11i Journal Workflow: Maximize the Potential By Krishnan Ramamurthy & Ian Webster

Introduction About presenters Introduce Ian and Self

Topics of Discussion Workflow overview Requirements How did we address the requirements Major features Sample screens Common pitfalls QA Talk about the presentation flow. In this presentation we will cover …..

Workflow Overview Workflow in r11i Seeded workflows and usefulness GL batch workflow – what it does? Customization options Possibilities Talk about workflows in 11i and generally on GL batch workflow. Setups Prerequisites – setups, employees Usefulness – automated journal approval, audit trail, speedy processing How to go about customizing – customization points

Requirements … City of Chicago overview Use of standard workflow Ease of maintenance Journal processing by user departments Standard HR hierarchy inadequate Notifications to users and also roles Use of the standard workflow process as much as possible Push Journal Entry processing out to user departments Use of standard Oracle HR hierarchy table was unacceptable - More flexibility needed - Get maintenance out of the hands of the HR department Use departments must be able to maintain the table for their department's hierarchy  Easy maintenance & flexibility Lookup driven functionality- Custom use of DFF's to route the documents Multiple dollar thresholds for large transaction notifications to supervisors Workflow must use both USER ID's and Responsibilities to route documents - USER ID's in user departments and Responsibilities in Central Finance Department - Ability to put notifications in boxes of all users with a certain responsibility and once acted upon, remove the notifications from all others boxes. - Notifications must be able to be sorted by the sender of the notification

Requirements Vacation handling Validations for Funds override Balancing journals by fund Handling journal rejections Auto un-reserve funds Notifications to preparer - Timeout features for reminders and notifications to supervisors ·        Vacation forwarding functionality needed ·        Internal functionality must be written into the workflow Must check for balanced journal entry by our balancing segment Rejection of the journal entry must trigger automatically unreserve funds Rejection must notify the originator of the journal entry of the status 'Funds Override' status must be included in each notification throughout the workflow approval process

How Did We Address the Requirements … Approval hierarchy Custom hierarchy Vs HR hierarchy Multiple departments – sequential Sequential notifications to roles Parallel notifications Custom forward to form for notifications Discuss the critical components and the choices we had for the requirements, - ex HR vs Custom hierarchy form, - Notification to users vs role - Handling vacations – similar to Purchasing Workflow forward to form

How Did We Address the Requirements Timeout processing & reminders Canceling notifications Custom validations in workflow Funds override Balance by fund Built logic for timeout and reminders Notifications to roles or responsibilities Built validations for funds override – detail how notifications contain Balance journals by fund – detail how balancing works

Major Features … Custom approval process Different Divisions within Comptroller’s office

Major Features … Custom approval hierarchy form Hierarchy form Restricted to each department Use of employee Can define supervisors Can define approval limits Can enable or disable employees

Major Features … Sequential departmental approvals Sequential department approvals Custom code Checks for DFF attributes to determine processing flow Once approved, journal wf forwarded to next dept Rejections notified to preparer Funds are reserved automatically

Major Features … Sequential approvals Notifications sent to roles Multiple notifications Once an approver responds, notification removed from others FYI notifications for journals over $ limit Lookup codes help in maintaining the verification of $ amount

Major Features … Custom Forward to form Custom forward to form Useful for vacation handling Assigned to supervisors Selected notifications forwarded to approvers

Major Features … Notifications Notifications when no approvers found Custom code for checking comptroller or non comptroller

Major Features … Notifications reminders Timeout processing Reminder processing

Major Features … Validations and unreserving of funds When rejected, funds are automatically unreserved Notifications sent to preparer

Major Features Custom validations – balance by fund Validation for Balancing journals by fund Notify preparer Other custom validations

Common Pitfalls Keep the design simple Decide on the flow Keep the flow straight Handle all scenarios for decision points Consider repeatable functions and sub processes Handle all possible errors Test thoroughly for all scenarios Discuss all the possible problems encountered

How to Contact Krishnan Ramamurthy Principal consultant kramamur@astcorporation.com 1-847-372-1537

Questions and Answers