EEX 9.2: Expense Report Workflow Not Working Properly If Lines Are Denied, User Auto Approval Is Configured, And Approvers Are Called In Twice (Doc ID 2195650.1)

Last updated on JUNE 24, 2024

Applies to:

Symptoms

ISSUE:

The Expenses Approval Workflow is not working as per expected when same User IDs are being assigned to several Approval levels, and a multiple line Expense Report transaction has at least one line being denied (Out of Policy). Several issues have been identified, despite the fact that at the ERApproval Process Definition level the 'User Auto Approval' flag is selected, and for the approval Stages involved, the configuration has been set up that within a Pool of multiple approvers being defined, the approval of one single User would be sufficient to set the transaction to the next level of approvals.

In fact, the workflow will require the approval of all Users defined in the Pool of Reviewers, making one User's approval not enough. Also, Even though the Reviewer that reviewed the submitted transaction happens to be the HR Supervisor of the Employee owner of the Expense Report, this one gets routed to his queue, which should not happen. PeopleTools Worklist items are left orphaned in the Users queue, as well as in the Approval Summary console page (EX_ALLTXN_APPR). Eventually, the Expense Report gets stuck in 'Approvals In Process' status, even after all required approval levels have been completed.

REPLICATION STEPS:

     - Log into the FSCM Online Application as User ID VP1
     - Navigate to: Enterprise Components > Approvals > Approvals > Approval Process Setup
     - Open the existing ERApproval process definition
     - Click on the 'Clone Approval Process' available link
     - Enter a Definition ID of SHARE, and Effective Date of June 1st 2016
     - Click on OK button
     - Save the changes
     - For Stage #2 (Reviewer), click on the DETAILS icon at the Step level, and select the below configuration:
          - Some Approvers Required = Y
          - Number of Approvers Needed = 1
     - Perform the same steps for Stage #3 (HR Supervisor), #4 (Expense Manager), and #5 (Pre Pay Auditor)
     - Save the changes
     - Finally, select the below options at the Process Definition header level:
          - Status = Active
          - User Auto Approval = Y
     - Save the changes
     - Navigate to: Set Up Financials/Supply Chain > Install > Installation Options > Expenses
     - Ensure to have the following settings configured:
          - Workflow Enabled = Y
          - HR Manager – Supervisor = Y
          - Approval List Routing = Y
     - Navigate to: Set Up Financials/Supply Chain > Product Related > Expenses > Management > Approval Setup > Transaction Definition
     - Open the configuration for Expense Reports
     - Add a new Effective Dated row for June 1st 2016, manually re-select each and every Stage Identifier value, and activate the below approval levels:
          - Reviewer
          - HR Supervisor
          - Expense Manager
          - Pre Pay Auditor
     - Navigate to: Travel and Expenses > Manage Employee Information > Update Profiles
     - Open the existing Expenses Profile from Employee ID KU0021, and at the Organizational Data tab set the following values:
          - GL Business Unit = US001
          - Department ID = 15000
          - HR Supervisor ID = KU0005
     - Navigate to: Set Up Financials/Supply Chain > Product Related > Expenses > Management > Approval Setup > Approver Assignment
     - For the GL Business Unit US001, and Approver Profile REVIEWER, define the following User IDs for all department range: EXS1, and EXS2 (Note that EXS1 is the HR Supervisor of Employee ID KU0021)
     - For the GL Business Unit US001, and Approver Profile EXPENSE MANAGER, define the following User IDs for all department range: MGR1, and MGR2
     - For the GL Business Unit US001, and Approver Profile PREPAY AUDITOR, define the following User IDs for all department range: MGR1, and MGR2 (Note that both Users have also been defined as Expense Managers)
     - Log into the FSCM Online Application as User ID EXA1
     - Navigate to: Employee Self-Service > Travel and Expense Center > Expense Report > Create/Modify
     - Create a brand new Expense Report for Employee ID KU0021, with 2 different transaction lines, and submit for approval
     - ISSUE #1: While the Expense Report is in Submitted For Approval status, the Approval Train is missing HR Supervisor, and Pre Pay Auditor icons.
     - Log into the FSCM Online Application as User ID EXS1
     - Navigate to: Manager Self-Service > Travel and Expense Center > Approvals > Approve Transactions
     - Open the submitted Expense Report, and:
          - Expense Report Line #1: Flag to Approved
          - Expense Report Line #2: Do not select as Approved, and place a reason of 'Out of Policy'
     - Click on the REVIEWED button
     - ISSUE #2: At this stage, even though at the ERApproval process definition we have clearly stated that in a Pool of Reviewers, one approval is sufficient, the workflow has still the Expense Report routed to the second Reviewer EXS2. Until this second Reviewer does not approve the transaction, the system will not go to the next level.
     - Log into the FSCM Online Application as User ID EXS2
     - Navigate to: Manager Self-Service > Travel and Expense Center > Approvals > Approve Transactions
     - Open the routed Expense Report, and click on REVIEWED button
     - ISSUE #3: Again, at the ERApproval process definition the 'User Auto Approval' flag is selected. Therefore, as User ID EXS1 approved the Expense Report as Reviewer, the system should not route the transaction to this User again as HR Supervisor, because it should auto-approve the transaction. However, the Expense Report is now sitting at the queue of the HR Supervisor (User ID EXS1) in both the PeopleTools Worklist, and Approve Transactions console. When clicking on the PeopleTools Worklist item, an Error Message shows up. At the same time, this Expense Report transaction has also been routed to the next level of approvals: Expense Manager (MGR1)
     - Log into the FSCM Online Application as User ID MGR1
     - Navigate to: Manager Self-Service > Travel and Expense Center > Approvals > Approve Transactions
     - Open the submitted Expense Report, and click on APPROVE button
     - Log into the FSCM Online Application as User ID VP1
     - Navigate to: Enterprise Components > Approvals > Approvals > Monitor Approvals
     - Open the Expense Report transaction under Process ID ERApproval
     - Note that for all 4 approval levels, the Expense Report Line #1 has a status of APPROVED
     - ISSUE #4: Note that for all 4 approval levels, the Expense Report Line #2 has a status of PENDING DENIAL. This is causing this transaction to still be routed and pending for approvals, and is incorrect.
     - Log into the FSCM Online Application as User ID EXA1
     - Navigate to: Employee Self-Service > Travel and Expense Center > Expense Report > View
     - Open the Expense Report in question
     - ISSUE #5: The Expense Report Header Status is in 'Approvals In Process' (PS_EX_SHEET_HDR.SHEET_STATUS = 'PAR'), while the Approval History section already shows that all 4 approval levels have acted upon this transaction, and nothing is missing.

To gather more information concerning this scenario and its related problem, refer to the available Replication Steps Word Document here linked containing the complete configuration and the replication steps necessary to reproduce the issue.

ACTUAL RESULT:

The Expenses Approval Workflow is not working properly in this scenario. The list of issues identified is the below one:

     - ISSUE #1: While the Expense Report is in Submitted For Approval status, the Approval Train is missing HR Supervisor, and Pre Pay Auditor icons.
     - ISSUE #2: At this stage, even though at the ERApproval process definition we have clearly stated that in a Pool of Reviewers, one approval is sufficient, the workflow has still the Expense Report routed to the second Reviewer EXS2. Until this second Reviewer does not approve the transaction, the system will not go to the next level.
     - ISSUE #3: Again, at the ERApproval process definition the 'User Auto Approval' flag is selected. Therefore, as User ID EXS1 approved the Expense Report as Reviewer, the system should not route the transaction to this User again as HR Supervisor, because it should auto-approve the transaction. However, the Expense Report is now sitting at the queue of the HR Supervisor (User ID EXS1) in both the PeopleTools Worklist, and Approve Transactions console. When clicking on the PeopleTools Worklist item, an Error Message shows up. At the same time, this Expense Report transaction has also been routed to the next level of approvals: Expense Manager (MGR1)
     - ISSUE #4: Note that for all 4 approval levels, the Expense Report Line #2 has a status of PENDING DENIAL. This is causing this transaction to still be routed and pending for approvals, and is incorrect.
     - ISSUE #5: The Expense Report Header Status is in 'Approvals In Process' (PS_EX_SHEET_HDR.SHEET_STATUS = 'PAR'), while the Approval History section already shows that all 4 approval levels have acted upon this transaction, and nothing is missing.

EXPECTED BEHAVIOR:

The expectation is that is the 'User Auto Approval' flag is selected at the ERApproval Process Definition, the workflow should be able to remember what last action took a specific User when this one is called in for a second time, and auto-approve the trasnaction, with no additional routing, or worklist items. The same principle should apply if the 'Some Approvers Required' configuration has been set up so that one User's approval is more than enough to complete that approval level, and should not require all the Users in the Pool of Approvers to act on the same transaction. Whenever the Expense Report has gone through all the approval levels required, the transaction should be placed in 'Approved For Payment'.

Changes

Cause

My Oracle Support provides customers with access to over a million knowledge articles and a vibrant support community of peers and Oracle experts.