Setting Up Oracle Approvals

Management (AME) for Supervisory

and CEO Approvals
An Oracle White Paper

May 2006

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1. EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW.....................................................................................3
2. REFERENCE ..........................................................................................................3
3. SCOPE ....................................................................................................................3
4. SETUP ....................................................................................................................3
a) HRMS .................................................................................................................3
b) SYSADMIN ........................................................................................................5
c) ORACLE APPROVALS MANAGEMENT (AME).............................................7
1. Attribute ..............................................................................................................7
2. Condition.............................................................................................................8
3. Actions ................................................................................................................9
4. Rules ...................................................................................................................9
5. SETTING UP RULES FOR SUPERVISORY APPROVALS ..................................9
a) Create Attributes..................................................................................................9
b) Create Conditions ..............................................................................................12
c) Create Actions ...................................................................................................13
d) Set up Simple Rules...........................................................................................15
e) Test....................................................................................................................23
f) Simulation .........................................................................................................27
6. SETTING UP RULES FOR CEO EXPENSE REPORT APPROVALS .................30
7. CONCLUSION .....................................................................................................34

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1. EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW
Your enterprise employs thousands of people in many departments around the world.
Naturally, you require your Human Resources business processes to be conducted as
efficiently as possible so that employees and managers are free to focus on their primary
tasks. However, you also need assurance that all transactions are subject to effective
controls. This paper describes how, within the Oracle e-Business Suite, you can exploit
the flexibility of Oracle Approvals Management (AME) across the breadth of Oracle
Internet Expenses to establish and enforce appropriate approval rules for any kind of
transaction.

2. REFERENCE
This paper is intended to supplement the following reference materials, which should also
be studied for a full understanding of the topic.
Implementing Oracle Approvals Management
Oracle Internet Expenses Implementation and Administration Guide

3. SCOPE
The scope of this document is to define List creation rule of type chain of authority based
on number of supervisory levels. We would also cover the basic setup involved to
accomplish the same.

4. SETUP

a) HRMS

In HRMS we need to create employees, assign supervisors, associate set of books

and default accounts.

The Test case explained here uses the following supervisory hierarchy with each
Employee reporting to the top level:

Mike Edwards (CEO)

Russ Mitchell

Stock Patt

Rob Alan

We associate Set of books and Default Expense account in Purchase Order

Information tab of the Assignment Window. Set of Books and Default Expense

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 account attached to all these employees are Vision Operations and 01-110-6100-
0000-000.

Below is the screenshot of Mr. Russ Mitchell Employee Setup showing the
supervisor assigned.

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 Below is the screenshot of Russ Mitchell showing the Set of books and the default
expense account assignment.

Similar setup is done for the remaining Employees. .Please note that no
Supervisor is selected for Mike Edwards who is the CEO of the Virtual
Organization.

b) SYSADMIN

We need to create users in sysadmin and attached these Employees. We also need
to attach some responsibilities required for the testing:
a) Internet Expense Responsibility
b) Workflow User Web Applications

Below is the user defined for employee Mike Edwards.

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 Similar setup is done for the remaining Employees.

Profile options to be setup:

We need to set the profile option AME: Installed to Yes for Application Payables.

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 c) ORACLE APPROVALS MANAGEMENT (AME)

We wish to use AME for approving Expense reports submitted by employees.

Our objective in the test case is to setup a simple rule, for example:

• Rule 1: All expense reports submitted in set of books 1 having an expense

total of less than 5000 USD would require approval of at least 2
supervisors.

• Rule 2 All expense reports submitted in set of books 1 having an expense

total of greater than 5000 USD would require approval of at least 3
supervisors

Before we go on to create the rule, we should understand some basic terms in

AME.

1. Attribute

An attribute is a variable that has exactly one value per item, for a given
transaction. Common attributes are things like a transaction’s total amount, a
percent discount, an item’s category, a person’s salary, and so on. In AME,
attribute names always appear uppercased, for example
EXPENSE_REPORT_TOTAL.

Attributes are classified as Mandatory attributes and Non Mandatory attributes.

A mandatory attribute must have a usage in all transaction types. Mandatory
attributes determine various facets of AME runtime behavior. The mandatory
attributes are listed at the top of the attributes tab's attributes list, which appears as
soon as you select the attributes tab. Non-mandatory attributes that are not
required attributes represent business variables used in approval rules.

An attribute item class determines what class of items has a value for the attribute.
For a given transaction, each of the items in an attribute's item class has its own
value for the attribute. An attribute always has the same item class, regardless of
the transaction type. Attributes belonging to the header item class are sometimes
termed header-level attributes. Attributes belonging to subordinate item classes
are sometimes termed line-item-level attributes, cost-center-level attributes, etc.
EXPENSE_REPORT_TOTAL is a Header level attribute and
EXPENSE_LINE_AMOUNT is a line level attribute.

AME distinguishes five attribute types:

• Number
• Date
• String
• Boolean
• Currency

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 Please review the AME implementation guide for more details on these attribute
types.

Attribute Usages:

There are two kinds of attribute usages: static and dynamic.

• A static attribute usage assigns a constant value to an attribute, for a given

transaction type.

• A dynamic attribute usage assigns an SQL query to an attribute, for a

given transaction type.

For example Attribute EXPENSE_REPORT_TOTAL has a dynamic usage and

the SQL query is

select fnd_number.number_to_canonical(erh.total),
nvl(erh.default_currency_code,asp.invoice_currency_code),
nvl(erh.default_exchange_rate_type,asp.default_exchange_rate_type)
from ap_expense_report_headers_all erh, ap_system_parameters_all asp
where erh.report_header_id = :transactionId
and erh.org_id = asp.org_id

Please review the syntax rules for Dynamic usage queries in the AME
implementation guide. This is very important while you design your query.
Further the execution of dynamic attribute usages’ queries represents the majority
of AME’s runtime overhead. Therefore, optimizing your dynamic–usage queries
can have a big impact on AME’s performance. Make sure you optimize these
queries thoroughly, especially if the transaction type that owns them processes a
high volume of transactions.

2. Condition

An approval rule’s “if” part consists of one or more conditions, each of which is
either true or false. For the rule to apply to a transaction, all of its conditions must
be true for the transaction.

The “if” part of an approval rule is the condition. It may consist of one or more
conditions each of which is either true or false. For a rule to apply to a transaction,
all the condition must be true for the transaction. We can create conditions based
on the attributes.

Ordinary header conditions are based on columns of the Expense report Header
i.e, AP_EXPENSE_REPORT_HEADERS_ALL table.
An example is if the EXPENSE_REPORT_TOTAL <= 5000 US Dollars

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 Ordinary line item conditions are based on columns found in the Expense report
lines i.e, AP_EXPENSE_REPORT_LINES_ALL table
Examples are EXPENSE_LINE_AMOUNT, EXPENSE_TYPE etc.,
Example are if the EXPENSE_LINE_AMOUNT <= 5000 US Dollars

3. Actions

An Action is an instruction to AME to modify a transaction's approval process in

some fashion. An approval rule's "then" part (its "consequent") consists of one or
more actions. Actions that modify a transaction's approver list are approval
actions or simply approvals.
Actions that generate a production (a variable-name/value pair) are production
actions.

The supervisory–level approval type ascends the same supervisory hierarchy as

assigned in the employee supervisor assignment. The parameters of supervisory–
level approvals are positive integers indicating the number of supervisors to
ascend.

4. Rules

Creating rules and rule usages is the main step in the AME implementation
process. Rarely will an organization’s business rules match any rules that are
seeded with a transaction type. Instead, you must translate the business rules you
documented into AME rules yourself. Rule associate one or more conditions with
an approval in an “if-then” statement. Before you can create rules, you must
create conditions for the rules to use. You may need to create (or have a system
administrator create) some custom attributes and/or approvals. Thus, while
creating rules is your ultimate goal, it is also the last thing you do when you set up
AME.

5. SETTING UP RULES FOR SUPERVISORY APPROVALS

Please note that AME Patchset used for this setup is AME.A (Patch #3962268). If you
are using higher version of AME Patchset level, the User Interface may change slightly.

a) Create Attributes
Using Responsibility: AME Application Administrator N >Approvals >
Attributes

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 1. Change the transaction type to OIE Expense Report from the list of values
and select the continue button.
2. Check if required attribute exists. If not add one by scrolling to the end of
the attributes page and select the Add Attribute button.
3. Choose the attributes Item Class i.e. header/line attribute and click on
continue (header in our case)
4. Check for existing shareable attribute names. If nothing suites your need,
click on Create New Name
5. Enter EXPENSE REPORT TOTAL in the name field and select the
continue button.
6. Select an Attribute type. It would be “currency” in this case
7. Enter Total reimbursable amount for the expense report in the description
field.
8. Select static usage as “no”. Attribute usages define how the value is
determined at the run time. If it is a static usage, then you can define a
constant value for the transaction type. If it is a dynamic usage, then you
need to define a SQL query for the transaction type that uses the attribute.

In our case, it is a dynamic usage and the following SQL query is used

select fnd_number.number_to_canonical(erh.total),
nvl(erh.default_currency_code,asp.invoice_currency_code),
nvl(erh.default_exchange_rate_type,asp.default_exchange_rate_type)
from ap_expense_report_headers_all erh, ap_system_parameters_all asp
where erh.report_header_id = :transactionId
and erh.org_id = asp.org_id

9. Select the Continue button. Note: AME will confirm the creation of the
attribute for you.
10. Select the Quit button to return back to the main menu page.

Below is the screenshot of Attribute EXPENSE_REPORT_TOTAL

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Similarly we have another seeded Attribute TRANSACTION_SET_OF_BOOKS_ID

OIE Integration with AME Page 11 of 34

Below is the screenshot of Attribute TRANSACTION_SET_OF_BOOKS_ID

b) Create Conditions

Create Conditions using Responsibility: AME Application Administrator

N > Approvals > Conditions

1. Check if required conditions exist. If not add one by scrolling to the end of
the conditions page and select Add a Condition button.
2. Select an ordinary header/line condition type (in our case header).
3. Select the continue button.
4. In the attribute field select EXPENSE_REPORT_TOTAL from the list of
values.
5. Select the continue button.
6. Select the Currency code say USD
7. Enter 0 in the lower limit field.
8. Enter 5000 in the upper limit field.
9. Select “yes” for include lower limit.
10. Select “yes” for include upper limit
11. Select the Create Condition button.
12. AME will confirm the condition being added successfully.

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Below is the screenshot of the condition EXPENSE REPORT TOTAL <= 5000 USD

Similar condition created for condition EXPENSE REPORT TOTAL >= 5001
USD
Below is the screenshot of the condition EXPENSE REPORT TOTAL >= 5001
USD

c) Create Actions

Create Actions using Responsibility: AME Application Administrator,

N > Approvals > Actions

In the actions types page view scroll down to view the supervisory level chain of
authority.

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 Note that it has the following required attributes
• SUPERVISORY_NON_DEFAULT_STARTING_POINT_PERSON_ID
• TOP_SUPERVISOR_PERSON_ID
• TRANSACTION_REQUESTOR_PERSON_ID

Verify that these attributes have been defined for OIE Expense Report transaction
type. N > Approvals > Attributes
1. Select the OIE Expense Report transaction type from the list of values.
2. Select the continue button.
3. Scroll down and check the non-mandatory attributes list to see if the
following attributes appear and proper usage is setup
• SUPERVISORY_NON_DEFAULT_STARTING_POINT_PERS
ON_ID
• TOP_SUPERVISOR_PERSON_ID
• TRANSACTION_REQUESTOR_PERSON_ID
4. Add these attributes if they are missing.

Below is the screenshot of attribute

SUPERVISORY_NON_DEFAULT_STARTING_POINT_PERSON_ID

Below is the screenshot of attribute TOP_SUPERVISOR_PERSON_ID.

In our test case, Mike Edwards is the Top supervisor and so his person_id is given
as a static usage. Supervisory level chain of authority action will consider
TOP_SUPERVISOR_PERSON_ID only when the action is of type ‘ATMOST’

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 Below is the screenshot of attribute TRANSACTION_REQUESTOR_PERSON_ID

d) Set up Simple Rules

Our objective in the test case is to setup simple rules such as:

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 1. All expense reports submitted in set of books 1 having an expense total of
less than 5000 USD would require approval of at least 2 supervisors.

2. All expense reports submitted in set of books 1 having an expense total of

greater than 5000 USD would require approval of at least 3 supervisors

Set up a rule as above using Responsibility: AME Application Administrator

N > Approvals > Rules

1. Press on Rule tab

2. Click on the ‘Add Rule and Usage’ tab
3. Give the name of the Rule say “Chain of Authority base on Supervisory
level (ER less than 5000 requires 2 Supervisors Approvals)” in the
Description. Rule Key will be automatically displayed.
4. Select Rule type as list-creation and Give appropriate Start and End date
for the rule and then press continue button
5. Select the appropriate Action Types (in our case chains of authority based
on number of supervisory levels) and press continue.
6. Select the appropriate supervisory level actions ( in our case Require
approvals up to the first two supervisors) and press continue
7. Select the appropriate Subordinate item class as none for header attribute
and line for line attribute (in our case none) and press continue
8. Select the appropriate Header Attributes (in our case
EXPENSE_REPORT_TOTAL) and press continue
9. Select the appropriate condition. In our case
EXPENSE_REPORT_TOTAL <= 5000 USD and press continue.
10. This will create the rule
11. Click on the rule created and Add Condition related to
TRANSACTION_SET_OF_BOOKS (in our case
TRANSACTION_SET_OF_BOOKS=1)

Below is the Rule defined where by all expense reports submitted in set of books
1 having an expense total of less than 5000 USD would require approval of at
least 2 supervisors

Below is the screenshot of step 3 and 4

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 Below is the screenshot for step 5

Below is the screenshot for step 6

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 Below is the screenshot for step 7

Below is screenshot of step 8

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 Below is screenshot of step 9

Below is the Rule defined where by all expense reports submitted in set of books
1 having an expense total of less than 5000 USD would require approval of at
least 2 supervisors

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 To setup rule as in 2

Responsibility: AME Application Administrator

N > Approvals > Rules

1. Press on Rule tab

2. Click on the ‘Add Rule and Usage’ tab
3. Give the name of the Rule say “OIE: Chain of Authority base on
Supervisory level (ER greater than 5000 > 3 Supervisors)” in the
Description. Rule Key will be automatically displayed.
4. Give appropriate Start and End date for the rule and then press continue
button
5. Select the appropriate Action Types (in our case chains of authority based
on number of supervisory levels) and press continue.
6. Select the appropriate supervisory level actions ( in our case Require
approvals up to the first three supervisors) and press continue
7. Select the appropriate Subordinate item class as none for header attribute
and line for line attribute (in our case none) and press continue
8. Select the appropriate Header Attributes (in our case
EXPENSE_REPORT_TOTAL) and press continue
9. Select the appropriate condition. In our case
EXPENSE_REPORT_TOTAL >= 5000 USD and press continue.
10. This will create the rule
11. Click on the rule created and Add Condition related to
TRANSACTION_SET_OF_BOOKS (in our case
TRANSACTION_SET_OF_BOOKS=1)

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 Below is the Rule defined where by all expense reports submitted in set of books
1 having an expense total of greater than 5000 USD would require approval of at
least 3 supervisors

With these two list creation rule of type chain of authority based on number of
supervisory levels in place all Expense reports submitted in set of books ID 1
would be subject to approval through AME. The approver list would contain 2
supervisors if the expense report amount is <=5000 USD and 3 supervisors if the
expense report amount is >=5000 USD

Below is the screenshot showing the 2 rules created

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OIE Integration with AME Page 22 of 34
 e) Test

Approval Management allows users to test the approval process independent of

the Oracle Internet Expenses. This will help determine where the problem is
occurring, either in AME or the Internet Expenses Workflow.

Test case 1:
Rob Alan will submit expense report of 1000 USD from set of books ID 1. This
should be routed for approval to 2 supervisors up the chain i.e. Stock Patt and
Russ Mitchell

How to test a rule in AME:

Responsibility: AME Application Administrator

N > Approvals > Test
1. Go to Test Tab
2. Select a Test Type
a. To test a real transaction’s approval process, you need to give the item key
which will be the report_header_id. In this case check the View a real
transactions approval process check box
b. To test the rule created in AME in order to check the approval process,
you can select create a test transaction
3. Click on Change a Header Approver Attribute value
4. Click on TRANSACTION_REQUESTOR_PERSON_ID. Search for the
person, Rob Alan
5. Enter the transaction attribute values i.e EXPENSE REPORT TOTAL
Amount as 1000, TRANSACTION SET OF BOOKS ID as 1,
EXPENSE_REPORT_TOTAL Currency as USD
6. Press View approval process button to view the approval process. This will
list all rules that have been satisfied by this transaction.
7. Press View Transaction Productions; continue to get the Final List of
approvers which is Stock Patt and Russ Mitchell in this case.

Below is the Test Tab

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 Below are the Attributes that are being tested

Below is the list of applicable rules

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 Below is Final Approver List

Test case 2:

Rob Alan will submit expense report of 6000 USD from set of books ID 1. This
should be routed for approval to 3 supervisors up the chain i.e. Stock Patt, Russ
Mitchell and Mike Edwards.

Click on Change attributes and change EXPENSE REPORT TOTAL Amount to

6000.

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 Click on View Approval process >
Below is the list of Applicable rules

Click on View Transaction Productions > Continue > View Final Approver List

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 Below is the list of final approvers

These tests results are as desired. So AME Rule is setup correctly.

f) Simulation

Now create Expense reports in application and check the results.

Login as RALAN (Rob Alan)

Enter Expense report for 100 USD and find that the report goes for approval to 2
supervisors up the chain. Once approved by the supervisors, you find the details
in Approval Note section as under in the expense report history

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 Enter Expense report for 6000 USD and find that the report goes for approval to 3
supervisors up the chain. Once approved by the supervisors, you find the details
in Approval Note (3) as under in the expense report history

OIE Integration with AME Page 28 of 34

OIE Integration with AME Page 29 of 34
6. SETTING UP RULES FOR CEO EXPENSE REPORT
APPROVALS
After patch 4466884, CEO expense reports would be auto approved, provided you have
the following setup..

a) Enable AME by setting profile option AME:Installed to Yes for Application

Payables.

b) CEO employee (Mike Edwards in our case) has no supervisor attached

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 c) Set TOP_SUPERVISOR_PERSON_ID as the person_id of the CEO Employee

In our test case, Mike Edwards is the Top supervisor and so his person_id is given as
a static usage. Supervisory level chain of authority action will consider
TOP_SUPERVISOR_PERSON_ID only when the action is of type ‘ATMOST’

Below is the screenshot of Attribute TOP_SUPERVISOR_PERSON_ID

d) Set ALLOW_REQUESTOR_APPROVAL attribute as True

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e) Set the profile option OIE: Enable Approver to “No” for the CEO FND user

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f) Create List Creation Rule based on chain of authority based on the number of
supervisory levels with an action type of ATMOST.

With the above setup, when CEO creates Expense reports, the report is AUTO
APPROVED.

OIE Integration with AME Page 33 of 34

7. CONCLUSION
The goal of this document is to help you learn and understand the setup related to List
creation rule of type chain of authority based on number of supervisory levels. For a more
detailed explanation, please refer to Implementing Oracle Approvals Management and
Oracle Internet Expenses Implementation and Administration Guide.

Oracle Corporation
Author and Date
Sriram Ramanujam, Nivas Ramanathan May 2006

Copyright Information
Copyright © 2006 All rights reserved.

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