Appearance
SLA Tracking
PayInvoice Next automatically tracks the turnaround time (TAT) for every workflow state transition on every document in the system. This means you always know how long a Purchase Order has been waiting for approval, how quickly invoices are being processed, and where bottlenecks exist in your procurement cycle.
How SLA Tracking Works
Every time a document changes workflow state — for example, when a Purchase Order moves from "Draft" to "Pending L1 Approval" — the SLA tracking engine records the timestamp. When the document moves to the next state, the engine calculates the time spent and compares it against the defined SLA target.
This happens automatically. You do not need to start or stop any timer. The engine runs in the background on every document save across the entire system.
What Gets Tracked
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| State Entry Time | When the document entered the current workflow state. |
| State Exit Time | When the document left the state (i.e., when the approver acted). |
| Time in State | The duration the document spent in this state (working hours only if configured). |
| SLA Target | The maximum allowed time for this state (e.g., 24 working hours for L1 approval). |
| SLA Status | Within SLA, Warning (approaching limit), or Breached. |
| Acting User | Who performed the action that moved the document to the next state. |
Working Hours Configuration
SLA calculations can be based on either calendar time or working hours. If your organization has defined working hours (e.g., Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM), the SLA engine excludes non-working hours and holidays from the TAT calculation. This ensures that documents are not flagged as breached simply because they arrived on a Friday evening.
Where to See SLA Information
On the document itself — Every workflow-enabled document displays its current SLA status. If the document is approaching or has breached its SLA, a visual indicator appears.
In the daily SLA summary email — Sent every weekday at 8:00 AM to relevant managers. The summary includes documents currently in breach, documents approaching breach, and overall SLA compliance rates by document type.
In SLA reports — Detailed reports showing TAT statistics by document type, department, approver, and time period. See SLA Dashboard & Reports for details.
SLA Targets by Document Type
Your administrator defines SLA targets for each workflow state on each document type. Common examples:
| Document | State | Typical SLA Target |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase Request | Pending Approval | 24 working hours |
| Purchase Order | Pending L1 Approval | 24 working hours |
| Purchase Order | Pending L2 Approval | 48 working hours |
| Purchase Invoice | Pending Verification | 24 working hours |
| Purchase Invoice | Pending Finance Approval | 48 working hours |
| Budget Entry | Pending Budget Manager Approval | 48 working hours |
These are examples — your organization's actual SLA targets are configured by your administrator and may differ.
What Happens When an SLA Is Breached
When a document exceeds its SLA target, the system takes automatic action. See Understanding SLA Breaches for the full escalation process.
Related Pages
- Understanding SLA Breaches — Breach triggers, severity, and escalation
- SLA Dashboard & Reports — Viewing SLA metrics
- How Approvals Work — The approval process that SLA tracks
- Delegation & Escalation — Preventing breaches through delegation