EEX 9.2: Fluid Approvals Throws Error Message When Clicking Expense Details Link on Submitted Expense Report if Risk Template Is Used, and Original Approver Is Replaced (Doc ID 3036987.1)

Last updated on AUGUST 06, 2024

Applies to:

Symptoms

A couple of problems have been detected with FIN Expenses approval workflow on submitted Expense Reports, if Risk Template logic is being used among the required approval levels, and the Employee's HR Supervisor is modified between the submission, and the first approval step taking place:

    a) In Fluid Approvals, when the Approver clicks on the 'Expense Details' link at the Expense Report main page, the system throws an Error Message
    b) If the submitted Expense Report is viewed in Online Classic page, the Approval Train feature is missing all identified approval steps

Upon further analysis, it has been confirmed that when an Employee submits an Expense Report which has a risk, (for instance, identified duplicate Expense Lines), then the delivered functionality adds a row to the Risk table PS_EX_RISK_ER_DTL, for each Approver User ID in that workflow. This includes the Employee's HR Supervisor. If, while the Expense Report is in "Submitted" status, and before the first identified Approver level could act on the transaction, the HR Supervisor for the Employee is updated, Record PS_EX_RISK_ER_DTL is not updated accordingly with the new HR Supervisor User ID, (whether a new row is added, or the existing row of the old HR Supervisor is updated with the new User ID).

REPLICATION STEPS:

    1.- Log into the FSCM Online Application as a System Administrator
    2.- Navigate to: Set Up Financials/Supply Chain > Product Related > Expenses > Management > Approval Setup > Map Approval Transaction Definition
    3.- Under Set ID SHARE, and Transaction Type Expense Report, mark as active the approval steps of Reviewer and HR Supervisor
    4.- Navigate to: Set Up Financials/Supply Chain > Product Related > Expenses > Management > Approval Setup > Define Risk Template Details
    5.- Create a new Risk Template for Expense Reports, having selected the 'Duplicates Exist' check-box
    6.- Set Up Financials/Supply Chain > Product Related > Expenses > Management > Approval Setup > Define Approver Profiles
    7.- Open the Approver Profiles for REVIEWER and SUPERVISOR, and ensure that the Expense Report approver attribute row has the new Risk Template defined
    8.- Log into the FSCM Online Application as an Expenses Employee
    9.- Navigate to: Employee Self Service Fluid Homepage > Expenses Tile > Create Expense Report Tile
    10.- Add all the details at the Expense Report Header level
    11.- Manually enter 2 identical Expense Report Lines, and save the transaction
    12.- Mark both Expense Report Lines as reviewed for potential duplicates, define a Reason Code, and enter the Exception Comments for Duplicate Expense
    13.- Submit the Expense Report for approval
    14.- Confirm that the workflow has identified the two steps for approval: Reviewer, and HR Supervisor
    15.- Query Record PS_EX_RISK_ER_DTL, and confirm that the Expense Report ID has 2 rows, one for Reviewer, and another one for HR Supervisor
    16.- Log into the FSCM Online Application as a System Administrator
    17.- Navigate to: Resource Management > Establish Resources > Update Employee Data
    18.- Open the Employee ID owner of the Expense Report, and add a new Effective Date row in the Employee Job tab, defining a new HR Supervisor value
    19.- Navigate to: Travel and Expenses > Manage Employee Information > Load Employee Data
    20.- Launch the EX_EE_UPDATE AE Program with all options selected
    21.- Query Record PS_EX_RISK_ER_DTL, and confirm that the Expense Report ID has the row for HR Supervisor still storing the old User ID, not the new one
    22.- Navigate to: Travel and Expenses > Expense Report > View
    23.- Open the submitted Expense Report in Online Classic page
    24.- PROBLEM: In the Approval History section, the Approval Train is empty, not showing the expected Submitter, Reviewer, nor HR Supervisor steps
    25.- Log into the FSCM Online Application as an Expenses Reviewer
    26.- Navigate to: Employee Self Service Fluid Homepage > Approvals Tile
    27.- Identify the submitted and routed Expense Report, and open it
    28.- On the Fluid Approvals Expense Report main page, click on the 'Expense Details' link
    29.- PROBLEM: The system throws an Error Message

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 problem.

ERROR MESSAGE:

Such Error Message creates confusion to the Approvers, and because the Expense Report cannot be reviewed in details if Fluid Approvals is being used, the approval of the submitted transaction alongside its reimbursement, get delayed.

The system should not throw an Error Message when an Approver tries to review the transaction's details, and viewing the Expense Report in Online Classic should also not blank out the approval train graph.

Changes

Cause

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