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Oracle Applications White Paper

White Paper on Invoice Approval


Workflow Using Approval
Management Engine in R12
Author: Meha Agrawal and Rupali Ghosh
Reviewed By: Sanjay Prasad
Creation Date: February 6,2015
Last Updated: February 8,2015
Version: 1.0
Status: FINAL

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Page 1

Contents
1

OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................................................................... 3

OBJECTIVE ........................................................................................................................................................................... 3

SCOPE/OUT OF SCOPE........................................................................................................................................................ 3

TERMS USED ........................................................................................................................................................................ 4

BUSINESS CASE................................................................................................................................................................... 4
5.1 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................................................. 4
5.2 BUSINESS EXAMPLES ........................................................................................................................................................ 4

INITIAL SETUP ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5


6.1 PAYABLES OPTION ............................................................................................................................................................ 5
6.2 SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR SETUP ................................................................................................................................. 6

BUSINESS FLOW ................................................................................................................................................................. 7


CASE 1: APPROVAL OF FOREIGN CURRENCY INVOICES ............................................................................................... 7
CASE 2: APPROVAL OF PO MATCHED INVOICES ........................................................................................................... 14
CASE 3- APPROVAL FROM THE SUPERVISOR OF THE REQUESTER .......................................................................... 23
CASE 4 - APPROVAL BASED ON LEGAL ENTITY ............................................................................................................ 31

TROUBLESHOOTING INVOICE APPROVAL WORKFLOW ......................................................................................... 38

TECHNICAL ASPECT ........................................................................................................................................................ 39

10

LINE LEVEL APPROVAL IN R12 ..................................................................................................................................... 41

11

PARALLEL APPROVAL .................................................................................................................................................... 41

12

REFERENCE ........................................................................................................................................................................ 42

13

CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................................................... 42

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OVERVIEW

Organizations prefer to have approval process configured for the Payables before the invoice is paid off. This is useful from an
Audit perspective as well as it eliminates mistakes made by data entry clerk. It also leaves very little chance of an unauthorized
payment as approvers might question Corporate Finance team of the organization if some invoice looks out of the ordinary. If the
data entry clerk makes a mistake during entering the invoice, the invoice might be paid off before the mistake is spotted. To avoid
these scenarios organizations might implement AP invoice approval process.
The Invoice Approval Workflow automates your invoice approval process. Based on rules you define (using the Approvals
Management Application), the workflow determines if an invoice needs approval, who the appropriate approvers are, and in what
order approvers should approve payment of the invoice. The workflow then sequentially asks each approver in the approval list to
approve invoices online.

OBJECTIVE

Objective of this white paper is to improve readers understanding of Invoice Approval workflow using Approval management
Engine in R12.This white paper demonstrates few business cases on how invoice is sent for approval using rules defined in
Approval management engine.

SCOPE/OUT OF SCOPE

This white paper will cover


1. Setup steps in System Administrator, HRMS, Payables, Approval Management Business Analyst for Invoice Approval
Workflow.
2. Test Cases to initiate invoice for approval using different AME rules.
3. Troubleshooting Invoice approval workflow.
4. Brief description on parallel approval.
This whitepaper will not cover
1. Workflow details.
2. How to add AME responsibility to users And AME setups for different Transaction Types.
3. Purchase order creation and PO approval.
4. Use of different Action types in AME.
5. Creation of custom attributes in Approval management business analyst.

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TERMS USED

Approval Management Business Analyst: AM Business Analyst


Transaction Type Id: APINV (Payables Invoice Approval)
Operating Unit: OU

BUSINESS CASE

5.1 METHODOLOGY
The Invoice Approval Workflow automates invoice approval process. Based on rules
defined in AME, the workflow determines if an invoice needs approval, identify approvers, and order in which approvers should
approve the invoice. The workflow then sends approval in a serial order to each approver defined in the approval group. There
are four different business scenarios discussed in this White paper.

5.2 BUSINESS EXAMPLES


BUSINESS FLOW 1 - Approval of foreign currency invoices. Consider the ledger currency of the organization is USD, and
Invoice is entered in EUR (which is the Transaction currency). Approval is required for the invoices which are entered in
currency different than the ledger currency.
BUSINESS FLOW 2 - Approval of PO matched Invoices
BUSINESS FLOW 3 - Approval of invoices from the supervisor of requester.
BUSINESS FLOW 4 - Approval of invoices based on Legal Entity.

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INITIAL SETUP

6.1 PAYABLES OPTION


In order to send invoices for approval the Use Invoice Approval Workflow should be enabled. Once you enable this option,
all the Invoices entered in a specific Operating unit can be initiated for approval.
You also have an Option to Force approve the invoices. Enable Allow Force approval to get this functionality. Force approval
is required in cases where the payment is approved manually by a hard copy signature. When you force approve the invoice, the
approval status of the invoice is changed to Manually Approved. Force Approval of an Invoice can be done through Invoice
workbench=>Actions=>Force Approval.
If user wants to validate invoices before approval, enable Require Validation Before Approval. If this check box is checked in
payables option, then approval can be initiated only after invoice has been validated.
Following navigation is used to do setup changes in Payables option:
a)

Go to Payables Super User Responsibility => Setup=> Options=> Payables Options.

b)

Query the OU for which you want to enable the Invoice approval workflow

c)

Navigate to Approval Tab.

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6.2 SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR SETUP


Register FND USER as an Application User .
Navigation: System Administrator -> Security -> User -> Define

Note : While defining a FND USER it is not necessary to associate any person or customer.

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BUSINESS FLOW

DISCLAIMER: Audience for this document are the one who knows AME setup in generic.

CASE 1: APPROVAL OF FOREIGN CURRENCY INVOICES


Organizations enter invoices in currency different than their ledger currency. This scenario explains how to send foreign currency
invoices for approval.
For example:
Ledger currency of the organization is USD, Transactions are entered in EUR. Approval is required for the invoices which are
entered in EUR currency. Following different activities would be performed in sequence:
a.

Create a condition based on attribute SUPPLIER_INVOICE_BASE_AMOUNT.

b.

Create an approval group with list of approvers who would be approving invoice

c.

Create an AME rule.

d.

Create a foreign currency invoice ( Currency not equal to ledger currency)

e.

Initiate Approval

f.

Approvers receives the notification in Serial order

g.

Approve the Invoice

Note the Rule will be triggered based on the Functional amount of Invoice.
For example:Invoice amount (in entered currency) = 50
Functional amount (in ledger currency) = 150
The rule will be triggered based on Functional amount 150

SET UP STEPS
1.

Create Condition in AME using Oracle seeded attribute SUPPLIER_INVOICE_BASE_AMOUNT


a)

Navigation : AM Business Analyst =>Transaction Type Id: APINV =>Condition => Create

b)

Select attribute as SUPPLIER_INVOICE_BASE_AMOUNT

c)

Specify amount range and click Apply.

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2.

Create Approver group


a)

Navigation : AM Business Analyst =>Transaction Type Id: APINV =>Approver group => Create

b)

Enter Approver group name

c)

Specify Order number as 1

d)

Specify Voting method as Serial

e)

Select the approver type as FND USER and associate list of approvers

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3.

Create AME Rule


a)

Navigation : AM Business Analyst =>Transaction Type Id: APINV =>Rules => Create Rule

b)

Enter Rule name: APPROVAL FOR FOREIGN CURR

c)

Select a condition created above.

d)

Select the action type as Approval Group Chain of authority

e)

Select the approver group defined above.

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TRANSACTIONAL STEPS
1.

Create invoice with currency different than ledger currency. Navigation: Payables Super user=>Invoices=>Invoice Entry

NOTE : Invoice Curr is EUR, Functional Currency is USD and Approval status of invoice is Required.

2.

Navigate Actions > Select Initiate Approval > Click Ok

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Once user clicks OK, approval status changes to initiated.

3.

View the approval history of the transaction. Navigation : Invoice Workbench Tool Bar=>Reports=>View invoice approval
history

Note: Here approval goes to MEAGRAW and RUGHOSH as defined in Approval group.

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4.

User MEAGRAW reviews the worklist to approve the invoice. Navigation: Payables Super User -> Workflow -> Worklist

Once transaction is approved by MEAGRAW, approval notification goes to RUGHOSH.


Review the Invoice approval history after MEAGRAW approves the invoice
Navigation: Payables Super user=>Invoices=>Invoice Entry=> Invoice Workbench Tool Bar=>Reports=>View invoice approval
history

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5.

User RUGHOSH reviews worklist to approve the invoice. Navigation: Payables Super User -> Workflow -> Worklist

Once RUGHOSH approves , the approval history will be as below:


Navigation: Payables Super user=>Invoices=>Invoice Entry=> Invoice Workbench Tool Bar=>Reports=>View invoice approval
history

6.

To check the final Status of Invoice, navigate to Invoice Workbench= >General Tab and review Approval Status. It should
be Workflow Approved

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CASE 2: APPROVAL OF PO MATCHED INVOICES


PO already requires approval in purchasing. Thus when a PO matched invoice is created in payables, the status of such invoice
changes to "Not Required". Based on the business requirement, if users want approval for PO matched invoice, following
mandatory setups are required:
a)

End date the existing AME rule: INVOICE HEADER MATCH CHECK and INVOICE LINE MATCH CHECK.

b)

Create a new Rule with condition APPROVE_MATCHED_INVOICES as True and


SUPPLIER_INVOICE_MATCHED as Y.

SET UP STEPS
1.

End Date Oracle seeded AME Rule.


a)

Navigation : AM Business Analyst =>Transaction Type Id: APINV =>Rules

b)

Query Invoice Header Match Check, Click on update icon and enter End Date.

c)

Query Invoice Line Match Check, Click on update icon and enter End Date.

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2.

Create Condition based on oracle seeded attribute APPROVE_MATCHED_INVOICES and


SUPPLIER_INVOICE_MATCHED
a)

Navigation : AM Business Analyst =>Transaction Type Id: APINV =>Condition => Create

b)

Select attribute as APPROVE_MATCHED_INVOICES, Enter value as True and apply.

c)

Select attribute as SUPPLIER_INVOICE_MATCHED, Enter value as Y and apply.

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3.

Create Approver group


a)

Navigation : AM Business Analyst =>Transaction Type Id: APINV =>Approver group => Create

b)

Enter Approver group name

c)

Specify Order number as 1

d)

Specify Voting method as Serial

e)

Select the approver type as FND USER and associate list of approvers

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4.

Create AME Rule


a)

Navigation : AM Business Analyst =>Transaction Type Id: APINV =>Rules => Create Rule

b)

Enter Rule name: PO matched invoice for approval

c)

Select a condition created above (Step-2).

d)

Select the action type as Approval Group Chain of authority

e)

Select the approver group defined above (Step-3).

When an invoice is matched to PO, attribute APPROVE_MATCHED_INVOICES is set to True. Once the rule is setup with
condition APPROVE_MATCHED_INVOICES = True, this rule will then be applicable to all the PO Matched invoices.

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TRANSACTIONAL STEPS
1.

Create Purchase Orders


Navigation: Purchasing Responsibility> Purchase Orders> Purchase Orders
Create a Purchase Order (PO) using a supplier and get it approved

Note: The PO number is 6147 and Status is Approved


2.

Create an Invoice and match to PO 6147

Navigate to Invoice workbench to create a matched invoice.


Navigation: Payables Responsibility> Invoices> Entry> Invoices/Invoice Batches

Note: The invoice is matched to PO number 6147


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3.

Review the status of the Invoice

Note: The Approval status of Invoice is Required


4.

Navigate Actions > Select Initiate Approval > Click Ok

Once user clicks Ok, approval status changes to Initiated.

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5.

View the approval history of the transaction

Navigation: Invoice Workbench Tool Bar=>Reports=>View invoice approval history

Note: Here approval goes to MEAGRAW and RUGHOSH as defined in Approval group.
6.

User MEAGRAW reviews the worklist to approve the invoice. Navigation: Payables Super User -> Workflow -> Worklist

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Once transaction is approved by MEAGRAW, approval notification goes to RUGHOSH.


Review the Invoice approval history after MEAGRAW approves the invoice. Navigation:
Payables Super user=>Invoices=>Invoice Entry=> Invoice Workbench Tool Bar=>Reports=>View invoice approval history

7.

User RUGHOSH reviews worklist to approve the invoice. Navigation: Payables Super User -> Workflow -> Worklist

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Once RUGHOSH approves , the approval history will be as below:


Navigation: Payables Super user=>Invoices=>Invoice Entry=> Invoice Workbench Tool Bar=>Reports=>View invoice approval
history

8.

To check the final Status of Invoice, navigate to Invoice Workbench= >General Tab and review Approval Status. It should
be Workflow Approved

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CASE 3- APPROVAL FROM THE SUPERVISOR OF THE REQUESTER


Every organization has supervisor associated to an employee. There can be business requirement, wherein invoice needs an
approval from the supervisor of the employee.
In this scenario Requester becomes a mandatory field to be entered while creating invoice. When approval is initiated
workflow engine will look for the supervisor assigned to the Requester in Human Resource Responsibility.

SET UP STEPS
1.

Create an Employee (Requester) and assign supervisor in HRMS.


a)

Registering Employee in HRMS, Navigate: HRMS responsibility=>People=>Enter and Maintain

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b)

Define a Supervisor for Employee (Requester).

Navigate HRMS responsibility=>People=>Enter and Maintain.


Click on Assignment button. Navigate to Supervisor tab and associate supervisor

Note: For detailed explanation on how to register an Employee in HMRS, refer Oracle HRMS user guide
2.

Register the employee as an Application User


a)

Navigation: System Administrator=>Security=>User=>Define

b)

Create an user for the Employee

c)

In the list of value for PERSON , select the employee created in HRMS (E.g. Agrawal,Meha)

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3.

Register the supervisor as an Application User


b)

Navigation: System Administrator=>Security=>User=>Define

c)

Create a user for the supervisor.

d)

In the list of value for PERSON , select the supervisor associated to employee created in HRMS (E.g. Arora, Mr.
Rajiv)

4.

Create Condition as per business requirement. In below example SUPPLIER_INVOICE_AMOUNT is considered


a)

Navigation : AM Business Analyst =>Transaction Type Id: APINV =>Condition => Create

b)

Select attribute as SUPPLIER_INVOICE_AMOUNT

c)

Specify amount and click Apply.

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5.

Create AME Rule


a)

Navigation : AM Business Analyst =>Transaction Type Id: APINV =>Rules => Create Rule

b)

Enter Rule name: Approval required from Supervisor

c)

Select a condition created above (Step-4).

d)

Select the seeded action type as Supervisory Level

e) Select the action as Require approvals up to the first superior.


Note: The supervisory-level action type ascends the HR supervisory hierarchy, generating a chain that has a fixed number of
approvers in it. For more details refer to Implementing Oracle Approvals Management Guide. In HRMS Employee, Agrawal,
Meha has been assigned supervisor Arora, Rajiv.
Rajiv Arora (Manager)

Meha Agrawal (Employee)

Note: As per above rule if supplier_invoice_amount is greater than 20000 USD, then approval will go to supervisor of requester.

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TRANSACTIONAL STEPS
1.

Create an invoice in Payables, Navigation: Payables Super user=>Invoices=>Invoice Entry. Enter the Requester field.
Here requester is the employee.

Note: The Approval status of Invoice is Required


2.

Navigate Actions > Select Initiate Approval > Click Ok

Once user clicks Ok, approval status changes to Initiated.

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3.

View the approval history of the transaction. Navigation : Invoice Workbench Tool Bar=>Reports=>View invoice approval
history

Note: Here approval goes to Arora, Rajiv supervisor of Requester Agrawal, Meha
4.

Supervisor RKARORA reviews the work list to approve the invoice. Navigation: Payables Super User -> Workflow ->
Work list

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Once RKARORA approves , the approval history will be as below:


Navigation: Payables Super user=>Invoices=>Invoice Entry=> Invoice Workbench Tool Bar=>Reports=>View invoice approval
history

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5.

To check the final Status of Invoice, navigate to Invoice Workbench= >General Tab and review Approval Status. It should
be Workflow Approved

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CASE 4 - APPROVAL BASED ON LEGAL ENTITY


Organization can have multiple legal entities assigned to a Ledger. There can be business requirement where invoice approvals
are sent based on Legal Entity of transaction.
For example:
If an Invoice is created for Legal Entity-1, approval is sent to Approval Group-A
If an Invoice is created for Legal Entity-2, approval is sent to Approval Group-B.
This business case explains the implementation of AME rule to achieve the requirement.

SET UP STEPS:
1.

Create a custom attribute to derive the Legal Entity of transaction. Custom attribute is created when there is no seeded
attribute available to create required AME condition. Following step explains the same.
a)

Navigation : AM Business Analyst =>Transaction Type Id: APINV =>Attribute => Create

b)

Enter Name of the attribute.

c)

Enter Item Class Header


Note: An attribute item class determines the class of items having value for the attribute. Attributes belonging to the
header item class are sometimes termed header-level attributes. Attributes belonging to subordinate item classes are
sometimes termed line-item-level attributes or cost-center-level attributes.

d)

Enter description

e)

Enter Data Type as Number.

f)

Enter Approver Type as None.

g)

Enter Usage Type as Dynamic.

h)

In Value parameter, Enter the Query to retrieve Legal Entity


Select legal_entity_id from ap_invoices_all where invoice_id =:transactionId

i)

Apply and save the changes.

For more details on custom attribute creation refer to Implementing Oracle Approvals Management Guide

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2.

Create a condition based on custom attribute


a)

Navigation : AM Business Analyst =>Transaction Type Id: APINV =>Condition => Create

b)

Select custom attribute TEST_LEGAL_ENTITY_ID created in Step-1

c)

Specify legal_entity_id.

d)

Apply and save.

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3.

4.

Create Approver group


a)

Navigation : AM Business Analyst =>Transaction Type Id: APINV =>Approver group => Create

b)

Enter Approver group name .

c)

Specify Order number as 1.

d)

Specify Voting method as Serial.

e)

Select the approver type as FND USER and associate list of approvers.

Create AME Rule


a)

Navigation : AM Business Analyst =>Transaction Type Id: APINV =>Rules => Create Rule

b)

Enter Rule name: MEAGRAW Test Legal Entity

c)

Select a condition created in Step-2 .

d)

Select the action type as Approval Group Chain of authority

e)

Select the approver group defined in Step-3.

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TRANSACTIONAL STEPS
1.

Create invoice in Legal Entity 204 (used in this business case) .Navigation: Payables Super user=>Invoices=>Invoice
Entry.

Note: The legal_entity_id can be checked using below navigation


Navigation: Invoice workbench=>Help=>Diagnostic=>Examine
In Field Select LEGAL_ENTITY_ID
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Review the Status of the Invoice.

Note: The Approval Status of Invoice is Required


2.

Initiate Approval. Navigate Actions > Select Initiate Approval > Click Ok

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Once User Clicks OK, the approval Status changes to Initiated.


3.

View the approval history of the transaction. Navigation : Invoice Workbench Tool Bar=>Reports=>View invoice approval
history

Note : Here approval is sent to MEAGRAW as defined in approval group of AME rule.

4.

User MEAGRAW reviews the worklist to approve the invoice. Navigation: Payables Super User -> Workflow ->
Worklist..

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Once transaction is approved by MEAGRAW , approval status is changed to Approved.


Review the Invoice approval history after MEAGRAW approves the invoice
Navigation: Payables Super user=>Invoices=>Invoice Entry=> Invoice Workbench Tool Bar=>Reports=>View invoice approval
history

5.

To check the final Status of Invoice, navigate to Invoice Workbench= >General Tab and review Approval Status. It should
be Workflow Approved.

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TROUBLESHOOTING INVOICE APPROVAL WORKFLOW

1.

To check the rules which are triggered when you initiate invoice for approval, below steps can be followed:
a)

Navigate to AM Business Analyst Responsibility,

b)

In transaction Type select "Payables Invoice Approval" and Click on Test workbench,

c)

Run Real Test Transaction.

d)

Enter Transaction_id as Invoice_id(which is having issue) and click on Run Test Case (2).

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e)

2.

Review the Applicable Rules for that particular transaction and the list of Approvers

Invoice approval status stuck in Initiated" status and no approval notification sent to approvers
(Notification stuck in the WF_DEFERRED queue)
a)

Start the Workflow Agent Listener by doing the following in Payables:


Other -> Request -> Run

b)

Select Workflow Agent Listener from the list.

c)

For Agent Name, select WF_DEFERRED from the list.

d)

Submit this request.

e)

View Requests to make sure it completes normally.

Note: This can also be scheduled to run automatically.

TECHNICAL ASPECT

Once the invoice approval work flow is initiated, invoice document approval history can be viewed through View Invoice
approval history tab under reports in invoice workbench. This window following details:-Approver name, future approver,
Amount reviewed, Action date.
View Invoice approval history is enabled only when we navigate to Headers region of invoice workbench. Data shown
in approval history window is based on data from table AP_INV_APRVL_HIST_ALL.
In R12, invoice approval work flow mainly involves the following concurrent programs, work flow and tables:
a) Package: AP_WORKFLOW_PKG (aphanwfs.pls, aphanwfb.pls)
b) Concurrent Program : AP Invoice Approval Workflow (APINVAPR) - apfhanwf.wft
c) Table : AP_INV_APRVL_HIST_ALL, AP_APINV_APPROVERS
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The Figure below describes the workflow process for the Invoice Approval

The following are the main points to note:


1.

The Approver can either Approve or Request the lines in the notification.

2.

If the Approver fails to respond, an escalation notification will be sent to his/her Supervisor as setup in HR.

3.

This process Ends in statuses Approve or Reject, which in turn is used in the main process to either continue the
workflow process or to stop it (i.e., Approval stops at the first Rejection).

Note: The workflows shown above are based on the latest available AP_WORKFLOW_PKG (120.64.12010000.56) and
workflow file apfhanwf.wft (120.36.12010000.15)

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10 LINE LEVEL APPROVAL IN R12


With introduction of Invoice Lines in R12, Invoice approval workflow has been enhanced to include Invoice lines approval also
based on rules setup for Payables Invoice Approval Transaction Type in AME. The workflow determines if the invoice Header
(Invoice document) needs approval or invoice lines need approval or both.
Invoice document and all lines requiring approval should be approved before the invoice can be paid. If both invoice lines and
document need to be approved, all the lines of the invoice requiring approval must be approved before the invoice document can
be approved.
Invoice approval status is derived from approval status maintained at invoice header level and approval status maintained at
invoice line level.
The item class provided in defining rule in AME would determine whether this rule effects the invoice document approval or
invoice line approval. If item class is given as Header, this rule would govern the invoice document approval and if given as Line
Item, would govern the invoice line approval. Rest all setups in AME are same as the setups in R11i.
View Invoice approval history is enabled only when we navigate to Headers region of invoice workbench. Data shown in this
form is based on data from table AP_INV_APRVL_HIST_ALL.
View Line approval history is enabled only when we navigate to lines region of invoice workbench. This form shows the line
level approval context of respective lines. Data shown in this form is based on data from table AP_APINV_APPROVERS.
Note: Line-level approval is available for invoices that are matched to a purchase order. The line level approval work-flow is
designed to work for PO matched lines only. For detailed explanation on Line level approval, please refer to AME
Implementation guide.

11 PARALLEL APPROVAL
Invoice approval workflow now supports parallelization at the invoice header level on 12.1.x and 12.2.x.The main advantage for
this change is to shorten the processing time for an invoice to get approved.
The parallel approval process imposes a hierarchical (tree) structure on the transactions approver list and enables each part of the
tree at a given level to progress through its notification-approval cycle asynchronously. This enables the approval process of each
item in the transaction to continue irrespective of the progress of approval process of other items in the transaction and reduces
the transaction's approval process time.
If user selects the parallel ordering mode, the approval notifications will be sent to all approvers at the same time. The invoice
may get approved when one or all approvers approve the invoice, depending on the voting regime that is set up.
The available voting regimes are serial, consensus, first-responder-wins and order number.
This enhancement is available with 12.2.4 and can be added to 12.1.x by the application of patch 19608529:R12.AP.B

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12 REFERENCE
This paper is intended to supplement the following reference materials, which should also be studied for a full understanding of
the topic.
a)

Implementing Oracle Approvals Management.

b)

Oracle Payables User Guide

c)

Oracle HRMS User Guide

13 CONCLUSION
The goal of this document is to help you learn and understand the flow of Invoice approval workflow using AME rules. For a
more detailed explanation, please refer to Implementing Oracle Approvals Management and Oracle Payables User Guide.

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