Overview

Activity history shows important changes made in FTE Tree, including who made the change, when it happened, and what was affected. Approval requests also keep the requested values, approval path, approvers, decisions, notes, attachments, comments, and approved changes together.

Use activity history to review individual changes. Use reports and exports when an administrator needs to review many records across a date range.

Activity history is designed to answer business review questions, not to replace a conversation. Use comments for discussion, approval notes for decisions, and activity history to confirm the action that was saved.

When an edit page includes an activity note or reason, that information is saved with an actual change. If no saved value changed, the page keeps what you entered and asks you to change at least one field; it does not add an activity-history entry. Use comments when you want to add discussion without changing the record.

Access needed

Activity Access needed
View activity history on a record View access for that record
Configure activity history note settings Manage organization settings
Download a related report The report’s data access plus Export reports
Access setup See Permissions and roles.

What is tracked

FTE Tree records important position-control actions, including:

Area Tracked activity
Positions Created, updated, archived, restored, or discarded while still an eligible unsubmitted draft.
Proposed position values Created, discarded before submission, submitted, approved, denied, invalidated, cancelled, or applied.
Employees Created, updated, deactivated, reactivated, assigned, or changed through dated fields.
Job codes Created, updated, made unavailable or available, or changed through dated fields.
Position assignments Created, updated, ended, cancelled, voided, or vacated.
Organization setup Department, Job code, compensation, Pay grade, adjustment, funding source, and custom field changes.
Approval setup Stage order, field and request-type stage requirements, and department approver assignments.
Approval decisions Approval, denial, direct responses, responses recorded for another approver, overrides, invalidation, and cancellation.
Imports Uploaded, checked, failed, applied, reversed, or downloaded.
Reports Generated, previewed, or downloaded.
User access and security Role, department access, invitation, session, and security setting changes.

The exact details shown depend on what changed and the user’s current position, employee, compensation, access, security, or billing access. Activity history never bypasses those boundaries.

Contact support opens FTE Tree’s external contact destination. Contact messages are separate from organization activity history.

Where to review activity

Start from the record you are investigating:

History location What it covers
Position Position values, proposed changes, comments, assignment changes, and approval links.
Employee Employee profile, employment status, and assignment-related changes.
Department Department details, hierarchy changes, funding setup, approval-stage approver assignments, and organization structure changes.
Approval request Submitted values, approval path, approver decisions, cancellation, responses recorded for another approver, overrides, and when approved changes took effect.
Import Uploaded files, results, applied rows, reversals, and downloads in the import’s Activity history view.
Report Generated reports and downloads.

Use reports or exports when the question spans many records or a date range that would be inefficient to review one record at a time.

Notes and reason choices

Some actions can show a note entry, a reason choice, or both. Your organization can configure whether those inputs are hidden, optional, or required.

Reason-choice availability is changed through a separate action, not a checkbox on the choice form. Open the note setting’s Choices page, open a choice, and select Actions > Make unavailable when it should no longer be offered for new activity. Existing activity history keeps the reason that was recorded. Select Make available to offer the same choice again.

Approval decisions use a short comment. Your organization separately configures whether comments are required when approving and when denying. The same outcome rule applies to direct decisions and decisions recorded on behalf of an approver. The Override request action always requires a reason.

Automatic activities that already describe the change, such as moving an approval stage earlier or later, do not offer note or reason-choice settings. The activity still appears in history with the changed order.

Billing activity does not offer organization-configurable note settings.

Action notes are separate from comments. Use comments for discussion. Use action notes when the note explains the action being saved.

Approval request history

Approval requests preserve the approval path that applied when the request was submitted. Later approval-setting changes do not change that saved path.

The request history can include:

Information Details preserved
Request Request type and request number.
Requested changes Position values and effective dates.
Impact Approved-versus-proposed FTE and cost impact.
Approval path Required stage and approvers chosen for each stage the request must complete.
Supporting information Optional supporting files, request comments, and decision comments.
Approval activity Decisions recorded on behalf of an approver, use of Override request, and approved changes that took effect.

This makes it possible to explain both the final decision and how the request reached that decision.

Review checklist

Use the history to answer four questions:

Question What to review
Who took part? The person who submitted the request or changed the record, each approver, and anyone who recorded a response for another approver or used an override.
What was requested? The approved value, proposed value, calculated impact, reasons, notes, and attachments.
Which dates apply? The effective date for each changed value and the date the final change took effect.
How was it decided? The approval path saved at submission and every approval, denial, invalidation, cancellation, or override.

Reviewing these questions separately helps distinguish the staffing decision from later setting changes.

File attachments and security

Uploaded files can be used as supporting documents for approval requests and support cases. FTE Tree checks uploaded files for file safety concerns before reviewers can download them. If a file cannot be accepted, upload a replacement file.

Do not upload documents that are not needed for the business decision. Attach only supporting files that reviewers genuinely need for the decision.

Reviewing history

Use Activity history on the item you are reviewing when you need its full history. Use reports when you need to review many items, approval activity, report downloads, imports, or access changes across a date range.

Retention expectations

Activity history, report history, and history exports are kept according to the organization’s retention rules. Notification delivery details or security activity may be kept for a shorter time than staffing and approval history. See Data retention and account deletion for details.

Common mistakes

  • Using comments when an approval decision note is required.
  • Uploading more sensitive material than the request needs.
  • Reviewing today’s position page when the question is about a prior effective date.
  • Assuming a later approval-setting change altered an already-submitted request.
  • Comparing a report total to a position’s Summary or Details page without checking the report date range.