Discovering Additional Approval Rule Types

"Besides the approval rules we've covered, are there additional rules or features we can use to further enhance our approval processes?"

"Great question! The answer is, yes. There are more features and rule types that can be useful, so let's continue to explore these."

After all base and chain rules are processed, filter rules are run to evaluate the approvers added and will remove approvers based on the applied filter rules.

Filters rules operate using predefined filter actions.

Actions available for all types of approvables:

• Remove Duplicates – Retain First Approver
  • Removes duplicate approvers from the approval flow, preserving only the first approver instance that is not a watcher.
• Remove Duplicates – Retain Last Approver
  • Removes duplicate approvers from the approval flow, preserving only the last approver instance that is not a watcher.
• Remove Duplicates – Retain Last Approver or Watcher
  • Removes duplicate approvers from the approval flow, retaining only the last approver or watcher instance.
• Remove Requester User
  • Removes the requester from the approval flow if the requester was added as a separate approver.
• Skip Approval Process in SAP Ariba Invoice Management

  • Skips the approval process for approvables created in SAP Ariba Invoice Management sites.

All filter rule actions are NOT available for all approvable types. Additional rules exist that are specific to requisitions, receipts, or contracts.

Two settings can determine whether a user can change an approvable that has already been submitted: group membership and edit rules. If a user is allowed to edit an approvable, the Edit button is available.

• Group membership determines which users have permission to edit an approvable once it's been submitted
  • For example, the Purchasing Manager group exposes the Edit button on requisitions, so members of that group can edit requisitions. On the other hand, the Purchasing User group does not expose the Edit button, so members of that group cannot edit requisitions unless they belong to another group that permits them to make changes.
• Edit rules can be applied to prevent editing under specified circumstances by hiding the Edit button and determining what happens to the approval flow when a user edits an approvable

In the following section, you will learn more about Edit button.

It is possible to create custom conditions for edit rules. Predefined conditions also exist that apply only to edit rules.

In the following section, you will learn more about specific edit rule predefined conditions.

True if the values in any of the specified fields are changed.

Specify fields by typing the internal field names (not the field labels) using dot notation. Use commas to separate multiple fields. For example:

LineItems.Accounts.SplitAccountings.Account, Quantity

Note: This condition does not apply to the Comments field of approvables. It also does not apply to calculated or derived custom fields.

True if the total cost is changed in any way.

True if the total cost is increased during the approval stage by at least the specified percentage or amount. If you enter both a percentage and an amount, the condition is true if either one or both of them are met.

Specify a percentage or amount parameter by typing a numeric value in the appropriate field.

True if at least one line item's amount is changed during the approval stage. If you enter both a percentage and an amount, the condition is true if either one or both of them are met.

Specify a percentage or amount parameter by typing a numeric value in the appropriate field.

True if at least one line item's amount is increased during the approval stage by at least the specified percentage or amount. If you enter both a percentage and an amount, the condition is true if either one or both of them are met.

Specify a percentage or amount parameter by typing a numeric value in the appropriate field.

True if the total cost is changed to be greater than it was at the end of the pre-collaboration phase by at least the specified percentage or amount. If you enter both a percentage and an amount, the condition is true if either one or both of them are met.

Specify a percentage or amount parameter by typing a value in the appropriate field.

User is not allowed to make changes. There is no impact to the approval flow.

Changes are allowed. The approval flow is untouched and the approval process proceeds.

Changes are allowed. Parallel approvers and subsequent approvers on the same branch are required to reapprove.

Parallel approvers and subsequent approvers on the same branch are relative to the user making the change, not to the current active approver. The user making the change might not be in the approval flow or might be the currently active approver. If the user making the change is not in the approval flow, all approvers are required to reapprove.

For example, suppose the approval flow has four approvers (A, B, C, and D), and the document is approved by A, B, and C (and is pending approval by approver D). If approver B edits the document (for example, changes the quantity), the approval flow is reset, and Approver C (the approver that comes after the approver making the change) must reapprove.

Changes are allowed. The approval process starts over. Any previous approvers are notified.

Validation rules are limited to only one predefined condition, which is as follows:

• Invoice Reconciliation Rejection in Cancelation
  • True if a user in the approval process has canceled an invoice reconciliation rejection.

In the following section, you will learn more about validation rule predefined actions.

Invalid fields prevent approvables from advancing in the approval flow. Whether a user can correct these fields is determined by their group membership. The system only notifies approvers with editing permission of invalid fields.

The Validate All Fields for All Approvers validation rule allows all approvers to be notified, regardless of their editing permissions. If an approver can't correct the invalid fields, an approver with editing permission can be added to the flow or to a group that has editing permissions.

The policies tab is applicable and accessible only in Requisition and Shopping Cart (APC) approval processes.

Policies allow for the configuration of N Bids and a Buy (applies to collaboration only).

• N Bids and a Buy policies allow for the enforcement of a minimum number of invited suppliers for collaboration
  • Configured using a CSV file containing the fields the policy is based on and the terms of the policy.
  • Group approver can be added to the approval flow if the policy is violated.

You can specify a policy based on a number of fields in the approvable, for example:

• Requisition Amount
• Purchasing Unit
• SET ID (PeopleSoft only)
• Company Code
• Common Commodity Code
• Partitioned Commodity Code
• Line Item Type (Catalog / Services / Non catalog items)

Policy rules are configured via a .csv approver lookup table using the following steps:

1. Navigate to the Action area, then select Add Column to search for, and choose the fields you want to include in your lookup table.
2. Select Export Column Headers to export the .csv lookup table template.
3. Fill in the rows of the file with the values you would like for your policies.
4. Select Upload File to import your lookup table.
5. Save your approval process, then activate it to implement your new policy.

The testing tab allows for the selection of approvables to test the behavior of the approval process. The approval flow generated will demonstrate the final approval flow after all base, chain, and filter rules are applied.

• The testing tab is only editable when the approval process is in Draft status
• Edit Rules, Validation Rules, and Policies cannot be tested via the Approval Flow Tab

1. Navigate to Manage﹥Approval Processes.
2. Open an approval process in edit mode (which will create a new version in draft status).
3. Go to the testing tab.
4. Select add approvable, and use the search to locate and choose approvables to test, then select done.
5. Select the bubble next to the approvable in the My Test Approvables list to view the Resulting Approval Flow.