Organizations might prefer to set AP invoices to be approved through an approval process before the invoice is paid off. This is useful from an Audit perspective as well as it eliminates mistakes made on the part of data entry operator.
From Audit perspective, there is very little chance of an unauthorized payment as approvers might question Corporate Finance team of the organization if some invoice looks out of the ordinary.
If the data entry operator makes a mistake during entering the invoice, the invoice might be paid off before the mistake is spotted. If the payment does not reach the supplier it has to be cancelled. If the payment reaches the supplier then an adjustment has to be made on the supplier for a future payment.
To avoid these scenarios organizations might implement AP invoice approval process. This process built into standard Oracle Applications but it is turned off by default. Oracle has to be configured to enable this feature.
The steps and usage of this process is illustrated below.
Setup steps
AME setup
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| AME setup |
Transaction Types: Payables Invoice Approval
Create rule, condition and action.
Note: I shall illustrate AME setup in more detail in another post.Create rule, condition and action.
Database setup
Execute the following script in APPS schema. DELETE FROM wf_event_subscriptions
WHERE owner_tag =‘AP’ AND wf_process_type =‘APINV’
Only 1 row should be deleted.
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| Error message on sending AP Invoice for approval |
Apps setup
Set Profile
Responsibility: System Administrator
Navigation: Profile > System
Query for profile option, AME:Installed, and Application, Payables. The value should be set to Yes for Payables or the Invoice Approval Workflow will not be initiated. This value is set but AME is not configured the workflow will be initiated but no notifications will be sent out and the workflow will be stuck as it will be unable to find an approver. |
| AME profile option |
Payables Options
Responsibility: EY AP Administrator
Navigation: Setup > Options > Payables > Invoice (tab)
You need to see the following boxes and ensure that these are checked,
· Use Invoice Approval Workflow
· Allow Force Approval
· Require Validation before approval
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| Payables Options |
Synchronize all workflow roles
Go to System Administrator
Navigation: View > Requests
Run the request Synchronize WF LOCAL tables for all Orig systems,
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| Synchronize workflow tables |
Usage of the AP Invoice approval
The invoice creation process is illustrated in another post, here.
Enter invoiceResponsibility: AP Administrator
Navigation: Invoices > Enter > Invoices
Enter the invoice
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| Create Invoice |
Validate Invoice
On the same form click Actions button. On the new window, select Validate
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| Validate Invoice |
Initiate Approval
After invoice is validated, click on Actions again and select “Initiate Approval”
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| Initiate Approval for Invoice |
The approval history for an invoice can be seen by clicking on Tools > View Invoice Approval History once the invoice approval is in process or when the process is over.
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| Invoice Approval History |
Workflow
Once the workflow is be kicked off, you can view it from Workflow Administrator > Status Monitor
Search for Internal Name: APINV
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| Invoice approval workflow |
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| Workflow notification |
Once the approval process is complete the AP invoice will be ready for payment.
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