In the Agreement settings, there are a variety of options for automating processes in Oable, and it is even possible to completely automate a Request's workflow from import to payment. However, it is important to be understand the implications and sensitivities around such settings.

Also, for some Agreements, it won't be possible to change the automation settings because the Agreement may be managed by the publisher (see also Publisher Managed Agreements).

Currently there are 4 automation options that can be switched on or off:

1. Automatically assign Requests to Agreements

When this is turned on, it means that at the start of Request processing, the system will search for the associated active Agreements to match the Request with. Matching occurs via ISSN and (if provided) the start and end date of an Agreement.

If a Request's parameters are found to match that Agreement, and no conflict is found, the system will automatically assign the Agreement to the Request.

2. Automatically approve Requests for funding

Sometimes, Requests do not need to be manually approved by a user. In this case, this automation option can be switched on, so that Requests assigned to this Agreement are approved automatically.

Important note: if Requests are not compliant with the Agreement Eligibility parameters, no auto-approval will occur (even when switched on) and the Request will require manual approval or denial.

3. Automatically plan transactions.

When this option is switched on, the system will try to automatically set up a transaction using the default payment method if one has been configured in the Agreement.

Important note: this automation feature only pre-sets the parameters and will not try carry out do the actual payment.

4. Automatically process planned transactions.

If this option is switched on the planned transaction will automatically be paid.

Possible automation settings and recommendations

Different combinations of the automation settings listed above result in different workflows. Below is a list of common scenarios and how can you combine the different automation settings to achieve the desired results:

Scenario	Automation Settings	Recommendation
Manual approval process, but automatic payment process	Option 1: ON Option 2: OFF Option 3: ON Option 4: ON	You should use this combination if you want to approve Requests manually, then want the payment process to run its course. This setup is most common for TA Agreements.
Manual approval process, automatic payment setup, but manual approval for final payment.	Option 1: ON Option 2: OFF Option 3: ON Option 4: OFF	Recommended for double checking the automatically planned `Transactions` before finalizing them. Helpful when working with cost centers for reporting.
Manual approval process and manual payment process.	Option 1: ON Option 2: ON Option 3: OFF Option 4: OFF	Recommended for when the Agreement requires payment parameters to differ from case to case.
Completely hands-off agreement workflow	Option 1: ON Option 2: ON Option 3: ON Option 4: ON	Only recommended for unlimited Agreements where there is no limit on the number of Requests that can go through the Agreement.