Policy validation can wait until after the first release.

The policy validations that would help reduce back and forth most are
the ones that are hard to implement: checking that attachments
actually include the necessary information, checking that per diems
match limits, etc.  Building to be able to accommodate these is going
to take time, and we don't need to make all that investment for the
first release.
This commit is contained in:
Brett Smith 2016-08-31 11:45:03 -04:00
parent 341cf7c85b
commit 60aba5b03b

View file

@ -37,31 +37,25 @@ forms, validate answers, and record answers for questions with the following
types of answers:
* Text
* Boolean (yes/no)
* Selection (from a list of values)
* Number
* Currency (this is probably a string that's validated to have a numeric part plus an optional currency code)
* Date
* Currency (We may not need strict validation, but the system must at least
understand that different currencies exist, and be able to validate that a
currency is specified when needed. Using a plain Number for currency is
not sufficient.)
* File upload
For each question, the administrator can define any number of conditions to
check against the requestor's answer. When a requestor submits an answer that does
not comply with all of the conditions, the answer is flagged in the interface
as making the expense non-reimuburseable. The first release must support the
following conditions:
Other types like boolean and date would be nice, but I think they could be
expressed with the types above.
* Boolean: is yes, or is no
* Selection: the selected value is in a specific subset of values
* Date: the value is N days before and/or after today or a date in another answer
Using these same conditions, the administrator can define questions that are
conditional on other questions' answers. These questions are only presented
to the requestors when they submit an answer that meets the specified conditions.
For illustration purposes, the canonical deployment will have
relatively few unconditional questions about each expense (type of expense,
receipt, amount), and then a series of conditional questions based on those
answers (e.g., follow-up questions specific to airfare expenses,
accommodations expenses, etc.).
It is expected that one question about expenses will be the type of expense
(e.g., airfare, accommodations, meals, office supplies). The administrator
must be able to define follow-up questions that are asked based on the
expense type, to request additional information as required by policy. For
example, Conservancy requires airfare search results to be attached to
airfare reimbursement requests. Requestors should be prompted for this
documentation when submitting reimbursements for flights, and not for other
expenses.
### Requestor workflow
@ -75,16 +69,15 @@ similarly shows all the questions and answers about it.
When a report is In Progress state, the requestor can edit any answer in the
report or an associated expense. They can also add an expense, which begins
by asking them unconditional questions associated with expenses, and then
by asking them questions common to all expenses, and then
follow-up questions as necessary based on those answers.
When an In Progress report has at least one expense associated with it, and
all questions have been answered, the requestor may submit the request for
approval. If any of the answers do not meet the administrator's conditions
for payment, the requestor may still submit the request, and provide an
explanation for why the request should be paid (e.g., because it was
approved in advance). Once the request is submitted, it moves to the
Submitted state.
approval, along with optional notes about the request.
Once the request is submitted, it moves to the Submitted state.
Bookkeepers receive an e-mail notification that the request is ready for
review, including the notes written by the requestor.
### Bookkeeper workflow
@ -147,9 +140,41 @@ existing system to use, or framework to build on, based on its ability to
support these features. However, they needn't be a focus of development
effort for the first release.
* Administrator-defined policy validations
Some validations we would like to have:
* A value from a selection is in a specific subset of values
* A date is within N days before and/or after today or a date in another answer
* A currency amount is over or under a limit, with automatic conversion as needed
* The limit on a currency amount is defined by an outside source - The
main case for this is per diem, where many organizations use rates that
are determined by another party like the US GSA and updated periodically.
These may need to be compounded. For example, an administrator may want
to define a policy, "If an employee did not use a preferred airline, and
did not travel internationally, it does not meet policy."
* Flag non-reimburseable expenses based on policy validations
When the requestor answers questions that are outside the policy
validations, the system should flag the answer and explain how it falls
outside policy. The requestor should still be able to submit the request,
but they should be prompted to explain why the request should be fulfilled
despite policy problems.
* Ask additional questions based on policy validations
For example, "If the expense type is office supplies, and the cost is over
$50, prompt for a receipt."
* Allow optional questions
* Along with this, question conditions probably need to
be extended to address the case of "other question isn't answered"
Along with this, policy validations probably need to
be extended to address the case of "other question isn't answered"
* Additional exporters
* Export to SQLedger
@ -169,23 +194,16 @@ effort for the first release.
* A leader may need to approve a request before
it's added to the books, like an employee's manager or a program director
* Various currency improvements
* Automatic currency conversion for validation (e.g., validate that an amount
in an aribtrary currency is within a limit in USD)
* Show currency amounts in the requestor's reimbursement currency
* Validate currency amounts from outside data sources: The main case for
this is per diem, where many organizations use rates that are determined
by another party (e.g., US GSA) and updated periodically.
* Handle totaling the request based on currency (e.g., expenses can are in
USD, EUR, CHR but the traveler may want payment in INR.) Unclear what
interface for this would look like, but real-time data about past
currency rates might be available via an API somewhere, and we can use
that to have the requestor give us "preferred currency for payment" so
all changes happen in real time in the interface (even allowing the
requestor to be able to decide *while filling out the report*: "ugh,
these exchange rates to INR are horrible; I'll have them pay my USD
account instead").
For example, the requestor can submit a reimbursement with expenses in
USD, EUR, and CHR, but wants payment in INR. Unclear what
interface for this would look like, but real-time data about past currency
rates might be available via an API somewhere, and we can use that to have
the requestor give us "preferred currency for payment" so all changes
happen in real time in the interface (even allowing the requestor to be
able to decide *while filling out the report*: "ugh, these exchange rates
to INR are horrible; I'll have them pay my USD account instead").
* Data import
* Apps like [Tricky Tripper](http://trickytripper.blogspot.de/) let users