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Approval Hierarchies SEtup in Purchasing
Approval Hierarchies SEtup in Purchasing
This article is intended to help users setup hierarchies for the purpose
of routing articles to the proper authority for document approval.
Each POSITION has an approval limits, so when a purchase order exceeds the
limits of the POSITION, the purchase order is forwarded onto the next
POSITION in the Hierarchy.
You must set up Positions if you plan to use either security or approval
hierarchies. PO Navigator -> Setup -> Personnel -> Position Hierarchy
Please Note:
The Approval Hierarchies described in the example below is a very simple,
basic, hierarchy. In the real world - Approval Hierarchies can be very large
and complex, but the same operational principles still apply.
[2] Employee/Supervisor Relationships
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This type of hierarchy does not use the Approval Hierarchy form, but is
defined by the employee /supervisor relationship. The supervisor of an
employee is defined on the Assignment zone of the Employee form.
If the purchase order raised by the employee exceeds the approval limits,
the purchase order is forwarded onto the employees' supervisor, as defined
on the Employee form.
To implement this form of approval routing, you need only to define jobs.
The job will then serve as the tie to the Approval group, and based
on the approval limits from the Approval Group, the Document will either
be Approved or Forwarded to the Employees Supervisor.
[1] Financial Options (PO -> Setup -> Options -> Financial -> Human Resources)
[2] Document Types (PO -> Setup -> Purchasing Options -> Document Types)
There are two attributes on this form that determine the approval path of the
document.
The Default Hierarchy field has a LOV. This list is derived from the
hierarchies created using the Position Hierarchy form.
The Default Hierarchy is the one that will be used by the approval process
unless the person who submits the document for approval changes it in the
Approval Modal form. But, the hierarchy can only be changed on the Approval
Modal form if the attribute "Can Change Approval Hierarchy" is checked on the
Document Type form - and this attribute is only enabled if the "Use Approval
Hierarchies" is checked.
Thus, it is imperative that the low-end users (those with little approval
authority) be present in this default hierarchy so the next Forward-To
approver can be found. Alternatively, the checkbox 'Can Change Approval
Hierarchies' should be selected on the Document Types form. With this
checkbox enabled, the user has the option to specify an alternate approval
hierarchy, provided that the user belongs to one or more additional hierarchies.
(The Approval Hierarchy list of values in the Document Approval window will
only contain the hierarchies that this user belongs to.)
If the low-end user is not part of the default hierarchy specified in the
Document Types form and chooses to Approve the document, the end result will
be a notification to the user stating 'No Approver Found'.
A similar scenario of 'No Approver Found' will result if the 'Owner Can Approve'
checkbox (on the Document Types form) is disabled and the person attempting to
approve the document is not in the Default Hierarchy. When the Approve button
is clicked, this setting is validated and enforced; it is at this time that the
requisition and purchase order approval workflows will look to the default
approval hierarchy, searching for the current approver's position in the
hierarchy in order for the next approver in line to be located.
EXAMPLES:
The option "Use Approval Hierarchies" is checked on the Financial Options form.
As J.Buyer does not have a high enough approval limit, the PO is automatically
forwarded to S.Buyer because S.Buyer is the next person in the hierarchy
The PO appears in the notification screen for C.Buyer where it can be approved
or rejected.
As neither J.Buyer or S.Buyer have a high enough approval limit, the PO is sent
directly to C.Buyer for approval.
Senior Manager is the manager of J.Buyer and Group Manager is the manager of
S.Manager.
The "Use Approval Hierarchy" is now unchecked on the Financial Options form.
The "Default Hierarchy" field is now disabled on the Document Type form
The "Forward Method" is set to Hierarchy
Employee/Supervisor Example One:
=================================
Junior Buyer raises a PO which has a total value of 150.00.
The PO is then submitted for approval.
As J.Buyer does not have a high enough approval limit, the PO is automatically
forwarded to S.Manager because S.Manager is J.Buyer's supervisor as defined on
the Employee form
The Security Hierarchy is selected from a LOV in the Control zone of the
Purchasing Options form (PO -> Navigate -> Setup -> Organizations -> Purchasing
Options). Here, select a Security Hierarchy, which is a position hierarchy
from the Position Hierarchy window. When the Security Level is set to
Hierarchy for a document in the Document Controls window, this position
hierarchy governs access security for that document.
(The Security Hierarchy field will only be enabled when the "Hierarchy" option
is selected for the Security Level on the Document Type form.)
Page 2-8 thru 2-10 of the Rel 11 Purchasing Users Guide provides more detail
regarding the effects of Security Level.
Alternative Situations
======================
Position: Clerk
Employees Assigned: Many
Reports To: Vice President, Materials
To check directory services data model for all know problems run the
script $FND_TOP/sql/wfdirchk.sql as stated below:
cd $FND_TOP/sql
sqlplus <usr>/<passwd>@db @wfdirchk.sql
Troubleshooting
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