EEX 9.2: Expenses Workflow Skips Required Approval Levels From Approver List With Multiple Approver Profiles Defined, Only Routing to First Row (Doc ID 2790861.1)

Last updated on SEPTEMBER 28, 2024

Applies to:

Symptoms

The Approval Workflow Engine in Expenses is skipping required Approver levels for submitted Expense Report transactions. This has been identified on those Approver Levels whose Approver List contains multiple Approver Profiles, which means that within one Approver Type level, multiple sub-levels of approvals are needed (Due to Amounts, Privilege Templates, or other routing criteria). Workflow only routes to the first defined Approver Profile, and after that has been acted upon, the transaction moves to the next level of approvals from the Transaction Definition, skipping subsequent approvals from prior unfinished level.

An example would be with Approver Type EXAPPRVER (Expense Approver), where two Approver Profiles have been defined (Expense Manager Level 1, and Expense Manager Level 1). At the Approver List level, for the GL Business Unit tested on, and Approver Type EXAPPRVER, the two Approver Profiles are listed, and both required at all times, as no Refinement Template has been configured. Workflow will route the submitted Expense Report only to Expense Manager Level 1, skipping the step of Expense Manager Level 2.

REPLICATION STEPS:

    1.- At the Expense Report Transaction Definition level, select as active the below approver levels:
              - Reviewer
              - HR Supervisor
              - Expense Manager
              - Pre Pay Auditor
    2.- Create two new Approver Profiles for Approver Type EXAPPRVER: Expense Manager Level 1, and Expense Manager Level 2.
    3.- Configure the Approver List for the needed GL Business Unit, Transaction Type of Expense Report, and Approver Type of EXAPPRVER, and then define the two Approver Profiles in it.
    4.- Ensure that no Refinement Templates are being used on the two new Approver Profiles, which means that all transactions submitted will be required to go through the two levels of approval
    5.- At the Approver Assignment set up page, define the below settings for the needed GL Business Unit US001:
              - Reviewer to point to User ID VP1 on the complete range of Department IDs
              - Expense Manager Level 1 to point to User ID MGR1 on the complete range of Department IDs
              - Expense Manager Level 2 to point to User ID MGR2 on the complete range of Department IDs
              - Pre Pay Auditor to point to User ID MGR3 on the complete range of Department IDs
    6.- At the Expenses Profile level for Employee ID KU0021 (Linked to User ID EXA1), ensure that Supervisor ID is Employee ID KU0005 (Linked to User ID EXS1)
    7.- Log into the FSCM Online Application as User ID EXA1 (Employee)
    8.- Proceed to create a new Expense Report, and submit it for approval
    9.- Review the submitted transaction, and confirm that workflow has routed the transaction to Reviewer (VP1), HR Supervisor (EXS1), Expense Manager Level 1 (MGR1), and Pre Pay Auditor (MGR3)
    10.- ISSUE: Workflow has skipped Expense Manager Level 2 (MGR2) for the submitted Expense Report.

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

Logging into the FSCM Online Application as one User ID at a time, and approving the transaction sequentially, one can confirm that the Expense Report jumps from Expense Manager Level 1 directly to Pre Pay Auditor level, thus skipping an essential and required part of workflow approvals.

Whenever an Approver level has an Approver List with multiple Approver Profiles, workflow should ensure that all those Approver Profile levels that are required get the submitted Expense Report transaction duly routed, for further review and approval. No required approval steps should be skipped.

Changes

Cause

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