PUBLIC

Document Version: 2408 – 2024-11

Approval Flows
SAP Ariba Procurement solutions
© 2024 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

THE BEST RUN

Content

Approval Flows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Approval Flow Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Approval Flow Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Approval Escalations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Automatic Withdrawal of Approval Request. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Denied Approval Requests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Approvals via Email. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Overriding the Default Preferences for Notifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Helpful Hints for Editing Approval Flows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Selecting an Approver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Adding Serial or Parallel Approvers to the Approval Flow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Rearranging or Deleting Approvers in an Approval Flow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

About Delegating Approval Authority. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Different Options for Delegating Approval Authority. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Enabling Multi-User Delegation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Prerequisites for Delegating Approval Authority of a User to Multiple Users. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Delegating Approval Authority Limitations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Ending a Delegation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Logging in Using Delegated Approval Authority. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Changing Your Delegation Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Delegating Your Approval Authority. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Configuring Multi-User Approval Authority Delegation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Viewing Delegations Configured for Your Site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Editing a Delegator-Delegatee Relationship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Approving or Denying Requests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Approval Flows
2 PUBLIC Content
 Approving or Denying a Request via Email. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Approval Notification Format Preferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Formatting Email Notifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Setting Preferences for Receiving Approval Notifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Delivery Options for Approval Notifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Queue management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Processing multiple operations simultaneously in approval queues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Getting Unassigned Requests From an Approval Queue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Returning a Request to an Approval Queue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Archiving and Find Archived Approval Requests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Approval Flows
Content PUBLIC 3
Approval Flows

This guide is for SAP Ariba users seeking general information about approval flow concepts and tasks in SAP Ariba
Procurement solutions.

This guide covers how to approve and deny requests, email approval, delegation, and basic information about
approval queues.

This guide applies to:

• SAP Ariba Catalog

• SAP Ariba Buying
• SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing
• SAP Ariba Invoice Management
• SAP Ariba Contract Invoicing

Related guides

Approval Process Management Guide

Approval Flows
4 PUBLIC Approval Flows
Approval Flow Concepts

Approval Flow Basics [page 5]

Approval Escalations [page 7]

Automatic Withdrawal of Approval Request [page 8]

Denied Approval Requests [page 9]

Approval Flow Basics

The approvers involved in the approval flow of your request are shown in a diagram in the Approval Flow section of
the approvable.

Approval flow

Each approver (user, group, or list of users) appears in an approver node in the diagram. A status of Active means
that the approver has received notification of the request for approval but has not yet acted on the request. Active
approvers must approve the request in order to move it to the next approver in the approval chain.

Any request you submit (for example, a purchase requisition, a contract request, or a change to your profile)
might be subject to approval. For example, purchases under $50.00 might not require any approval, purchases
between $50.00 and $1,000.00 might require only the approval of your immediate supervisor, and purchases over
$1,000.00 might require the approval of your immediate supervisor and someone in the Purchasing Manager
group. Similarly, an invoice reconciliation might have exceptions that must be cleared by an exception handler, and
a receipt might require action by a receiver.

Approval Flows
Approval Flow Concepts PUBLIC 5
Approvers and watchers

An approver is anyone who has the authority to approve or deny your request. A watcher is someone who cannot
approve or deny your request.

Approver

If an approver has delegated approval authority to another user, the approval flow diagram will still display the
name of the original approver. After the delegatee approves or denies a request on behalf of the original approver,
the approval flow diagram will display the name of the user who approved or denied the request. The original
approver's name will appear in parentheses.

Watcher

A watcher cannot make changes to a request, but might need to follow the progress of the request. For example, a
receiving manager might want to follow the approval of a purchase in order to prepare for the arrival of a shipment.

Serial and parallel approvers

When there are multiple approvers, they can be ordered in two ways, as Serial or Parallel.

• Serial: Approver nodes for serial approvers are ordered from left to right in the approval flow. Each serial
approver is notified only after the approvers to the left have approved the document.
• Parallel: Approver nodes for parallel approvers are placed in parallel with each other vertically in the approval
flow. All approvers in parallel are simultaneously notified about the approvable document needing approval.

Approval groups and queues

To help managers balance workloads and process transactions faster, approval requests can be sent to users
belonging to an approval group or a queue.

Approval group

Members of an approval group can act on the request on behalf of the group. For example, some approval requests
might require intervention or an action from an administrative user, such as a member of the Purchasing Agent or
the Invoice Manager group. This is often the last step in the approval process.

Apporoval queue

In larger organizations that have more complicated transactions, managers might create an approval queue. An
approval queue allows assigned members of a group to take ownership of specific transactions.

Approval Flows
6 PUBLIC Approval Flow Concepts
Basic approval process

The approval processes that govern the approval requirements for each request type and requester are created
and maintained by your administrator. To request a user profile change, edit your current profile using the Personal
Profile wizard.

The following steps are used for preparing and approving any type of request:

1. You add line items to your request, such as expense items for an expense report or invoice line items for an
invoice.
2. You submit the request. You might need to provide summary information, add additional approvers or
watchers, or resolve any policy violations.
3. If your request is subject to an approval process, the people involved in the approval flow are notified. Your
request is not approved until all required approvers review and approve your request.
4. If your request is denied, you can edit the request and then resubmit or withdraw it.

Related Information

Helpful Hints for Editing Approval Flows [page 14]

Approval Escalations
If an active approver doesn't take action on an approval request after a certain length of time, the request escalates
to the approver’s supervisor.

The schedules for escalation include:

• A warning period of 7 days by default, after which you and your supervisor receive a reminder email for pending
requests that you haven't acted upon.
• An escalation trigger of 14 days by default. If the escalation time period has passed and you have not taken
action on a request waiting for your approval, the approval request is escalated to your supervisor, unless your
supervisor is a member of the No Escalation group. Escalating an approval request adds your supervisor to the
approval flow of the request.

 Note

Requests are escalated only if the delinquent approver is a specific user. If the delinquent approver is a group,
escalation messages will not be sent to group members. Pending requests will not escalate to their supervisors
if members from the group do not take action.

Approvers can still view and approve items even after an escalation has occurred. When an approver acts on an
escalated request, the request will be removed from the inbox of all the other approvers.

Members of the No Escalation group don't receive escalation messages, and the approval request will remain in
the To Do list of the delinquent approver.

Approval Flows
Approval Flow Concepts PUBLIC 7
For information about configuring escalation periods, see Approval Queues, Approval Escalations, and Withdrawal
Periods.

Extending the review period

Depending on your organization's approval processes, you might be able to extend the review period of some
approval requests. Extending the review period puts a new escalation date on the request, giving you more time to
review it. You must be signed in to the application in a web browser in order to extend the review period. The Extend
Review Period button isn't available in notifications or the SAP Ariba mobile app.

Approval requests that allow approvers to extend the review period include an Extend Review Period button at the
top. When you extend the review period, the new escalation date is displayed. If you don't see an Extend Review
Period button, and the escalation date is still in the future, either your organization doesn't allow an extension or it
has already been extended.

For more information about extending the review period, including how approval process managers can configure
this feature, see Extension of Review Time for Approvers.

Related Information

Automatic Withdrawal of Approval Request [page 8]

Automatic Withdrawal of Approval Request

In the default configuration, submitted approval requests that have been inactive for a certain length of time are
automatically withdrawn from the approval process.

Inactive means no new changes or requests have been submitted. When an approvable is withdrawn, the status
returns to Composing. Requests that have been denied and requests that have been automatically submitted (for
example, purchasing card charges and invoice reconciliation documents) are never automatically withdrawn.

Your site is configured with the following schedules for automatic withdrawal:

• A warning period of 21 days by default, after which the preparer, approvers, and watchers are notified of when
the approvable will be withdrawn.
• A withdrawal trigger of 28 days by default, after which the approvable is withdrawn from the approval flow. The
preparer and active watchers are notified of the withdrawal.

Members of the Customer Administrator group can configure withdrawal periods and withdrawal warning periods
for each type of approvable.

Approval Flows
8 PUBLIC Approval Flow Concepts
Related Information

Denied Approval Requests [page 9]

Denied Approval Requests

When an approver denies an approval request, the status of the approvable changes to Denied. The Denied state
cannot be changed unless the request is resubmitted.

After an approver denies an approval request:

• Approvers can't take further action unless the approvable is resubmitted by the requester.

 Note

The Approve and Deny buttons are not available for any approvers, including the approver who denied the
request.

• Parallel approvers that were active when the request was denied cannot take action on the approvable, either
through the user interface or through email. The approvable moves to the Watch list for those approvers. The
Approval Flow tab displays a message explaining that the request was denied.
• Parallel approvers do not receive any more approver notifications for the denied request. Instead, the system
sends a message to the other active approvers, explaining that the request was denied. (This is the same
message that is sent to the requester.)
• If an approver tries to approve a request using an email generated before the denial, the system sends a
message explaining that the request was denied by another approver.

Following are three denial scenarios. Refer to the figure as you read the scenarios. At the beginning of each
scenario, Approver 1 and Approver 2 are both active approvers.

Denial Scenario 1

Actions: Approver 1 approves the request, and the system sends an approval request to Approver 3. Approver 2
denies the request before Approver 3 has taken action on it.

Result: For Approver 3, the approvable moves to the Watch list. Approver 3 cannot take action on the approvable.
If Approver 3 tries to use email approval to approve the request after Approver 2 denies it, the system ignores the
approval and sends an email to Approver 3 stating that the approvable was denied by another user.

Approval Flows
Approval Flow Concepts PUBLIC 9
Denial Scenario 2

Action: Approver 1 denies the request.

Result: For Approver 2, the approvable moves to the Watch list. Approver 3 does not receive an approval request
notification. The approvable does not appear in the To Do list of Approver 3.

Denial Scenario 3

Actions: Approver 2 denies the request before Approver 1 takes any action.

Result: For Approver 1, the approvable moves to the Watch list. If Approver 1 tries to use email approval to approve
the request after Approver 2 denies it, the system ignores the approval and sends an email to Approver 1 stating
that the request was denied by another user. Approver 3 never receives an approval request notification, and the
approvable does not appear in the To Do list of Approver 3.

Related Information

Automatic Withdrawal of Approval Request [page 8]

Approval Flows
10 PUBLIC Approval Flow Concepts
Approvals via Email

If your site is configured to allow email approval, you can act on approval requests using email on a personal
computer, smart phone, or personal digital assistant (PDA) device.

The email approval feature allows users to approve or deny approval requests and add comments via email,
through the approval notification.

 Note

If your site doesn't allow email approval, when you receive the notification message, you can open the approval
request, but you cannot approve or deny the request without logging into the site to approve the request.

Limitations of email approval

• You cannot approve or deny requests from summary emails. If you set your approval preferences to receive
summary emails, you must click the link in the summary notification to display the request, and then approve
or deny the request.
• Email approval notifications forwarded to a different approver display the original approver in the approval flow
diagram, not the delegated approver.
• The email approval feature doesn’t allow you to add or delete approvers, or to change approvers in the approval
flow.
• If your email approval or denial contains errors (for example, an invalid value in a field), the approver and
requester will receive an email about the errors, and the approval flow will be blocked until the errors are
corrected. After the errors are corrected, the approval flow is unblocked, and the approver can then resubmit
the approval.
• If you want to approve or deny requests from email addresses other than the primary address in your user
profile, you will need to contact your system administrator to register the alternate address. Your request will
appear in your To Do list.

 Note

Approvals and denials sent from addresses not registered in the system will be rejected.

Forwarded email notifications

Your site might allow you to approve or deny requests from forwarded email notifications. The user receiving the
forwarded message can view the request, if authorized, but they cannot approve or deny it.

Email approval restrictions for purchasing card reconciliations

For purchasing card reconciliations, if you are the first approver, you must supply content to finish filling out the
request. Therefore, you cannot approve these types of approvables by email, and you must log on to your SAP Ariba
solution to finish the approval process.

The email notification you receive for these requests only includes a link to the application.

Approval Flows
Approvals via Email PUBLIC 11
Email approval is not available for any subsequent approvers even if they don't have to enter additional data or
take additional actions. All approvers of purchasing card reconciliations must log on to the application to finish the
approval process.

Email approval restrictions for invoice reconciliations

For invoice reconciliation (IR) documents, if you are the first approver, you must supply content to finish filling out
the request, or you can reject the entire request. Depending on the status of the invoice reconciliation, you can
perform actions from the email notification or using your PDA.

Actions you can perform depend on the state of the IR and your group membership:

• If the IR document is in Reconciling state:

Members of the Invoice Manager, Invoice Rejection Specialist, Invoice Specialist, and Procurement
Manager groups can open or reject the IR. You can reject an IR from the email notification, but when you
open the IR, you must be sign in to your site to take action.
All other users on the approval flow can only open the IR.
• If IR is in Approving state (IR is reconciled):
Members of the Invoice Manager, Invoice Rejection Specialist, Invoice Specialist, and Procurement
Manager groups can perform the following actions via email:
• Open
• Approve
• Reject (if your site is configured to allow rejection of IRs in Approving state)
• Approve Rejection (if your site is configured to require approval of rejected invoice reconciliations).
All other users on the approval flow can open the IR, approve the IR, or approve the rejection of the IR only.
Approve Rejection is the action you perform to approve the rejection of an IR by a previous approver.
If you approve an IR with validation errors, you will receive an email notification that the approval failed:
Subject: Could not process message <title of previous message>
The message body contains an explanation that the approval of the IR could not be processed because
there are invalid fields in the invoice reconciliation, a link to the IR, and the original message. If you belong
to a group that allows editing of IRs, click on the link to access the IR, correct the validation error, and then
approve the IR.
• Receipts
For receipts, if you are the first approver, you must supply content to finish filling out the request.
Therefore, you cannot approve receipts by email, and you must log on to your application to finish
the approval process. The email notification you receive for these requests only includes a link to the
application.
All subsequent approvers of receipts receive email approval messages that allow them to approve or deny
directly from the email message.

Approval Flows
12 PUBLIC Approvals via Email
Overriding the Default Preferences for
Notifications

Context

SAP Ariba supports approval notifications in compact text and plain text formats. The default preferences are
managed by SAP Ariba Customer Support. To update the site user preferences, you must contact SAP Ariba
Customer Support.

You can override the default user settings and specify your notification preferences.

For more information on setting the format for notifications received, see About Approval Notification Formats
[page 38].

Procedure

1. Sign in to your SAP Ariba solution.

The dashboard appears.

2. On the top right of the dashboard, click your user name.

The Preference menu appears.

3. From the submenu displayed, click Edit Default Preferences and check one of the following:
• Receive email notifications in plain text format
• Receive email notification in compact text format
4. Click OK.

Related Information

Approvals via Email [page 11]

Approval Flows
Overriding the Default Preferences for Notifications PUBLIC 13
Helpful Hints for Editing Approval Flows

Depending on your role, you can modify approval flows by adding, rearranging, and deleting approvers.

• Preparers can add approvers, and authorized users (such as customer administrators) can make changes, to
an approval flow anytime after the request is submitted and before it's approved.
• Approvers and authorized users within the approval flow can modify the flow.

 Note

This information doesn't apply to forms created using the forms builder. For information about approval flows
for forms, see Adding Approvers to a Form Document.

Approval flows can be viewed and modified on the Summary page for the approvable.

There is one approval node for each approver in the approval flow process, you can modify the approval flow as
follows:

1. Add a serial or parallel approver from the triangle menu to the left of a node. You can add a parallel approver
before the first (leftmost) node in the approval flow.
2. Add a serial approver from the triangle menu to the right of a node.
3. Approver nodes that you are authorized to delete include a delete button (X).

• The actions you can take in editing an approval flow depend on your role, the position of the approver node
in the diagram, and whether the approver node was added by you, by someone else, or as part of the default
approval flow.
• Actions taken while a request has the status of Composing (such as adding approvers) do not appear in the
summary on the History tab; actions are recorded only after the status changes to Submitted.

Related Information

Adding Serial or Parallel Approvers to the Approval Flow [page 16]

Rearranging or Deleting Approvers in an Approval Flow [page 18]

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14 PUBLIC Helpful Hints for Editing Approval Flows
Selecting an Approver

Your organization might require you to manually select approvers from a list when you fill out the approval request.

Procedure

1. Create the approvable.

2. Add the line items and fill in the other information.

Do not select an approver until you have filled in the rest of the approvable.
3. Perform one of the following actions:

• To select a specific approver, in the chooser, click the dropdown arrow, and click Search for more. Select
an approver in the Choose Value for Approver dialog box, and click Done.
• To use the default approver, in the field for manually selecting an approver, click the dropdown arrow, and
click Set Default.
The approver is added to the customer field and the approval flow updates with the selected approver.
4. Submit the approvable.

Your SAP Ariba solution adds the selected approver to a predefined approver node within the approval flow.

Approval Flows
Selecting an Approver PUBLIC 15
Adding Serial or Parallel Approvers to the
Approval Flow

Serial approvers are notified of an approvable in the order they're added to an approval flow, parallel approvers are
notified at once.

Context

The ability to add approvers to an approval flow depends on your role and where you want to add the approver
within the flow, as described in the following list:

• If you are the preparer, you can add new approvers before or after existing approvers or in parallel to the entire
approval flow.
• If you are an approver or a watcher, you can add new approvers before or after existing approvers or in parallel
to them.
• You can add an approver if you are in the process of approving a request. You cannot add approvers before an
approver who has already acted on the request, or before a watcher.
• If you are authorized, you can add approvers regardless of whether you are included in the approval flow.

Procedure

1. On the Summary page of the approvable, click the Approval Flow tab.
2. Review the approval flow. Click an approver’s name to see details. If the approver is a group, all members
belonging to that group are displayed.
3. To add the new node before an existing node, click the triangle to the left of the
node. To add the new node after an existing node, click the triangle to the right of the

node.
4. Select Add Serial Approver or Add Parallel Approver. The Add Approval Request dialog box opens.
5. Fill out the information in the Add Approval Request dialog box, and click OK.

Approval Flows
16 PUBLIC Adding Serial or Parallel Approvers to the Approval Flow
Results

The approver is added to the approval flow as a pending approver. The preparer of the request receives an email
notification that an approver was added.

Related Information

Rearranging or Deleting Approvers in an Approval Flow [page 18]

Approval Flows
Adding Serial or Parallel Approvers to the Approval Flow PUBLIC 17
Rearranging or Deleting Approvers in an
Approval Flow

You can rearrange the approver nodes, but the position to which you can move them depend on your role, the
position of the approver node in the diagram, and how the approver was added.

Context

• You can move approvers that you've added.

• You can move approvers to a position adjacent to active or pending approvers.
• Authorized users can move approvers included in the default approval flow.
• You cannot move approvers before approvers that have already approved or denied.
• You cannot create a new parallel approval flow by moving existing serial approvers.
• You can delete approvers you've added, but you can't delete approvers that've already approved or denied.
• You can delete approvers you've added, but (unless you're authorized) you can't delete approvers that were
automatically added.

Procedure

Perform one of the following actions:

• To delete an approver, click the delete button (X).

 Note

• The delete button is only available for nodes you have permission to delete.
• If the Validate requisition fields when deleting approvers
(Application.Purchasing.ValidateRequisitionFieldsWhenDeletingApprovers)
parameter has been enabled, the header and line item-level fields of a requisition will be validated
when you delete an approver.

• To move an approver, click one of the menu triangles adjacent to the approver node that you want to move.

a. Select Move Approver.

Circular targets appear on the approval flow, indicating the locations to which you can move the selected
approver.

Approval Flows
18 PUBLIC Rearranging or Deleting Approvers in an Approval Flow
b. Click the target where you want to move the node.

The approver node moves to the position you clicked.

Related Information

Adding Serial or Parallel Approvers to the Approval Flow [page 16]

Approval Flows
Rearranging or Deleting Approvers in an Approval Flow PUBLIC 19
About Delegating Approval Authority

You can delegate your approval authority to another user to allow that user to approve requests sent to you.

For example, if you know you will be out of the office for a period of time, you might want to delegate your approval
authority to your manager or a coworker.

When you delegate authority, you are the delegator, and the user to whom you delegate authority is the delegatee.
The delegatee receives all system-generated email notifications regarding requests that require your attention.
That user can sign in and act as you in order to review, approve, and deny those requests on your behalf.

When a delegatee receives a notification on behalf of a delegator, the notification mentions the delegation so the
delegatee knows why the notification was sent.

When acting as delegator, delegatees can approve and reconcile all the documents assigned to the delegator, even
if they don’t normally have access to those types of documents. For example, suppose user Cheryl Evert is a
purchasing manager. She delegates authority to user Arnold Davis, who is not a purchasing manager. When Arnold
logs in as himself, he cannot view other users’ requisitions. But when he logs in and acts as Cheryl, he can view and
approve requisitions for which Cheryl is an active approver.

If a request is approved by a delegatee, the name of the delegatee is shown in the approver node, followed by
the name of the delegator in parentheses. For example, user DDD delegated authority to user AAA, and user AAA
approved, as shown in the following figure.

You can select if a delegatee inherits all access privileges of the delegator or limited to only those not associated
with site administration For example, suppose the user Chad Noll is a purchasing manager and a user manager. He
delegates authority to user Arnold Davis, who is a purchasing manager but not a user manager. When Arnold signs
in and acts as Chad, he cannot have the user manager privileges.

To enable this functionality, set the self-service parameter Restrict delegatee privileges in the Intelligent
Configuration Manager workspace. For more information, refer to Parameter Management in Intelligent
Configuration Manager.

Related Information

Delegating Your Approval Authority [page 29]

Logging in Using Delegated Approval Authority [page 27]
Intelligent Configuration Manager Administration

Approval Flows
20 PUBLIC About Delegating Approval Authority
Different Options for Delegating Approval
Authority

You can use one of these options to delegate your approval authority:

• Delegating your approval authority to a single user (one-to-one user delegation): This option is available for
your site by default. Using the single delegation option, you can delegate your approval authority to a single
delegatee user.
Members of the Customer Administrator and Customer User Admin groups can create delegations on behalf
of other users by using the User Manager Delegations workspace in Ariba Administrator. They can also
modify and delete existing delegations regardless of who created them.
In test sites for SAP Ariba Procurement solutions, delegatees can create approval requests on behalf of
delegators. This is not possible in production sites.
• Delegating your approval authority to multiple users (one-to-many user delegation or multi-user delegation):
You can use this option to delegate your approval authority to multiple delegatees to ensure that one of the
delegatees can complete the approvals on your behalf. In addition, if enabled for your site, the delegatees can
also create requisitions and receipts to manage the ordering and receiving tasks on behalf of you. This feature
can also be leveraged to model a store as a user (delegator) in your SAP Ariba solution and include a team of
store associates as delegatees for the store. The team of store associates can then manage the ordering and
receiving tasks on behalf of the store.
Members of the Customer Administrator and Customer User Admin groups can create delegations on behalf
of other users in one of the following ways:
• Using the User Manager Delegations workspace in Ariba Administrator.
• By running the Import Approval Authority Delegations data import task.
In the default configuration, the one-to-many users delegation feature is disabled. For information about
enabling this feature, see Enabling Multi-User Delegation [page 22].

Related Information

Prerequisites for Delegating Approval Authority of a User to Multiple Users [page 23]
Delegating Approval Authority Limitations [page 24]

Approval Flows
Different Options for Delegating Approval Authority PUBLIC 21
Enabling Multi-User Delegation

By default, the multi-user delegation (one-to-many delegation) option is disabled in your SAP Ariba solution. To
configure this option, ensure that you do the following:

• Review the prerequisites and limitations applicable for the multi-user delegation feature. For more information,
see Prerequisites for Delegating Approval Authority of a User to Multiple Users [page 23] and Delegating
Approval Authority Limitations [page 24].
• Have your Designated Support Contact log a service request. An SAP Ariba Customer Support representative
will follow up to complete the request

 Remember

After this feature is enabled on your site, any existing configurations for approval delegations may no longer
be effective. In addition, you cannot revert to the previous state to allow single user delegations. However, you
can choose to migrate any existing configurations to be supported by this feature. For help with migrating the
existing delegations, contact SAP Ariba Customer Support.

Approval Flows
22 PUBLIC Enabling Multi-User Delegation
Prerequisites for Delegating Approval Authority
of a User to Multiple Users

• Users delegating their approval authority to multiple users must contact their customer administrators for
help with configuring delegations. Customer administrators can create user delegations in one of the following
ways:
• Manually in the User Manager Delegations workspace in Ariba Administrator. For more
information, see Configuring Multi-User Approval Authority Delegation [page 31].
• By using the Import Approval Authority Delegations data import task. For more information, see Import
Approval Authority Delegations.
• If delegatees need to be allowed to create requisitions and receipts on behalf of their delegators, have your
Designated Support Contact log a service request. An SAP Ariba Customer Support representative will follow
up to complete the request.
• By default, approvable documents created on behalf of a delegator are displayed on the dashboard of those
delegatee users who created those documents. To allow all delegatees to view the documents created
on behalf of their delegators, have your Designated Support Contact log a service request. An SAP Ariba
Customer Support will follow up to complete the request.
• If team requisitioning functionality is enabled for your site, team members configured in a user's profile can
take over team requisitions and team receipts in the absence of the user. In such cases, if a delegation is also
created for that user, delegatees must not work on team requisitions and team receipts to prevent unexpected
errors.

 Note

You can identify a team requisition by verifying whether the Is Team Requisition checkbox on the
Summary page of the requisition is enabled. For more information about team requisitioning and team
receiving, see Team Requisitioning and Team Receiving.

Approval Flows
Prerequisites for Delegating Approval Authority of a User to Multiple Users PUBLIC 23
Delegating Approval Authority Limitations

If you delegate your approval authority to one user or multiple users, there are different limitations that apply to
each scenario.

Limitations: Delegating Approval Authority to a Single User

The following limitations are applicable when you delegate your approval authority to a single user (one-to-one user
delegation):

• SAP Ariba Procurement solutions do not notify the delegatee when the delegation is created. It is a good idea
to inform the delegatee yourself so that he or she will know to expect approval notifications on your behalf.
• A delegatee cannot delegate authority back to the initial approver if the start date is only one day away.
• You can have only one delegation configured at a time. If you create a delegation, you cannot create another
one until the time period for the first delegation has passed.
• Some approval processes in your organization might be configured to prevent delegatees from approving their
own requests when the delegator is their supervisor.
• A chain of delegations (also known as nesting delegations) is not supported. A chain is where user A delegates
to user B, and user B delegates to user C. When this happens, user C cannot act as user A. Only user B can act
as user A.

Limitations: Delegating Approval Authority to Multiple Users

The following limitations are applicable when you delegate your approval authority to multiple users (one-to-many
user delegation):

• Except for requisitions and receipts, the SAP Ariba solution does not restrict delegatee users from
simultaneously editing an approvable document. Delegatee users must make sure that they do not work
simultaneously on the same document to prevent unexpected errors.
• The Recently Viewed tile on the dashboard does not retain the list of documents viewed by the previous
delegatee user or the delegator. In such cases, users must access the appropriate documents from the My
Documents tile.
• Shopping carts do not retain requisitions saved by delegatees when they or other delegatees sign in the next
time. Similarly, when delegatees act on behalf of their delegators, they cannot find the delegators' requisitions
in the shopping cart. Therefore, to access in-process requisitions created by a user (delegatee or delegator),
delegatee users must sign in as the delegator and view those requisitions in the To Do list on the dashboard.
• While creating or approving aggregated requisitions, delegatee users might encounter unexpected errors.
It is recommended that delegatee users must not create and manage aggregated requisitions. For more
information about creating and managing aggregated requisitions, see Demand Aggregation and Aggregated
Requisitions.
• (Applicable for customer administrators) On the Delegations page in Ariba Administrator, the Delegatee
column in the search results for delegations currently does not list delegatee users.

Approval Flows
24 PUBLIC Delegating Approval Authority Limitations
 We recommend that you manage all tasks for multi-user delegations from the User Manager Delegations
workspace in Ariba Administrator.
• The Review Details page that appears when you click the link for a user's ID currently does not include
information about delegatee users. Similarly, the Personal Profile page of users also does not list their
delegatee users.
• Delegating approval authority to multiple users is not supported in suite-integrated sites and stand-alone SAP
Ariba strategic sourcing solutions sites.

Approval Flows
Delegating Approval Authority Limitations PUBLIC 25
Ending a Delegation

If you have delegated your approval authority to one or more users, you can stop the delegation manually at any
time.

Context

If you do not stop the delegation manually, it will stop automatically on the end date specified in the delegation.

Procedure

1. Sign in to your SAP Ariba solution.

The Active Delegation of Authority page opens.

2. Click the Stop link.

Results

The delegatees no longer have the option to act as you and approve requests sent to you.

Related Information

Logging in Using Delegated Approval Authority [page 27]

Delegating Your Approval Authority [page 29]
Changing Your Delegation Settings [page 28]

Approval Flows
26 PUBLIC Ending a Delegation
Logging in Using Delegated Approval Authority

Context

When another user delegates approval authority to you, you can sign in and act as that user.

Procedure

1. Sign in with your user name and password.

After you click Sign In, the Act as User page opens, listing your name and the names of other users who
delegated approval authority to you.
2. Click the name of the user you want to act as.

Results

A welcome message shows your name and the delegator’s name appears in an Acting as field. You can approve
requests and reconcile documents sent to the delegator.

Next Steps

After performing the approval tasks, to stop acting as the delegator and start acting as yourself, click Stop in the
Acting as field.

Approval Flows
Logging in Using Delegated Approval Authority PUBLIC 27
Changing Your Delegation Settings

Use this procedure to change your delegation settings, which is applicable for one-to-one user delegation or single
user delegation.

Context

If you have delegated your approval authority to another user, you can modify the delegation settings anytime.

Procedure

1. In the upper right corner of the dashboard, click your user name and select Preferences Delegate
authority .

The Delegate Authority wizard opens, displaying the settings of the existing delegation.
2. Modify the delegation and click Next.

The Approval Flow page is displayed.

3. Review the approval flow required to let you delegate authority.

You can add approvers if needed.

4. Click Next.
5. Review the details of your delegation. To make changes, click Prev to return to previous pages.
6. Click Submit.

Results

The delegation request is submitted for approval. The changes you made take effect only if the request is fully
approved.

Related Information

Ending a Delegation [page 26]

Approval Flows
28 PUBLIC Changing Your Delegation Settings
Delegating Your Approval Authority

Use this procedure to delegate your approval authority to another user if you need someone to take over your
approval duties temporarily. The steps in this procedure are also applicable for one-to-one user delegation or single
user delegation.

Context

When you create a delegation, you submit it for approval. A delegation does not take effect unless it is fully
approved.

Delegation gives the delegatee access to documents only when the delegator is an active approver in the approval
flow. It doesn't give users the ability to view the purchases you make using a corporate purchasing card (PCard).
To allow another user to view your corporate PCard charges, click your name and select Preferences Assign
Veiwers to Your Charges .

Procedure

1. In the upper right corner of the dashboard, click your user name and select Preferences Delegate
authority .

The Delegate Authority wizard opens.

2. Provide the details of the delegation as described in the following table.

Option Action

Delegatee Select a name from the available choices, or click Search more to select a different name.

Delegation Start Date Select the start date and time.

Delegation End Date Select the end date and time.

Delegation Reason Enter the reason you're delegating your approval authority to the user you selected.

Notification Check the checkbox to continue to receive emails regarding approval requests during the time
your authority is delegated to the other user. The user to whom you delegate your approval
authority also receives the email.

3. Click Next.

The Approval Flow page is displayed.

4. Review the approval flow required to let you delegate authority. You can add approvers if needed.
5. Click Next.

Review the details of your delegation. To make changes, click Prev to return to previous pages.

Approval Flows
Delegating Your Approval Authority PUBLIC 29
6. Click Submit.

Results

The delegation request is submitted for approval. The delegation takes effect only if the request is fully approved.

If you sign in during the delegation period, you're prompted whether to continue the delegation or stop it.

Related Information

Changing Your Delegation Settings [page 28]

Ending a Delegation [page 26]

Approval Flows
30 PUBLIC Delegating Your Approval Authority
Configuring Multi-User Approval Authority
Delegation

As a customer administrator, you can assign a user's approval authority to multiple users to ensure that one of
them can complete the approvals on behalf of that user.

Prerequisites

You must be a member of the Customer Administrator or Customer User Admin group to be able to configure
multi-user approval authority delegations.

Procedure

1. Sign in to your SAP Ariba site using your administrator user name and password.

2. Choose Manage Core Administration .

3. In Ariba Administrator, click User Manager Delegations .

4. On the Delegations page, click Create New.
5. Provide the details of the delegation as described in the following table.

Option Action

Delegator Choose the user whose tasks need to be delegated.

Delegatee Choose the appropriate names from the available choices, or click Search more to choose
different names.

 Tip
The delegatees do not get notified when the delegation is created. We recommend that you
inform delegatee users about the email notifications they might receive on behalf of the
delegator.

Delegation Start Date Select the start date and time for the delegation to take effect.

Delegation End Date Select the end date and time for the delegation to end.

Delegation Reason Enter the reason why the user's tasks are being delegated to other users.

Notification Choose the check box to continue to receive email regarding approval requests during the time
the user's tasks are delegated to other users. The delegatees also receive the email.

6. Click Save.
7. Click OK on the Confirm Create Delegation page.

Approval Flows
Configuring Multi-User Approval Authority Delegation PUBLIC 31
8. If required, edit specific delegator-delegatee relationships to modify the settings for the delegation period or
email notification settings.

Related Information

Viewing Delegations Configured for Your Site [page 33]

Editing a Delegator-Delegatee Relationship [page 34]

Approval Flows
32 PUBLIC Configuring Multi-User Approval Authority Delegation
Viewing Delegations Configured for Your Site

Use this procedure to view delegations configured for your site, which is applicable to multi-user approval authority
delegations.

Context

If a delegator has multiple delegatees, the search results display each delegator-delegatee relationship in a
separate row. You can sort the search results to either group delegatees associated with each delegator or group
delegators associated with each delegatee.

Procedure

1. Sign in to your SAP Ariba site using your administrator user name and password.

2. Choose Manage Core Administration .

3. In Ariba Administrator, click User Manager Delegations .

4. On the Delegations page, click List All to view all delegations.

The search results display delegators and the delegatees assigned to them.

 Note

By default, the Delegator and the Delegatee columns are not displayed in the search results table. Click the
Table Menu Options icon and choose these fields to include them in the search results.

Approval Flows
Viewing Delegations Configured for Your Site PUBLIC 33
Editing a Delegator-Delegatee Relationship

Use this procedure to edit an existing delegator-delegatee relationship, which is applicable for multi-user approval
authority delegation.

Context

You can modify the delegation period, update the reason for delegation, or change the email notification settings.

Procedure

1. Sign in to your SAP Ariba site using your administrator user name and password.

2. Choose Manage Core Administration .

3. In Ariba Administrator, click User Manager Delegations .

4. On the Delegations page, search for the delegation.
5. In the search results table, click Edit in the row for the appropriate delegator-delegatee relationship.
6. Make the appropriate changes and click Save.

Approval Flows
34 PUBLIC Editing a Delegator-Delegatee Relationship
Approving or Denying Requests

Use this procedure to approve and deny requets in your To Do content.

Context

If you're the active approver you can approve or deny single or multiple requests for approvables. Approval requests
are displayed in your To Do content item on the dashboard. When you act on a request, the approval flow updates,
indicating the action you took (for example, your approval or denial) and the request is removed from your To Do
content item.

Helpful hints for approving and denying requests

• If you prefer to sort items in your To Do content item, do not use the To Do content item to reconcile invoices.
Any document sorting you do is lost when you return to the dashboard.
• If you need to review your previously approved or denied requests, or if you want to change the approval of a
request, you can search for the requests using the dashboard search bar.
• You can approve or deny a single request, or you can approve or deny multiple requests.

 Restriction

Certain types of approvables, such as invoice reconciliations, purchasing card reconciliations, and receipts,
can't be mass approved.

Procedure

1. In the To Do content item, select View All Approve to display all the requests waiting for your approval.

Requests waiting for your approval have a Submitted status.

 Note

In the default configuration, the To Do page lists up to 500 requests waiting for your approval. This limit is
configurable by SAP Ariba Customer Support.

2. Check the checkboxes for the requests you want to approve or deny. The requests can be different types.
3. Perform one of the following actions:

• Click Approve to approve the request.

• Click Deny to deny the request.
4. On the Comments page, you have the option to enter a comment.
5. By default, approved requests are assigned the default label (Archive Item), so that you can easily find them
using a labeled search.

Approval Flows
Approving or Denying Requests PUBLIC 35
 • If you do not want to assign a label to your approvable, clear the Archive items to label check box.
• To assign a different label, select another label from the Archive items to label dropdown or create a new
label for the approvable.
6. To submit the approval or denial, click OK.

If you selected the approval request from the Approval Summary page, check the checkbox to go to the next
request summary waiting for your approval.

When you approve requests, if more approvals are required, the requests are moved to the next approver. If no
more approvals are required, the preparers are notified by email that the requests have been approved. The
status of the requests changes accordingly. (The status name depends on the type of approvable.)

When you deny requests, the status of the requests changes to Denied. The requesters and preparers are
notified. The requests are not moved to the next approver. For information about how the system handles
denied approvables, see About Denied Approvables [page 9].

Related Information

Approving or Denying a Request via Email [page 37]

Approval Flows
36 PUBLIC Approving or Denying Requests
Approving or Denying a Request via Email

Use this procedure to approve or deny requests received via email.

Context

In SAP Ariba sites configured to support email approval, email notifications enable you to approve or deny requests
and add comments. You can approve or deny a request via email or from the To Do content item on your
dashboard, see Approving or Denying Requests [page 35].

Procedure

1. Open the approval notification.

2. Depending on the format of the notification, perform one of the following actions:

• If the notification includes action buttons, click the button for the action you wish to take. A reply
email opens, the subject indicates the action you are taking, and the ID of the approvable (for example,
Approve ER1165). To include a comment, enter the comment in the comment section (between the
Begin Comments and End Comments lines).
• If the notification includes square brackets, place an X inside them for the action you wish to take. Enter
any comments in the comment section (between the Begin Comments and End Comments lines).
• If the notification does not include buttons or square brackets, reply to the notification by typing a
keyword on the first line of your reply. In the default configuration, the keywords are: Approve, Deny
(not available for invoice reconciliation documents), Reject (for invoice reconciliation documents), and
Approve Rejection (for invoice reconciliation documents). Enter any comments on the second line of
the reply.
3. Send the reply.

Related Information

Approving or Denying Requests [page 35]

Approval Flows
Approving or Denying a Request via Email PUBLIC 37
Approval Notification Format Preferences

Depending upon your email account and your device features and preferences, you can choose whether you receive
approval notifications in HTML or text format.

For example, your site might be configured to send notifications in HTML format, but you can set a preference to
receive the notifications in plain or compact text format instead. The format determines how you approve or deny
requests.

To set email notification preferences, in the upper right corner of the dashboard, click your user name and select
Preferences Edit default preferences . The following choices are available:

• Receive email notifications in plain text format. Plain text contains embedded links and allows users to
approve or deny requests using check boxes. Email notifications have a pre-configured reply where users enter
an X into the appropriate check box to either approve or deny a request.
• Receive email notifications in compact text format. Compact text does not include embedded links. It
requires the user to type customizable keywords indicating the approval or denial, followed by an optional
multi-line comment. In the default configuration, the keywords are Approve, Deny (not available for invoice
reconciliations), Reject, and Approve Rejection.

If you do not select either of the preceding preferences, notifications are sent using the format your site has
set—HTML or text. HTML formatted messages contain HTML markup with buttons and embedded links to approve
or deny a request.

The format preferences are dependent upon the format (HTML or text format) of your site notifications. For
example, if your site is configured for text format, you cannot override it to use HTML. If your site is configured for
HTML, you can have HTML messages converted to plain or compact text. The following table explains how each
preference works depending on the format your site uses for sending the notifications.

Message format preferences Results

Default site-wide message format is HTML

Receive email notifications in plain text preference Message format is compact text. Type Approve/Deny keywords with
= checked. Receive email notifications in compact optional comment.
text preference = checked

Receive email notifications in plain text preference Message format is plain text. Use check boxes to approve or deny a
= checked. Receive email notifications in compact request.
text preference = unchecked

Receive email notifications in plain text preference = Message has compact text followed by regular HTML content. You can
unchecked. Receive email notifications in compact either reply using the Approve/Deny buttons, or, if this is not supported
text preference = checked by your PDA, type Approve/Deny keywords with optional comments.

Receive email notifications in plain text preference = Message is HTML only. If your PDA does not support this format, then you
unchecked. Receive email notifications in compact can't receive or reply to these messages.
text preference = unchecked

Default site-wide message format is Text

Receive email notifications in compact text prefer- Message format is compact text. Type Approve/Deny keywords with
ence = checked optional comment.

Approval Flows
38 PUBLIC Approval Notification Format Preferences
Message format preferences Results

Receive email notifications in compact text prefer- Message format is plain text. Use check boxes to approve or deny a
ence = unchecked request.

Related Information

Formatting Email Notifications [page 40]

Approval Flows
Approval Notification Format Preferences PUBLIC 39
Formatting Email Notifications

Use this procedure to change the email notification format, the message format also determines how you approve
or deny requests.

Prerequisites

This task is applicable if your SAP Ariba solution supports email approval, which allows you to approve or deny
requests directly from email notifications. Your email account and the features available for your device might also
affect notification format.

Context

Your SAP Ariba solution can be configured to use either HTML (default) or plain text format for sending
notifications. If your SAP Ariba solution is configured to send messages in plain text format, you can't override
that setting to receive the messages in HTML format. But if your site sends messages in HTML, you can choose to
receive those messages in plain or compact text format.

Procedure

1. In the upper right corner of the dashboard, click your name and select Preferences Edit default
preferences . The Edit Default Preferences page opens.
2. To receive email notifications in plain text format instead of HTML format, check the check box for Receive
email notifications in plain text format.
3. To receive email notifications in compact text format, check the check box Receive email notifications in
compact text format.

Related Information

Approval Notification Format Preferences [page 38]

Setting Preferences for Receiving Approval Notifications [page 41]

Approval Flows
40 PUBLIC Formatting Email Notifications
Setting Preferences for Receiving Approval
Notifications

Use this procedure to set preferences for receiving approval notifications.

Context

You can choose to receive approval notifications individually or in a batch email, and you can choose to receive
notifications until you perform the task. For example, you can choose whether to receive approval notifications
individually or in a batch email, and you can choose to receive notifications repeatedly until you perform the
requested task.

If you choose to receive notifications consolidated in summary messages, they're sent in batches and scheduled by
tasks that are run once daily.

Your site might be configured to disable specific types of email notifications regarding approval requests.

 Note

Notification preferences are considered to be personal user data and are included when you download your
user preferences using the Download procurement user info option.

Procedure

1. In the upper right corner of the dashboard, click your name and select Preferences Change email
notification preferences .

The Edit Email Notification Preferences page opens.

2. Select the type of approvable in the Edit preferences for dropdown menu.
3. Select your email preferences.

For a description of each option, see Delivery Options for Approval Notifications [page 42].
4. Click Save.

Related Information

Formatting Email Notifications [page 40]

Approval Notification Format Preferences [page 38]

Approval Flows
Setting Preferences for Receiving Approval Notifications PUBLIC 41
Delivery Options for Approval Notifications

This table describes notification delivery preferences based on your role, and indicates the actions you can specify.

Option Action

When I am an approver Choose Send email summary to have the system send you a daily batch email that includes
all notifications generated in response to a request.
(also applies to receivers and
reconcilers) Choose Send email immediately to have the system send you the approval email as soon as
it is generated.

When I am a watcher Choose Send email summary to have the system send you a daily batch email that includes
all watcher notifications generated in response to a request.

Choose Send email immediately to have the system send you (the watcher) a notification as
soon as it is generated.

Send email each time my Choose this option to receive a message each time your request or a request for which you
document is approved are a watcher is approved.

Send email when my Choose this option to receive a message each time your request or a request for which you
document is fully approved are a watcher is fully approved.

When my document is fully Choose this option to receive a message when your request (or a request for which you are a
approved watcher) is fully approved.

When I need to approve a Choose how often a notification is sent to you when a request is waiting for your approval:
document
• Never send
(also applies to other required • Send once
actions, such as reconciling and • Send repeatedly (individual email notification is sent once, and after that, the notifica-
receiving) tion is included in a summary email sent once per weekday until the approver takes
action or is no longer the active approver)

When my approval is overdue Choose how often a notification is sent to you when your approval of a request is overdue:

(also applies to other required • Never send

actions, such as reconciling and • Send once
receiving) • Send repeatedly (individual email notification is sent once, and after that, the notifica-
tion is included in a summary email sent once per weekday until the approver takes
action or is no longer the active approver)
The approval of a request becomes overdue when you are an active approver and you
have not taken action within the escalation warning period. See the topic Approval Flow
Concepts [page 5] for more information about escalations.

Approval Flows
42 PUBLIC Delivery Options for Approval Notifications
 Option Action

When I am a watcher Choose how often a message is sent to you when a request is submitted and you are in the
approval flow as a watcher:

• Never send (Watcher notifications are still sent when the user is both a watcher and an
approver and both nodes are active at the same time in the approval flow.)
• Send once (The system sends watcher notifications when the request is approved or
fully approved if the Send Email checkbox is checked for those stages.)
• Send repeatedly (The system sends watcher notifications once per day when the re-
quest is approved or fully approved if the Send Email checkbox is checked for those
stages. For other approval flow activities, such as denial or withdrawal, the system ad-
heres to the Notification Frequency preference called When I am a watcher, described
earlier in this table.)

Exclude attachments from Choose whether to receive file attachments in the invoice-related email approval notifications
approval notifications (applies you receive as an approver, watcher, or requester. Choosing to receive invoice-related attach-
to notifications about invoi- ments in notifications can help you make informed decisions without logging in to the applica-
ces, invoce reconciliation docu- tion.
ments, and cancel invoice re-
quests)  Note
The option to receive invoice attachments is available on
sites that offer this capability, controlled by the parameter
Application.Invoicing.AttachmentsInApprovalNotifications.

Related Information

Approval Notification Format Preferences [page 38]

Setting Preferences for Receiving Approval Notifications [page 41]

Approval Flows
Delivery Options for Approval Notifications PUBLIC 43
Queue management

If a queue has been set up, requests for approvals go into a queue to prevent multiple users from acting on the
same request at the same time.

Approval queues

Requests from the queue can be assigned to specific users (queue members), either by the approval queue
manager or by the users themselves (if the queue allows it). The oldest requests are listed first in a queue. You can
use search filters to find specific types of approvables in the queue.

Depending on how approval queues are configured in your SAP Ariba solution, you might be able to retrieve any
type of approval requests from the queue and assign them to yourself. Also, you might be able to return items to
the queue, making them available to other queue members.

Because queues are designed to support high-volume approvables and exception types, notifications are not sent
to queue members.

For more conceptual information about approval queues, see Approval Queues for Managing Approvers'
Workloads. For information about configuring approval queue behavior, see Approval Queues, Approval
Escalations, and Withdrawal Periods.

Approval queue manager

The queue manager determines whether users can acquire and return items, decides how many items can be
retrieved from the queue at a time, can assign items to specific queue members, and can see who is working on the
queue items and how many days the items have been assigned.

An approval queue manager can assign you to an approval queue, either individually or as a member of a group.

Related Information

Processing multiple operations simultaneously in approval queues [page 45]

Approval Flows
44 PUBLIC Queue management
Processing multiple operations simultaneously
in approval queues

You can select all items in an approval queue to perform mass operations, such as assigning items, returning items
to the queue, and retrieving items.

The maximum number of items displayed per page is determined by a configuration option that SAP Ariba sets for
you. You can contact SAP Ariba to change the default value.

When you perform a queue-related mass operation, the operation runs in the background, performing the action
on the selected approvables. The operation can run every 15 minutes. Any new mass operations initiated while the
task is running are not picked up until the next time the operation runs. If the current operation completes before
the next scheduled run, and if another mass operation is initiated before this time, the previous pending mass
operations are also processed. If the operation fails to process any of the selected items, an email notification with
a list of the failed items is sent to the user who initiated the mass operation.

 Note

We recommend that you exercise caution when initiating multiple mass operations that may have some
common items.

Related Information

Getting Unassigned Requests From an Approval Queue [page 46]

Returning a Request to an Approval Queue [page 47]

Approval Flows
Processing multiple operations simultaneously in approval queues PUBLIC 45
Getting Unassigned Requests From an Approval
Queue

Use this procedure to get unassigned requests from an approval queue.

Context

The number of items you can retrieve from an approval queue is configured by the queue manager.

Procedure

1. On the dashboard, click Manage My To Do .

2. In the To Do Controller near the top of the page, click Unassigned Queue Items.
3. Select an approvable type and a queue from the dropdown menus. The dropdown menus contain all the types
of approvables and queues that you can view. You cannot retrieve an item unless you first select a queue.
4. Perform one of the following actions:

• To retrieve and open an approvable, click Get and Open Next Item.
• To retrieve an approvable to work on later, click Get Next Items.

Results

The request and the assigned number of days for the request appears on your To Do page and you are identified as
the owner in the workflow.

Next Steps

Take the appropriate action on retrieved items, as described in Approving or Denying Requests [page 35].

Related Information

Returning a Request to an Approval Queue [page 47]

Approval Flows
46 PUBLIC Getting Unassigned Requests From an Approval Queue
Returning a Request to an Approval Queue

Use this procedure to return approval requests from your To Do page to the approval queue.

Procedure

1. On the dashboard, click Manage My To Do .

2. Select one or more requests in the To Do table.
3. Click Return to Queue.

Results

The request returns to its original position in the queue.

Related Information

Getting Unassigned Requests From an Approval Queue [page 46]

Queue management [page 44]

Approval Flows
Returning a Request to an Approval Queue PUBLIC 47
Archiving and Find Archived Approval Requests

Use this procedure to remove approval requests from the To Do page by archiving them. You can search for
archived requests using the dashboard search bar.

Context

You might want to archive approval requests that were already approved or denied by another member in the
approval group, or those for which you are a watcher. You can also archive active approval requests awaiting your
approval.

When you archive approval requests, you assign them to a label. If you're an active approver for certain types of
approvables, such as invoice reconciliations, purchasing card reconciliations, and receipts, you can't archive them,
unless you are a watcher.

Procedure

1. Perform one of the following actions:

• On the dashboard, click Manage My To Do . The To Do page opens.

• To archive requests for which you are a watcher, click the View List link at the bottom of the To Do content
item on the dashboard, and select Watch. The View Requests page opens.

 Note

SAP Ariba Buying doesn't support archiving custom forms from the To Do list for approvers or watchers.

2. Select the approval requests you want to archive.

3. Click the Archive To Label button. You can archive to the default label (Archive Items), assign a different label
you created previously, or create a new label.

The approval request is removed from your To Do or View Requests page.

4. To find the archived approval request, do the following:
1. On the dashboard search bar, click the content type menu to the left of the search field and select the type
of approvable you want to find.
2. Press Enter or click the search icon ( ) to start the search.
3. In the Search page, click Archive Items under My Labels.
4. Use the search filter options to narrow your search.

Approval Flows
48 PUBLIC Archiving and Find Archived Approval Requests
Related Information

Queue management [page 44]

Approval Flows
Archiving and Find Archived Approval Requests PUBLIC 49
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SAP supports a culture of diversity and inclusion. Whenever possible, we use unbiased language in our documentation to refer to people of all cultures, ethnicities, genders,
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Approval Flows
50 PUBLIC Important Disclaimers and Legal Information
Approval Flows
Important Disclaimers and Legal Information PUBLIC 51
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