Oracle Approvals Management is designed to enhance and streamline the approval processes within an organization. By automating workflows and ensuring compliance with business policies, Oracle Approvals Management empowers businesses to manage approvals more efficiently and accurately.

This article discusses the core features and benefits of Oracle Approvals Management, highlighting how it simplifies complex approval hierarchies, reduces processing times, empowers employees to maintain control over workflows, and improves overall operational efficiency.

Key Takeaways

  • Oracle Approvals Management (AME) allows organizations to define and manage approval workflows with customizable rules that streamline transaction approvals across multiple applications.
  • Setting up business cases, configuring approval rules, and rigorously testing them are essential to ensure the approval processes are robust, flexible, and adaptable to changing business needs.
  • Regular reviews of approval rules, comprehensive user training, and the implementation of surrogate approvers and timeout features are critical for maintaining an efficient and effective approval procedure post-implementation.

Understanding Oracle Approvals Management

Illustration of Oracle Approvals Management

Oracle Approvals Management (AME) is a powerful self-service web application designed to define business rules that govern transaction approvals in Oracle applications. This tool is a game-changer for organizations looking to manage approval processes efficiently by creating rules that determine the workflow for transaction approvals.

AME imposes a hierarchical structure on the transaction’s approver list, allowing approvals to progress smoothly through notification-approval cycles while adapting to changes in attribute values, conditions, or rules.

Key Concepts of Oracle Approvals Management

At the heart of AME are approval rules, which consist of conditions in the ‘if’ part and actions in the ‘then’ part. These rules leverage predefined action types supporting HR employees, HR positions, and Oracle Applications users.

Conditions, selected from existing attributes, refine approval criteria such as contract amount or type. Approvers in AME can be categorized as action approvers, who must approve transactions, or informational approvers, who only receive notifications. Additionally, AME presents approvers based on various ordering modes and order numbers, determining the unique ordering in a transaction’s approver list.

Beyond individual approvers, AME allows the creation of approver groups, typically consisting of subject-matter experts, to streamline the approval procedure. These groups can be included in approval sequences, enhancing the flexibility of managing approvers. The hierarchical structure of an approver list in AME includes multiple sub-lists and approvers within each group. This structure ensures all necessary approvals are captured comprehensively and efficiently.

Advantages of Using Oracle Approvals Management

One of the standout advantages of using Oracle Approvals Management is its ease of customization. Business users can define approval rules without needing to write code or customize the application, making it accessible and flexible for an approvals management administrator.

Seamless integration is another key benefit, as rules defined in AME can be used across multiple applications, ensuring that a transaction in progress is approved under the latest conditions. Additionally, AME’s parallel approval operation significantly reduces the approval time, enhancing the overall efficiency of the workflow.

Planning Your Approval Processes

Configuring Approval Rules in AME

Planning is the cornerstone of any successful approval workflow. The planning cycle begins when the administrator officially starts each approval unit, emphasizing the importance of documenting the approval processes before using an AME transaction type.

Defining Business Cases

Defining business cases is an integral part of planning core approval processes, as they account for transactions with similarly structured approval processes. Users should document and update the approval processes as necessary to reflect organizational requirements.

Business cases can vary, including the following:

  • General approval requirements
  • Repeated approvers
  • Special forwarding cases
  • Parallelization cases

Translating Business Cases into AME

The process of translating business cases into AME entails the following steps:

  1. Setting configuration variables: Align Oracle Approvals Management with specific business cases.
  2. Definition of item class use: Determine which items will be used in the approval process.
  3. Creation of rules: Use decision trees or approval matrices to represent the necessary conditions and actions for complex approval rules.
  4. Creating an approver group: Create new approver groups if the business cases require approvals from groups not present in the existing hierarchy.

Configuring Approval Rules

Implementing Approval Hierarchies

The definition of how transactions are approved requires an essential step of configuring approval rules in AME. These rules can be specific to one application or shared across different applications, providing flexibility in managing various approval scenarios.

Each rule in the transaction’s approval process includes one or more approval rules with conditions and approvers. To avoid approval process failure, each contract, clause, or terms template must satisfy at least one rule.

Creating Conditions and Actions

Creating conditions and actions for approval rules involves defining a contract or template criteria. Conditions can include attributes such as:

  • Contract amount
  • Type
  • Terms
  • Risk code

Multiple conditions can be added to refine the approval criteria. Actions specify whether a response is required or is informational (FYI). Custom action types can be created to support approvers from any originating system registered with Workflow Directory Services. Approval groups can also be made and included in approver groups and chains, enhancing flexibility in managing approvers.

Testing and Validating Rules

Ensuring that approval rules work as expected necessitates their testing and validation. Oracle Approvals Management has built-in testing features that help validate the rules created, ensuring they meet at least one condition within their rule set for successful validation. This step is essential to prevent any disruptions in the approval workflow and to ensure that all transactions are processed smoothly.

Implementing Approval Hierarchies

Implementing approval hierarchies in AME requires defining configuration-variable values, item class use, mandatory-attribute values, approver groups, and rules. Job, supervisor hierarchy, positions, or lists of individuals can define overall approval hierarchies, allowing organizations to set up approval processes that align with their internal structures and workflows.

Types of Approval Hierarchies

Different approval hierarchies supported by AME include responsibility holders and position hierarchies. Responsibility holders in approval sequences route notifications based on active assignments on the current date or the effective start date of the transaction.

Position hierarchies, often referred to as the chain of authority, allow position holders to approve transactions, with the first position holder to approve completing the approval. In some organizations, these hierarchies may be referred to as chains of authority.

Linking Hierarchies

Linking different approval hierarchies involves adding approver groups to approval-group rules, enabling the combination of various hierarchies in the approval process. This integration ensures that all necessary approvers are included, and the approval process is comprehensive and efficient.

Parallel Approval Processes

Illustration of Parallel Approval Processes

In AME, parallel approval processes enable asynchronous progress of approval cycles, significantly reducing the approval process time. This approach allows the approval process of each item to continue independently, regardless of the progress of other items.

Setting Up Parallel Approvals

Setting up parallel approvals involves:

  1. Item class parallelization mode, which assigns either the same item order number or sequential order numbers to all items.
  2. Action-type parallelization, which is controlled by action-type order numbers assigned by the transaction types.
  3. Approver-group parallelization, which is managed via approver-group order numbers assigned to them.

Managing Suppressed Repeated Approvers

Managing suppressed repeated approvers in parallel approval processes is crucial to avoid redundancy. Oracle Approvals Management dynamically suppresses repeated approvers based on specific configuration variables. This ensures repeated approvers are notified only in their first occurrence during the approval process, streamlining the workflow.

Handling Deviations in Approval Lists

To handle deviations in approval lists, capturing and tracking changes to the standard approver list generated by AME is necessary. These deviations occur when there are additions of ad-hoc approvers or deletions of approvers from the standard list. Capturing and tracking these deviations ensures all changes are documented and accounted for in the Oracle system.

Capturing Transaction Deviations

To capture transaction deviations, set the Record Approval Deviations configuration variable to Yes at the transaction type level. After the approval of a transaction, run the Approvals Deviations Report to identify any changes made to the standard approver list during the approval process. This report displays deviations between specified dates, helping monitor the approval workflow.

Tracking Deviations

To track deviations, you need to set the Record Approval Deviations configuration variable to Yes at the transaction type level. This will enable tracking of any deviations that occur. This allows for the monitoring of changes between specified dates in the generated approver list. By tracking these deviations, organizations can ensure all approvals are documented accurately and align with the predefined rules.

Implementing Surrogate Approver and Timeout Features

Surrogate Approver and Timeout Features in AME

Implementing surrogate approver and timeout features in AME allows for handling approval tasks and maintaining consistent approval processes, even in the absence of primary approvers.

Setting Up Surrogate Approvers

Setting up surrogate approvers involves:

  • Designate alternate approvers to act on behalf of the primary approvers when they are unavailable.
  • Define surrogate approvers as HR employees, Oracle Applications users, or specific HR positions.
  • Access the Surrogate Approver Tab in the Approvals Management Business Analyst to manage surrogate approver rules.
  • Define the rule name, effective dates, rule type, and conditions under which the surrogate approver will act.

Configuring Timeout Durations

Configuring timeout durations ensures timely processing of notifications. Timeout rules can be configured to set specific intervals for up to 20 levels of approvers. The default timeout duration is initially set to one year (525600 minutes), which can be overridden for specific approver levels.

The Timeout Configuration page allows setting specific timeout durations to ensure all approvals are processed within the defined timeframe.

Running Reports and Purging Data

To maintain system efficiency and performance in Oracle Approvals Management, it’s necessary to run reports and purge outdated transaction data. These tasks help ensure the system runs smoothly and only relevant data is retained.

Running the Approvals Deviation Report

Running the Approvals Deviation Report helps monitor any variations from the expected approval paths after the approval cycle is finished. This report displays deviations for transactions approved between specified dates, helping track transaction deviations and ensure compliance with predefined rules.

Purging Transaction Data

Purging outdated transaction data, including various transaction types, can be done using the Approvals Management Transaction Data Purge utility. Submitting a request for ‘Approvals Management Transaction Data Purge’ initiates the data purge process, ensuring that old transaction data is cleared and system performance is maintained.

Post-Implementation Best Practices

After implementation, conducting regular reviews and optimizing your approval processes is necessary. Regular reviews help ensure the approval rules align with the current organizational structures and policies. Periodic updates to approval rules are required to reflect any organizational changes and avoid outdated processes.

Regular Rule Reviews

To keep approval rules aligned with current business requirements, it is necessary to review them regularly. Conducting quarterly reviews helps identify any redundant or outdated rules that need modification or removal. Involving key stakeholders from various departments also ensures comprehensive feedback and a robust rule review process.

User Training and Support

Providing adequate user training ensures users can effectively navigate and utilize the Oracle Approvals Management system. Regular training sessions keep users updated on new features and best practices. Additionally, offering accessible support resources, such as detailed guides and an active helpdesk, ensures that user queries and issues are promptly addressed.

Partnering with the Experts

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Frequently Asked Questions

How does AME handle changes in the approver list?

AME handles changes in the approver list by recalculating the list for each transaction whenever an approver responds, accounting for various factors such as attribute values, organizational hierarchy, and currency exchange rates.

What are the benefits of using AME's parallel approval process?

Using AME’s parallel approval process can significantly reduce approval time by allowing approval cycles to progress asynchronously, ultimately enhancing the efficiency of the approval workflow. This can ultimately save time and streamline processes within the organization.

How can I track deviations in the approval list?

To track deviations in the approval list, you can set the Record Approval Deviations configuration variable to Yes at the transaction type level and then run the Approvals Deviations Report after the approval of a transaction. This allows users to effectively monitor and manage any deviations in the approval process.

What is the purpose of setting up surrogate approvers in AME?

Surrogate approvers are designated to handle approval tasks when the primary approvers are unavailable, ensuring the continuity and efficiency of the approval process. This helps in maintaining a smooth workflow and prevents delays in approvals.