Managing Document Parking and Workflow

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
  • Explain workflow basics
  • Verify general journal entries

Workflow Processes

Benefits of SAP Business Workflow

Overview of SAP Business Workflow emphasizing automation, adaptability, task coordination, and user support for seamless integration of business processes across applications.

SAP Business Workflow supports your company's processes in an SAP S/4HANA application. The workflow supports communication between business processes that operate on different systems.

SAP Business Workflow provides you with all the information you need to perform the next step in the business process.

The SAP S/4HANA application provides standard workflow templates that model business processes. You can customize these SAP Business Workflow templates or create your own.

Questions for a Business Step

For every business step, ask yourself the following questions:

QuestionResult
What work has to be done?The answer to this question tells you the object type and method you require.
With dialog steps, who has to do the work?The answer to this question tells you the processors that are responsible.
What text is to be displayed at the work item recipient's workplace?This text is maintained as a task when creating the step. Define your answers in the design.

Application Areas - Examples

Graphic categorizing workflow types for business efficiency, outlining processes for optimizing information flow, managing simple tasks, and handling complex procedures effectively.

Workflow-related tasks:

  • Post invoices
  • Release purchase requisitions
  • Change material masters
  • Approve leave
  • Create customer accounts
  • Delete purchase orders
  • Create requirement coverage requests using the Internet

My Inbox

SAP Fiori interface showing a workflow task with details, options to view corresponding object, and available actions like claim, forward, and open task for task processing.

When you are authorized to verify journal entries, you can access the corresponding documents using the My Inbox SAP Fiori app.

Work items can be released, rejected, suspended, or forwarded. In addition, you can check the workflow log file.

Workflow Process for Accounting Documents

Illustrates the mapping of company codes to workflow variants, highlighting different workflow configurations assigned to specific organizational entities.

You can create workflow variants for document parking in Customizing for FI. Whether the document release is active is specified in Customizing, together with the minimum amount.

The company codes can be assigned to workflow variants. No documents are released if a company code is not assigned to a workflow variant.

Configuration of Document Parking Using Workflow

Illustration depicting a combination of workflow, document type, and release group data driving the calculation of a release approval path in a business process system.

It is possible to apply different release procedures to various accounts receivable and accounts payable. You can control this by means of the Release Group field in the master record of accounts receivable and accounts payable.

The release group is required to determine the release approval path at the time of processing. The release approval path is determined by the workflow variant in connection with the document type and release group.

The subworkflow initiated by releasing the amount and user who is to release is determined by the release approval path and the particular amount. If no release group is defined, the initial release group is used for access.

Assignment of Subworkflows

Table linking workflow variants, approval paths, and subworkflows to corresponding transaction amounts, visualizing structured decision-making in process automation.

The release procedure is represented by subworkflows in the workflow definition. For document parking, workflow variants (in combination with release approval paths) are assigned amounts, which determine the release procedures to be initiated and performed. The subworkflows control the individual release procedures, such as the number of release approval levels to be run through.

By default, subworkflows are supplied as workflow templates for reference.

The following are the subworkflows:

  • The first subworkflow (WS10000052) contains a single-level release.
  • The second subworkflow (WS10000053) contains a two-level release.
  • The third subworkflow (WS10000054) contains a three-level release.

With the single-level release, the user can release the document. The principle of dual control can be supported with the two-level release, and the principle of triple control with the three-level release. The respective subworkflow is triggered by parked documents during the initial entry.

How to Configure Financial-Specific Items

DemoStart Demo

How to Display Workflow Contents in the Workflow Builder

DemoStart Demo

Enter a Financial Document Using Parking and Workflow

ExerciseStart Exercise

General Journal Entry Verification

Journal Entry Verification Process

In SAP S/4HANA, you can use the Flexible Workflow function for the General Journal Entry Verification. The Flexible Workflow enables you to define approval processes according to your requirements. SAP S/4HANA supports both the SAP Business Workflow (as discussed before) and the Flexible Workflow.

Flowchart illustrating the review and approval process for journal entries, highlighting paths for successful posting, rejection, failure, or resubmission based on verification outcomes.

You need to enter a new journal entry but want to have it verified for posting.

The workflow for verifying general journal entries is illustrated in the figure.

When a requester creates a journal entry, the journal entry receives the Initial status. If the requester submits the journal entry for approval, the journal entry has the Submitted status.

When the processor sees the submitted journal entry in the inbox, the journal entry status can vary depending on the processor's actions:

  • If the processor rejects the journal entry, its status is Rejected and the requester has to edit and submit it again.
  • If the processor suspends the journal entry, it is given the Waiting status until a certain time that is scheduled by the processor, and then the journal entry is given the Submitted status again for approval.
  • If the processor verifies and approves the journal entry, it is given the Posted status. It could be that the posting action fails when some errors occur. In this case, the journal entry is given the Failed status and the requester has to edit and submit it again.
SAP interface displaying a general journal entry verification, highlighting financial details and workflow actions like approving, rejecting, or forwarding for review.

As a requester, when you create or edit a journal entry, you can submit it for verification. When you create a new journal entry via Verify GL (Requester) that meets the workflow start condition, an approval process is triggered. You can also track the entry status in the worklist and decide whether to edit a rejected journal entry and resubmit it for verification. You can choose to copy a journal entry, edit it, and submit it for verification.

The approval process requires a user from within the groups specified in Customizing to verify and post the journal entry using the Verify GL (Inbox) app. As a processor who is authorized to verify general journal entries, you can view journal entries that are assigned to you and waiting for approval. You can choose to approve, reject, or suspend a journal entry, and then the system changes the status accordingly in the requester's worklist.

The 4-eyes principle is guaranteed by excluding the original requester from the verification process, even if they are in the approval group pool. All exception handling for the rejected document can be performed with the Verify GL (Requester) app.

You can retrieve your own past approvals using the Verify Journal Entries in General Ledger For Processor (Outbox) app.

Activate and Customize the Journal Entry Verification

Dashboard showcasing tasks and tools for verifying journal entries, managing workflows, and overseeing team responsibilities in general ledger processes.

The following are the relevant SAP Fiori business apps for configuration and operation:

Operation:

  • SAP Fiori app F2547 - Verify General Journal Entries For Requester
  • SAP Fiori app F2728 - Verify Journal Entries in General Ledger For Processor (Inbox)
  • SAP Fiori app F2729 - Verify Journal Entries in General Ledger For Processor (Outbox)

Configuration:

  • SAP Fiori app F3932 - Manage Teams and Responsibilities For Journal Entry Verification In General Ledger
  • SAP Fiori app F2720 - Manage Workflows for Journal Entry Verification In General Ledger
Workflow configuration screen displaying steps for journal entry verification, emphasizing streamlined process automation with clear actions: verify and post. No preconditions required.

Before you can use the functionality, you must enable the workflows for journal entry verification.

The minimal steps for configuring workflows are as follows:

  1. In the Manage Workflows for General Journal Entry Verification tile, choose Add to create your Flexible Workflow.

  2. In the Header section, enter a workflow name and in the optional Properties section, enter the workflow description and time period of validity.

  3. In the Start Conditions section you can define the rule for triggering the verification by defining a combination of preconditions like Account Group, Threshold Amount, Cost Center, Company Code or Journal Entry Type.

  4. In the Step Sequence section, you define the required workflow steps (for example, Verify or Post General Journal Entry), the step conditions, and the Exception Handling.

Interface for managing general ledger team responsibilities, showing configurable fields, team owners, and members with roles and authorization status for effective collaboration tracking.

To determine which users in your company can approve postings over a certain amount, you must manage the workflow for journal entry verification and define the responsibilities of journal entry approvers. As recipient, you can select a role as the verifier or if a team has been assigned, you can select the team in the recipient options.

Team members will be assigned to one or more functions. The function controls whether the team member has the authorization to approve a journal entry document to be posted for a certain step.

How to Define a Workflow for Journal Entry Verification

DemoStart Demo

Summary

  • Workflow supports document parking processes with approval paths.
  • Assign workflow variants to company codes for document release.
  • Use workflow for multilevel approval sequences in document parking.
  • Workflow ensures consistent processing and verification of parked documents.

Learning

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