Understanding Approval Process

Once your requisition has been completed and submitted, it becomes an approvable document and will be routed through the approval process.

A purchase requisition (PR) is an approvable document that is created when you submit a request to purchase items. Each PR has a unique ID (such as PR3248) to identify it as it moves through the purchasing process.

Purchase requisitions are the first step in transactional procurement:

1. A user requests products or services by completing a PR and submitting it for approval.
2. The PR is routed to everyone identified in the approval flow based on preconfigured business rules.
3. Approvers approve or deny the PR. If it is fully approved, one or more purchase orders (POs) are created for each supplier. If the PR is denied, the user can withdraw it or edit it and resubmit it for approval.
4. Suppliers receive the PO, optionally send an order confirmation, and ship the ordered products or provide the ordered services.
5. You receive the items and submit receipts as the items arrive. If the items arrive in batches, the purchase order remains open until all items have been received.

An approvable document is one that requires an action by a designated user before the process can be completed.

In the example of a purchase requisition, once the document is fully approved, the SAP Ariba system will generate a purchase order and route to the supplier.

• An approvable is a document that must be affirmed by a designated approver before it can be acted upon.
• A requester prepares and submits an approvable document and the SAP Ariba system routes it to the designated approvers (for example, the supervisor of the requester). After the request is approved by the approvers, it can be acted upon. For example, after a purchase requisition is fully approved, SAP Ariba generates a purchase order and sends it to the supplier.
• Examples include:
  • Requisitions
  • Contract Requests
  • User Profile Changes
  • Supplier Data Updates (Catalog Updates)
  • Receipts
  • Invoice Reconciliations

There are two types of approvers required and watchers.

Required approvers must approve the document before it can continue through the process.

An example of a required approver might be a supervisor or perhaps a functional approver that has been added based on an item type or commodity code.

The APPROVERS will receive an email notification that a document is awaiting their approval.

Then when they log into the system, they will find the document in the to-do box on their dashboard.

Watchers are similar to Approvers and would likely have some vested interest in the project.

They will have access to the document, receive email notifications for that document, but can take no action against the document.

There are two types of approvers who can be on an approval graph:

• Required Approvers- A user or a group who is required to approve a document before it can progress. Required approvers might be managers of the requestor, department or cost center, or people in your A/P or Finance group. They receive immediate notification by email that their approval is required. When an approver logs into the SAP Ariba system, all approvables that require action are listed in the To Do area on their home page. The approver can open the approvable document to examine it and can either approve or deny it. (With a few exceptions – for example, Invoice Reconciliation documents cannot be denied. They can be either approved or rejected, which sends them back to the supplier so that the supplier generates a new invoice.)
• Watchers- A user or group who is notified of the submission and status of an approvable, but who cannot approve or deny the document. There are many circumstances when individuals might need to monitor a request through the approval process, though they do not have the authority or there is no business need for them to approve or deny it. For example, a user could be added as a watcher on a requisition if the requisition is created by another user on their behalf. Or, facilities personnel might like to know whenever office furniture is purchased, so they can make logistical arrangements to receive and deliver the furniture to the requester.

The approval flow screen displays the approval process for that approval.

It shows the approvers that will receive the document as well as the order in which the document will be routed.

There are two different types of approval routings, parallel and serial.

With parallel approvals, both approvers in the flow will receive notification at the same time.

In this example, Gene Halis and the purchasing manager group are parallel approvers and they will both receive the document at the same time.

With serial approvals the Approvers are in series or in a line and are notified only after the previous approver has approved the document.

In this example, Archie Rooney and the purchasing agent, are in the serial flow.

Please note that all required approvers must approve the document before it will be considered fully approved.

The Approval Flow screen shows the approval graph for a particular approvable. The approval graph displays the approvers to whom the document will be routed and the order in which the routing will occur. They are automatically generated through the approval rules that your administrator configures.

If there are multiple approvers, those approvers can be arranged in either:

• Parallel: All approvers in parallel are simultaneously notified about the document needing approval. In the approval graph above, Gene Halas and the Purchasing Manager group are parallel approvers. The document is routed to both of them at the same time.
• Serial: Certain approvers are notified only after earlier approvers have approved the document. In the approval graph above, Archey Rooney and Purchasing Agent are serial in the flow, after Gene Halas.

ALL the required approvers on an approval graph must approve the document in order for that document to be considered fully approved and move further through the system. Approvable documents are approved or denied in their entirety, not piecemeal. For example, a requisition, even if it contains multiple line items, is either entirely approved or entirely denied. The individual line items on that requisition cannot be approved or denied individually.

Each box in the approval flow is considered a node and will contain either individual users or groups.

Generally, an individual user would be added to the flow as part of a supervisory chain, while a group might be added as an additional approval based on commodity code, item type, etc.

Each group will contain one or more users.

And each approver has an option to either approve or deny the request.

In the case of a group approval, only one user in that group needs to approve or deny the request.

An approval node can be one of the following types:

• Individual User- The simplest approver is a user. A user is usually added to an approval flow because they are part of a supervisory chain or because they are somehow identified on the document being approved or a document related to the one being approved.
• Group- If an approval node is a group, any of the users who are members of that group can approve or deny the document. The first user to approve or deny the approvable completes the approval requirement and the request moves to the next node in the approval flow (or in the case of denial, the approvable is withdrawn). Groups must be predefined in the system and have users assigned as members in order to be used in approval logic.
• Approval List- An approval node can also be a list comprised of a combination of individual users and groups. The approval action of an approval list is similar to that of a group, in that the first user – whether they be an individual user named in the node or a member of a group named in the node – completes the approval requirement for the entire node.

There are a couple different ways that you can see the details of each approval node.

If you hover your mouse over the name or group of the approval node, the system will display.

The mouse tooltip, with the reason that that user or group is in the flow.

If you click on the group name in a group approval, the system will display the list of users that are part of that group.

You can view the details of the user or group by clicking it in the approval graph. A new window displays the details of that user or group.

The system allows users to review your budgets before or after submitting your requisition.

Before submitting a requisition, you can see your budget details in the shopping CART summary and a link that displays the budget details.

While viewing the budget details, the system will display all details of all budgets associated with that requisition, as well as the budget check status.

To view your budgets after submitting the requisition, you can click on the budget tab, which will display all of the budget details.

As an approver you can access the approvable document either in the To Do List within the SAP Ariba module or from the link in the approval email notification.

When you open the document, you'll be able to see all the information in the request. You'll be able to see the approval flow and who else is in the flow and why they are there in order to make the best decision on whether or not to approve or deny the request.

This is an example of an email approval notification.

SAP Ariba sends an email notification to each user in the approval flow.

The notifications are also sent when a document is submitted or resubmitted.

If the document is withdrawn or if the document is escalated.

In the case of a group approval, all users in the group received the same email notification. However, only one user in the group needs to approve or deny.

Your system can also be configured by your administrator to allow delegation of authority by forwarding the notification email to another user.

SAP Ariba sends an email notification message to a user when that person becomes an active approver for a document.

Approvers can receive an email notification when:

• Someone submits or resubmits a document for approval
• Someone withdraws a document
• The system escalates a document
• The system is about to escalate a request to a supervisor

Multiple users receive the same email notification if they share a group responsibility. The ability to approve or deny is the same as in SAP Ariba Buying—the first one to approve or deny by replying to the email makes the decision.

Your organization might allow approvers to forward email approval notifications. Forwarding an approval notification delegates the approval authority to all recipients of the message. When an email approval notification message is forwarded, the approval graph continues to show the original approver, not the delegated approver. The ability to delegate through email forwarding is configurable by your administrator.

In addition to approving directly in the SAP Ariba module, the system allows APPROVERS to click, approve or deny directly in the email notification message.

The Approvers can add comments within the approval email and again they can delegate their approval, if the system is configured to allow it.

• Approvers receive an email notifying them of a request that requires their approval
• Approvers can approve by:
  • Clicking a button in the message to open the approvable in SAP Ariba
  • Clicking the Approve or Deny button in the message to act on the approvable (if HTML email format is enabled)
  • Replying to the email (if text email format is enabled)

• Approver can add comments on the reply email

• Approvers can delegate their approval authority for a given approvable by forwarding an email notification
  • This can be turned off by your administrator to ensure that only the original approvers can take action on a document

SAP Ariba generates and sends email notifications to approvers and watchers. Approvers can approve requests by email, without having to open the SAP Ariba application. Email approval is a powerful feature that supports disconnected approving and delegation of approval authority.

Approvers might often be disconnected from their corporate network and they need a way to approve conveniently even if they are connected to the Internet only intermittently. Email approval support enables customers to perform approvals and denials through email as well as through integration with external systems that are email based (for example, email pagers, web-based email, or mobile devices).

There are several limitations to email approvals. If the approval document has an attachment, it cannot be viewed within the email notification.

In order to view any attachments, you will need to view the approvable document within the SAP Ariba system.

If your system is configured to allow the editing of an approvable, this document cannot be edited in the email notification.

Finally, the email approval will not allow you to add, delete, or change approvers in the approval flow.

An approval notification cannot contain file attachments. To view an attachment submitted with an approvable, you must open the approvable document in the SAP Ariba system.

When approving by email, the approver cannot edit an approvable. To edit an approvable, the approver must open it in the SAP Ariba system.

The email approval feature does not allow users to add or delete approvers, or to change approvers in the approval graph. You must use the SAP Ariba system to change the approval graph.

• No file attachments
  • Email notifications do not contain file attachments. Users cannot view attachments before approving

• No editing of approvables
  • Email approvers cannot edit approvables

• No adding or removing approvers
  • Email approvers cannot modify approval graphs to add additional approvers

The approval process is made up of configurable rules that define the conditions and actions to take for specific approval types.

Approval rules determine who can approve a document, the order of the approvals in the flow, and who can edit a document after submission, if the system is configured to allow it.

The approval process officially begins once a document is submitted for approval and is drawn out in the approval flow diagram.

The logic of the rules depends on the approvable type and the content within the approvable document.

For example, you may have a rule that specifies that an additional approver must be added for any requisition whose total is greater than $100,000.

The system can be configured to add approvers based on any fields in the approvable document.

To create these rules, your administrator will begin with the predefined process and customize or build new processes and associated conditions to them.

The approval process is a set of configurable approval rules that specify and define conditions and actions for a specific type of approvable. Approval rules determine who approves a document, the order of the approval requests, and who can edit a document after submittal. For example, for a requisition, you could have a rule stating that if the requester and the preparer are not the same, the requester must approve. The approval process formally starts after a document is submitted and is graphically depicted in the approval flow diagram.

The business logic of the approval rules depends on the type and the content of the approvable document such as requisitions, invoices, or contract requests. For example, you could have a rule that specifies that the AP Director must be included as an approver for every invoice greater than $100,000. Or, you could define a rule that forces Purchasing Agents to collaborate with a minimum of three suppliers and receive bids from all of them with a price below a set maximum price.

To create approval rules, your administrator can start with predefined processes and conditions and customize them, or build new processes and associated conditions.

The system can be configured to add an approver based on any user field in the approvable document.

• Approval rules determine the overall approval process:
  • Specify who approves a document
  • Set the order of approval requests
  • Control who can edit a document after submittal
• There are unique rule sets based on document type and content
• Your organization can use default or customized processes
• Approval Processes interface manages versioning and audit-tracking

The SAP Ariba module has an approval engine that can be applied to any approval document.

The approval engine determines the approval processes and is responsible for three main functions.

The approval engine will create the approval flow for each approval document.

It will update the approval flow as different users approve, deny or change the approvable.

And it will route the approval notifications to any users that are part of the approval flow.

The approval engine also includes an editor that allows you to create and edit your approval rules.

The interpreter will then read and execute the rules and automatically create the approval flow.

The rules interpreter acts in real time and immediately displays the changes in the approval flow as they are made.

If the approval document has system errors before it is submitted, the approval diagram will display those errors rather than the actual approval flow. To help you find and correct the problem.

The SAP Ariba Solution has a general-purpose approval engine that can be applied to any type of approvable document. This approval engine determines the approval process and is responsible for three main functions:

1. Create the approval graph for each approvable document.
2. Update the approval graph as different users approve, deny, or change the approvable.
3. Route approval notifications to all involved users.

Rule-Builder Editor and Interpreter- The approval engine includes a rule-builder editor and a rule interpreter. The rule-builder editor allows you to create and edit approval rules. The rule interpreter reads and executes the approval rules and automatically generates the approval graphs. The interpreter is real-time; any changes are immediately shown in the approval chart.

Error Messages- Before submission, a requisition can contain data that is inconsistent or otherwise contains errors. For example, a user can delete a required data value such as the cost center to which a line item is billed. However, the system will not allow the user to submit the approvable until all errors have been corrected. If an approvable contains errors, the Approval Flow screen will display those errors instead of the approval graph to help you find and correct the problems.

• Creates approval graphs for every approvable document based on your organization’s rules.
  • Approval graph is shown to user as they create requisitions.
  • Displays errors and will not show an approval graph if there is incorrect or missing data before the document can be submitted
• Sends approval notifications to active approvers as documents progress through the approval flow
• Updates the approval graph as different users approve or change the approvable

This screen shows the part of the administrator user interface that allows the administrator to search, view, create, copy, or delete approval processes.

Please note there is only one approval process allowed for each approvable type.

For more details on building approval rules and the approval rules engine.

Please see course AR 720 for the SAP Ariba Procurement administration.

The Manage Approval Processes page allows your administrator to search for, view, edit, create, copy, and delete approval processes. Note that each approval process applies to one type of approvable. The administrator can define more than one approval process for each approvable type, but only one approval process can be active for each approvable type at a time.

After the administrator activates a checked in version of an approval process, the previously active process is deactivated automatically and is added to the history. The administrator can also manually deactivate an approval process or revert to any version for which the Copy button is available.

For details on building approval rules, see the course AR720 SAP Ariba Procurement Administration.

Your administrator builds and manages approval rules using the Approval Processes page in the Manage menu.