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Payment Release Process

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 Created by MAURIZIO BIANCOTTI, last modified on Jun 13, 2012
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Purpose
This wiki was created to collect all the necessary steps for building up the Payment Release process workflow either
from the financial point of view or from the workflow.

Overview
You can set a payment block for any accounting line items. You then run a payment release. If this is completed
successfully, the payment block is reset and the line items can be paid.

Features
This enables you to carry out a check of individual line items and then release them for payment.

Payment Release Process

For each workflow variant, you can specify the amount from which a payment release should be triggered.

You can differentiate between one, two, and three-level release. This enables between one and three people to be
involved in the release procedure, thus supporting both dual and triple control.

Prerequisites
The following settings in Customizing have to be done:
Create a Workflow variant by transaction OBWA (Workf.var. "MAO", Workflow variant name "Mauri Variant"):

Assign the Variant to the Company Code by transaction OBWJ (CoCd "MAO1", Wrkf "MAO",WF var.name "Mauri
Variant"):
The third step is to define a release Approval group (view V_VBWF08; AGrp "MAO", Name "vendor mao") :

Define a Release Approval path (view V_VBWF03; Approval path 0001, App.path name "Vendor high"):

Define the Release Approval path allocation (view V_VBWF05; Workflow variant "MAO", Doc. Type "KR", Release
group "MAO", Approval path "0001"):
Create a subworkflow allocation by OBWE (Wrkf "MAO", APth "0001", Amount "1.000,00", "999.999.999.999,00",
"EUR", Swf amnt rel "WS10000052", SWf pmnt rel."WS00400011"):
Define the Relevant document type for releasing payments (table VBWF16, Workflow variant, Type "KR"):

Then create the User with authorization to Release payments by OBWP (Workflow var. "MAO", Approval path "0001",
Level "1", Release up to amount "3.000,00", Currency "EUR"):
 Then create the People with release authorization (Wrkf "MAO", APth "1000", Level "1", Release_to_amount
"9.999.999.999.999,99", Curr "EUR"):

Define a Payment request block ("P" Payment Request):

Result
1. If, when the payment run is posted (this is the event BSEG.CREATED), the system could not determine an employee
with release authorization, then it sends a message to the inbox of every person who has been assigned the task
"payment release". Only after all these people have released the payment will the payment block be removed.
Document posting is also the point when the possible agents are determined who then will see the workitem in their
inboxes. But a single workitem can only be completed by one agent. No matter if several agents were determined or all
people assigned to the task got the workitem – after somebody has completed it, it will be gone and the workflow
proceeds to the next step, either creates a new workitem for the next release level or creates a background item to
remove the payment block. It is not true that all people who received the workitem would have to release the payment,
actually impossible as the workitem will be gone after the first approval.
2. If a line item is refused for release, it is forwarded to the clerk who entered it for correction. After the document has been
changed, the payment release procedure begins again. If changing the line items necessitates further actions, these
must be defined within the Workflow component. The event CHANGED has been preconfigured for this purpose in the
standard workflow model. If you run this event, the system assumes that the line item was rejected for payment.
However, the item is NOT forwarded for correction to the clerk who entered it.
3. If an item is cleared before it is released, the payment release procedure is terminated (event CLEARED).

The System workflow

Here following all the actions to start the System workflow.

Run FK02 and insert the Release Group into the Vendor master data:

Running transaction SWETYPV, be sure to have the following settings:

Then post a vendor invoice with an amount more than 1.000.00 euro by FB60:
The System will block automatically the invoice by “P” block payment (Payment block field, technical name ZLSPR):

This vendor invoice posting trigs the workflow, that you can see push the button “Service for object” (first icon on the top
left, near Display Document):
By PFTC, the following settings have to be done:
The organizational objects for payment release defined in Customizing for Financial Accounting are automatically
assigned in the background to the standard payment release task (TS00407862).

IF You push the Display button:

Menu -> additional data -> classification -> Display ->
Into the Classification frame there is the "General Task" Indicator. By setting this indicator, you determine that all users
can perform this task (in workflow).

Now If I run SBWP and I check my Business workplace, "Started workflows", I will see:
Now the workflow is ready to be released choosing release or reject the “Payment release” by transaction SWI1:
Then push enter:

And now execute work item:

The System brings You into the document and gives You the possibility to choose between "Release" or "Reject" icons.

If You push "Release", the payment block "P" will be deleted and You’ll be able to pay the vendor invoice
number 1900000098.

Push "Release":
And the payment block is deleted as You can see into the below reported screen shot:
And if You push the button “Service for object” (the icon on the top left, near Display Document):
Now You can run F110, without any block.

This is the block that the automatic payment would have proposed, if the workflow had not released:

SBWP -> double click on the work item -> Extras -> Technical data
By transaction SWDD, You can see all the workflow steps and the used "Object type":
Related Content

Related Documents

Related Notes
SAP note number 548278 - Workflow FAQ