The Document Approval Process
Approve Document Window
Purchasing lets you approve requisitions, standard and planned purchase orders, blanket and contract purchase agreements, and releases using a common process. When you complete your documents and are ready to initiate the approval process, select the Approve button in the document entry window to open the Approve Document window.
In the Approve Document window, choosing Submit for Approval (and then choosing OK) approves the document if Owner Can Approve is enabled for the specific document type in the Document Types window and you have the authority to approve the document. See: Defining Document Types. If the document requires someone else's approval, choosing Submit for Approval (and then choosing OK) automatically submits the document to that person (or routes it to multiple approvers) for approval, based on your approval hierarchy setup. See: Setting Up Document Approval and Security.
Purchasing offers the following document approval actions in the Approve Document window: Reserve or Unreserve (if using encumbrance / budgetary control), Submit for Approval, and Forward. You can also change the approval hierarchy from within the Approve Document window if Allow Change to Approval Hierarchy is selected for the document type in the Document Types window. You can also specify a Forward To person if you want the document to be approved by someone outside the approval hierarchy. You can also select the Print option, and the document will automatically print once it is approved.
When you select the Approve button in a document entry window, Purchasing performs submission checks to verify that the document is complete and in an appropriate state for the action you chose. Status checks are performed when you take an approval action. See: Document Submission Checks. See: Document Status Checks.
Notifications Summary Window
You can also approve documents through the Notifications Summary window. The Notifications Summary window lists all the documents awaiting your approval, so that you can manage your pending approval queue and take approval actions. From this window, you can drill down to the documents themselves, and review them and their action histories. You can also modify documents if Approver Can Modify is enabled for the document type. See: Defining Document Types. (After you modify a document, you need to return to the Notifications Summary window to take an approval action.)
Web or E-Mail
Another way to approve documents is through a notifications Web page or e-mail. Oracle Applications uses Oracle Workflow technology to route notifications through the Web or e-mail. This way, an approver who has easier access to the Web or e-mail than to the Purchasing application can view notifications and take approval actions. See: Oracle Workflow Guide.
Approval Workflow
Purchasing uses Oracle Workflow technology to handle the entire approval process. When you take an approval action in the Approve Document or Notifications Summary windows, or through the Web or e-mail, you are "submitting" the approval action to Workflow. Workflow works in the background, using the approval controls and hierarchies you've defined to route documents for approval. Because Workflow handles your approval process in the background, you can use Oracle Workflow Builder's easy interface to modify your approval process. For more information about the approval workflow in Purchasing, see: Approval Workflows.
See Also
Submitting a Document for Approval
Viewing and Responding to Notifications
