Accessing Approval Management Engine (AME)

Accessing Approval Management Engine (AME) is not possible as we access other responsibility / functions in Oracle Applications like Order Management / Application Developer etc.

AME is controlled by RBAC (Role Based Access Control). So in this case even you assign responsibility to the user but if user don't have the appropriate roles then you will not be able to access Approval Management functions.

There are two seeded responsibility for AME :-

• Approvals Management Administrator
• Approvals Management Business Analyst

Let's assign the responsibility directly to user and see what happens.

 Login with respective user.

Chose Approval Management Responsibility

You will receive below error.

With the screen shots above we can see that even though the responsibility is assigned to user while trying to access it, It says There is no valid navigation for this responsibility.

Accessing AME is two step process :-

• Assign the required roles to the user : This will give user access to use Approval Management functions.
• Grant access to respective AME transaction type : This will provide access to AME transaction type. If we don't perform this step then we will be able to access AME responsibility but will not be able to access any transaction types.

We have following seeded roles provided by Oracle that can be used to access AME.

• Approvals Management Administrator
• Approvals Management Business Analyst
• Approvals Management Process Owner
• Approvals Management System Administrator
• Approvals Management System Viewer

Step -1 : Assign the Roles

• Login with administrator / sysadmin user.
  
• Navigate to User Management -> User.
  
• Enter User Name and click on Go to find the user.
• Click on Update button
  
• Click on Assign Roles button.
  
• Search the role 'Approval Management Administrator' from LOV and select it.
  
  
• Based on the role chosen you will see number of functions added under users roles.
  

Step -2 : Grant Access to Transaction Types

• Login with administrator / sysadmin user.
• Navigate to Functional Administrator -> Grants -> Create Grants.
  
  
• Enter a name and description for the Grant
• Enter effective from date and optionally effective to date.
• Select Grantee Type from Security Context region
• All Users : The grant will be applied to all the users and all users will be given same right / privileges that is part of this grant. 
• Group Of Users : The grant will be applied to users those are part of the group.
• Specific User : Grant will be applicable of specific set of users that you select.
• I have opted for specific user.
• In addition to this you can also choose Operating Unit and Responsibility to make is more secure. Say you want to provide a user to AME access to US operating Unit only. In that case you can choose operating unit. If there is not such restriction required then leave it blank.
• From Data Security region select an object. In our case it will be 'AME Transaction Types'
  
• Click Next
• In the Data Context Type select 'All Rows'.
  
• Select 'AME Transaction Types' as permission set and click Next to review the setup.
  
• Finish to complete.
  

Now you are good to use AME and setup approvals. Happy Setups...

AME Interviwe Question for oracle apps

What are multiple approval chains?

A: Multiple approval chains (chains of authority) means there can be more than one
approval hierarchy for a single expense report. For example, if all expenses are
charged to two cost centers, there could be two approval chains with the cost
center owners as the starting point for each approval hierarchy.
                                                                           
How can I enable multiple approval chains?

A: You must implement Oracle Approvals Management (AME) to enable multiple
approval chains.
                                                                           
Can managers approve or reject individual expenses?
A: No. Managers can only approve or reject expenses as a group. This is true
whether the manager is responsible for approving the entire expense report, or
just a subset of the expenses.
                                                                           
What are the different approval hierarchies I can use for multiple approval
chains?
A: You can enable multiple approval chains for cost center approvals, project
approvals, and award approvals.
                                                                           
What steps are necessary to implement multiple approval chains?
A: In addition to what is documented in the March, 2003 Oracle Internet Expenses
Implementation and Administration Guide (Mini-pack G), at a minimum, you must
perform the following steps:
Determine if your requirements are for cost center-based approvals, or for
projects-based approvals:

Cost center-based approvals: Two suggested approaches exist. Either define cost
center owners or cost center business managers. For either approach, you will
first need to create cost center organizations in Oracle Human Resources (See
Oracle HRMS Supplement for Implementing Auto Orgs for setup steps).

NOTE: "HR: GL Cost Center Synchronization Options" is a new profile option
introduced in HRMS Family Pack G. This profile option is not available in HRMS
Family Pack E and earlier.

Projects-based approvals: You must implement Oracle Projects (See Oracle Projects
User Guide Release 11i for setup steps).
Define the default (primary) approval managers:

Cost center owners: Define cost center owners in Oracle Human Resources (See
Selecting and Viewing Managers for Organizations on page 20 in Oracle HRMS
Supplement for Implementing Auto Orgs for setup steps)

Cost center business managers: Define cost center business managers in Oracle
Human Resources (See Question # 7 for setup steps)

Project managers: Define project managers in Oracle Projects (See Key Members
section on page 2-46 in Oracle Projects User Guide Release 11i for details of
setting up a Project Manager).
Define job levels in Oracle Human Resources (See Defining a Job on page 4-28 in

Using Oracle HRMS - The Fundamentals for details)
Define queries for all mandatory and necessary non-mandatory attributes.

Important: For the LINE_ITEM_STARTING_POINT_PERSON_ID attribute, define a query to
obtain the appropriate manager based on the entered cost center (See Question # 9
for details).

Define conditions. Conditions are used by AME rules to determine whether the rules
apply to a transaction.

Define one or more line-level rules. Perform the following steps in AME under the

Rules tab:Step 1: For Rule Type, select either list-creation rule or list-creation exception
Step 2: For Approval Type, select 'one job-level chain of authority per line item'
(Note: only job level authority is available for line level approvals)
Step 3: For Approval, select the desired level of approval
Step 4: For Ordinary-Condition Line-Item Attributes, select the attribute per your
requirements (typically this would be an expense line amount attribute)
Step 5: For Ordinary Line-Item Conditions, select the appropriate condition.
                                                                           
Why would I use cost center business managers as the primary approver instead of
using the cost center owners?A: One reason would be to free up the time of cost center owners to perform more
value-added activities. Therefore, if your enterprise defines separate cost center
business or finance managers to approve expense reports and other transactions,
you can define them as the primary or default approver.
                                                                           
How can I define cost center business managers?A: To define cost center business managers, it is recommended that you use the
cost center organization's descriptive flexfields (DFF's). To do this, perform the
following (see Question # 5 for related setup steps):
In the Oracle HRMS Descriptive Flexfields Segments window, query the Add'l
Organization Information segment Title. Then, define a context code. We suggest
using the following name: Organization Name Alias (same name as the context code
used for the cost center owners flexfield).

In the Segments window, define a segment called Business Manager (recommended
query assumes the Column is ATTRIBUTE2). To validate the manager names, select
HR_COST_CENTER_MANAGER as the value set.

Complete the DFF setup (freeze flexfield definition, and click Compile)
In the Organization window, query the organization for which you need to define
the cost center business manager. For the Company Cost Center classification,
click the Others button and select Reporting Information.

In the Additional Organization Information window, click in the DFF field and
enter the business manager information.

In AME, for the LINE_ITEM_STARTING_POINT_PERSON_ID attribute, define a query to
obtain the cost center manager based on the entered cost center.
                                                                           
Are all necessary attributes created and defined in AME?A: In 11i.OIE.E, 11i.OIE.F and 11i.OIE.G, you must create and define the
transaction type and all non-mandatory attributes. You must also define the
mandatory attributes provided by AME. In 11i.OIE.H, OIE seeds the transaction type
and definitions for all mandatory attributes. In addition, OIE seeds non-mandatory
attributes based on product management's understanding of OIE customer's approval
requirements.
                                                                           
Do you have any examples of line-level attributes and the related queries?A: At an absolute minimum, you must define the LINE_ITEM_STARTING_POINT_PERSON_ID
attribute, and an attribute for the expense reimbursable amounts. Here is the list
of recommended line-level attributes (If you are using 11i.OIE.H or a later
release, you do not need to configure the EXPENSE_LINE_AMOUNT, EXPENSE_TYPE, AND
EXPENSE_COST_CENTER query):

LINE_ITEM_STARTING_POINT_PERSON_ID: Three different queries can be used depending
on your requirements (Note: In 11i.OIE.H, this attribute is seeded with a query
to a new function. Therefore, you do not need to use the suggested queries).
For cost center owners, see Cost Center Owner Approvals for a suggested query
For cost center business managers, see Cost Center Business Manager Approvals for
a suggested query

For Project Managers, see Project Manager Approvals for a suggested query.
EXPENSE_LINE_AMOUNT: Define this attribute to capture the reimbursable amount for
expense lines. (See Expense Line Amount for a suggested query.)
EXPENSE_TYPE: Define this attribute if you use exception rules to route expenses
for special approvals. For example, if you need to obtain approval from the
purchasing department for expensing hand-held devices. (See Expense Type for a
suggested query.)

EXPENSE_COST_CENTER: Define this attribute if you use exception rules depending on
the cost center. For example, if charges are to a "clearing" cost center for such
purchases as supplies, approvals may either be automatic, or approvals may be
required from someone other than the employee's manager or cost center owner.
(See Expense Cost Center for a suggested query.)

TOTAL_PER_COST_CENTER: Define this attribute if you want to define approval rules
based on the total amount charged to cost centers (See Total Per Cost Center for a
suggested query. Also: See item 2 in Question # 14 for related information).

TOTAL_PER_PROJECT: Define this attribute if you want to define approval rules
based on the total amount charged to projects (See Total Per Project for a
suggested query. Also: See item 2 in Question # 14 for related information).
                                                                           
Do I need to configure the LINE_ITEM_STARTING_POINT_PERSON_ID query for my
implementation?A: If you are using 11i.OIE.H or a later release, you do not need to configure the
LINE_ITEM_STARTING_POINT_PERSON_ID query. If you are on an earlier release, the
query assumes the cost center segment is the 2nd segment in your organization's
accounting flexfield structure. If the cost center segment is in a different
position, change the position reference in the following query line: AND
GLCC.SEGMENT2 = FLEX_CONCATENATED. (Note: If you use project manager approvals,
you do not need to configure the query since it does not reference your accounting
flexfield structure.)
                                                                           
What happens if I do not define the query for theLINE_ITEM_STARTING_POINT_PERSON_ID attribute but I define line-level rules?
A: The rules will be ignored when AME builds the approvals chain since the
attribute will always be null.
                                                                           
Do I need to define supervisor hierarchies in Oracle HRMS?A: It depends on your requirements. If your cost center owners or business
managers always have sufficient signing authority based on their job levels, you
do not need to define supervisors or supervisor hierarchies for them. Important:
For employees who submit expense reports, you need to at least define supervisors.
However, it's not necessary to define the employee/supervisor hierarchies unless
supervisor approvals for other AME rules are necessary. For example, if
supervisors need to approve the entire expense report before cost center owners
approve, you need to define the employee/supervisor hierarchies with sufficient
job levels to cover your approval rules.
                                                                           
Can I use AME approval groups instead of using employee/supervisor hierarchies to
define line-level rules?A: No. Line-level rules can only be used with list-creation rule and list-creation
exception rule types.
                                                                           
Are there any functional enhancements in process in terms of multiple approval
chains?
A: The following enhancements are currently under development:
Parallel approvals: AME development is enhancing the product so separate, parallel
approval chains can be built for the different groupings of expense lines.
Currently a single approval chain is built for all line-level approvers and
therefore approvals are sequential. To illustrate the current behavior, if say
cost center approval rules are used, initially just the first cost center manager
is sent a notification. Once approvals are complete for that cost center, only
then is the next cost center owner sent an approval notification (see enhancement
request # 2632884).
Aggregate Expenses for Approvals: AME development is enhancing the product so
approval rules can be based on total amounts charged to item classes such as cost
centers or projects. Currently AME does not group expense lines for approval
purposes so each expense line is evaluated separately before the approval chains
are built. The practical implications are as follows: First, when you define
approval conditions, you should do so based on expense line amounts. Second, a
single approver will only be included once in the approval chain. Therefore, if
many business expenses are charged to a single cost center, the largest expense
(in monetary terms) will determine what job level is required for the approval to
be successful (see enhancement request # 2910667). (See Question # 9 for two
attributes you can define as a workaround.)
Line items on Approval Notifications: AME development is working on an enhancement
to the approval notifications so that just the expense lines that need to be
approved by managers are displayed. Currently approval notifications show all
business expenses, whether or not they are charged to the cost center. Note that
while all approvers see all business expenses, their approvals are still based
just on the expenses charged to their cost center (see enhancement request #
2632884).
Reject status for line items: AME development will provide the ability to track
the status of rejected expense lines. Practically, this will allow you to either
return the entire expense report when one or more expense lines are rejected, or
return just the rejected expense lines on a new expense report. Currently when a
line-level approver rejects, the entire expense report is returned to employees
see enhancement request # 2603465).
                                                                           
What is the release schedule for the enhancements mentioned in
Question # 14?A: AME development plans to deliver these features, along with other enhancements,
as a standalone patch. The patch will be compatible with 11.5.9, and will be part
of the 11.5.10 release. Before customers can take advantage of the new AME
features, OIE development will need to perform some design and coding activities
to uptake the features. OIE development has not yet scheduled the uptake of these
enhancements.
Parallel approvals: see enhancement request # 3947660 (OIE INTEGRATION OF AME
ENHANCEMENT 2632884)
Aggregate Expenses for Approvals: see enhancement request # 3947673 (OIE
INTEGRATION OF AME ENHANCEMENT 2910667)
Line items on Approval Notifications: see enhancement request # 3947689 (OIE
INTEGRATION OF AME ENHANCEMENT 2632884)
Reject status for line items: see enhancement request # 3947704 (OIE INTEGRATION
OF AME ENHANCEMENT 2603465)
                                                                           
Are there any other resources I can use to help with my implementation?

A: The following resources are available or will be available in the future:
In addition to the documents listed earlier, the following additional
documentation is available: AME implementation guide
Setup questions and assistance: Contact Oracle Consulting
Future documentation: A white paper will be made available which will provide more
details on how to implement AME with OIE.
                                                                           
Line-Level Attributes and SQL QueriesCost Center Owner Approvals
Suggested query for the LINE_ITEM_STARTING_POINT_PERSON_ID attribute for cost

center owner approvals:

/* Formatted on 5/22/2014 10:40:13 AM (QP5 v5.115.810.9015) */
  SELECT   DISTINCT
           hoip.org_information2 owner_id, lines.distribution_line_number
    FROM   gl_code_combinations glcc,
           hr_organization_information hoip,
           hr_organization_information hoic,
           hr_organization_information hoi,
           per_all_people_f pp,
           ap_expense_report_lines_all lines
   WHERE   SYSDATE BETWEEN NVL (effective_start_date, SYSDATE)
                       AND  NVL (effective_end_date, SYSDATE)
           AND enabled_flag = 'Y'
           AND glcc.segment2 = flex_concatenated
           AND lines.distribution_line_number IN :lineItemIdList
           AND lines.report_header_id = :transactionId
           AND chart_of_accounts_id =
                 (SELECT   gs.chart_of_accounts_id
                    FROM   ap_system_parameters_all s,
                           gl_sets_of_books gs,
                           ap_expense_report_headers_all erh
                   WHERE       gs.set_of_books_id = s.set_of_books_id
                           AND s.org_id = erh.org_id
                           AND erh.report_header_id = :transactionId)
           AND company_cost_center_org_id IS NOT NULL
           AND hoi.org_information_context = 'CLASS'
           AND hoi.org_information1 = 'CC'
           AND hoic.organization_id = hoi.organization_id
           AND UPPER (hoic.org_information_context) = 'COMPANY COST CENTER'
           AND glcc.company_cost_center_org_id = hoic.organization_id
           AND hoic.organization_id = hoip.organization_id
           AND UPPER (hoip.org_information_context) = 'ORGANIZATION NAME ALIAS'
           AND pp.person_id = hoip.org_information2
ORDER BY   lines.distribution_line_number
                                                                           
Cost Center Business Manager ApprovalsSuggested query for the LINE_ITEM_STARTING_POINT_PERSON_ID attribute for cost
center business manager approvals:

/* Formatted on 5/22/2014 10:39:58 AM (QP5 v5.115.810.9015) */
  SELECT   DISTINCT hoip.attribute2 owner_id, lines.distribution_line_number
    FROM   gl_code_combinations glcc,
           hr_organization_information hoip,
           hr_organization_information hoic,
           hr_organization_information hoi,
           per_all_people_f pp,
           ap_expense_report_lines_all lines
   WHERE   SYSDATE BETWEEN NVL (effective_start_date, SYSDATE)
                       AND  NVL (effective_end_date, SYSDATE)
           AND enabled_flag = 'Y'
           AND glcc.segment2 = flex_concatenated
           AND lines.distribution_line_number IN :lineItemIdList
           AND lines.report_header_id = :transactionId
           AND chart_of_accounts_id =
                 (SELECT   gs.chart_of_accounts_id
                    FROM   ap_system_parameters_all s,
                           gl_sets_of_books gs,
                           ap_expense_report_headers_all erh
                   WHERE       gs.set_of_books_id = s.set_of_books_id
                           AND s.org_id = erh.org_id
                           AND erh.report_header_id = :transactionId)
           AND company_cost_center_org_id IS NOT NULL
           AND hoi.org_information_context = 'CLASS'
           AND hoi.org_information1 = 'CC'
           AND hoic.organization_id = hoi.organization_id
           AND UPPER (hoic.org_information_context) = 'COMPANY COST CENTER'
           AND glcc.company_cost_center_org_id = hoic.organization_id
           AND hoic.organization_id = hoip.organization_id
           AND UPPER (hoip.org_information_context) = 'ORGANIZATION NAME ALIAS'
           AND pp.person_id = hoip.attribute2
ORDER BY   lines.distribution_line_number
                                                                           
Project Manager ApprovalsSuggested query for the LINE_ITEM_STARTING_POINT_PERSON_ID attribute for project
manager approvals:

/* Formatted on 5/22/2014 10:39:47 AM (QP5 v5.115.810.9015) */
  SELECT   ppp.person_id, lines.distribution_line_number
    FROM   pa_project_players ppp,
           per_assignments_f pa,
           per_assignment_status_types past,
           ap_expense_report_lines_all lines
   WHERE       ppp.project_id = lines.project_id
           AND lines.report_header_id = :transactionId
           AND lines.distribution_line_number IN :lineItemIdList
           AND ppp.project_role_type = 'PROJECT MANAGER'
           AND ppp.person_id = pa.person_id
           AND TRUNC (SYSDATE) BETWEEN pa.effective_start_date
                                   AND  NVL (pa.effective_end_date,
                                             TRUNC (SYSDATE) + 1)
           AND pa.assignment_status_type_id = past.assignment_status_type_id
           AND past.per_system_status = 'ACTIVE_ASSIGN'
           AND TRUNC (SYSDATE) BETWEEN ppp.start_date_active
                                   AND  NVL (ppp.end_date_active,
                                             TRUNC (SYSDATE) + 1)
ORDER BY   lines.distribution_line_number
                                                                           
Expense Line Amount Attribute:Suggested query for the EXPENSE_LINE_AMOUNT attribute:

/* Formatted on 5/22/2014 10:39:36 AM (QP5 v5.115.810.9015) */
  SELECT   fnd_number.number_to_canonical (erl.amount),
           (erl.currency_code),
           NVL (erl.exchange_rate_type, asp.default_exchange_rate_type)
    FROM   ap_expense_report_lines_all erl, ap_system_parameters_all asp
   WHERE       report_header_id = :transactionId
           AND erl.org_id = asp.org_id
           AND distribution_line_number IN :lineItemIdList
ORDER BY   distribution_line_number
                                                                           
Expense Type AttributeSuggested query for the EXPENSE_TYPE attribute:

/* Formatted on 5/22/2014 10:39:29 AM (QP5 v5.115.810.9015) */
  SELECT   web_parameter_id
    FROM   ap_expense_report_lines_all
   WHERE   report_header_id = :transactionId
           AND distribution_line_number IN :lineItemIdList
ORDER BY   distribution_line_number
                                                                           
Expense Cost Center AttributeSuggested query for the EXPENSE_COST_CENTER attribute:

/* Formatted on 5/22/2014 10:39:23 AM (QP5 v5.115.810.9015) */
  SELECT   NVL (flex_concatenated, 0)
    FROM   ap_expense_report_lines_all
   WHERE   report_header_id = :transactionId
           AND distribution_line_number IN :lineItemIdList
ORDER BY   distribution_line_number
                                                                           
Total Per Cost Center AttributeSuggested query for the TOTAL_PER_COST_CENTER attribute:

/* Formatted on 5/22/2014 10:39:11 AM (QP5 v5.115.810.9015) */
  SELECT   SUM (erl.amount)
    FROM   ap_expense_report_lines_all erl, ap_system_parameters_all asp
   WHERE   report_header_id = :transactionId AND erl.org_id = asp.org_id
           AND erl.flex_concatenated IN
                    (SELECT   flex_concatenated
                       FROM   ap_expense_report_lines_all
                      WHERE   report_header_id = :transactionId
                              AND distribution_line_number IN :lineItemIdList)
ORDER BY   erl.distribution_line_number
                                                                           
Total Per Project AttributeSuggested query for the TOTAL_PER_PROJECT attribute:

/* Formatted on 5/22/2014 10:39:01 AM (QP5 v5.115.810.9015) */
  SELECT   SUM (erl.amount)
    FROM   ap_expense_report_lines_all erl, ap_system_parameters_all asp
   WHERE   report_header_id = :transactionId AND erl.org_id = asp.org_id
           AND erl.project_id IN
                    (SELECT   project_id
                       FROM   ap_expense_report_lines_all
                      WHERE   report_header_id = :transactionId
                              AND distribution_line_number IN :lineItemIdList)
ORDER BY   erl.distribution_line_number

Approval Management Engine FAQ

1. AME – What is it?

i. AME is a simple to use Rules Engine for Defining Approval Policy
ii. AME is generic engine can be used where no integration currently exist, even with non EBS modules
iii. Standardizing on one engine reduces costs for customer as well as consulting since only one set of skills required
iv. None or only minimal coding required to setup rules

2. AME – When can it be used?

a. AME can be used to derive lists of approvers based on user defined rules and maintain a history of approvers statuses when: -
i. Transferring employees from one division/cost centre to another
ii. Authorizing expenses
iii. Paying invoices
iv. Approval of Purchase Requisition
v. Much more – review EBS Module Integration List

3. AME – Module Integration List

i. 11i8/9 11i10
b. E-Records (ERES) User Management iSupplier
c. Quoting ODM – BOM Sourcing
d. Accounts Payable ODM – Engineering iProcurement
e. Credit Management ODM – Inventory R12
f. iExpenses ODM – Quality Mgt E-Tax
g. Lease Management ODM – Receiving Grants
h. iRecruitment ODM – WIP Core Pay
i. Training Administration (SS) AR – Credit Memo Public Sector
j. Self Service HR (4.1) Internal Controls Mgr Proposals
k. OPM – Inventory OTA – Learner UI Distribution
l. OPM - New Product Dev OTA – Manager UI GL-Journals
m. OPM – Process Execution iAssets (Transfer) Account Planning
n. OPM – Quality Mgt. Deal Registration Service Contracts
o. Oracle Partners Mgt Referral Management Collections
p. AR – Credit Mgt PO - Requisitions Incentive Comp

4. Business Processes for Transactions and approvals Create Transaction Manage Approvals and Notifications

a. Approve
b. Reject
c. Return

5. Submit for Approval Update when approved 1 3 2 4

6. Approval Policies

– AME Rules Approval Policies translate to rules in AME and are made up of the following components: if and then Transaction Category In {Salary} Salary Increase Pct > 15 require approvals up to the first two superiors Rule Conditions Action Types Attributes require post approval from CIO

7. Setup Details – Profile Options

i. AME responsibilities can be directly assigned in 11i.AME.A. But in 11i.AME.B & R12 &
higher, the responsibilities are assigned through roles.
ii. AME: Installed – Set this profile value to ‘Yes’ at required application level.
iii. HR:Defer Update After Approval: Set this profile value to ‘No’ to avoid the status ‘Pending Approval’ after transactions’ approval.
iv. AME: Append to List option on Approvers region – To control the requesters/initiators to append approvers to the approval list. If set to the value ‘No’ would not allow the users to append the list.

8. AME – How to assign the role?

a. Login as ‘System Administrator’ (not a responsibility) & navigate to ‘User Management >
Users > Query the user and click Update > Search & Add the AM Admin roles as shown below

9. AME – How to grant transaction type access to users?

a. AME restricts access to transaction types using Data Security. Grant users access to the transaction types using the Grants page.
b. Login as ‘Functional Administrator’ responsibility & click on ‘Create Grant’

10. AME – How to grant transaction type access to users?

11. Setup Details – Configuration Variables

i. Important configuration variables are shown below:
ii. Please note the values for these variables can vary for each transaction type.

12. Setup Details – New Transaction Type

a. A new transaction type can be created using ‘Approvals Management Administrator’
responsibility

14. Setup Details – New Transaction Type

a. There are 4 steps in creating a new transaction type
b. The new transaction type can be created with different item classes like Header, Line Item, Cost Center, Project, etc depending on the requirement

15. Setup Details – New Transaction Type

a. There are 11 mandatory attributes whose values can be derived using SQL queries

16. Setup Details – Approval Process

a. The approval process for the newly created transaction type can be setup using ‘Approvals Management Business Analyst’ responsibility.

17. Setup Details – Attribute

a. Attributes are the base element for an AME Rule. Attribute values are retrieved from the EBS Applications database
b. AME is seeded with attributes relevant to the transaction type and the user can create new attributes in AME for use in AME rule

18. Setup Details – Condition

a. Conditions identify values and v
alue ranges for some or all of the attributes available
b. AME rules refer to these conditions to determine if a particular rule is applicable for the specific document (requisition) being approved
c. There are 2 types of conditions – Regular & List Modifiers

19. Setup Details – Action Type

a. An action type is a collection of actions having similar functionality
b. Every action belongs to an action type. Action types are enabled or disabled for a particular transaction type
c. Voting method (or regime) decides how the responses to the action types are treated

20. Setup Details – Approver Group

a. It is an optional setup. Required only when additional approvers are required for particular conditions
The rules defined for the transaction can be based on Approver Groups, Jobs defined in HR setup, or Positions defined in HR setup Additional approvers are added here

21. Setup Details – Rule

Rules specify approvers to be included in the approval list under specific conditions Rule category can be either approver or FYI

22. Setup Details – Rule
a. Actions are added from action type associated with the transaction type

23. Setup Details – Test Workbench

a. This is used to determine which AME rules apply to a specific document (requisition)

24. Test cases with values for various attributes can be saved for repeated use
Setup Details – Test Workbench

a. For real transaction test, requisition’s header ID need to be entered as transaction ID. This would pull values for all the attributes

25. Setup Details – Test Workbench

a. Final approver list is displayed along with the applicable rules

26. Setup Report

a. A setup report can be run from Business Analyst’s dashboard which would show all the attributes, conditions, rules used in the transaction type.
b. A sample output of the report is attached below

27. Implementation Guidelines

i. Read the Implementation Guide – never go in blind, you will make mistakes
ii. Some SQL and EBS entities knowledge required if additional Attributes or Dynamic Approval Groups needed
iii. Design approval matrix / decision tree on paper and use that as basis for your rules
iv. Don’t create custom Action Types unless you really have to
v. If DFF’s need to be used in AME, then custom attributes need to be created using SQL query
vi. Purge transaction data using the concurrent program ‘Approvals Management Transaction Data Purge’
vii. In 11.5.10 AME supports only employee-supervisor hierarchy. But in R12, position
hierarchy & FYI notifications are supported.

28. Implementation Guidelines – Approval Decision Tree

i. Model the decision tree based on the approval rules.
ii. Path from the root node to a leaf node represents a rule

29. Error Messages

i. Approval List could not be generated. Please contact your System Administrator to review AME rules setup.
ii. The procedure getNextPosition could not find parent position for : HR Positions:
MM400.Materials Manager

30. Limitations

a. Terminations (of the initiators) are not handled efficiently though AME would rebuild the chain of approval after each approval
b. Not possible to create custom AME responsibilities because of RBAC limitations other than the 2 seeded responsibilities – ‘Approvals Management Administrator', 'Approvals Management Business Analyst'
c. It is not possible to have ‘Notification TimeOuts with Reminders’ within AME.

31. References

i. How to Create the Approval Transaction Type for AME.B or higher ( Metalink Note: 420387.1 )
ii. How To Setup And Use AME For Purchase Requisition Approvals ( Metalink Note: 434143.1 )
iii. How To Diagnose Issues in Building The Requisition Approval List ( Metalink Note: 412833.1 )
iv. How to Create the Approval Transaction Type for AME.A ( Metalink Note: 420381.1 )
v. Frequently asked Questions on AME 11i ( Metalink Note: 431815.1 )
vi. 11.5.10 FAQ for Approvals Management (AME) Integration For iProcurement and
Purchasing ( Metalink Note: 293315.1 )

32. Case Study

i. Requirements / Approval Policies:
ii. If the total requisition value is more than 25,000 USD, then it requires approval from 2
positions above the requestor. If it is less than 25,000 USD, then it can be approved by the requestor himself if he has enough approval authority
iii. If any of the requisition line has an item category ‘COMPUTER.PC’, then it needs to be approved by a specific user
iv. If any of the line item has an item category ‘COMPUTER.MISC’, then ‘IT Director’ position needs to be notified
v. Let us now see in the application, how these policies are modeled

AME Setup in Oracle Apps

Assign AME Roles and Responsibilities

1. Navigate to User Management Responsibility->Users and search for the user to whom you wish to grant AME roles. (Can navigate from any user which has Security Administrator Role or from SYSADMIN user).

2. Click on Update icon across the user name and in the update user page, click on Assign Role button.

3. Search for “Approval%” and select the Roles: Approvals Management Administrator & Approvals Management Business Analyst.

4. Specify justification and relevant dates for the newly assigned roles, and click Apply to assign the roles to the user.

Grant Transaction Type Access to Users

1. Navigate to Functional Administrator->Security->Grants and click on Create Grants button.

2. Create a grant with the following information:

• Name
• Grantee Type = ALL User
• Object = AME Transaction Types

You can also set Grantee Type as Specific User and set the your user name as Grantee

3. Click Next button and select the Object Data Context as All Rows.

4. Click Next to define the object parameters and Select Set as AME Calling Applications

5. Click Next, review the setups and then Finish the process

Create new transaction Type

1. Navigate to Approvals Management Administrator responsibility->Admin Dashboard and click on Create Transaction Type button(Responsibility will be available because of the roles assigned)
We are going to create new transaction type in reference with seeded Purchase Requisition Approval transaction type.
2. Select the application and enter Transaction Type key & Transaction Type Name.Then Click Next button.

3. In the drop down,select Line Item and click on Go button.Another row for Line Item will be created.
Change the order number to 2 and then enter the SQL query in Query window.Click on Validate button and click on Apply button.

4. Click Next button and enter the details as in below screenshot.(Click Validate button after entering each query).

5. Click Next and then Finish button.

AME Setup

1. Navigate to Approvals Management Business Analyst Responsibility->Business Analyst Dashboard (Responsibility will be available because of the role assigned)
2. Use the Transaction Type LOV to search and select the transaction type.We are using the newly created transaction type “GOV Purchase Requisition Approval“.
Seeded Transaction types available for Purchase Requisitions are Purchase Requisition Approval, Internal Requisition Approval and Requester Change Order Approval.

Attributes:
1. Select Attributes icon and click on Use Existing Attribute.

2. Under Search, select options as in below screenshot.After selecting REQUISITION_TOTAL and click on continue.

3. Select usage type as Dynamic. Enter the query,validate and click finish.

4. Similarly add ITEM_CATEGORY attribute also.

5 Also add below mentioned Attributes as its required for selecting some basic Action types

• TRANSACTION_REQUESTOR_PERSON_ID(Required for Supervisory level Action Type)

• ALLOW_EMPTY_APPROVAL_GROUPS(Required for approval-group chain of authority Action Type)

Condition:
1. Click on Conditions icon under setup tab.By default there are some conditions available.Still we can create new condition by clicking Create button.
2. Select the Attribute,enter the String value/Requisition Total and then click Apply button.

• Condition for ITEM_CATEGORY

• Condition for REQUISITION_TOTAL

• Another condition for REQUISITION_TOTAL

3. You can see the newly created condition along with existing conditions

Action Types:
1. Click on Action Types icon under setup tab and then click on “Use Existing Action Type” button.
2. Select below mentioned types and click on Continue Button.

• Supervisory level
• approval-group chain of authority

3. Then click Finish button.
Approver Groups:
1. Click on Approver Groups icon under setup tab and then click on Create button.
2. Enter the Group Name,Description,Order Number and select the Voting method.Also add the approvers and click apply button.

3. Similarly create the remaining Approval Groups.



Rules Setup:
1. Click on Rules Tab and then on Create button.
2. Enter the Rule Name,select the Rule Type and click on Next button.

3. Add the Conditions using the Add Conditions button and click next button.

4. Click on Add Actions button to add actions,click next and then Finish.


5. Similarly create all rules.

• AME_MANAGER

• AME_CATEGORY

Enable AME for Requisition Approval

1. Navigate to Purchasing Super User->Setup->Purchasing->Document Types
2. Click update button against Purchase Requisition Document Type
3. Assign newly created transaction type to Approval Transaction Type

Testing

• Requisition with total amount 900 USD (Less than 10000 USD)

• Requisition with total amount 13500 USD(Greater than 10000 USD and less than 1000000 USD)

• Requisition with total amount 1000 USD and using category “204.53″