Explaining Flexible Workflow Scenarios for Supplier Invoice Management

SAP Business Workflow can be used to define business processes that aren't supported by the SAP standard processes in SAP Signavio Process Navigator. This could be a simple release or approval procedure, or a more complex business process. SAP Business Workflow is especially beneficial for situations where work processes have to be run through repeatedly, or in situations where the business process requires the involvement of a large number of responsible people (agents) in a specific sequence. It can also be used to respond to errors and exceptions in other existing business processes - for example, a workflow could be triggered when a predefined event occurs.

SAP provides many workflow scenario templates that can be used by partner line of business (LoB) configuration experts to resolve a customer requirement identified during Fit-to-Standard workshops. Many different function-specific apps exist to maintain workflows in different areas. To view and edit the predefined workflow scenarios, or create and maintain custom approval workflows, you open the function-specific workflow app and follow the instructions in the SAP Help Portal to define a workflow.

A workflow consists of individual work items, which are the tasks assigned to agents to complete. The work item displays in the agent's My Inbox app and describes the task they have been assigned to perform in the workflow step. Assign the Business Role Employee to all employees in the organization to provide access to the My Inbox and My Outbox apps.

SAP Build Process Automation is an evolution of the previous standalone solutions SAP Workflow Management and SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation (RPA). It brings both SAP Workflow Management and SAP Intelligent RPA into one product that runs on the SAP Business Technology Platform and provides a low/no-code user experience with additional capabilities (for example, building cross-product workflows) beyond the flexible workflows that can be built within SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

Watch the following video to learn about flexible workflows for supplier invoices in SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

When a workflow task is created for you, you will see the task displayed in your To-Dos list in the My Home area and by choosing the Notifications icon in the top right-hand corner of the SAP Fiori launchpad.

If e-mail is configured, you are also notified by email.

The workflow task comes in the approver's My Inbox. As approver, you can display and process your tasks using the My Inbox app.

You can approve, reject, claim, suspend, or forward your approval tasks to another approver, and display your approval history.

The My Outbox app shows all your completed and suspended tasks. Using the My Outbox app, you can resume a suspended task and view each task's task log and the related workflow log.