po.1.02 – po approval workflow processing

University of Wisconsin System SFS Business Process

PO.1.02 – PO Approval Workflow Processing

PO.1.02_PO_Approval_Workflow_Processing 1 of 24

Contents

PO Approval Workflow Process Overview ............................................................................................. 1

Process Detail ....................................................................................................................................... 2

I. Submitting a Purchase Order into the Approval Workflow Process ............................................. 2

II. View Approvers in Approval Workflow Process ........................................................................... 5

III. How Are Workflow Approvers Notified ........................................................................................ 6

a. Email Notification ........................................................................................................................ 6

b. Worklist Notification .................................................................................................................... 8

c. Buyer WorkCenter Notification (New Feature in 9.2) ................................................................. 10

d. Approvals Homepage Tile (New Feature in 9.2) ........................................................................ 15

IV. Initial Approval Workflow Variations .......................................................................................... 17

V. Ad Hoc Approvers/Reviewers ................................................................................................... 19

VI. Approval Workflow Actions ....................................................................................................... 21

VII. Making Changes to the PO ....................................................................................................... 23

PO Approval Workflow Process Overview PO Workflow is implemented at UWCOL, UWEXT, UWWTW, and UWOSH. It was implemented upon the request of the institutions. PO Workflow requires the Purchase Order to be approved by more than one individual, as determined by the institution, before it can be budget checked and dispatched to the Supplier for fulfillment. The series of approvals needed is called the PO Approval Workflow Process. Individuals designated as workflow approvers must have the UW_DYN_PO WORKLOW role, which requires the completion of a security form. Institutions using the eProcurement requisitioning tool are not eligible for PO workflow. Approvals are already obtained during the electronic requisitioning process.

Process Frequency The process occurs every time a PO is created.

Dependencies Once the PO is approved it can be Budget Checked and then Dispatched to the Supplier.

Assumptions All users have the permissions to be ad hoc approvers/reviewers.

Responsible Parties The user entering the PO (Requester/Originator), Buyer(s), Users selected to be ad hoc approvers/reviewers.

Alternate Scenarios Initial PO Approval Workflow steps vary between campuses.




Process Detail

I. Submitting a Purchase Order into the Approval Workflow Process Create purchase order like normal from the Add/Update or Add/Update Express page. This page can be accessed from the Buyer WorkCenter or through navigation.

Navigator: Purchasing > Purchase Orders > Add/Update POs or Add/Update Express: Once the Purchase Order is created, Click Save. PO Status will be Open. Click the green check mark to begin the Workflow submission process.

1. Click next to PO Status to begin Workflow submission.




2. PO Status changes to Pend Approval.

3. Click the “Purchase Order Approval” link at the bottom of the page. The Approval Page will appear.




4. Approve the purchase order.

5. Add comments if necessary. Comments are only required if purchase order is denied.

6. When the purchase order is approved, the below screen will appear, confirming the workflow process has begun.




7. Approvers in the workflow become aware of pending purchase orders 4 ways.

a. Email Notification b. Worklist c. Buyer WorkCenter (New Feature in 9.2.) d. Approval Tile from the homepage (New Feature in 9.2.)

II. View Approvers in Approval Workflow Process

8. To view the approvers in the workflow routing, go back into the purchase order and Click View Approval link at the bottom of the page.




9. The View Approval Page will be displayed. To view the approvers, click the Multiple Approvers Link.

10. To insert additional Approvers and/or Reviewers click the green “+”

III. How Are Workflow Approvers Notified

a. Email Notification PO Approval Workflow notification is sent via email to the specific user, indicating attention is required on a purchase order.

The email will contain a link, the user can click the link to access the PO Approval Workflow page.

1. Click on the link in the Email.

2. The PO Approval Workflow page will appear




3. View the purchase order for approval. Comments must be entered if denying the Purchase

Order.

4. Click the Submit button.




5. The below page will appear confirming you have Approved/Denied the purchase order. You are done, unless you want to View a Printable Version of the purchase order OR View the Approval Chain.

b. Worklist Notification

Navigator: Worklist > Worklist

The Worklist page is a summary of all items requiring action from a user in a Workflow Process. POs requiring attention will appear in this Worklist. Click on the Worklist link from the home screen.

Note: Users can sort the list in ascending/descending order by clicking on the column headers. Users can also filter the list by selecting the work item type from the Work List Filters dropdown section.




1. Click the Link section of a Worklist entry to access the PO Approval Workflow page.

2. Review requisition for approval and click submit. Enter comments if denying the purchase order.

3. Click the Return to Worklist link to go back to the Worklist.




c. Buyer WorkCenter Notification (New Feature in 9.2)

1. Purchase orders requiring your attention can be access from the My Work section from the Buyer WorkCenter. This can be accessed from the homepage or through the below navigation. Navigator: Purchasing > Buyer WorkCenter.

2. The number of purchase orders requiring attention will be in parenthesis next to Purchase Order under the Pending Approvals section. Click the Purchase Orders hyperlink to access the purchase orders.

3. The below page will display. Click Search to display all the POs requiring your attention.




4. The POs requiring attention will be displayed.

5. Click the link on the PO you want to Review for Approval.

Please Note the Mark All feature is not available at this time. Approve purchase orders individually by clicking the PO ID link.

6. Clicking the link will take you to the Approval Page




7. Review the purchase order for approval and click Submit. If Deny selected, enter comments.

Deny will end the purchase order.




8. After Submit is clicked, the Approved page or a Denied page will be displayed.

9. Click the Approve Purchase Order tab to go back to the Buyer WorkCenter page.




10. The Purchase Order number in parenthesis will go down, as each purchase order is reviewed for approval.

11. Click the Purchase Order Link to access any remaining purchase orders requiring review for approval.




d. Approvals Homepage Tile (New Feature in 9.2)

1. The final way to access Purchase Orders requiring attention is from the Approval Tile on the Homepage. The Approvals Tile will include all items requiring attention.

2. After Clicking the Non-Expense Approvals Tile, the below page will be displayed. To approve

Purchase Orders, click the Purchase order link.

3. The lines requiring attention will be displayed. Select the lines to review for approval.




4. Review the purchase order for approval. One of the below message boxes will appear, depending on whether the purchase order was Approved or Denied. Comments are required if denying a purchase order.

5. After the Submit button is clicked, the Pending Approval page will be displayed. If all POs have been addressed, the page will be blank. Otherwise, the remaining items requiring your attention will be listed.




IV. Initial Approval Workflow Variations

The initial steps of workflow have been configured to fit the needs of each Business Unit utilizing the PO Approval Workflow functionality. 1. University of Wisconsin Whitewater – UWWTW

a. Once a PO is created and submitted for approval under Business Unit: ‘UWWTW’, the first step that always begins the Approval Workflow Process is the Buyer step (which cannot be removed): i. Buyer step - Workflow routes directly to the Buyer listed on the PO. ii. Buyer that created the Purchase Order will Approve or Deny the Purchase Order. iii. Buyer can then click the green “+” to manually insert an additional approver or

reviewer.




2. UWEXT, UWCOL, and UWOSH use the same workflow process. UWCOL is used in the

screen shots.

a. Once a PO is created and submitted for approval under these Business Units, there are always 3 steps that begin the Approval Workflow Process (neither step can be removed): i. Originator step - Workflow routes to the user who created the PO. ii. Originator Approves Purchase Order. Once Approved, it will route to the other

Active Buyers

iii. All Active Buyers - Workflow is routed to all the active UWEXT, UWCOL, and

UWOSH Buyers. Note: This means any buyer (meeting the criteria above) can take ownership of the PO by approving in the All Active Buyers step and changing the Buyer listed (during workflow or after approval) without causing workflow to resubmit.




V. Ad Hoc Approvers/Reviewers Ad Hoc Approvers and Reviewers can be inserted in the PO Approval Workflow. They can be added as an additional step in the same approval path or as a completely new approval path. Ad hoc approvers and reviewers can also be removed as steps in an approval path. Ad hocs can only be removed by the Buyer listed on the PO or by the user who added them to the workflow. Note: Once the ad hoc approval has been routed, it can no longer be removed. Approval Workflow proceeds in a sequence of steps within an approval path. When a new approval path is created, the Approval Workflow begins at the first step immediately. Insert Ad Hoc Approvers/Reviewers from the PO Approval Workflow page:

1. Click at the end of an approval path to insert a New Step or Start New Path to start a New Approval Path.

2. A new window/tab should open in the browser.




a. Enter the desired User ID: of the ad hoc or click to search from a list of users. b. Select Approver or Reviewer.

c. Click .

3. A new window/tab will open in the browser. Click Apply Approval Changes.

4. A red minus appears on the added approver/reviewer boxes.

5. Click in the approval step, if there is a need to remove an approver/reviewer

NOTE: Always click after ad hocs are inserted/removed to ensure the steps are saved in the workflow.




VI. Approval Workflow Actions

Ad hoc Approvers are able to execute the following actions during PO workflow by clicking the desired action button:

Action Result Example Reason for Action

Approve Advances workflow to the next step The PO is for a valid business purpose and meets applicable policy requirements.

Hold Freezes workflow until the Approver who placed the PO on hold releases it back into workflow (by clicking on the desired action button)

The Approver needs more time to research an issue relating to the PO.

Deny Stops workflow and sets PO status to Denied

The PO does not meet applicable policy requirements.

Note: Approvers are encouraged to leave comments with each action to record the reason for the Approval, Hold, or Denial.

1. Enter any comments you wish to leave in the Approval Comments box.

2. Click the desired action button.




3. Click View/Hide Comment link to see all comments made during the approval process.




VII. Making Changes to the PO

Changes can be made to the details of the Purchase Order during the PO Approval Workflow process. However, if any new items are added or the quantities/prices are increased, it will cause the workflow to reset to the initial step(s). For ‘UWWTW’, changing the buyer before or after the PO has been approved will cause the workflow to reset to the initial step(s). ‘UWEXT’, ‘UWCOL’, and ‘UWOSH have the ability to change the buyer before and after PO approval without the workflow resetting.

4. Click and it will take you to the Maintain Purchase Order page where changes can be made.




Revision History

Author Version Date Description of Change

Spencer Kelsay 1.0 03/19/2013 Initial Draft

Spencer Kelsay 1.1 04/01/2013 Updated Screenshots and Content

Spencer Kelsay 1.2 05/15/2013 Updated Content and Formatting

Mark Flemington 2.0 06/20/2013 Final Functional Updates

Susan Kincanon 2.1 06/26/2013 Final review, format, and publish

Denise Mcdonald 2.2 04/13/2018 9.2 Upgrade

po.1.02 – po approval workflow processing

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