4.2 Invoice Approval Rules: Workflow, Spreadsheet Rules and Approval Actions

The published objective is Manage Invoice Approval Rules. Expect questions about where rules are maintained, what the predefined rules do, which actions are available and what changes an invoice's approval status.

Enabling approval and the approval flow

1. Enable approval. In Manage Invoice Options for the business unit, select Enable invoice approval. Invoices then can't be paid until approved. The related options are:
   • Require validation before approval: approval starts only after validation has checked the invoice.
   • Accounting preference: Account regardless of approval status, Require accounting before approval or Require approval before accounting.
   • Allow force approval.
2. Enter invoices through import, imaging, spreadsheets or manual entry.
3. Submit for approval. Use the Initiate action, or schedule the Initiate Invoice Approval Workflow process to pick up invoices regularly.
4. Approve. The workflow builds the approver list from the rules and notifies the first approvers. When they respond, the next set is notified, and so on until approval is complete. Approvers can respond from the email, the Worklist, the Invoices landing page or the Edit Invoice page.

With header-level approval, approvers approve or reject the whole invoice. Rule conditions can still use line and distribution attributes, for example to route by distribution cost center.

Predefined rules

The predefined invoice approval configuration:

• sends invoices of 1,000 or more to the immediate supervisor of the requester on the invoice;
• automatically approves invoices of less than 1,000.

Most implementations replace these rules. Know them, because they explain approvals in an environment that hasn't been configured.

Where approval rules are maintained

The spreadsheet method

Oracle provides four invoice templates: Invoice Approval Basic and Invoice Approval Sample 1, 2 and 3. Each has these worksheets:

• Instructions, with the Generate Rule File button.
• Invoice Request Approval Rules, for Supplier Portal invoice requests that need the requester's approval.
• Invoice Approval Rules.
• Data Sets, which map changing attributes, such as cost center and business unit, to approvers or groups.

Rules use attributes from the invoice header, invoice line, invoice distribution and other attribute categories. A Rule Evaluation Currency attribute, entered as an ISO 4217 code, makes amount conditions evaluate in that currency, using the Corporate rate type and the invoice date.

Routing actions in Oracle's samples include:

• Supervisory Hierarchy
• Skip Approval, for example for PO-matched invoices
• Auto Reject, for example for unmatched invoices with no requester
• Group in Serial, for example a finance approval group that varies by cost center and business unit
• Auto Approve, for example below USD 5,000

The spreadsheet method also lets you name rule blocks, run approvals in parallel, use Lists, enable or disable rules and blocks, and put several actions on the same conditions.

Two cautions:

• Every successful upload replaces the existing rules for that workflow. Once you adopt the spreadsheet, Oracle recommends using only the spreadsheet for maintenance.
• You can migrate BPM rules into the spreadsheet with Download BPM Rules on the same page. Rules that can't be migrated still have to be managed in BPM.

Skipping approval for a source

To auto-approve invoices from a particular import source, for example Spreadsheet:

1. Create the standard lookup type AP_SKIP_SOA_APPROVAL (module Payables, meaning Setting Invoices as Auto Approved).
2. Add a lookup code that matches the Payables Source lookup code.

This doesn't work for invoices entered manually or created through the REST API.

Approval actions on the invoice

Changes that require reapproval

An approved invoice must be resubmitted for approval when any of these change:

• invoice amount;
• line amount;
• distribution combination;
• distribution set;
• tax amount;
• a line is added or canceled.

Changing an unrelated field, such as a description, doesn't require it.

Approver actions in the worklist

In the Worklist, approvers can also reassign the task to another user, delegate it while staying accountable, and request more information before deciding. The approval history diagram on the invoice shows who acted and the approval reason. Oracle takes that reason from the rule name, which is a good argument for clear rule names.

The account coding workflow

The invoice option Enable invoice account coding workflow starts a separate workflow, FinApInvoiceAccountCoding. It sends invoices that still need accounting to a person who completes the distributions. It is triggered automatically for validated invoices with a distribution variance hold, unless the invoice also has certain holds, such as Line Variance, Invalid PO, Final Matching or Incomplete Invoice. It is separate from approval: it completes the coding, and approval then authorizes payment.