Workflow Engine

Overview#

Every write operation in Artifi goes through the Workflow Engine — a universal gateway that validates data, assesses risk, routes approvals, and executes business logic. This ensures complete auditability and consistent processing for all operations.

Whether you're creating a vendor, posting an invoice, or running a payment batch, the workflow engine handles it.

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How It Works#

The Submit Gateway#

All write operations use a single entry point. You specify:

• What you're working with (vendor, invoice, payment batch, etc.)
• What operation to perform (create, update, post, approve, etc.)
• The data for the operation

The workflow engine then:

1. Validates the data using type-safe schemas
2. Assesses risk based on configurable rules
3. Routes to the appropriate approval lane
4. Executes the business logic
5. Records the full audit trail

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Risk-Based Lane Assignment#

Every operation is assessed for risk and assigned to one of three lanes:

Green Lane — Auto-Approved#

Low-risk operations that execute immediately without human approval.

Examples:

• Creating a new vendor record
• Updating a customer's phone number
• Small journal entries below threshold
• Trusted users performing routine operations

Yellow Lane — Single Approval#

Moderate-risk operations that require one approver before execution.

Examples:

• Updating banking details on a vendor
• Journal entries above a moderate threshold
• Changes to payment terms
• Modifications to active contracts

Red Lane — Multi-Level Approval#

High-risk operations requiring multiple approval levels.

Examples:

• Deleting master data records
• Large financial transactions
• Changes to GL posting profiles
• Bulk operations affecting many records

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Workflow Lifecycle#

Every operation moves through a defined set of states:

1. Submitted — Operation received and queued
2. Validating — Data is being validated against schemas
3. Validated — Data passed validation
4. Approved — Green lane auto-approves; yellow/red lanes wait for approvals
5. Executing — Business logic is running
6. Completed — Operation finished successfully

Failure States#

• Validation Failed — Data didn't pass schema validation (returned to submitter with errors)
• Rejected — An approver denied the operation
• Execution Failed — Business logic encountered an error

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Approval Routing#

How Approvals Work#

When an operation lands in the yellow or red lane:

1. The system identifies eligible approvers based on the operation type and entity
2. Approvers are notified
3. Each approver can approve, reject, or request changes
4. For red lane: all required approval levels must approve
5. Once fully approved, the operation executes automatically

Approval Tasks#

Approvers see their pending tasks with full context:

• What operation was requested
• Who submitted it
• The complete payload data
• Risk assessment details
• Any comments from the submitter

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Workflow Types#

The engine supports 30+ operation types across all domains:

Master Data#

• Vendor, customer, employee create/update/delete
• Item and account management
• Dimension value management

Financial Transactions#

• AP invoices, AR invoices, credit notes
• Journal entries
• Payment batches
• Bank reconciliation

Contracts & Billing#

• Recurring contract lifecycle
• Billing runs
• Prepaid wallet operations

Fixed Assets#

• Asset acquisition, disposal, transfer
• Depreciation runs

Specialized#

• Payroll processing
• Cost allocation runs
• Budget management

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Audit Trail#

Every workflow creates a complete audit trail:

• Who submitted the operation
• When it was submitted
• What data was provided
• Risk assessment results and lane assignment
• Approval chain — who approved/rejected and when
• Execution result — success or failure details
• Comments — from submitter and approvers

This provides full traceability for compliance and financial auditing.

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Key Benefits#

Consistency#

All write operations follow the same path regardless of how they're initiated — through the AI assistant, admin dashboard, API, or autonomous agents.

Flexibility#

Risk rules, approval thresholds, and lane assignments are configurable per organization and entity. You can tighten controls for high-risk entities or relax them for trusted operations.

Scalability#

The workflow engine processes operations asynchronously, handling high volumes of concurrent operations without blocking.

Compliance#

Built-in audit trails, approval chains, and risk assessment satisfy regulatory requirements for financial controls and segregation of duties.