Investment programs and sub-requests
An investment program groups related requests under one main request. Use it when one investment is split into several projects, for example a plant upgrade in phases, and you want to follow the total while each part is planned and approved on its own. The requests in the program are called sub-requests.
How investment programs work
Each sub-request keeps its own data, approval route and decisions. Values are not shared between the main request and its sub-requests after creation.
A request becomes a main request when the first sub-request is created from it. There is no separate step to set this up.
A sub-request cannot have sub-requests of its own.
In request lists, a main request has a folder icon with the tooltip "Main request of Investment program". Its sub-requests are shown indented below it.
📌 Note: In 5.3.7 you cannot connect a request that already exists to an investment program. Create the sub-request from the main request instead. Connecting existing requests is planned for version 5.4.
Creating a sub-request
Open the request that should be the main request.
Open the Investment program tab in the left navigation.
Click Create request.
In New request, fill in the request name, production unit and the other fields, and save.
The new sub-request appears in the list on the Investment program tab. The tab shows the number of sub-requests.
🔧 Configuration: Your administrator decides which properties a sub-request receives from the main request when it is created. These properties are marked Receives value from parent on creation. Name, money and calculated properties are never copied.
🔒 To create a sub-request, you need permission to create requests, or edit permission on the request together with the Child request creation permission.
Investment program tab
The Investment program tab on the main request has two parts.
Sub-request list: all sub-requests in the program. Rejected sub-requests are shown in red and completed ones in green. Draft sub-requests are only shown to the person who created them.
Overview: a summary of the expenditures of the main request and all its sub-requests, by fiscal year, quarter and month. You can break it down by category group and category, and filter on expense type and approval state. Click an amount to open the investment plan of that request.
📌 Note: All amounts in the Overview are converted to the currency of the main request, using monthly exchange rates.
Moving expenditures to a sub-request
You can move an expenditure from the main request to one of its sub-requests.
Open the main request and go to the Capex tab.
In the expenditure grid, select the expenditure you want to move.
Click Move.
Select the sub-request to move the expenditure to, and confirm.
📌 Note: Move is only available when the main request has sub-requests, you can edit the main request, and it has not passed final approval. If your environment uses accrual and cash views, Move is only shown in the accrual view.
Investment programs in the Investment Plan
When you have not sorted the Investment Plan yourself, each investment program gets a summary row with the program total in the main request's currency. Its sub-requests are listed below it, and the main request's own row has " - Main" after its name. The Excel export uses the same grouping.
👉 Learn more about finding requests by investment program in the Investment Plan
Investment program property NEW IN 5.3.7
The read-only Investment program property shows the name of the main request a request belongs to. A main request shows its own name, and a request outside a program is blank.
You can add it to request forms and Power Mode views, and filter, sort and group on it.
The value follows the main request if it is renamed.
📌 Note: Investment program replaces the Investment program ID property, which could be edited. If your request forms or Power Mode layouts use Investment program ID, check them after the upgrade to 5.3.7.
Approving a main request step in a sub-request
An administrator can set a step of the main request to be approved in a sub-request. On that step, the main request shows "The step's approval should be done in a subrequest" and a Select subrequest button. When the selected sub-request gets its final approval, the step in the main request is approved automatically.
To change or remove the link, use Change subrequest or Unlink subrequest.
👉 Learn more about approval routes
Rejecting or deleting a main request
Rejecting the main request also rejects its open sub-requests. The confirmation lists the sub-requests that will be rejected.
Deleting a sub-request removes it from the program.
Deleting the main request, or its last sub-request, ends the program.
⚠️ Warning: Rejecting a main request cannot be limited to the main request alone. Check the list in the confirmation before you confirm.