Understanding the Journal Entry Approval Process

If you enable the journal approval process in PeopleSoft General Ledger, journal entries are automatically marked to post once they are approved. You can enable specific users to mark a journal to post by granting them access to certain pages in User Security or by approving journals through PeopleSoft Workflow using the Virtual Approver. Business process maps are useful tools for defining the workflow process.

You can select to use one of two journal approval methods from the Installation Options - General Ledger page (Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Install, Installation Options, General Ledger):

Virtual Approver:PeopleSoft (default) workflow approval method used in prior releases.
Approval Framework:PeopleSoft Enterprise Components Approval Framework (AF) feature provides a configurable framework and page interface to implement workflow approval without using Application Designer.

See Article ID 1329609.1 on My Oracle Support website for details regarding journal approval using Approval Framework.

See Understanding Configurable Workflow.

See Installation Options - General Ledger Page.

This section discusses:

Business process maps and PeopleSoft Workflow.
Journal entry approvals using PeopleSoft Workflow.
Journal entry approvals using PeopleSoft system user security.

Business Process Maps and PeopleSoft Workflow

The PeopleSoft system enables you to define graphical, process-based maps to illustrate how a particular task fits into the business process and to quickly navigate to the pages that you need. You can create maps while building workflow into business processes. You can also build business processes to implement workflow even if you do not intend to use the business processes to navigate the system.

PeopleTools Documentation: Workflow Technology, "Designing PeopleSoft Navigator Maps"

Journal Entry Approvals Using PeopleSoft Workflow

Follow these steps to organize and set up data to approve journal entries using the Virtual Approver workflow method:

Define the roles and user profiles.

Specify who performs each activity. Define the roles that people perform in the workflow, as well as information about the people who fill the roles. This information enables the system to route work items to the appropriate users.
Define or modify the business process.

Define or modify the process name, description, activities, worklists, business events, and routings.
Define or modify the approval rule set.

Define who has authority to approve a journal and the approval limits.
Assign approval rules to business units, ledger groups, and journal sources.

You can have as many business processes and approval rules as you want. Assign them to the appropriate business units, ledger groups, and journal sources. If you do not want to use workflow approvals, use the default value, which is Pre-Approved.

Note: When you define approval rules at the source level, they override any approval handling that you specified at the ledger group and business unit levels. Any rules specified at the ledger level override those at the business unit level.

The PeopleSoft system comes with a sample approval rule called JOURNAL_ENTRY_APPROVAL for the Journal Entry Approval business process. You activate this sample rule in PeopleSoft Application Designer. The JOURNAL_ENTRY_APPROVAL rule is used only by the Virtual Approver workflow method.

Journal Entry Approval Workflow Definition Setup

The business process delivered in the sample data contains the activity APPROVE_DENY_JOURNAL, which comprises four events:

Event Name	Map Label	Description
Journal Entry Approval	Further Approval Required	Generates a worklist entry for the next user in the approval hierarchy.
Journal Entry Denial	Journal Entry Denied	Sends an email to the previous user.
Journal Entry Recycle	Journal Entry Recycled	Generates a worklist entry for the previous user.
Marked to Post	Journal Entry Approved	Indicates that the journal is approved and marked to post. (This event is not tied to the sample approval rule. It exists merely for documentation purposes.)

To approve journal entries through PeopleSoft Workflow, you must configure definitions and rules. For example, to generate an email and a worklist entry for journal entry denials, modify the activity definition in PeopleSoft Application Designer. To require that two supervisors and a manager approve journals, change the approval rule set in Application Designer. The sample business process that comes with the system is JOURNAL_ENTRY_APPROVAL, and the approval rule set definition is named JOURNAL_ENTRY_APPROVAL. You can modify these definitions or use them as templates for your own definitions.

Warning! To approve journal entries using PeopleSoft Workflow, you must deselect the Mark Journal(s) to Post check box on the User Preferences - General Ledger page.

Also, restrict access to the Mark Journals for Posting page so that it is available only to those who have the highest authority to approve journals because users of this page can bypass the journal approval process.

You must also hide the Mark Journal(s) to Post option on the Edit Journal Request page by replacing the entire content of JRNL_EDIT_REQ.MARK_POST_OPTN RowInit PeopleCode with the following code:

JRNL_POST_OPTN = "N";
Hide (JRNL_POST_OPTN);
MARK_POST_OPTN = "N";
Hide (MARK_POST_OPTN);

Note: You cannot post an online journal that needs approval.

Note: The aforementioned warning applies to both the Virtual Approver and the Approval Framework workflow methods.

Virtual Approver

The Virtual Approver has three actions associated with journal approvals. When invoked, the Virtual Approver returns a status based on the action specified and the authority of the user. The status is stored in the Journal Processing Request (JRNL_PROCESS_REQST) field on the journal header table, and appears as the Approval Status field on the Journal - Approval page.

Approval Action	Approval Status
Approve	`Approved to Post`(marked to post) or `Pending Approval`
Deny	`Denied`
Recycle	`Pending Approval`

Journal Edit processes all journals—even those marked Denied or Pending Approval. Journal Post posts only those journals that are marked to post (Approved) and marked valid by Journal Edit. Online edits prevent an unedited journal from being approved.

The sample Journal Entry Approval rule uses a two-step approval process. Members of two roles—supervisors and managers—can approve journals. Supervisors can approve amounts from –1,000.00 to 1,000.00. Managers can approve from –100,000.00 to 100,000.00. Both supervisors and managers must have authority for the journal header business unit and the administrative area defined for the business process.

When you select the Submit Journal option in the process list on the Journal Entry - Lines page, the Virtual Approver determines whether you are authorized to approve the journal. If you do not select it, the Virtual Approver prompts you to send the journal into PeopleSoft Workflow. Worklist entries are created for supervisors belonging to the administrative area GL with access to the business unit on the journal header, and the approval status is set to Pending Approval.

If you are a supervisor, the Virtual Approver determines whether you are authorized to approve the amount in the total fields and the business unit. If so, the Virtual Approver returns the status Approved, and the journal is marked to post. If you do not have authority to approve the journal, the Virtual Approver returns the status Pending Approval, and a worklist entry is generated for managers meeting the administrative area and business unit criteria specified in the approval rule set.

When managers or supervisors select a worklist entry for journal approval or journal recycling, they need to access the Journal Entry - Approval page. Typically, you grant security access to this page only to people who have authority to approve the journal. On this page, you can approve, deny, or recycle the journal. You can also add comments to denial emails.

PeopleTools Documentation: Workflow Technology, "Defining Approval Processes"

Journal Entry Approvals Using PeopleSoft System Security

You can use PeopleSoft system security to authorize approvals for users that PeopleTools provides. Using this method, you grant access to key pages and processes to specific users. For example, the key pages for marking a journal to post and posting are the Mark Journals for Posting page, the Edit Journal Request page, and the Post Journals page.

To prevent specific users from marking a journal to post, you do not assign them to a role that has access to these pages. If the user is not permitted to use the Journal Edit Application Engine process (GL_JEDIT) or the Journal Post COBOL process (GLPPPOST), a message displays informing them that they are not authorized to edit or post a journal using the options on the Journal Entry - Lines pages.

If you employ the user security approach rather than PeopleSoft Workflow for journal approvals, ensure that the Approval Active option in the properties is not selected for the approval rule set JOURNAL_ENTRY_APPROVAL in PeopleSoft Application Designer. You can remove the Approval Work page (APPR_WRK_01) and Workflow Functions page (WF_FUNCTIONS_01) from the Journal Entry component (JOURNAL_ENTRY_IE) in Application Designer because removing these pages decreases the number of cache files that are built when you access the component for the first time. Removal of these pages, however, is not required.

PeopleTools Documentation: Security Administration, "Understanding PeopleSoft Security"

Note: By default, the Approval Active check box is selected when you receive the approval rule in the sample data.