Approving Purchase Orders With Approval Framework
This section discusses how to:
Search for purchase orders requiring approval.
Perform approval tasks related to purchase orders.
View details about purchase order line items.
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Page Name |
Definition Name |
Usage |
|---|---|---|
|
PO_MASS_APPR |
Enter search criteria to view purchase orders that require your approval or purchase orders that previously required your approval. This page can display multiple purchase orders and can be used to perform approval tasks such as approve or deny. On this page, you can use the mass approval feature to approve or deny multiple purchase orders at one time. |
|
|
PO_APPROVAL |
View an individual purchase order that requires your approval. This page displays the details of just one purchase order and can be used to perform approval tasks such as approve, deny, or pushback. If you are not the approver for this purchase order, the page name displays as "View Approvals". |
|
|
PO_RC_WB |
Submit purchase orders into the approval workflow process by selecting the PO and then clicking the Approve button. Purchase orders can also be unapproved. |
Use the purchase order approval pages to perform a number of approval tasks, including:
Approving a purchase order or purchase order line. You can approve the entire purchase order at the header level or approve individual lines at the line level.
Denying a purchase order (header level only). Once a purchase order is denied, the workflow stops.
Holding a purchase order or purchase order line.
Pushing back a purchase order or purchase order line. A pushback returns the transaction to the previous approval step. The meaning of push back is that the approver is questioning the prior step's approval and is requesting clarification.
Adding or removing ad hoc approvers or reviewers. During the approval process, approvers can add other approvers or reviewers to the current or a later stage of the approval process. For example, if a buyer wants input from an inventory analyst, she can add the analyst as an approver. This action is called ad hoc approval, and it only applies to the approval instance in which the addition occurs and does not affect the underlying process definition used for other requests.
Making comments to be viewed by other approvers or reviewers.
View comments and attachments.
Approving a purchase order that has been changed. When a purchase order is changed during or after the approval process, the approval framework can require re-approval of the changes using the same approval component as the original purchase order. When a purchase order line has been deleted, the entire purchase order must be resubmitted to prevent the purchase order line numbers and Approval Framework line numbers from being out of synch if line level approval was used on the purchase order. Because approved lines have the APPR_REQD flag set to N, approved lines are not rerouted for approval when the purchase order is resubmitted, and any lines that are not approved are rerouted for approval.
Performing mass approvals. Using the Approve Purchase Orders page, you can select multiple purchase orders to be approved, denied, or put on hold. Use the Mark All icons to perform mass approval.
Approving a purchase order using email rather than PeopleSoft pages.
Self approval of purchase orders. This feature can be restricted or turned off.
Alternate approvers who are assigned to receive emails and Worklist notifications for the primary approver when the primary approver is not available.
For a complete list of approval features, see the Understanding Approval Features section of the Understanding the Approval Framework of the PeopleSoft Approval Framework .
Use the Approve Purchase Orders page (PO_MASS_APPR) to enter search criteria to view purchase orders that require your approval or purchase orders that previously required your approval.
This page can display multiple purchase orders and can be used to perform approval tasks such as approve or deny. On this page, you can use the mass approval feature to approve or deny multiple purchase orders at one time.
Approving a Purchase Order
To approve a purchase order use either the Approve Purchase Orders page or the Purchase Order Approval page.
On the Approve Purchase Orders page:
This page displays multiple purchase orders requiring approval. To approve individual purchase orders or lines, change the Action/Status field from Pending to Approve. To approve all purchase orders displayed in the search results, use the mass approval feature by clicking the Mark All: Approve link.
Click the Submit button.
Navigation:
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Approve Purchase Orders page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
The Approve Purchase Orders page enables you to view and take action on purchase orders that require your approval or view purchase orders that do not require your approval.
Use this page to search for and view purchase orders needing your approval. Purchase orders displayed are based on the user ID of the person entering this page. You can limit the scope and number of purchase orders that appear on the page. For example, you can limit the search results to a specific buyer, date range, or approval status. After displaying the purchase orders, you can perform approval tasks on a group of purchase orders, one individual purchase order, or even separate PO lines. For more details on a particular purchase order, click the PO ID link to access the Purchase Order Approval page where you can view the details of one individual purchase order and perform approval tasks.
Field or Control |
Description |
|---|---|
Business Unit |
Select a PeopleSoft Purchasing business unit containing the purchase orders that you want to review for approval. |
PO ID and To PO ID |
Select a specific purchase order ID or range of purchase orders. |
Approval Status |
Select an approval status used by the purchase orders that you want to review for approval. Purchase orders that appear in the search results are those in the status you select and that meet the other search criteria you enter. Approval status values are: Approved: Displays all purchase orders that you have approved. Denied: Displays all purchase orders that you have denied. On Hold: Displays all purchase orders that you have placed on hold. Pending: Displays all purchase order that are waiting for your action. Pushedback: Displays all purchase orders you have pushed back to the previous approver. |
PO Date From and PO Date To |
Select a range of dates to select purchase orders to view. |
Buyer |
Select the buyer on the purchase orders. |
Search |
Click to initiate your search. |
Clear |
Click to erase your current search criteria in the Search group box. |
|
Click the Expand All icon to display purchase order detail including line and header level information. |
|
Indicates that there are lines pending approval for the purchase order. |
PO ID |
Click the PO ID link to access the Purchase Order Approval page where you can perform approval tasks for one individual purchase order. Approval tasks include approving, holding, or pushing back a purchase order. |
|
Indicates that a specific header or line is pending approval. |
Mark All |
Use this row to perform a mass approval action on several purchase orders at one time. After using the Mark All row, you must save (submit) the page to perform this action. Possible actions are:
|
Submit |
Click this button to save and submit your changes on this page. |
Holding a Purchase Order or Purchase Order Line
The hold action gives the approver time to research an issue and prevents the approval process from going to the next approval step until the approver takes action on the purchase order or purchase order line. When an approver uses the hold action, the system inserts an ad hoc reviewer at the current approval step and the approver can add a comment requesting more information. If multiple approvers are required to approve in this one approval step in the approval framework, then the other approvers of the same step can approve or deny the PO or PO line; however, the approval process does not move to the next approval step until the hold is removed by the approver who entered it. The approval hold is removed when either the approver chooses to approve or when the purchase order is updated in such a way that the approval process is restarted.
This page illustrates the results on the Purchase Order Approval page after the Hold button is used.
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Hold on PO Line. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
Pushing Back Purchase Orders
Once a purchase order line has been approved by at lease one person, the next approver can push back the purchase order line in order to have the previous approver reconsider the approval. To pushback a purchase order line use the Purchase Order Approval page.
On the Purchase Order Approval page:
Select one or more lines that are pending approval. You can only pushback lines that have been previously approved within this approval step.
At the bottom of the page, use the Enter Approver Comments field to enter comments about the pushback.
Click the Pushback button below the Review Lines group box.
This page illustrates the results on the Purchase Order Approval page after the Pushback button is used.
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Pushed back PO line. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
Insert Ad Hoc Approvers
Use the Purchase Order Approval page to insert ad hoc approvers and reviewers, in the Review/Edit Approvers group box, click the plus + symbol for a pending purchase order line. The Insert additional approver or reviewer window appears for you to select the user ID, and to indicate whether the person is an ad hoc approver or reviewer for this line.
You cannot change ad hoc approvers or reviewers; however, you can delete and add them again to indicate whether they are approvers or reviewers. To delete an approver or reviewer, click the minus – symbol. To add multiple approvers or reviewers click the plus + at the point where you want the additional approver or reviewer to receive the approval.
Use the Ad Hoc User List field on the Configure Transactions page to limit the users that can be added as ad hoc approvers and reviewers. If this field is left blank, then any active user can be added as an ad hoc approver or reviewer.
When you click the + symbol, the following window displays:
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Insert additional approver or reviewer page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Review/Edit Approvals section after an ad hoc approver has been added. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
Use the Purchase Order Approval page (PO_APPROVAL) to view an individual purchase order that requires your approval.
This page displays the details of just one purchase order and can be used to perform approval tasks such as approve, deny, or pushback.
Navigation:
In the search results, click the PO ID link.
For the work item, Approval Routing, click the purchase order link on the row.
On a saved purchase order, click the View Approvals link. If you are the current approver, the link displays as Purchase Order Approval.
On a saved purchase order, click the View Approvals link. If you are the current approver, the link displays as Purchase Order Approval.
On a saved purchase order, click the View Approvals link. If you are the current approver, the link displays as Purchase Order Approval.
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Purchase Order Approval page 1 of 2. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Classic Purchase Order Approval page 2 of 2. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
Use this page to view the approval steps of a single purchase order. If your approval is needed, determined by your user ID, then the approval tasks are available. Based on your setup, the following options are available on this page:
Approving a purchase order or purchase order line.
Placing one or more purchase order lines on hold. This action inserts an ad hoc reviewer and requires you to enter comments.
Push back a purchase order or purchase order line. A pushback action returns the transaction to the previous approval step.
Add or remove ad hoc approvers or reviewers.
Review an online purchase order that shows the layout of the printed version.
Make comments to be viewed by other approvers or reviewers.
Note: If you select a line that does not require action, you receive a message telling you to select a line that is pending an approval.
Field or Control |
Description |
|---|---|
View Printable Version |
Click this link to review an online purchase order report. This report shows the layout of the printed version. The purchase order opens up as a second window and can be printed. The Oracle BI Publisher is used to generate this report and you can customize it. |
PO Total |
Displays the total monetary value of the purchase order and the currency used. |
Justification |
Displays any comments entered at the purchase order header level to justify the need for this purchase order. |
View Comments and Attachments |
Select the view comments and attachments to view the collated header comments and attachments for the purchase order |
Edit PO |
Click this button to access the Maintain Purchase Order - Purchase Order page where you can review or change the purchase order. |
Review Lines
The Review Lines displays information about lines within this purchase order, including : line number, approval status, item description, item quantity, unit price, and the total merchandise amount for each line. Users can perform approval tasks on one or more lines.
Field or Control |
Description |
|---|---|
Select |
Select this check box to perform an approval action on a purchase order line. Once you have selected one or more lines, you can use the View Lines Details button, Approve button, Hold button, or Pushback button. |
Select All / Clear All |
Click to either select all lines or to clear all lines. You can select this check box to approve or deny all lines or select individual check boxes to approve or deny a subset of lines. |
View Line Details |
Click this button to view an online purchase order report for the selected lines. This report shows the layout of the printed version. The purchase order opens up as a second window and can be printed. The Oracle BI Publisher is used to generate this report and you can customize it. |
Review / Edit Approvers
The Review / Edit Approvers displays the approval path for each line and the purchase order header. Use this section of the Purchase Order Approval page to review the approval flow, such as who approved the purchase order before you and who will approve it after you.
Click the plus + symbol to insert ad hoc approvers and reviewers. If you want to remove an ad hoc approver or reviewer click the minus — symbol.
Approval Comments
Use this section to enter comments about the purchase order when performing an approval action. If you deny the purchase order or purchase order line, the system requires that you enter a comment.
Field or Control |
Description |
|---|---|
Approve |
Click to approve the selected purchase order lines. When you approve, the system routes the purchase order line to the next approver and updates the approval status for the line. |
Hold |
Click to hold the selected PO lines. You must enter a comment that is sent to the ad hoc reviewer. |
Deny |
Click to deny approval to the selected purchase order lines. |
Pushback |
Select Pushback to return an approved line back to the previous approver with comments. This is possible only if there was a previous approver in the same path. You cannot push back a purchase order across stages. |
Purchase Order Header Comments and Attachments
Navigation:
Click the View Comments and Attachments link on the Purchase Order Approval page.
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the PO Header Comments and Attachments page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
Purchase Order Line Comments and Attachments page
Navigation:
Click on the Comments and Attachments icon on the Purchase Order Approval page line details section.
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Purchase Order Line Comments and Attachments. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
See Purchase Order Approval Page
Note: Users having authority to access the Fluid approval pages, see Approving Purchase Order Using PeopleSoft Fluid User Interface