Options for Setting Up Spend Authorizations with Budgetary Control

A spend authorization is a request by an employee for approval of estimated expenses for a future activity. For example, if an employee plans a business trip, he or she can request approval for anticipated expenses before taking the trip.

When you set up spend authorizations, you can consider these options:

• Enable spend authorizations

• Specify attachment location of spend authorizations

• Define spend authorization behavior

• Specify spend authorization numbering

• Control visibility of spend authorizations

• Enable budgetary control

You can set up spend authorizations for all business units in your organization or you can create exceptions for specific business units.

Note: Before you start, you must first select a business unit in Oracle Expenses on the Authorizations tab of the Edit Specific Business Unit dialog box. Doing this enables budgetary control to validate anticipated expenses against a specific budget, ledger, and business unit.

Enable Spend Authorizations

In the Setup and Maintenance work area, use:

• Offering: Financials

• Functional Area: Expenses

• Task: Manage Cash Advance and Authorization Policies

To enable spend authorizations on the Manage Cash Advance and Authorization Policies page, select Yes from the Enable Authorizations choice list.

Specify Attachment Location

You can allow employees to attach an approved spend authorization at the expense report header level or at the expense line level.

To specify the attachment location of spend authorizations on expense reports, from the Attach Authorization choice list, select Header Only, Lines Only, or No.

Note: The Header Only option is only applicable when budgetary control isn't enabled.

Define Spend Authorization Behavior

Depending on your business needs, you can specify the attachment of a spend authorization to an expense report as optional or required. From the Behavior choice list, select Optional or Required.

Specify Spend Authorization Numbering

You can optionally specify alphanumeric prefixes for spend authorization identification numbers.

To specify a prefix such as SA, that stands for Spend Authorization, enter a value in the Prefix field.

Control Visibility of Spend Authorizations

Approved spend authorizations are visible in the Expenses work area for the number of days you specify in the Visibility in Days field. The default value is 180 days. You can either increase or decrease the number of days by one or you can enter any positive whole number directly.

Check or Reserve Funds

Depending on your business requirements, you can choose to only check funds or to reserve funds by selecting the Check funds or Reserve funds option. If you select Check funds, you can decide whether to present a warning to employees if funds are insufficient to cover an estimated expense. The warning options are Yes or No.

The Display Warning to User option is applicable only when you select the Check funds option.

Enable Budgetary Control

If you want to check funds to determine whether sufficient funds are available for estimated expenses, you must enable budgetary control. To enable budgetary control in the Setup and Maintenance work area, use:

• Offering: Financials

• Functional Area: Budgetary Control and Encumbrance Accounting

• Task: Manage Budgetary Control

Complete these steps:

1. On the Manage Budgetary Control page, click the applicable business unit.

2. On the Edit Budgetary Control and Encumbrance Accounting page near Budgetary Control, select the Enable check box.

3. Select Yes from the Enabled choice list for the business function, Expense Management.

4. Click the corresponding Transaction Type Details icon and enable the transaction subtype of Spend authorization expense item for the transaction type of Spend authorization by selecting Yes.

5. From the Enabled choice list for the business function, Payables Invoicing, select Yes.

6. Click the corresponding Transaction Type Details icon and enable the transaction subtype of Spend authorization payment request for the transaction type of Invoice by selecting Yes.