10.1 Configuring Expense Approval Rules in the BPM Worklist
Key Takeaways
Expense approval uses the FinExmWorkflowExpenseApproval task, edited through Manage Expense Approval Rules in the BPM Worklist by an administrator such as the Financial Application Administrator.
ExpenseReportRuleSet sends reports over 1,000 to the immediate supervisor and auto-approves reports of 1,000 or less; you can change these rules.
Each rule has a condition, a Required or FYI response type and a list builder (Supervisory, Job Level, Position, Resource or Approval Group); a report can satisfy only one rule per rule set.
Saved changes don't take effect until you click Commit Task.
A report submitted by a delegate goes first to its owner (Pending Individual Approval), then to the preparer's manager hierarchy unless you change the starting participant.
The published objective is Configure Expense Approval Rules. Expense approvals use the same Approval Management Extensions (AMX) and BPM technology as invoice approvals (section 4.2), but with their own task and rule sets.
Where expense approval rules live
- Task: FinExmWorkflowExpenseApproval. Cash advances use FinExmWorkflowCashAdvanceApproval (section 10.3), and spend authorizations have their own approval rules.
- Navigation: Setup and Maintenance > Financials > Expenses > Manage Expense Approval Rules, which opens the Oracle BPM Worklist.
- Who: a BPM Worklist administrator, for example a user with Financial Application Administrator (FUN_FINANCIAL_APPLICATION_ADMINISTRATOR). They see an Administration link.
- Steps:
- Administration > Task Configuration > Data Driven tab.
- Select FinExmWorkflowExpenseApproval.
- Edit a rule set.
- Click Save, then Commit Task. Save stores the changes but doesn't activate them. Reset undoes uncommitted edits.
On submission, AMX builds the approver list from the rules and sends notifications. Each time an approver responds, it sends the next ones until approval is complete.
The nine predefined rule sets
| Rule set | Approvers | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| ExpenseReportRuleSet | Supervisor, through the supervisory hierarchy | Levels set by the rule |
| CustomSerialParticipantRuleSet | Empty, for your own serial rules | Serial |
| CustomParallelParticipantRuleSet | Empty, for your own parallel rules | Parallel |
| CostCenterRuleSet | Cost center owners | Parallel |
| ProjectManagerRuleSet | Project managers | Parallel |
| ExpenseRuleSet | A specialist based on expense type | Parallel |
| SerialCostCenterRuleSet | Cost center owners | Serial |
| SerialProjectManagerRuleSet | Project managers | Serial |
| SerialExpenseRuleSet | Expense-type specialist | Serial |
ExpenseReportRuleSet out of the box
- ExpenseReportManagerApprovalRule: report total over 1,000 (in the reimbursement currency) goes to one level of the supervisory hierarchy, starting with the submitter's manager. The top participant is a placeholder user (FINUSER30) that you must change to the last approver in your organization.
- ExpenseReportAutoApprovalRule: reports of 1,000 or less are approved automatically.
- ExpenseReportInactiveEmployeeManagerApproverRule: routes reports for inactive employees to a given starting participant.
You can change, delete or add rules. Each report can satisfy only one rule within a rule set. If it satisfies none, the approval errors and an incident is logged in Enterprise Manager. Cover every case, for example with a catch-all rule.
Building a rule
A rule has three parts.
1. Condition (IF). Choose attributes in the Condition Browser. You can combine several conditions.
| View object | Useful attributes |
|---|---|
| ExpenseReport | ExpenseReportTotal, ReimbursementCurrencyCode, OrgId (business unit), ReportSubmitDate, ExpenseStatusCode |
| ExpenseItem | ExpenseTypeCategoryCode, ExpenseTypeId, ExpenseSource (cash or card), ExpenseCategoryCode (Business or Personal), PolicyViolatedFlag, ReceiptMissingFlag, EmpDefaultCostCenter |
| CostCenterTotal | CostCenter, Total, ManagerUsername |
| ProjectTotal | PjcProjectId, Total, ManagerUsername |
| Expense Distribution | Account Segment 1, 2, … and accounting attributes such as Financial Category, to route to account owners |
2. Response type (THEN).
- Required: the approver must act.
- FYI: information only.
3. List builder.
- Supervisory: climbs the primary supervisory hierarchy for a number of levels, from a starting participant to a top participant.
- Job Level: climbs the hierarchy until an approver with the required job level.
- Position: climbs the position hierarchy.
- Resource: named users, or a function returning users.
- Approval Group: a group you define, for example a travel desk.
Example rules
- Reports over 5,000 USD need two supervisory levels. Add a rule in ExpenseReportRuleSet with ExpenseReportTotal > 5000 and Number of levels = 2, and change the existing rule's condition to 1,000–5,000, so each report matches exactly one rule.
- Any item with PolicyViolatedFlag set goes to a Travel Compliance approval group, using CustomParallelParticipantRuleSet.
- Expenses charged to another cost center go to that cost center's owner through CostCenterRuleSet.
Delegated expense reports
When a preparer (delegate) submits a report for an owner:
- Owner approval runs first, using ExpenseReportOwnerRuleSet. The status is Pending Individual Approval.
- Then the preparer's manager hierarchy approves, using ExpenseReportRuleSet. The status is Pending Manager Approval.
There are two common changes:
- Bypass owner approval: select Ignore this participant on ExpenseReportOwnerRuleSet.
- Start with the owner's manager: in ExpenseReportManagerApproval, change the starting participant from Task.creator to Task.payload.Expense Report Owner. Oracle recommends reviewing every rule that uses Task.creator.
Approver experience
Approver actions:
- Approve
- Reject
- Request Additional Information from the preparer
- Reassign, either Delegate temporarily or Transfer to the correct approver permanently
Approvers can act from HTML email notifications if set up, from the worklist, or through the Expense Assistant. Notifications show amounts in the approver's currency, policy violations with justifications, and itemizations. The configurable workflow notifications are Oracle Analytics Publisher templates you can modify.
Manager and auditor timing
In Manage Expenses System Options, auditors can approve in parallel with managers or after them. A report is reimbursed only after both have approved.
| Auditor action | In parallel | After manager approval |
|---|---|---|
| Short pay | The disallowed-items report is created after the manager approves | Created immediately; the approved part can be reimbursed |
| Request more information | Sent to the employee after the manager approves | Sent immediately |
| Status shown while the other party is pending | Pending manager approval | Pending expense auditor approval |
An auditor can also use Confirm Manager Approval to ask the first approver to reconfirm (section 10.4).
The predefined ExpenseReportRuleSet is unchanged. An employee submits a report totaling 750 USD. What happens?
It's approved automatically by the predefined rule for reports of 1,000 or less
It goes to the immediate supervisor, because every report needs one level of approval
It goes to the cost center owner, because CostCenterRuleSet always runs first
It errors out, since the rule set has no rule for amounts below 1,000
An administrator edits ExpenseReportRuleSet in the BPM Worklist and clicks Save, but new reports still route the old way. What's the cause?
Rule changes in the BPM Worklist take effect only after the next quarterly update
Saved changes aren't active until the task is committed with the Commit Task icon
The Financial Application Administrator role can't change any predefined rule set
Approval rules must be changed in Manage Expenses System Options instead
An executive assistant, set up as a delegate, submits an expense report for an executive. With the predefined rules, who receives it first?
The executive, as owner, with the status Pending Individual Approval
The assistant's manager, with the status Pending Manager Approval
An expense auditor, before any manager sees it
The executive's manager, skipping the executive
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.