1. How do I set up and manage approval workflows in Oracle Project Management?
  2. Using Parallel Approval Rules for Budget and Forecast Approvals

Using Parallel Approval Rules for Budget and Forecast Approvals

Say you want to define an approval rule to approve budgets and forecasts at the same time using approval groups. An approval group consists of the individuals you designate as approvers. For example, you might create an approval group called FinancialPlanApprovalGroup that includes finance department members who need to participate in the approval process.

In a parallel approval process, all members of the approval group must approve, and the order of approval doesn’t matter as long as everyone responds. Alternatively, you can set a voting percentage, for example, with a 50% threshold, the process is approved once half the group members have given their approval.

Follow these steps:

  1. In Setup and Maintenance, click the Task Panel, then search for and click the Manage Task Configurations for Project Financial Management task.

    The BPM Worklist application appears.

  2. Click the Approval Groups tab and create a group of approvers as follows:
    1. In the Groups pane, click the Create Approval Group icon and select the option to create a static group.
    2. Enter FinancialPlanApprovalGroup in the Name field and click the Add Member icon and add the group members (the people you want to designate as approvers).
    3. Click Save.
  3. Click the Task Configuration tab, and in the Tasks to be configured pane, search for the ApprovePlanVersion task, and click the ApprovePlanVersion link.
  4. Click the Edit Task icon in the Tasks to be configured pane to open the task in edit mode.
  5. Click the Assignees tab.

    The participants who must approve project budgets or forecasts are displayed. Click on each of these participants to review the workflow rules that apply to their approval choices

  6. Perform these steps:
    1. Click the Approver participant in the workflow. Then, click Advanced and select the Ignore Participant check box.
    2. Click the Financial Plan Approval Single Participant1 participant in the workflow. Then, click Advanced and select the Ignore Participant check box.
  7. Click the Financial Plan Approval Parallel Participant 1 participant in the workflow. Then, click Advanced and ensure that the Ignore Participant check box isn't selected. Note that the Ignore Participant check box is selected for all participants except the parallel participant.
  8. Verify that all other rules and participants are disabled.
  9. Add the approval rule to approve budgets and forecasts simultaneously, as follows:

    1. Click the Financial Plan Approval Parallel Participant 1 participant in the workflow, click the Go to Rule (the diamond shaped) icon within the box, and then click the Go to Rule option that appears. Ensure that the ProjectBudgetsandForecastsApprovalParallelRuleSetOne rule is selected in the drop-down list.

    2. In the Rules pane, click the Advanced Add or Modify Options (the + icon) drop-down list and select General Rule.
    3. Click the Properties link, enter FinancialPlanApproval in the Name field and add the description.
    4. Select Medium from the Priority drop-down list, ensure that the Advanced Mode check box isn't selected, verify that the Active check box is selected, and click OK.
    5. In the IF part of the rule, click the Advanced Add or Modify Options drop-down list and select simple test, and add the IF conditions as follows:

      Value to Enter in the Left Text Box

      Value to Select in the Number Comparison Drop-down List

      Value to Enter in the Right Text Box

      Why to Add the IF Condition

      1

      is

      1

      The default condition to ensure that the rule is always executed. It can be modified to execute the rule only for budgets, for example, by checking for the plan type.
    6. In the THEN part of the rule, click the Insert Action  drop-down list, select Add Approver > Approval Group. Then, enter the values as follows:
      • Response Type: Required
      • Approval Group: FinancialPlanApprovalGroup
      • Allow empty groups: false
      • Rule Name: “FinancialPlanApproval”
        Note: The rule name is auto-populated, its the name that you entered in Step 9.
      • Dimension Id: null
        Note: The dimension id is auto-populated as null.
  10. Click the Configuration tab, select the Complete task immediately when participant chooses check box under the Early completion settings section, and then select Reject from the Task Outcome Options drop-down list.
  11. Click the Save icon in the Tasks to be configured pane to save the rules.
  12. Click the Commit task icon in the Tasks to be configured pane to complete the rule configuration.
  13. Click OK to close the confirmation message window.