Establishing Processes for Approval Framework

Use the Approval Process Definition page (EOAW_PRCS_MAIN) to define basic approval process details and approval workflow process stages.

Navigation:

Supplier Contracts > Supplier Contracts Setup > Approvals > Approval Process Setup

Use this page to define an approval definition process. The process is made up of stages and their paths and steps. The approval steps that you place on the approval path represent the approval levels that are required for an approval framework transaction.

Each PeopleSoft application has a top-level record (known as a header) with keys that uniquely identify a single transaction in an application. The application itself typically has other records, but they are children (line-level records) of the header record.

Use the Criteria Definition page (EOAW_CRITERIA) to define alert criteria for approval workflows.

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Click the Alert Criteria link on the Approval Process Definition page.

Use this page to define the different types of criteria that you want to apply to a workflow approval process. You can create definitions consisting of a field with a logical operator and a value or definitions consisting of an application class that takes in transaction data to process the approval.

Criteria is an entity that evaluates to true or false. Criteria programs approval framework, using transaction-specific information to change, for example, routing paths. To set the context for the criteria, the engine provides the transaction keys as bind values.

Use the Approval Path Definition page (EOAW_PATH_SEC) to set up approval workflow paths.

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Click the Path Details link on the Approval Process Definition page.

Use this page to set up additional parameters that determine how the system processes an approval path. A path contains a sequence of steps. Within a stage, paths are processed in parallel. Path entry criteria determines whether a path is processed for a given transaction or transaction line. Depending on the implementation of Supplier Contract Management, you might, for example, want to create criteria that supports various source transactions and document types. These need to be configured in the document approval definition.

Use the escalations feature to define time elements for when an approver takes too long to approve, deny, or push back a pending request.

Use the Approval Step Definition page (EOAW_STEP_SEC) to define steps for contract approval workflows.

Navigation:

Click the Details link in the Steps grid on the Approval Process Definition page.

Use this page to define steps for the approval workflow. A step represents one or more approvers or reviewers. Steps within a path are processed in sequence. Separate criteria for each step determines whether that step is performed. Each step can also have a set of reviewers, who are notified about transactions pending approval by email, if configured, and through the worklist. But the workflow proceeds without waiting for reviewers to act.