Approvals Series - EBS

Approvals List Creation,

Limits, and Rules

Session ID: 10668

Approvals Series – Session 2 of 4

Prepared by:

Karen Brownfield Susan Behn

Practice Director Vice President
Infosemantics, Inc. Infosemantics, Inc.

@BrownfieldKaren
About the Speaker

• 25 years E-Business Suite support

• GL SIG Board
• OAUG Board, former President
• Member ATG Customer Advisory Board
• Workflow SIG Board
• OAUG Board Liaison User Management SIG
• Over 100 presentations worldwide
• Co-author multiple books on E-Business Suite

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 • Visit us at booth 1523
• Established in 2001
• SBA 8(a) Small Business
disadvantaged company
• GSA Schedule contract GS-
35F-0680V
• Texas State HUB vendor
• For more information, check
out our web site at
www.Infosemantics.com
– R12.1.3, OBIEE, R12.2.5
public vision instances
– Posted presentations on
functional and technical
Gold
topics
Partner
Copyright © 2016 Infosemantics, Inc. All Rights Reserved . Any other commercial product names
herein are trademark, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.

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Introduction to the Exploration Series

• Since 2011 the Special Interest Groups have collaborated on joint

presentations focused on a single threaded topic to allow
conference attendees to participate in end-to-end business
scenarios designed to stimulate conversation and educate end
users.

• The Exploration Series is sponsored and supported by the OAUG:

• Special thanks to:
– Mohan Iyer([email protected]) of the General Ledger
Special Interest Group

– Karen Brownfield ([email protected]) of the

OAUG Board of Directors

– Hans Kolbe ([email protected]) and Thomas

Simkiss ([email protected] ) of the Multi-National SIG

• If there is a specific topic or area you’d like to see covered,

please reach out to your SIG or chapter lead with ideas for
future sessions

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Approvals Exploration Series
All Sessions in Breakers F

Session ID Time Title Presenter

10672 8;00 – 9:00 EBS / Cloud: Key Concepts and Terms Stanley Cohen– Denovo
Ventures, LLC
10668 9:15-10:15 EBS Approvals List Creation, Limits, Karen Brownfield –
and Rules
Infosemantics, Inc.
10670 3:00 – 4:00 EBS Approvals Communication and John Peters – JRP JR, Inc.
History

10659 4:15 – 5 :15 Approvals in Cloud – New and Lee Briggs – Denovo Ventures,
Improved
LLC

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Agenda – Session 2 of 4

• Introduction
• Important Employee / User Setups
• Employee – Supervisor / Job
• Position Hierarchy
• Approvals Management Engine (AME)
• AME Setup Migration
• References

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Introduction

Purpose
Methods
Examples
Approvals Purpose

• Ensure disposition of organization’s assets or

commitment to provide services or goods is done by
appropriate personnel as per organization policy or
per regulatory requirement
– PO, Requisition, Supplier Creation
– AP Invoices, Expense Reports
– Journals
– BOM, ECO
– Intercompany
– iRecruitment Offer
– Inventory Lot changes
– Returns from Customers, Credit Memos
– Leases

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Methods

• Requestor Designates / Overrides Approver

• Employee/Supervisor
• Job Level
• Position Hierarchy
• AME – find approvers based on business rules

• In addition to methods to generating routing, many

non-AME approvals are based on amount limits,
which may apply based on type of goods,
accounting ranges, etc.

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Levels

• Non-AME workflows may have functionality that

shortens number of approvers
– Choices
• Go Up Management Chain
• One Stop Then Go Directly
• Go Directly to Person With Signing Authority
– How method selected varies by type of transaction
• GL Journal – Profile Option “Journals: Find Approver
Method”
• Internet Expenses - modify workflow (see MOS note
1228281.1)

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Purchasing

• Default is Employee/Supervisor
• Position Hierarchy can be selected by Organization
– Setup | Organizations | Financial Options, Human
Resources tab, check box “Use Approval Hierarchy
• AME is determined by Profile Option – applies to
entire application – overrides Organization option

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General Ledger

• Whether to use JE Approval is set per Ledger

– Setup | Accounting Setup Manager | Accounting Setups
• Update Accounting Options, then click update for Setup
Step that shows ledger name, go to page 2
– Once selected, default is Employee / Supervisor
– New for 12.1.3 and later – AME – profile option set at
application level, but doesn’t force ledgers not marked
for JE Approval to use approvals – see MOS note
2038960.1

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Payables / iExpenses

• Invoices – AME or none (set per Operating Unit)

– Setup | Options | Payables Options, Approval tab
• Invoice Holds – AME or none (set per Operating
Unit per Hold)
– Setup | Invoice | Hold and Release Names
• Expense Reports – Supervisor or AME
– AME use is determined by Payables AME profile
option
• For setups see Oracle Internet Expenses
Implementation and Administration Guide – section
“Setting Up Approval Rules”
– Need to define Cost Center orgs and Approval Managers
» See MOS note 261362.1
– (Optionally) requires Job hierarchy

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Important Employee / User Setups
Employee Setup

• Most approvals require approver to be employee

(even contingent employees are setup here)
• Workflow uses employee email address

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User Linked to Employee

• If link is made prior to adding employee to user,

email address in FND_USER not updated (it is in
WF_LOCAL_ROLES)
– Deleting/recreating link will update email, including
replacing any email entered via this form
• If user linked to employee, any email entered here
is ignored

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Contingent Worker

• Functionality Different per product

– Example – Purchasing – MOS note 308124.1
• 11i – not allowed
• R12 – new profile option “HR: Expand Role of
Contingent Worker” defines if contingent worker can
take up employee roles
– Raise and Approve Requisitions
– Create, Maintain, and Approve Purchase Orders
– Receive Goods and Services

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Employee / Supervisor
Job
Declare Supervisor

• Assignment tab after querying employee

• Same screen used to assign job/position
• Approval assumes either only one level required
(Expense Report w/o AME) or limits assigned to the
person (Journal Approval w/o AME)

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Job Hierarchy

• Job / Position tied to Business Group

• Approval Authority – rank from low to high
– AME handles values up through 10
• Approvals either by
– Authority assigned to job (Purchasing w/o AME)
– Job Level (AME)

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Example of Assigning Limits by Job

Must Have “Unlimited

Authority” Group

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Example of Assigning Limits by Person

• Remember to assign someone unlimited authority

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Business Group Impact

• Employees, Operating Units, Jobs, Positions belong

to one Business Group
• Cannot use Position Hierarchy
– MOS note 356127.1, 291046.1
• Profile Option – HR:Cross Business Group – MOS
note 257846.1, 224822.1
– Forces job names to be unique across all Business
Groups
– Allows assignment of supervisor from another
Business Group
• Supervisor’s job must exist in originating Business
Group

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Position Hierarchy
Defining Hierarchy
Position Form

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Position Form
Position Type

• None – position type not required, multiple holders

allowed
• Single Incumbent – only one person can be
assigned
• Shared – multiple holders allowed up to FTEs
specified in Hiring Information tab
• Pooled – same as Shared, except not limited by
number of FTEs (Public Sector only)

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Defining Hierarchy
Position Hierarchy Form

• Must specify Hierarchy name, then query for a

position you know is in the hierarchy
• If multiple holders, click LOV button and query

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Position Hierarchy
Hierarchy Diagrammer Form

Diagram can also be

Vertical or Interleaved

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Hierarchy Reports

• Position Hierarchy Report

• MOS note 1561805.1 – provides script to show all

hierarchies and who holds which position

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Hierarchy Points

• If multiple hierarchies exist, must specify hierarchy

to use – differs per application
– Example: Purchasing – hierarchy specified by
Document Type
• If make changes to employees / positions, must run
Fill Employee Hierarchy report
– If BU has multiple OUs, create Security Profile with
access to all OUs and assign this to profile option
MO: Security for a responsibility that can run this
program
• MOS note 1999510.1
– Can impact approvals in progress – MOS note
1539132.1

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Approvals Management Engine
(AME)

AME Access
AME Components
Attributes, Conditions, Actions/Action Types, Approver Groups, Rules
Test Workbench
AME Migration
AME – Approval via Business Rules

• Business Rule – Travel transactions totaling < 1000

only require approval by the employee’s immediate
supervisor

Picture taken from Oracle Approvals Management Implementation Guide, Release 12.2 Part No. E48864-01

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Advantages of AME

• Reduce approval cycle time

• Approval Rules can be developed by business uses
with minimal development assistance
• Approver Lists leverage off existing Oracle
hierarchies (e.g. HR supervisor, HR position)
• Approver Lists can also leverage off custom
hierarchies
• AME responds to changes such as organization
hierarchies or rule changes
• AME is an alternative to workflow customization
– Requires significant development expertise

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R11i vs R12

• Operating Units
– R11i – Rules are across operating units
• Must create attribute to limit by OU
– R12 – Rules are specific to operating unit
• Parallelization Features
– Available to more transactions in R12
• Parallel Approvals
• Position Hierarchy
• FYI Notifications
– Not available for all transaction types – MOS note
338508.1
• Integrated with more applications in R12
– R11i – 178 types; R12.1.3 – 272; R12.2.5 – 275

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AME Access

• Usually enabled at Application level through profile

option “AME:Installed”
– Object must support approval through AME

• AME uses Oracle Role Based Access Model

(RBAC) to access AME menus
– Access must also be granted to desired transaction
types
• Functional Administrator Responsibility
– Create Grant(s)
– If same grant to be given to multiple people, create role,
assign grant to role, then assign role to people

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AME Access

• To control access to functions (actions on the data)

– User Management Responsibility
• (Initially only SYSADMIN has access to this
responsibility)
– Grant access to predefined role(s) (or create own)
• Approvals Management Business Analyst – define
business cases (i.e. attributes, conditions, groups,
rules)
• Approvals Management System Administrator – add
transaction types, add approver types and view logs
• Approvals Management Process Owner – view only
access to Business Analyst functions
• Approvals Management System Viewer – view only
access to Administrator functions
• Approvals Management Administrator – both Business
Analyst and System Administrator

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AME Building Blocks

• Transactions – object being approved

• From Administrator Dashboard
– Configuration Variables
– Rule Priority Modes
– Forwarding Behaviors
• From Business Analyst Dashboard
– Attributes
– Conditions
– Actions/Action Types
– Approver Groups
– Rules

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Administrator Dashboard

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Transaction Type Information
Item Classes

• Page 2 shows levels at which approvers can be

configured as well as hints to by what method (in
this case by Project or Cost Center)

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Transaction Type Information
Mandatory Attributes

• Select values can be changed

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Configuration Variables

• Controls runtime behavior

• Default applies to all transaction types

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Rule Priority Modes

• Prioritizes a transaction type’s rules and, at run

time, remove from the set of rules that would
otherwise apply, those rules of insufficient priority
– Low numbers indicate higher priority

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Forwarding Behaviors

• For the listed situation, determines how AME is to

treat both the forwarder and forwardee when
request for approval is forwarded

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Forwarding Behavior Choices

• Ignore – treats as approval

• Forwardee Only – add forwardee to approver list
• Forwardee then Forwarder – add both to approval
list
• Skip Forwarder – extend chain of authority starting
with forwardee, but skip forwarder
• Repeat Forwarder – extend chain of authority
starting with forwardee and include forwarder
• Remand – add to approver list all approvers
between the forwardee and the forwarder including
the forwarder

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Business Analyst Dashboard
If Transaction Type in the
list, click appropriate link

If Transaction Type not in list,

select here, then click one of
links indicated by arrows

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Attributes

• Variables that represents business data (e.g.

invoice amount, supplier, etc.)
• Can be static (constant value) or dynamically
retrieved at runtime (SQL query)
• Basic attributes seeded for all transaction types
– Existing attributes can be modified
• SUPERVISORY_NON_DEFAULT_STARTING_POINT_
PERSON_ID – Update to start with a different person
• Create additional attributes for anything linked to
transaction id for header (invoice id, requisition id)
– If transaction has header and multiple lines, attribute
can be a list (project for each line, requestor for each
line)

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Attributes

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Attributes

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Conditions

• Represent the IF part of an approval rule

• Evaluate the value of attributes at runtime
• Result can either be true or false

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Conditions

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Condition Types

• Ordinary
– Compare attribute to value or range
• Exception
– Used in List Creation Exception Rule Types
• List Modifier
– Checks for presence of specified approver in
specified Order

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Actions / Action Types

• Represent the Then part of an approval rule

• Provide instruction to AME when an approval rule
has been satisfied
• Determine the approvers and number of approvers
• Action Types are grouping of Actions
– Action Type – routing is by job/position/supervisor
– Action – how many levels required

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Action Types / Actions

Action Type Description Example

Absolute-job-level ~Ascends HR Require approvals up
supervisor hierarchy to at most job level six
~Based on specific • Specific purchase
job level types
Relative-job-level ~Ascends HR Require approvals at
supervisor hierarchy least four levels up
~Based on job level • Pay changes
relative to requester’s
job level
• At Most – go no higher than job level specified
• At Least – go to job level specified (or one higher if one
specified doesn’t exist)

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Action Types / Actions

Action Description Example

Manager-then-Final- ~Ascends HR Require approval up
Approver supervisor hierarchy to first supervisor and
~Supervisor and final level six final
approver are required approver
to approve • Capital with CFO
approval
Supervisory-Level Ascends HR Require approvals up
supervisor hierarchy a to three supervisors
specified number of • Expenses
levels

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Action Types / Actions

Action Type Description Example

HR-Position Ascends HR position Require approvals up
hierarchy up to a to Accounting
specified position Manager
• HR approvals
Approver-Group ~Ascends custom If transaction item is
Chain-of-Authority approver hierarchy related to a project
~Builds chain-of- • Approver groups
authority type based on project
approver list roles

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Action Types / Actions

Action Description Example

Final-Authority Grants final authority If Approver is Susan
to an approver by Behn, allow final
ending the approval approval
chain when target • VP Approval
approver is reached • CEO
Pre and Post Chain- Approvers are added Require IT pre-
Of-Authority before or after normal approval for hardware
chain-of-authority list purchase
build for a transaction • Accounting and
Technical

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Approval Group

• Ordered set of one or more approvers (static group)

or list which is dynamically generated at rule
evaluation time (dynamic)
• Typically used for pre- or post-approval rules
– Can be used as chain of authority (Example: project
managers)
• Lists ones seeded or created for transaction type
– Use Existing Approver Group – can search for groups
created for other transaction types, but typically only
work as model to create custom approver group
Order within
level

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Static Approver Group

Order within
group

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Dynamic Approval Group

Either ‘person_id’:person_id
or ‘fnd_user’:user_id or
‘<wf_roles_orig_system’|<w
f_roles.orig_system_id>

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Voting Method

• Serial – one-at-a-time, if order number same then

AME breaks tie arbitrarily, all must approve
• Consensus – parallel, all must approve
• First Responder Wins – parallel, first response
determines response for group
• Order Number – notified in sequence of order
number, if order number same then notified in
parallel, all must approve

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Rules

• Putting it all together

– Condition using attributes
– If true, selecting action type that builds approver list
• Approver list may be approver group
• Can have multiple rules each yielding a different list
of approvers
• Rules re-evaluated during each approval iteration

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Rule Types

• List-Creation
– Generate Chain-of-Authority Approver Lists
• IF INVOICE_AMOUNT > $500K, THEN REQUIRE
APPROVALS UP TO 2 SUPERVISORS
• List-Creation Exceptions
– Uses one ordinary condition (on same attribute as List
Creation) and one exception condition
• IF INVOICE_AMOUNT < 1000 AND (Exception)
COST_CENTER IS IN (0743) THEN REQUIRE
APPROVALS UP TO 2 SUPERVISORS
• Combination
– Combination of actions
• IF REQUESTOR IS ‘JOHN DOE’, REQUIRE
PRE_APPROVAL FROM TEAM LEAD,
POST_APPROVAL FROM AP MANAGER

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Rule Types

• List-Modification
– Used to extend or reduce final approver authority
• IF INVOICE_AMOUNT > 5000 AND PAYGROUP IS
‘COMPEQUIP’ AND ANY APPROVER IS GERALD
JONES GRANT FINAL AUTHORITY
• Substitution
– Allows an approver on approver list to be substituted
for another person
• IF ANY APPROVER IS GERALD JONES, THEN
SUBSTITUTE SUSAN BEHN FOR THE APPROVER
• Pre- and Post-List
– Approvers are inserted either before or after the
normal chain-of-authority approver list
• IF LINE_TYPE IS ‘TAX’, THEN REQUIRE
PRE_APPROVAL FROM TAX DEPARTMENT

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Rule Types

• Production
– Must verify your transaction type supports this
• Ensure Configuration Variable “Production
Functionality” not set to “No production rules”

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Rule Example

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Test Workbench

• 11i.AME.B and R12 provide a test workbench to

allow defined business rules to be evaluated and
tested against transactions
• Test workbench allows user to verify various
aspects of setups
– Are attribute values, particularly custom attributes,
retrieving values correctly?
– Does the invoice satisfy the appropriate rule?
– Is the proper approver chain being generated for the
transaction based on the rule chosen?

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How Test Workbench Works

• Either
– Create a Test Case by specifying values for all
attributes
• Click Create, enter applicable values, click ‘Run Test
Case (2)’
– Create a transaction and note transaction_id
• Click ‘Run Real Transaction Test (1)’, enter Transaction
Id, click Go

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Test Case Using Transaction ID

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Test Case Using Transaction ID

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Test Case Using Transaction ID

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Test Case Library

• Create test cases necessary to test rules

• Save test cases
• If any business rule changes or is added, can run
tests

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AME Setup Migration

• See MOS note 1168883.1

• Uses FNDLOAD
• Available for
– Conditions
– Groups
– Action Type Usages
– Rules
• Not Available for entities specific to an instance
– Static Approval Groups
– List Modification Conditions

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Planning for AME

• Plan for all corporate rules using flow charts or

decision trees
– Gain support from the management team and users
– Provides basis for testing
– Improves overall logic by identifying combinations
– Identify alternatives
– Remember to consider special cases
• Who approves CEO’s transactions
– Speeds implementation process
– Identifies potential problems

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AME and Approval Workflows

• Approval routing is controlled by AME rules via

workflow
• Approval workflow sends request to AME to find
approvers
• AME sends person_id or user_id back to workflow
• Workflow sends notification to person or user
identified by AME
• Workflow continues to send notifications until
– Approval from authorized approver is reached
– Invoice is rejected
– Approver list is exhausted

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AME and Approval Workflow

• Invoice Approval Workflow Identify Approver node

calls the AME API to identify next approver
• Workflow sends the notification and records
approval history

AME

10670 3:00 – 4:00 EBS Approvals Communication and John Peters – JRP JR, Inc.
History

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References
My Oracle Support Notes

• 431815.1 – Oracle Approvals Management (AME)

Frequently asked Questions (FAQ)
• 1168883.1 – How To Migrate AME Setups From
One Instance To Another
– Ignore Notes 371605.1 and 399745.1
• 1539575.1 – How to Migrate AME to R12 During
Upgrade from 11i to R12?

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My Oracle Support Notes

• 566169.1 – How to Make the Approver Type

Position Control Roles Available For Static Approver
Groups
• 471125.1 – Configuring Parallel Approvers
Notification
– Contains PDF
• 1478693.1 – How to Implement Employee /
Supervisor Hierarchy using AME setup?
• 433211.1 – How to Combine Supervisory and
Absolute Job Levels?

78
My Oracle Support Notes

• 1252156.1 – Position Hierarchy For AP Invoice

Approvals Is Limited To 10 Levels, How Can More
Be Added?
• 1452484.1 – How does one configure AME so the
“Absolute Job Level” can be used for approvals
above Job Level 10?
• 338508.1 – Approvals Management (AME) Error
“Oracle Approvals Management has Found
Parallelisation Configuration whereas the Context in
which AME invoked Using AME_API Does Not
Support Parallelisation”

79
My Oracle Support Notes

• Business Group Impact

– 257846.1 – How Will Setting “Hr: Cross Business
Group” Profile To Yes Affect HR Applications?
– 224822.1 – How Does the Cross Business Group
Profile Option Impact the Application
– 356127.1 – How to Add Positions to a Hierarchy from
Another Business Group
• HR
– 360515.1 – Configuring Oracle Self-Service Human
Resources (SSHR) Approvals Using Approvals
Management (AME)
– 261362.1 – Supplement for Implementing Auto Orgs

80
My Oracle Support Notes

• Purchasing
– 293315.1 – 11.5.10 FAQ for Approvals Management
(AME) Integration for iProcurement and Purchasing
– 1207863.1 – Master Reference for AME Based
Requisition Approval in R12
• Notes listed in here not repeated in slides
– 1487661.1 – 12.1.3 AME: Approval, E-Review, E-Sign
and Withdrawal Features for Purchase Orders
– 429314.1 – Release 12: New Features For
Purchasing Approvals
– 134947.1 – Purchasing Setup of Approval Hierarchies
– 1313712.1 – Can Two Hierarchies (Position and
Supervisor) Be Used For Different Organizations?

81
My Oracle Support Notes

• Purchasing
– 374263.1 – Multiple Approval Groups Assigned to a
Single Position Results in Questionable Approval
Routing / Incomplete No Approver Found Result
– 1077318.1 – With Position Hierarchies, How Can I
Setup System to Route to Certain Approvers Based
on Data on the Document?
– 1502702.1 – In Release 11i Are Contingency Workers
Included in Purchasing’s Positional Hierarchies?
• No for 11i, Yes for R12
– 308124.1 – Contingent Worker Appears in Position
Hierarchy But Cannot Approve
– 291046.1 – Purchase Requisition Approval Across
Business Groups

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My Oracle Support Notes

• Purchasing
– 1561805.1 – How To Extract The Purchasing Position
Hierarchy
• Payables / iExpenses
– 251770.1 – FAQ on Internet Expenses with Multiple
Approval Chains and Oracle Approvals Management
Engine
– 1606056.1 – APXIIMPT – Is It Possible To Import
Invoices With Approval Not Required
– 1228281.1 – What approval methods are available for
use with Internet Expenses?

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My Oracle Support Notes

• General Ledger
– 2038960.1 – Oracle General Ledger Journal
Approvals Integration with Oracle Approvals
Management (AME) and Oracle Workflow
– 1371982.1 – Approvals Management Engine (AME)
Usage and Setup in AGIS
– 785167.1 – Advanced Global Intercompany
Troubleshooting AGIS Workflow White Paper

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[email protected]
Session ID 10668

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