FARM Setup Reminders

The Financial Approvers and Related Metadata (FARM) system is used by planning units to maintain their approvers for finance and human resource transactions.  If these approvers are not set up properly, it results in errors that delay the processing of these transactions.  We would like to share a few FARM setup reminders to help reduce these errors/delays: 

• Ensure approvers are updated and current – Use the Replace Approver, Copy Approver, and Remove Approver features in FARM to easily maintain the approvers for your unit.  More information about these features can be found in the Fiscal Officers quick reference guide:    If an employee is leaving their role or the university, please remember to update their approval roles in FARM.  Inactive employees listed as approvers in FARM will cause your transactions to fail.
• Avoid overlapping dates – If you are replacing an approver in FARM, please be sure that you select start and end dates that do not overlap.  For example, if Susie is the new approver starting Sep. 1^st and they will replace Bob, please end Bob’s approver role effective Aug. 31^st, not Sep. 1^st.  
• Avoid date gaps – If you are replacing an approver in FARM, please be sure that you select start and end dates that do not have gaps.  For example, if Susie is the new approver starting Sep. 1^st and they will replace Bob, please end Bob’s approver role effective Aug. 31^st, not at an earlier date.  If Bob’s role needs to be ended prior to Aug. 31^st, you must enter an interim approver in FARM until Susie’s approval role begins on Sep. 1^st. 
• Avoid missing approvers – Every organization must have at least one approver in every approval role in FARM.
• Avoid duplicate approver issues – Some approval levels allow duplicates, while others will not.  The chart below shows which approval roles permit multiple approvers.