The GL Approval Process finds an appropriate approver, seeks journal batch approval, and sends notifications of approval or rejection.

To determine the appropriate approver, this process will compare each potential approver's authorization limit to the largest net journal line amount for each ledger that requires approval in the entire batch. In determining the largest net journal line amount, the process looks at absolute values. For example, assume the multiple ledger journal batch includes the following three journals:

Ledger A and Ledger C have journal approval enabled.

Ledger B does not have journal approval enabled.

Ledger A:

Journal #1 (Misc Cash Receipt)

Debit 10 Cash 10,000

Credit 20 Misc. Revenue 10,000

Ledger B:

Journal #2 (Accrual Adjustment)

Debit 10 Deferred Income 20,000

Debit 10 Rent Expense 15,000

Credit 30 Misc. Revenue 20,000

Credit 40 Prepaid Expenses 15,000

Ledger C:

Journal #3 (Consolidation Entry)

10 Intercompany Payables 80,000 40,000

20 Intercompany Receivables 15,000 35,000

The largest net absolute amounts for each ledger requiring journal approval are 10,000 for Ledger A and 40,000 for Ledger C. Forty-thousand is the net of the intercompany payables amounts. Therefore, 10,000 and 40,000 are the amounts that will be compared to each potential approver's authorization limit for Ledger A and Ledger C respectively. Authorization limits will not be compared for Ledger B since this ledger does not require approval. The potential approver must have sufficient authorization limits for Ledger A and Ledger C to approve the journal batch.

The process has a result type of Approval that gives one of two results:

• Approved: The journal batch was approved by all necessary approvers.

• Rejected: The journal batch was rejected by an approver.

The process consists of 18 unique activities, some of which are reused, to comprise the 19 activity nodes that appear in the workflow diagram:

General Ledger Approval Process

Start (Node 1)

This standard activity marks the start of the process.

Find Approver (Node 2)

This function activity determines who the next approver is for the journal batch by checking the approval hierarchy and the approver method. If an approver is found, the procedure returns a value of 'Yes'. If an approver is not found, the procedure returns a value of 'No'.

Notify System Administrator - No Approver (Node 3)

This activity notifies your System Administrator if no approver can be found for the journal batch. The message includes 'Send' or 'Respond' attributes that display the batch name, the preparer's name, the monitor URL, and a note by the System Administrator that the problem has been resolved.

• Using Oracle Workflow Builder, choose File > Load Roles from Database from the main menu, then load your system administrator role.

  • Select the GL Approval Process and open the process detail diagram.

  • Choose the Notify System Administrator - No Approver activity to open the control properties window.

  • Change the Performer as needed.

Notify Preparer - No Approver Problem Fixed (Node 4)

This activity notifies the preparer when the no approver problem has been fixed by the system administrator. The message includes a 'Send' or 'Respond' attribute to display the batch name.

Notify Preparer of No Approver Found (Node 5)

This activity notifies the preparer if no approver can be found for the journal batch. The message includes 'Send' or 'Respond' attributes that display the batch name, the preparer's name, the monitor URL.

Set Journal Batch Approver (Node 6)

This function activity sets the journal batch's approver name.

Retrieve Ledger Attributes (Node 7)

This function activity retrieves various attributes of the ledgers in the journal batch.

Customizable: Verify Authority Process (Node 8)

This activity is a subprocess. If your organization has unique needs, use this activity to customize the process of verifying an approver's authority to approve the journal batch. To view the subprocess, choose Customizable: Verify Authority Process under the Processes branch of the Workflow Builder navigator tree. See: Customizable: Verify Authority Process.

Assign (Node 9)

This function activity resets the SET_OF_BOOKS_ID attribute value.

Record Forward From Information (Node 10)

If a selected approver is not authorized to approve the journal batch, this procedure saves the selected approver's name and other information. The saved information is used internally within Oracle Workflow.

GL Request Approval Process (Node 11)

This activity is a subprocess that seeks journal batch approval from the selected approver. To view the subprocess, choose GL Request Approval Process under the Processes branch of the Workflow Builder navigator tree. See: GL Request Approval Process.

Reject Journal Batch (Node 12)

This function activity updates the journal batch's approval status to Rejected.

Notify Preparer of Journal Batch Rejection (Node 13)

This activity notifies the preparer that the journal batch was rejected. The message includes 'Send' or 'Respond' attributes that display the batch name, the approver's name, the monitor URL, the Enter Journals window, and the approver's comment.

Verify Authority (Node 14)

This function activity verifies that a selected approver is authorized to approve the journal batch. If the approver is authorized, the procedure returns a value of 'Pass'. If the approver is not authorized, the procedure returns a value of 'Fail'.

Notify Preparer of Further Approval Required (Node 15)

This activity notifies the preparer that further approval is required beyond the currently selected approver. The message includes 'Send' or 'Respond' attributes that display the batch name, the approver's name, and the monitor URL.

Approve Journal Batch (Node 16)

This function activity updates the journal batch's approval status to Approved.

Notify Preparer of Journal Batch Approval (Node 17)

This activity notifies the preparer that the journal batch has been approved. The message includes 'Send' or 'Respond' attributes that display the batch name, approver's name, monitor URL, enter journals window, and approver's comment.

End (Nodes 18 through 19)

This function activity marks the end of the process. Although the activity itself does not have a result type, each node of this activity in the process must have a process result assigned to it. The process result is assigned in the property page of the activity node. Since the GL Approval process activity has a result type of Approval, each End activity node must have a process result matching one of the lookup codes in the Approval lookup type.