all departments |
The role interface also includes the following actions:
- Create Vacation Request
- Create Sick Leave Request
- Create Travel Request
- Create Other Activity Request
The role interface includes the following tiles:
- Time Requests Activity tile (displays absence requests of the employee in different statuses)
- Self-Service tile (displays timesheets of the employee in different statuses)
- User Tasks tile (displays tasks of the employee in different statuses)
- Email Status tile (displays the status of email notifications sent to the employee)
- Approvals tile (displays approval requests)
The Insights section includes:
- List of timesheets of the employee
- List of absences for all employees on the selected work date
- Power BI reports
- System messages for the user
Step 2: My Profile
The My Profile page displays the basic information entered in BC for the employee in the Employee Card. If necessary, unnecessary fields can be hidden on the page.
Step 3: My Payroll Documents
The My Payroll Documents page displays information about the employee's payroll documents (both posted and unposted). The owner of the personal dashboard can open and view detailed information in the payroll document.
Step 4: My Employee Balance
The page displays information from the Employee Ledger Entries, as well as the overall balance of all open operations for the employee.
Step 5: My Advance Statements and Posted Advance Statements
In the personal account, users can create expense reports. To create an expense report, go to the My Advance Statements page and click Create, then fill in all the necessary information on the expense report card. Depending on the user's permission set, the user may be allowed or prohibited from approving the expense report. By default, for Self-Service SMA EMPL. SELF-SERV, the right to approve is prohibited.
Approved expense reports for the employee are displayed on the Posted Advance Statements page.
Step 6: My Vacation Balance
The My Vacation Balance page displays information on the employee's accrued and used leave operations. The information is generated based on the Employee Absence Entries page.
Clicking on the values in the fields Days Used, Used Working Hours, Compensated Days opens a detailed breakdown of leave usage.
Step 7: My Fixed Assets
The page displays fixed assets, on the card of which the Responsible Person field indicates the employee - the owner of the personal account.
Step 8: Organizational Units
The Organizational Units page displays a list of organization departments. To view summarized information for the first department, you can open the department card.
Step 9: Creating Absence Requests
In the employee's personal account, there is an option to create the following types of requests:
- Vacation Request
- Sick Leave Request
- Travel Request
- Other Absence Request.
To create a request, use the corresponding actions on the role interface.
- Create Vacation Request
- Create Sick Leave Request
- Create Travel Request
- Create Other Activity Request
When creating any type of absence request, there is an option to add the absence to the personal calendar in the email. To do this, click Actions - Functions - Add to Calendar on the request card.
1. Vacation Request
The fields of the request are filled in as follows:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| No. | Request number. Automatically determined based on the established series of numbers. |
| Employee No. | Automatically filled in with the code of the employee - the owner of the personal account. At the same time, there is an option to change the value by specifying the code of another employee (for cases when the request is created for another employee). |
| Employee Name | Employee name is automatically filled in after filling in the Employee No. |
| Time Activity Code | Specify the time activity code that determines the type of vacation. |
| Time Activity Group | Time activity group determines which type of order needs to be created. Cannot be specified if the Time Activity Code field is filled in. It is recommended to fill in the Time Activity Code field for the correct operation of the request approval workflow. |
| Description | Description of the vacation request. The field is automatically filled in with the name of the activity code and can be manually changed. |
| Request Date | Date of submitting the vacation request. |
| Start Date | Planned start date of the vacation. |
| End Date | Planned end date of the vacation. |
| Start Time | Planned start time of the vacation. Set by default to the start time of the working day specified in the payroll calendar. The value can be manually changed. If the absence request is not for a full working day, the Start Date and End Date of such absence should be within the same day. |
| End Time | Planned end time of the vacation. Set by default to the end time of the working day specified in the payroll calendar. The value can be manually changed. If the absence request is not for a full working day, the Start Date and End Date of such absence should be within the same day. |
| Calendar Days | Number of vacation days. The field is automatically filled in when filling in the End Date field. |
| Working Days | Number of working days for the absence period. The field is automatically filled in when filling in the End Date field. |
| Working Hours | Number of working hours for the absence period. The field is automatically filled in when filling in the End Date field. |
| Abroad | Specify "Yes" if the employee will be abroad during the absence. |
| On Mobile | Specify "Yes" if the employee will be available on a mobile phone during the absence. |
| On E-mail | Specify "Yes" if the employee will be available via email during the absence. |
| Status | Status of the vacation request. The field is automatically filled in when the document administration functions are launched. |
| Scheduled Year | Year according to the planned vacation schedule to which the planned vacation corresponds. The value of the field is selected from the list of vacation schedules. |
| Scheduled Start Date | Row from the vacation schedule that determines the planned start date of the vacation. |
| Order No. | Automatically filled in when the corresponding order is created based on the request. |
| Vacation Used | If the option is activated, it means that the vacation has been used by the employee. |
On the vacation request card, you can view the available days based on the vacation balance. To do this, select My Vacation Balance under the General category.
2. Sick Leave Request
The fields of the request are filled in as follows:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| No. | Request number. Automatically determined based on the established series of numbers. |
| Employee No. | Automatically filled in with the employee code of the owner of the personal cabinet. At the same time, there is an option to change the value by specifying the code of another employee (for cases when the request is created for another employee). |
| Employee Name | Employee name is automatically filled in after filling in the Employee Code. |
| Time Activity Code | Time Activity code that determines the type of sick leave. |
| Time Activity Group | Time Activity group that determines the type of order to be created. Cannot be specified if the Time Activity Code field is filled in. It is recommended to fill in the Time Activity Code field for the correct operation of the request approval workflow. |
| Description | Description of the sick leave request. The field is automatically filled in with the name of the activity code and can be manually changed. |
| Request Date | Date of submitting the sick leave request. |
| Start Date | Start date of the sick leave. |
| End Date | End date of the sick leave. |
| Start Time | Planned start time of the sick leave. By default, it is set to the start time of the working day specified in the payroll calendar. The value can be manually changed. If the absence request is not for a full working day, the Start Date and End Date of such absence should be within the same day. |
| End Time | Planned end time of the sick leave. By default, it is set to the end time of the working day specified in the payroll calendar. The value can be manually changed. If the absence request is not for a full working day, the Start Date and End Date of such absence should be within the same day. |
| Calendar Days | Number of calendar days of the sick leave. The field is automatically filled in when filling in the End Date field. |
| Working Days | Number of working days for the absence period. The field is automatically filled in when filling in the End Date field. |
| Working Hours | Number of working hours for the absence period. The field is automatically filled in when filling in the End Date field. |
| Abroad | Specify "Yes" if the employee will be abroad during the absence. |
| On Mobile | Specify "Yes" if the employee will be available on a mobile phone during the absence. |
| On E-mail | Specify "Yes" if the employee will be available via email during the absence. |
| Sick Certificate Series | Series of the sick leave certificate from the sick leave. |
| Sick Certificate Case No. | Sick leave case number from the sick leave. |
| Sick Certificate No. | Sick leave number from the sick leave. |
| Status | Status of the sick leave request. The field is automatically filled in when the document administration functions are launched. |
| Order No. | Automatically filled in when the corresponding order is created based on the request. |
3. Travel Request
The fields of the request are filled in as follows:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| No. | Request number. Automatically determined based on the established series of numbers. |
| Employee No. | Automatically filled in with the code of the employee - the owner of the personal account. At the same time, there is an option to change the value by specifying the code of another employee (for cases when the request is created for another employee). |
| Employee Name | Employee name is automatically filled in after filling in the Employee Code. |
| Time Activity Code | Time Activity code that determines the type of travel. |
| Time Activity Group | Time Activity group that determines the type of order to be created. Cannot be specified if the Time Activity Code field is filled in. It is recommended to fill in the Time Activity Code field for the proper functioning of the request approval workflow. |
| Description | Description of the business travel request. The field is automatically filled in with the name of the activity code and can be manually changed. |
| Request Date | Date of submitting the business travel request. |
| Start Date | Start date of the business travel. |
| End Date | End date of the business travel. |
| Start Time | Planned start time of the business travel. Automatically set to the start time of the working day specified in the payroll calendar. The value can be manually changed. If the absence request is not for a full working day, the Start Date and End Date of such absence should be within the same day. |
| End Time | Planned end time of the business travel. Automatically set to the end time of the working day specified in the payroll calendar. The value can be manually changed. If the absence request is not for a full working day, the Start Date and End Date of such absence should be within the same day. |
| Calendar Days | Number of calendar days for the business travel. The field is automatically filled in when filling in the End Date field. |
| Working Days | Number of working days for the absence period. The field is automatically filled in when filling in the End Date field. |
| Working Hours | Number of working hours for the absence period. The field is automatically filled in when filling in the End Date field. |
| Abroad | Specify "Yes" if the employee will be abroad during the absence. |
| On Mobile | Specify "Yes" if the employee will be available on a mobile phone during the absence. |
| On E-mail | Specify "Yes" if the employee will be available via email during the absence. |
| Travel Destination | Name of the locality, address. |
| Travel Purpose | Description of the travel objectives. |
| Travel Reason Document | Basis for the business travel. |
| Status | Status of the business travel request. Automatically filled in when the document administration functions are launched. |
| Order No. | Automatically filled in when the corresponding order is created based on the request. |
4. Other Activity Request
The fields of the statement are filled as follows:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| No. | The number of the statement. Automatically determined based on the established series of numbers. |
| Employee No. | Automatically filled with the code of the employee - the owner of the personal account. At the same time, there is an option to change the value by specifying the code of another employee (for cases when the statement is created for another employee). |
| Employee Name | The name of the employee is automatically filled in after filling in the Employee Code. |
| Time Activity Code | The Time activity code that determines the type of other absence. |
| Time Activity Group | The Time activity group that determines the type of order to be created. Cannot be specified if the Time Activity Code field is filled. It is recommended to fill in the Time Activity Code field for the proper functioning of the request approval workflow. |
| Description | The description of the statement of other absence. The field is automatically filled with the name of the activity code and can be manually changed. |
| Request Date | The date of submitting the request of other absence. |
| Start Date | The start date of the absence. |
| End Date | The end date of the absence. |
| Start Time | The planned start time of the absence. Automatically set to the start time of the working day specified in the payroll calendar. The value can be manually changed. If the absence statement is not for a full working day, the Start Date and End Date of such absence should be within the same day. |
| End Time | The planned end time of the absence. Automatically set to the end time of the working day specified in the payroll calendar. The value can be manually changed. If the absence statement is not for a full working day, the Start Date and End Date of such absence should be within the same day. |
| Calendar Days | The number of calendar days of absence. The field is automatically filled when filling in the End Date field. |
| Working Days | The number of working days for the absence period. The field is automatically filled when filling in the End Date field. |
| Working Hours | The number of working hours for the absence period. The field is automatically filled when filling in the End Date field. |
| Abroad | Specify "Yes" if the employee will be abroad during the absence. |
| On Mobile | Specify "Yes" if the employee will be available on a mobile phone during the absence. |
| On E-mail | Specify "Yes" if the employee will be available via email during the absence. |
| Status | The status of the request of other absence. The field is automatically filled when the document administration functions are launched. |
| Order No. | Automatically filled when the corresponding order is created based on the request. |
Step 10: Approval Workflow for Absence Requests
The SMART Employee Self Service application allows not only creating requests in the employee's personal account but also sending them for approval. To do this, you need to configure the Approval Workflow for absence requests.
1. Creating a Workflow
Path: Workflows
On the list of Workflows, click New workflow from template, select the Time Activity Request Workflow template in the Payroll category.
In the Workflow steps, for the event Approval of out-of-office is requested, select a value in the On Condition field. On the opened page, set a filter based on the Type field and specify the types of absence requests that need to be approved through the workflow.
In the Workflow steps, for the event Approval of out-of-office is requested, click (+) Add record restriction in the Then Response field. On the opened page, select the second process response Create an approval request for the record using... In the Options for the Selected Response, configure the approval request parameters (delegation, approval deadline). In the Approver type field, select the option HRP Approval Setup.
2. HRP Approval Setup
Path: HRP Approval Setup
On the HRP Approval Setup page, you can specify approvers for different types of requests with different priorities based on the settings:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Employee No. | Specify the employee for whom to set a personal approver. This field has the highest priority when determining the approver for an absence request. |
| Org. Unit Code | Specifies the department for which to set the approver for absence requests. This field has the second priority after the Employee No. |
| Org. Unit Name | Automatically filled after filling in the Department No. |
| Type | Set the type of leave request that will be sent for approval based on the corresponding parameters. If the field is empty, all absence requests will be sent based on the configured parameters. |
| Time Activity Code | Specifies the time activity code for which to set the approver for absence requests. This field has the third priority after the Employee No. and Org. Unit Code. |
| Time Activity Group | Specifies the time activity group for which to set the approver for absence requests. This field has the fourth priority after the Employee No., Org. Unit Code and Time Activity Code. |
| Approver Type | Specifies the type of approver: 1) User; 2) Workflow User Group; 3) Department Manager. |
| Approver User ID | Specify the user who will approve absence requests. The value can be specified only if the Approver Type field is set to User. |
| Workflow User Group Code | Specify the user group of the workflow users who will approve absence requests. The value can be specified only if the Approver Type field is set to Workflow User Group. |
| Limit for Auto Approve | If necessary, to automatically approve requests with a duration up to a certain value, specify this limit in the field. The value is specified in hours. For example, if you want requests with a duration less than or equal to 15 minutes to be automatically approved, you need to specify 0.25 in this field. |
3. Submitting Approval Requests
After the user creates and fills out an absence request, it needs to be submitted for approval. To do this, on the request card, select Actions - Request Approval - Send Approval Request.
After submitting the approval request, its status will change to Pending Approval. Once the request has this status, it cannot be modified.
The approval chain can be viewed from the absence request card: Actions - Request Approval - Approvals.
If there is a need to modify or delete an absence request that has been submitted for approval but has not yet been approved, the approval request can be revoked: from the absence request card, select Actions - Request Approval - Cancel Approval Request. The request card will become available for editing and deletion. The edited request can be resubmitted for approval.
If there is a need to cancel an already approved request that has not yet resulted in the creation of an order (i.e., the Order No. field in the request is empty), such a request can be canceled using the action on the request card General - Cancel. After cancellation, the status of the request will change to Canceled, and it cannot be edited or deleted. If there is a need to create a new request for the same day, a new absence request must be created.
4. Approval of Absence Requests
After an employee submits an absence request for approval, the approval request appears in the approver's workspace. To open the pending approval requests, select Approval Requests in the tile block Approvals on the role center interface. Alternatively, you can find the Approval Requests page through search.
The page will display all the requests awaiting approval. The following actions are available for the requests:
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Open Request | Opens the absence request card. |
| Approve | Approves the absence request. After performing this action, the request status changes to Approved. |
| Reject | Rejects the approval request. After performing this action, the request status changes to Rejected. |
| Delegate | If the approval process has delegation configured for the user group specified as the approver for the request, the request can be delegated, and the approval will be redirected to the delegate. |