The Problem with e-Office for Expenditure Authorization

To understand why a new system was needed, we must first understand the limitations of the existing one. The e-Office system TGO had been using was designed for general correspondence management -- handling tasks like sending and receiving official documents and archiving records. It performed well for those purposes. However, when applied to the expenditure authorization process, several problems emerged:

• Not designed for financial operations -- e-Office is a correspondence system that handles general government documents. It lacks the data structure to support financial details such as budget codes, spending limits, or item/service line items.
• No integration with the ERP system -- Once a document was approved in e-Office, staff had to re-enter the same data into the ERP system, creating duplicate work and increasing the risk of errors.
• No real-time budget visibility -- Requestors had no way of knowing the remaining budget balance. They had to call the accounting department or check the ERP system separately.
• Difficult to track document status -- There was no way to know whose desk a document was sitting on, how many days it had been waiting, or whether it had been returned. Staff had to make phone calls to check individually.

The Digital Memo Screen in the New System

Every approval process begins with a "Memo" -- a document format that all government officials are thoroughly familiar with. The new system was designed to mirror the traditional paper memo as closely as possible, minimizing the learning curve:

• Header section: Subject, To (approver), Reference (related documents), Enclosures (attachments)
• Body section: A rich text editor for composing the memo content, supporting text formatting, tables, and images
• Attachments section: Attach supporting documents such as quotations, Terms of Reference (TOR), and specification documents
• Automatic PR/PO/Budget linking: The system automatically pulls data from the ERP, displaying PR numbers, item/service line items, amounts, and remaining budget balances

Aspect	Paper Memo	Digital Memo in ERP
Document creation	Typed in Word, then printed	Filled in the system, PDF generated automatically
Budget information	Must contact accounting separately	Pulled from ERP automatically, remaining balance shown instantly
Reference documents	Attach photocopies	Direct links to PR/PO within the system
Storage	Physical folders, difficult to search	Instantly searchable in the system
Revisions	Must retype the entire document	Edit in the system with version history saved every time

Document Approval Routing (Approval Flow)

At the heart of the Workflow system is the approval routing, configured according to the organizational structure and designed with the flexibility required by government agencies:

• Routing based on organizational hierarchy -- The system defines the approval sequence following the chain of command, e.g., Division Head → Bureau Director → Executive Director
• Support for acting officers / delegates -- When an authorized approver is unavailable, the system can automatically route to their designated acting officer, recording it as "acting on behalf of" in the Audit Trail
• Clear document statuses: Draft → Submitted → Under Review → Approved / Returned -- All statuses are displayed in real-time, visible to all stakeholders
• Document recall by the originator -- While a document is in the approval pipeline, if errors are discovered, the originator can recall it for corrections and resubmit
• Notifications via LINE / Email -- When a document is pending approval, the system sends instant notifications to the approver's LINE and Email, eliminating the need to manually check the system

Document Signing (Digital Signature)

One of the key features that makes the approval process truly digital is the digital signature system on PDF documents, supporting both approval signatures and acknowledgment signatures:

• Digital signature directly on PDF documents -- Approvers can sign PDF documents directly, with the signature permanently embedded in the document
• Complete log of every signature -- The system records full details each time a signature is applied: who signed, when (timestamp), from which IP address, and in what capacity (approver / acting officer)
• Support for both approval and acknowledgment signatures -- Signature types are clearly differentiated. Approvers sign as "Approved" or "Not Approved" with comments, while other stakeholders can sign to "Acknowledge"

Technical Implementation Details

Behind the document approval workflow, several noteworthy technical approaches were employed:

• PDF Generation -- pdfmake is used to generate PDF documents from system data, supporting formatting that complies with official government form standards, with digital signatures embedded directly into the documents
• Digital Signature -- The Canvas API captures the approver's digital signature, which is then converted to an image and embedded in the PDF along with metadata identifying the signer
• Real-time Notification -- WebSocket provides real-time notifications within the system, combined with LINE Notify for external notifications, ensuring approvers are informed immediately when documents are awaiting their action
• State Machine Pattern -- A State Machine Pattern manages document statuses (Draft → Submitted → Under Review → Approved/Returned), ensuring documents can only transition along defined paths and preventing steps from being skipped
• Audit Trail -- Every action on a document is recorded, from creation, editing, submission, signing, and return, through to final approval -- each entry includes a timestamp, User ID, IP address, and details of the change

Results

After deploying the document approval workflow, the results have clearly transformed how TGO operates:

Aspect	Before (e-Office + Paper)	After (Workflow in ERP)
Approval time	1-2 weeks	1-2 days
Paper usage	Multiple printed copies	No printing required (Paperless)
Data entry errors	Frequent (data entered in e-Office, then re-entered in ERP)	Eliminated (data automatically integrated with ERP)
Status tracking	Phone calls to individuals	Dashboard view + automatic LINE notifications
Budget verification	Must contact accounting separately	Remaining balance shown instantly from ERP
Historical audit	Search through physical file folders	Complete Audit Trail for every transaction

• Approval time reduced from 2 weeks to 1-2 days -- Documents reach approvers within minutes, eliminating the wait for physical document routing
• No more paper document handling -- Every step is completed through the system with digital signatures applied directly on PDFs
• Instant budget verification -- No need to call the accounting department; the system displays remaining balances in real-time
• Automatic ERP data integration -- No duplicate data entry, eliminating errors from manual re-keying

Conclusion

The document approval workflow developed to replace e-Office for expenditure authorization is a clear demonstration that when a system is purpose-built for financial processes, the results are far superior to adapting a general-purpose tool. From the familiar memo interface, organizational hierarchy-based approval routing, and digital signatures with full Audit Trail, to LINE notifications -- everything works seamlessly with the ERP.

In Episode 4, we will take a deep dive into the KPI Dashboard, designed to support performance reporting to the board of directors and ministers, featuring real-time data visualization techniques -- stay tuned!

"Documents that used to take 2 weeks to travel across desks now reach the approver within minutes -- and every signature has a full Audit Trail that can be traced back at any time."

- Saeree ERP Team

Interested in a document approval workflow for your organization? You can schedule a demo or contact our consulting team to assess your organization's readiness.