How to use AME for Purchasing Approvals in Oracle EBS

1. How To Setup And Use AME
For Purchase Requisition Approvals
Purchase Requisitions can be routed for approval using the AME Approval
Management Engine. This whitepaper describes how to setup AME for use with
requisition approvals, and shows how a requisition approval list is built based on
the AME setup. Approvers in the AME based approver list are assigned to the
requisition based on the AME rules setup for the Purchase Requisition Approval
transaction. Similar setup can be done for Requester Change Order Approval
and for Internal Requisition Approval, although those are not specifically covered
in this whitepaper. The screenshots provided are based on 11i.AME.B, and
some of the navigation details are specific to 11i.AME.B. However, most of the
details provided are applicable to 11i.AME.A and higher including R12.
Assign AME Roles and Responsibilities
AME responsibilities in 11i.AME.A are assigned directly to the users. However,
In R12 or 11i.AME.B and higher, AME responsibilities are assigned indirectly to
users through roles. The roles are assigned to the users by the SYSADMIN user
using the User Management responsibility. Once the roles are assigned, the
AME responsibilities are automatically available to the users without specifically
assigning the AME responsibilities to the users. Here are steps to assign the
roles:
1. Login as System Administrator user
2. Select the responsibility "User Management". (NOTE: User Management data is
stored in the UMX schema)

2. 3. Select "Users" menu option
4. Search for the user to whom you wish to grant AME roles
5. In the results table, click on update icon (shown in screenshot above)

3. 6. In the update user page, user details can be seen along with a list of roles available
to user
Click on "Assign Roles" (shown in screenshot above)
7. Search for Approval% and Select roles from the resulting LOV. Choose the roles
that are applicable (proper authority) for the user, and click the Select button.

4. 8. Specify justification and relevant dates for the newly assigned roles, and
click Apply to assign the roles to the user.
Reference <<Note 413300.1>> Oracle Approvals Management Not Enabled?
What Does It Take To Enable It?
Grant Transaction Type Access to Users
AME restricts access to transaction types using Data Security. Grant users access to the
transaction types using the Grants page. Set up user access as follows:
1. Navigate to the Personal Home Page.

5. 2. Select Functional Administrator Responsibility
3. From the Grants page, press on the Create Grant button

6. 4. Create a grant with the following information:
· Name <specify a descriptive name>
· Grantee Type = Specific User
· Grantee = <The user which you just created>
· Object = AME Transaction Types

7. 5. Click Next and select the Object Data Context
· Data Context Type = All Rows
6. Click Next to define the object parameters and Select Set
· Set = AME Calling Applications
7. Click Next, review the setups and then Finish the process.
Review and Modify AME Setup
AME is designed to provide approval logic for many transaction types.
Transaction types used for Purchase Requisitions include the following:

8. Purchase Requisition Approval, Internal Requisition Approval, and Requester
Change Order Approval. This whitepaper focuses on Purchase Requisition
Approval, however, many of the concepts are applicable to the other two
requisition transaction types as well. Likewise, some examples and comments in
this paper are written in iProcurement context, but the same AME concepts apply
to core apps requisitions also.
1. Navigate to the Approvals Management Business Analyst, Standard
responsibility
2. Choose the Business Analyst Dashboard menu from the responsibility (see
image above)
3. Use the Transaction Type LOV to search and select the transaction type =
Purchase Requisition Approval

9. 4. Use the links on the right in the Approval Process Setup region to set the
components (Attributes, Conditions, Action Types, Approver Groups) and rules,
or to use the test workbench in AME.
1. Action Types
1. An action type is a collection of actions having similar
functionality. Every action belongs to an action type. Action
types are enabled or disabled for a particular transaction
type. AME may give an error when attempting to enable an
action type for a transaction if the transaction is not designed
to allow that action type. Reference <<Note 293315.1>>
11.5.10 FAQ for Approvals Management (AME) Integration
For iProcurement and Purchasing - for a list of action types
allowed for requisition transactions in AME. In addition,
<<Note 404152.1>> Release Content Documents for E-
Business Suite R12 - provides a link to the Procurement
Family RCD which clarifies (Section 3.4.2.14) that requisition
approval with Oracle Approvals Management (AME) in R12
allows use of Position Hierarchy based Approvals, Parallel
Approvals, and Support for FYI Notifications.

10. 2. To disable or enable action types for the transaction, select
the Action Types link
3. The Action Types page shows the action types that are
currently enabled for the transaction type (Purchase
Requisition Approval). Use the Previous and Next links to
scroll through the list of enabled action types. Select the
Use Existing Action Type button to see other pre-defined
action types available in AME. Some of these may or may
not be applicable to the currently select transaction type;
AME will give an error if the user tries to add a non-relevant
action type for the selected transaction type.

11. 4. Navigate to HR responsibility -> Work Structures -> Job ->
Description - to assign a Level (Approval Authority) to a Job.
Query up the Job and enter the appropriate Job Level in the
Approval Authority field.
5. In AME, select any or all of the following Action Types for
JOB BASED approvals if applicable for your business
requirements:

12. 1. absolute job level / chains of authority based on
absolute job level
2. final approver only / chains of authority containing
only the final job-level approver
3. manager then final approver / chain of authority
includes requestor's manager and then the final
approver
4. relative job level / chains of authority based on
relative job level
5. supervisory level / chains of authority based on
number of supervisory levels
6. In AME, select any or all of the following Action types for
APPROVER GROUP approvals if applicable for your
business requirements:
1. post-chain-of-authority approvals / group approvals
after the chain of authority
2. pre-chain-of-authority approvals / group approvals
before the chain of authority
3. approval-group chain of authority / chain of authority
includes an approval group
7. In AME, select any of all of the following Action types for
POSITION BASED approvals (Only in R12 and higher) if
applicable for your business requirements

13. 1. hr position / chains of authority based on a
particular HR position
2. hr position level / chains of authority based on HR
positions
2. Attributes
1. Attributes are the base element for an AME Rule. Attribute
values are retrieved from the Oracle EBusiness Suite
Applications database or derived from values in the
database. AME is seeded with attributes relevant to the
transaction type, and the user can create new attributes in
AME for use in AME rules.
2. Select the Attributes link to view or add attributes for the
selected transaction type
3. Use the Previous and Next links to scroll through the existing
attributes. Some of the attributes relevant to Purchase
Requisition Approval include ITEM_CATEGORY,
ITEM_NUMBER, and REQUISITION_TOTAL as well as
other attributes. When AME approvals is enabled for
purchase requisitions, these values are retrieved for the
relevant requisition while navigating through iProcurement
checkout or core apps requisition create, and AME uses this

14. information to determine the appropriate AME rule(s) to use.
4. In addition to the seeded attributes, a customized attribute
can be created. DAVE_CATEGORY_SEGMENT is an
example of this. This attribute uses a query to capture
SEGMENT1 of the Item Category flexfield. The Item
Category flexfield may be setup to use one or more
segments; this customized AME attribute captures only
SEGMENT1 of the flexfield. This allows the users to setup
conditions and rules that are dependent on a certain value in
SEGMENT1 of the ITEM Category used on the requisition.
NOTE: The new attribute DAVE_CATEGORY_SEGMENT1
uses the same sql query as the seeded ITEM_CATEGORY
AME attribute, except it selects mck.segment1 rather than
mck.concatenated_segments.

15. 3. Conditions
1. Conditions identify values and value ranges for some or all
of the attributes available. AME rules refer to these
conditions to determine if a particular rule is applicable for
the specific document (requisition) being approved. For
example, an AME rule can be setup to require certain
approvers if $0 USD <= requisition total < $1000 USD.
Since REQUISITION_TOTAL is a seeded attribute, the user
can define a condition $0 USD <= requisition total < $1000
USD, and then use this condition in a rule to require certain
approvers for the requisition. The rule cannot refer to this
condition until it is defined in AME Conditions for the
Purchase Requisition Approval transaction type.

16. 2. Select the Conditions link from the AME Business Analyst
Dashboard after specifying the Purchase Requisition
Approval transaction type.
Selecting the Conditions link will display the existing
conditions defined for the transaction type, and also allow
the user to create new conditions for the transaction.
3. Click the Create button to create a new condition
4. To define the new condition, specify whether the condition
is ordinary, or an exception condition (which can only be
used in an exception rule – see the online Help for
details). Use the Attribute LOV to choose the attribute on
which the condition is based. The condition will specify a
value or range of values for the attribute, so the attribute
must be selected before the value(s) can be defined.

17. 5. Define the allowed value or value range for the selected
attribute. Click Apply to complete the condition definition.
4. Approver Groups
1. Approver Groups are optional. Setup Approver Groups if
additional approvers are required for particular conditions,
or to specify a dynamic sql query for additional approvers.
The rules defined for the transaction can be based on
Approver Groups, Jobs defined in HR setup, or Positions
defined in HR setup (only in R12); the rules may also use
a combination of Job, Position, and Approver Group basis.
(See the Rules details later in this paper for more
information about the rules)

18. 2. Select the Approver Groups link from the AME Business
Analyst Dashboard.
3. View and edit existing approver groups, or Click the
Create button to create a new approver group.
4. When creating the approval group specify all the
mandatory values.
1. Give a name and description to the approval group.
2. Specify an order number (order number of this
approver group relative to other approver groups).
3. Choose a voting regime – only Serial is supported
for Purchase Requisition Approval in 11.5.10 and
11.5.9. R12 does allow other voting regimes that
use parallel routing.
4. Choose Static if approvers will be selected when
defining the approval group, or choose Dynamic if a
sql query is used to dynamically find the approvers
for this approver group when the requisition
approval transaction is being processed.
5. Click the Add Another Row button to add approvers
to the approval group now.

19. 6. Click Apply to save the approver group
5. The approval group members can be added as additional
approvers to the normal chain of command approvers
generated by AME.
5. Rules
1. Define rules to specify approvers that should be included
in the approval list under specific conditions for the
requisition approval transaction.
2. Select the Rules link from the AME Dashboard after
selecting the transaction type – Purchase Requisition
Approval

20. 3. Review the list of existing rules already defined for the
transaction
4. Select the Create button to create a new rule for the
transaction. (Optionally, if there already exists a similar
rule choose the Duplicate icon or the Use Existing Rule
button).
5. Step 1 of 4: Specify a name for the new rule and choose
the rule type and effective dates.
Rule types are explained in the AME online help pages
along with examples. The most common types are List
Creation, Pre List Approver Group and Post List Approver
Group. (NOTE: Some rule types may not be available if
the corresponding action types have not been assigned to

21. the transaction – Purchase Requisition Approval. Use the
Action Types feature to add or remove action types for the
transaction)
6. Step 2 of 4: Specify one or more conditions that activate
the rule. The Conditions are defined in the AME Setup,
and they may be seeded conditions or user defined
conditions.
7. Step 3 of 4: Choose the Action Type and then choose a
specific action. The list of actions available is dependent
on the Action Type selected. The actions are related to
Jobs, Positions (in R12), or Approver Groups. (Action
Types are discussed previously in this whitepaper)

22. 8. Step 4 of 4: Review the rule details and click Finish to
complete the rule setup, or click Back to make changes.
6. Test Workbench
1. Use the Test Workbench to determine which AME Rule(s)
apply to a specific requisition, or to determine which AME
Rule(s) apply for an adhoc combination of values specified
at the time of the test.
Select the Test Workbench link from the AME Dashboard
1. Specific Requisition test
1. Click the Run Real Transaction Test button.

23. 2. Specify the value of
REQUISITION_HEADER_ID from
PO_REQUISITION_HEADERS_ALL as the
Transaction Id value. Click Go to see the AME
rules that apply to the requisition.
3. Adjust the rules setup to cause rules to be
called differently based on the business
requirements.
2. Adhoc test
1. Click the Create button on the Test Workbench
page
2. Specify Name and Description for the test, and
specify values for pertinent attributes (e.g.
Requisition Total = $100 USD)

24. 3. Click the Run Test Case button to see the
applicable AME rules, and the resulting AME
approval list that will be built based on the
conditions specified for the attributes.
Enable AME for Requisition Approval
1. Navigate to Purchasing responsibility
2. Setup / Purchasing / Document Types
3. Select Purchase Requisition (or Internal Requisition) as the document
type
4. Specify Approval Transaction Type = PURCHASE_REQ to enable AME
approvals for Purchase Requisitions in the current operating unit

25. Test the Functionality
1. Create a requisition in Core Apps Purchasing or iProcurement and verify
that the Approval List is built per the AME rules based on the conditions
present on the requisition attributes.
View the AME Setup
1. Click the Setup Report link in the Quick Links section of the Dashboard

26. 2. Select the appropriate transaction type (Example: Purchase Requisition
Approval) and click Go.
3. Click the Printable Page button to view the complete setup for the selected
transaction type (Attributes, Conditions, Rules, Approval Groups, and etc.)
4. Compare the AME setup to the requisition attributes and approval list generated
for a specific requisition, or compare the AME setup to the business requirements.
NOTE: This document is not considered formal documentation of the product, but is a
useful tool for applying the functionality described.