Delegating a task to someone else
What you'll learn
- When to delegate a task
- How to pick someone and send it to them
- What the person you delegate to can do with the task
- How to tell whether delegation is even allowed for a task
When to delegate
Delegation is how you hand a task you've been assigned over to someone else. Typical reasons:
- You're out of the office and don't want the task to go overdue.
- The decision needs expertise you don't have — a technical question, a legal review, a specialist approver.
- Conflict of interest — the document is yours or a close colleague's and someone else should review it.
- You're covering for someone who should have been the approver and it was routed to you by mistake.
If the task just needs a small clarification, use the Discussion Board instead of delegating — see Using the discussion board.
Is delegation available for this task?
Not every task can be delegated. Your admin decides per-task whether delegation is allowed, and the backend decides who you can delegate to. If any of these is false, the Delegate button won't appear in the right column:
- The task has to be configured with delegation allowed.
- There has to be at least one valid candidate for delegation — VAT Portal knows who is allowed to take this specific task, and returns that list.
- The task can't be a creator-confirmation step (the final creator-acknowledges step at the end of some workflows).
If Delegate is missing and you think it should be there, ask your admin to enable delegation on the workflow task, or add candidates.
Delegating, step by step
- Open the task from Document Flow → My Tasks.
- In the right column, click the blue Delegate button.
- The button highlights, and a form expands below it.
- In the Delegate to dropdown, pick the person you want to hand the task to. Only users who are allowed to receive this task appear here.
- Write a comment (optional but strongly recommended) explaining why you're delegating. The person receiving the task sees this, and it's also saved to the audit history. Something like "I'm on leave next week — please handle this one" or "You're closer to this supplier, can you review?" helps.
- (Optional) Attach any files that support the delegation.
- Click the blue Delegate button at the bottom of the form.
- It shows a spinner while the delegation is being processed.
- After a moment, you're redirected back to My Tasks. The task is no longer in your list.
What happens on the other end
Once you submit:
- The task appears in the chosen person's My Tasks list, with a small amber "Delegated to you" label beneath the task name.
- When they open it, they see a Task Info card noting that the task was delegated from you, along with your comment.
- They can act on it just like any other task: Approve, Reject, Delegate further (if that's still allowed), or Return it to you (see Returning a delegated task).
Your name stays in the audit history as the original assignee, and the delegation chain is preserved.
Common questions
The Delegate button isn't there. Why?
One of three things:
- Your admin didn't enable delegation for this workflow task.
- There are no valid candidates (no one is configured as eligible to receive this task).
- You're on a creator-confirmation step, which can't be delegated.
Ask your admin if you think delegation should be allowed.
The person I want to delegate to isn't in the list.
The candidate list is controlled by your admin through the workflow configuration. If a specific person needs to be able to receive this task, ask your admin to add them to the task's delegation settings.
Can the person I delegate to delegate it again to someone else?
Depending on how your admin configured the task, yes — further delegation may be allowed. The delegate will see a Delegate button themselves if it is.
Can I take the task back if I change my mind?
Not directly. Once you delegate, the task is theirs. If they haven't acted on it yet, they can return it to you via the Undelegate action. See Returning a delegated task. If they've already approved or rejected, the action is final.
If I delegate, does my deadline reset?
No. The task's deadline is the original one — delegation doesn't buy extra time. If the task was already close to due, tell the delegate so they can act quickly.
Can I delegate a task that was delegated to me?
Depending on admin configuration, yes. If the Delegate button appears on a task that was delegated to you, you can delegate it again. The chain is preserved in history.
What's the difference between delegating and just asking someone to sign in as me?
Delegation uses VAT Portal's real audit trail — it's clear to everyone later who actually approved the document and how it got to them. Logging in as someone else hides that and can cause trouble in audits. Always delegate through the UI.
Does the person receiving the task get notified?
They see it in their My Tasks list immediately. If your admin has configured email notifications for task assignments, those fire too. If you want to be sure, tell them directly — email, Slack, or a discussion-board message on the document.