Approving in My Inbox

Approvers rarely open SAP to look for work. Work comes to them in My Inbox, the Fiori app that collects workflow items from purchasing, finance and other areas in one list, on desktop or mobile. For most approvers at Contoso, My Inbox is the only SAP app they use every week, so their experience of it decides whether approvals take minutes or days.

What the approver sees

The list shows each item with its title (for example "Approve purchase order 4500000412"), the creator, the date and the priority. Opening an item shows a summary of the document: supplier, total value, items, account assignment, delivery dates, attachments and the approval history so far. From there the approver can open the full document if needed.

NotificationPurchasing manager sees a new item in My Inbox
ReviewSupplier Lakeside Components, $48,000, 1,140 rotors, cost object stock, delivery in 3 weeks
CheckPrice against contract or info record; quantity against the requisition
DecideApprove, reject (with reason), or send for rework if configured
ResultItem leaves the inbox; PO moves to the next step or is released

An approver's path through a PO approval in My Inbox.

The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-mm-207

Actions

Action	What it does	When to use
Approve	Completes the step; the workflow moves on	The document is right
Reject	Ends the approval; the creator must act	The purchase should not happen as is
Rework (if configured)	Returns the document to the creator for correction	Fixable issue, e.g. wrong cost center
Forward	Passes the item to another person	The approver is not the right person
Claim / release	Takes an item shared by several recipients, or gives it back	Team-based recipients
Comment / attachment	Adds information for the creator or next approver	Explaining a decision

Common My Inbox actions. Available actions depend on the scenario and configuration.

Absence and substitution

Approvals stall when approvers are away. My Inbox supports substitution: an approver can let a colleague receive or take over their items for a period. Substitution must follow the delegation of authority: a purchasing manager may substitute another purchasing manager, not a junior buyer. Forwarding is similar and riskier, because it can move an item to anyone. Contoso's rule is to forward only within the same approval level and to record why in a comment.

Lower authority, untracedUnacceptable: forward to a junior buyer with no comment

Equal authority, untracedWeak: substitute approves, nobody knows why

Lower authority, tracedStill unacceptable: documented, but outside authority

Equal authority, tracedTarget: planned substitution or forward with comment, visible in the history

Judging substitution and forwarding against the delegation of authority.

The Sign-Off Table · thesignofftable.com/academy/sap-mm-207

Telling requesters what happened

Requesters need to know the result without asking. Self-service requesters see status in My Purchase Requisitions; buyers see PO status in Manage Purchase Orders, including who is currently responsible. Flexible workflow can also send email notifications for certain events, depending on configuration. Agree which notifications Contoso wants, because too many emails get ignored and too few create phone calls.

Approving well

Speed matters, but so does looking. A useful habit for approvers is a short checklist: is the supplier the expected one (or is there a contract that should have been used)? Is the price in line with the contract, info record or last PO? Is the quantity plausible for the need? Is the cost object right? Are there attachments that explain anything unusual? Contoso prints this checklist on the approver quick reference card. An approver who approves 40 items in two minutes every Friday is not performing the control, and auditors can see that from the timestamps in the history.

What would you do?

The Detroit purchasing manager is on vacation for two weeks and forwards all PO approvals to a buyer on her team "to keep things moving." What should happen?

Key points