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AX2009 PR Workflow
AX2009 PR Workflow
AX2009 PR Workflow
Introduction
The purchase requisition feature makes it possible to create purchase requisitions.
This is a document that authorizes a company's Purchasing Department to
purchase materials. The purchase requisition is an internal document, whereas the
purchase order is the corresponding external document that is submitted to
vendors by the Purchasing Department.
Scenario
Brook is a Human Resources (HR) assistant, and sometimes needs to buy office
supplies for her department. Since she is a non-purchasing agent, and does not
have the authority to access the Purchase order form, she can use the Purchase
requisition form to make purchase requisitions and through that receive
permission to buy the items that she needs.
When the purchase requisition is approved and purchase order lines are created
from purchase requisition lines, the purchase requisitions have different types of
Approved statuses, depending on the status of the purchase order lines. The status
of the purchase requisition is the highest status from the purchase requisition
lines.
• Requisitioner
• Purchasing agent
• Sales manager
The following figure shows the tasks involved in the purchase requisition
process.
• Filter
• Header
• Lines
In the Filter section, a user can filter on the purchase requisitions already in the
form. In the Show field, select to show requisitions that are My requisitions,
Assigned to me, Created by me, My direct reports or All my reports. If
Assigned to me is selected in the Show field, an employee is automatically
selected in the Requisitioner field. Use the Status field to filter on the status of
the requisitions.
The Header section lists all purchase requisitions according to the filtering of the
form. Notice the different statuses a purchase requisition can have on the far right
in the grid. It is also from the Header section that new purchase requisitions are
created.
The Lines section lists all the lines in the purchase requisition. Also, from the
Lines section, the specific items can be added to the purchase requisition.
NOTE: In the Create purchase requisition form a user can create a purchase requisition
on behalf of another employee or change the default delivery address.
NOTE: The unit price on the lines in the lower section overrules the unit price in the
upper listed items. There might be a difference between the two if special vendor
agreements apply. This is because the unit price in the upper section is always directly
from the item itself and not from a purchase price trade agreement.
Also, be aware that for catalog items, the user when creating the purchase requisition
line, can only select between the vendor directly associated with the item and the
cheapest vendor as found through the purchase price trade agreements. If another
vendor is requested the vendor can be blanked and the user can enter a “Proposed
vendor” in the Proposed vendor field on the General tab page for the purchase
requisition line.
11. Click Submit and the status of the purchase requisition changes to
Submitted. Also, now that the purchase requisition is submitted, the
workflow framework can be used because there is no more to do
until the purchase requisition is approved. The Purchase requisition
approval dialog box appears and this is where the requisitioner can
enter a comment to the next person in the workflow and wait for the
purchasing agent to follow up on the purchase requisition.
3. In the dialog box that appears, select the lines that must be copied to
a request for quote.
4. Click OK.
An RFQ process is now initiated and the status of the purchase requisition
changes from Pending completion to Pending RFQ.
Several actions are available to select from when the purchase requisition is in
the status Pending completion:
Click Actions > Complete to complete the purchase requisition. Use the
workflow dialog box that appears to enter a comment about the purchase
requisition which then notifies the next user in the workflow. The next user is a
Sales Manager, who must approve the purchase requisition.
1. Click Accounts payable > Periodic > Purchase Requisition > All
purchase requisitions.
2. Select how to view the information:
o Select the name of a user in the Requisitioner field to view a list
of purchase requisitions that were created by or on behalf of a
specific user.
o Clear the All check box and select a status in the Status field to
view a list of purchase requisitions with a specific status.
o Select a purchase requisition and then click Actions > View
history to view the Workflow history for the purchase
requisition.
NOTE: You cannot perform any actions when the purchase requisition is approved.
3. In the lower pane, select a purchase requisition line and then click
Inquiries > Purchase orders to open the Purchase order journal
form or Inquiries > Invoice to open the Invoice Journal form.
In the Purchase order form, a purchase order header and lines have been created
by using all the information from the purchase requisition. The status of the
purchase order is Open order and is ready to be processed.
NOTE: Purchase order line prices and discounts are automatically recalculated when
the line is of type catalog item. Remark that the purchase order line price and discounts
are not automatically recalculated when the line is of type non-catalog item or when the
line has been through an RFQ process. When the purchase order is created, auto
miscellaneous charges for header and lines regardless of item type are automatically
recalculated.
NOTE: When a purchase requisition has the status Approved, Microsoft Dynamics AX
2009 can be set up to automatically create a purchase order for the lines in the
purchase requisition.
NOTE: If you delete a purchase order line, the purchase order reference on the
purchase requisition line is also deleted. If you delete a whole purchase order, the
purchase order reference is deleted on all purchase requisition lines. In both cases, the
status of the purchase requisition changes to Approved - Cancelled.
After the purchase order has been created, you can use the following steps to
view the purchase requisition information about a purchase order.
Purchase requisitions can be deleted when they have one of the following
statuses:
• Draft
• Approved - Invoiced (all referenced purchase order lines that were
created for the purchase requisition lines have been invoiced)
• Rejected
• Approved - Cancelled (all purchase order lines have been canceled,
deleted, or both)
A user who manages purchase requisitions and have the necessary access can
delete purchase requisitions - regardless of their status or his role in the purchase
requisition workflow - using the Purchase requisitions form (Accounts
payable > Periodic > Purchase Requisition > All purchase requisitions).
1. Click Accounts payable > Periodic > Clean up > Delete purchase
requisitions.
NOTE: If this user created purchase requisitions on behalf of another user, those
purchase requisitions will not be deleted.
NOTE: You can also click the Batch tab to delete the requisitions as a batch process.
After the purchase requisition is created by Susan, Kevin, her manager has to
approve the purchase requisition. After approval, Susan has to view the approved
requisition, post the purchase order and review the purchase order journal.
Challenge Yourself!
1. Create a new purchase requisition as the requisitioner account
specifying the items in the table above.
2. Approve the requisition using the Approver account.
3. Post the purchase orders using the requisitioner account.
4. Review the purchase order journal.
Step by Step
• Create a product catalog that only contains items that are relevant for
purchase requisitions.
• Make only items that are not blocked for purchase available for
purchase requisitioning.
• Make all items available for purchase requisitioning.
Non-catalog items can also be made available for purchase requisitions. Non-
catalog items are typically not part of the company's regular inventory because
they are consumed immediately and not stocked. An example of non-catalog
items may be office supplies unless it is a company that sells office supplies.
Create category catalogs to make non-catalog items available for purchase
requisitions.
Both product catalogs and category catalogs require that items are stored in the
Microsoft Dynamics AX database. Create product and category catalogs in the
Product groups form.
Path: Accounts payable > Setup > Purchase catalog > Product groups.
The Product groups form is divided into two main sections, the upper pane and
the lower pane.
The Top node field indicates if the group or the item node is a top node, the
highest level in a hierarchy. If a funnel icon appears in the Selection field, a
selection criterion for the item node (available only for items nodes) is defined in
the Select items form.
Component groups are product groups that need to reside within the selected
group node in the upper pane. When adding component groups to a group node
(press CTRL+N in the lower pane), only select components groups that are
available as product groups in the upper pane (either group nodes or item nodes).
When the relation to a product group of the type item node is created, the layout
of the bottom pane automatically changes to one that creates and displays all
items that are attached to the current item node. Add items to the item node either
by pressing CTRL+N and then selecting the item from the Item group field; or
add items by clicking Select items.
• Group node - Used to hold item nodes, category nodes, and group
nodes on a lower level in the product group hierarchy.
• Item node - Used to hold the selected product items from the
inventory.
• Category node - Used to hold non-catalog items.
1. Click Accounts payable > Setup > Purchase catalog > Product
groups.
2. In the upper pane, press CTRL+N to create a new node.
3. Type an identifier for the product group in the Product group field
and a name in the Name field.
1. Click Accounts payable > Setup > Purchase catalog > Product
groups.
2. In the upper pane, press CTRL+N to create a new node.
3. Type an identifier for the product group in the Product group field
and a name in the Name field.
4. In the Type field, select Item node. The Top field indicates if the
product group is the top node in the hierarchy. If it is a top node, it is
marked with a green check mark. The Selection field indicates if a
selection is made by using the query tool (available only when the
selected type is Item node).
5. Click Select items to add items to the item node.
6. In the Item selection form, click Select to select the items to add to
the selected item node.
7. Enter selection criteria and then click OK.
8. In the Item selection form, select the Select items now check box to
add the items to the lower pane in the Product groups form and then
click OK.
1. Click Accounts payable > Setup > Purchase catalog > Product
groups.
2. In the upper pane, press CTRL+N to create a new node.
3. Type an identifier for the product group in the Product group field
and a name in the Name field.
4. In the Type field, select Category node.
When all the necessary category nodes are created, assign each category node to
a group node.
1. In the upper pane, select the group node to link component groups to.
2. In the lower pane, press CTRL+N to add the component group to add
to the group node.
3. In the Component group field, select the component group to
include in the product group.
The list of available component groups consists of the product groups in the
upper pane, either group nodes, items nodes, or category nodes.
NOTE: If category nodes are added to a group node to create a category catalog,
nodes of other types cannot be added to the group node.
The non-catalog items are added to category nodes when a category catalog is
created in the Product groups form.
The non-catalog items are created exactly like other types of items. However, the
recommendation is to set up the item exactly like a service item to avoid an item
on hand.
3. On the Purchase order tab, make sure that the posting profile for the
item group is defined against the ledger accounts for items purchased
through purchase requisitions to be expensed and not stocked.
3. On the Setup tab, clear all the check boxes to set up the inventory
model group as for a service item.
3. Make sure that all Active check boxes for item and storage
dimensions are cleared.
10. In the Auto create purchase order field, specify how purchase
orders are created from approved purchase requisitions:
o No: Purchase orders are always created manually.
o All: Purchase orders are always created automatically.
o General purchase: Only purchase orders of the type General
purchase are created automatically.
11. Select the Ledger account selection filter check box to apply a
ledger account filter to purchase requisition lines and then click Add
ledger account categories to add account categories to the filter.
3. Click Setup > Limits to specify the approval and spending limits for
the employee.
4. In the Limits form, specify the spending and approval limits for the
employee.
5. Press CTRL+N, select limit ID (approval or spending limit) in the
Limit ID field, and type the amount in the Limit field:
o Spending limit: The employee will be able to create purchase
requisitions that exceed the amount specified here but they will
require approval before purchase order is created.
o Approval limit: If a Purchase requisition is required to be
approved, the employee approving it, must have an approval
limit that exceeds the amount specified here.
6. Specify the dates that the save limit is active from and to in the
Active date and Expiry date fields.
7. Select the Active check box to activate the limits.
NOTE: Create limit types for a purchase requisition before defining spending and
approval limits. Click Basic > Setup > Limit types.
NOTE: You can also define rights for an employee to “submit on behalf of” other
employees. Click Basic > Employee Details > Setup > On behalf of.
In this example, users who approve purchase requisitions are members of both
the PREmployee and PRApprove groups.
NOTE: Similar setup steps are required to use the Project purchase requisition
approval workflow configuration template.
NOTE: Similar setup steps are required to use the Project purchase requisition
approval workflow configuration template.
NOTE: Similar setup steps are required to use the Project purchase requisition
approval workflow configuration template.
Users in the group can now access the purchase requisition functionality listed
here.
The purchase requisition workflow must represent the business process for
purchase requisitions in the company. It must define how purchase requisitions
“flow” through the organization by showing who can process and approve
purchase requisitions.
NOTE: The requisitioner is always the user who requested and who will receive the
items on the purchase requisition, even if that user does not actually create the
purchase requisition. Depending on how the system is set up, users can create purchase
requisitions on behalf of other users. In that situation, the requisitioner is not the same
user who actually creates and submits the purchase requisition. In the workflow
process, the requisitioner's settings (such as approval limits and approvers) are used
for the purchase requisition.
NOTE: In this example, the hierarchy provider is used and it defines that the
requisitioner's manager is the approver. Hierarchy provider is setup based on employee
position reporting relationship. The hierarchy provider builds on an implementation
structure implemented in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009.
One purchase order for each currency and vendor in the purchase requisition
lines is created, if Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 is set up to automatically create
purchase orders.
For example, if a purchase requisition has two lines with two vendors and
currencies, it results in two purchase orders.
If automatic creation of purchase orders is not set up, the approved purchase
requisition is routed to the Release approved purchase requisitions form and the
purchasing agent must manually select the purchase requisition lines from which
he or she wants to create purchase orders.
Create Instructions
Instructions are for the users who submit purchase requisitions for processing and
approval in the form.
Placeholders can also be inserted in the instructions that are replaced with the
appropriate data when the instructions are displayed to users.
Example:
“The vendor and/or price is missing on one or more of the purchase requisition
lines. Update the purchase requisition Purchase Requisition Details. If this task
cannot be completed, return the purchase requisition to the Requisitioner.”
These instructions contain placeholders for the purchase requisition ID and the
user who created the requisition.
To insert a placeholder:
1. Click the message text to specify where the placeholder will appear.
2. In the Available placeholders list, select the placeholder to insert.
3. Click Insert.
6. Select the Set a time limit for the task check box to set a time limit
for the approval process, for example, five days.
9. Click the Assignment tab and then click to specify who the task
must be assigned to:
o Role based: Assign the task to all users in a specific role. Select
the appropriate user group.
o Hierarchy based: Assign the task to a particular level in the
hierarchy.
o User based: Assign the task to specific users. Select the
appropriate users.Select Role based, and then select a user group
from the list, such as a purchasing agent user group.
11. Click the Escalation tab to define what must occur when a user does
not act on a task by the task's due date. In this example, click
Escalate to one or more people to escalate the task to one or more
users, and then click Add to specify which user to escalate the task
to.
12. Click the Notifications tab to specify when to send notifications to
users, and which users to send them to. For example, to notify the
user of who created a purchase requisition if the requisition is
returned for changes.
13. For this example, click Choose, select the Role based option, and
select Workflow originator in the list. Click OK to return to the
Purchase requisition approval form.
14. Select the Enabled check box for the Request change event to enable
the notification, and type a message to the user in the Message text
field.
15. Click the Advanced tab to specify which actions are available to
users.
8. Select the Enabled check box for the Approve and Reject events to
enable the notification and type a message to the user in the Message
text field.
9. Click the Advanced tab to specify which actions are available to
users.
10. In the Workflow elements list, click Step to configure the details for
the step.
11. On the Overview tab, type a name for the step in the Step Name
field, such as “Approve”.
12. Add a subject and instructions for the user who will approve the
purchase requisitions. The subject and instructions are displayed in
the form when the purchasing agent is approving purchase
requisitions.
15. Click the Assignment tab to specify the user to assign the approval
to.
16. For this example, click Choose and select Hierarchy based.
17. In the Start from field, select Requisitioner to indicate that the
approval process starts from the position in the hierarchy of the user
who created the purchase requisition, and then moves on to that
user's manager, the manager's manager, and so on.
18. Select Assign to all users retrieved, and then click Create stop
condition to define a stop condition that defines when to stop the
approval process. The following table includes an example of a stop
condition.
NOTE: To designate a workflow a default workflow, click the Overview tab and select
the Default check box next to the workflow configuration.
Currently the process is very paper dependent and prone to errors and lost
paperwork. After seeing a demonstration from its partner the Contoso Company
is excited to start implementation of workflows with purchase requisitions in
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. Specifically the Contoso Company is excited to
reduce manager paperwork by using approval conditions to auto-approve
requisitions that are less than 50 U.S. dollars (USD).
Challenge Yourself!
Step by Step
Create a New Workflow Configuration.
4. From the Action drop-down list, select Approve from the list.
5. Click Save.
Summary
A purchase requisition is a document that authorizes the purchasing department
to buy items. The purchasing department can use purchase requisitions to
generate the actual purchase orders for the items. Purchase requisitions are
internal documents, whereas purchase orders are the equivalent external
documents that the purchasing department submits to vendors.
You can select items from product catalogs that contain only items that are
relevant for purchase requisitions. It is also possible to request both catalog items
and non-catalog items using purchase requisitions.
You can create purchase requisitions in both Enterprise Portal and the Microsoft
Dynamics AX client.
4. The purchase requisition workflow must represent the business process for
purchase requisitions in your company. It must define how purchase
requisitions “flow” through your organization by showing who can process
and approve purchase requisitions. An organization has three business roles
in the workflow. Identify them from the list: Mark all that apply.
( ) The orderer
( ) The requisitioner
( ) The purchasing agent
( ) The requisitioner's manager
6. Where information about purchase orders and invoices that were created
based on purchase requisitions is available from?
1.
2.
3.
Solutions
Test Your Knowledge
1. How many category items can be added to the category node?
( ) Unlimited
(•) 1
( ) None
()2
MODEL ANSWER - Define the user groups that control access to the
4. The purchase requisition workflow must represent the business process for
purchase requisitions in your company. It must define how purchase
requisitions “flow” through your organization by showing who can process
and approve purchase requisitions. An organization has three business roles
in the workflow. Identify them from the list: Mark all that apply.
( ) The orderer
(√) The requisitioner
(√) The purchasing agent
(√) The requisitioner's manager
6. Where information about purchase orders and invoices that were created
based on purchase requisitions is available from?