Lesson 4 of 5
Workflow scenarios across processes
8 min
Flexible workflow began in purchasing and spread. Today a Contoso process owner will meet approval scenarios in procurement, finance and sales, and in master data. The concepts are the same everywhere; the start conditions, recipients and evidence differ. This lesson is a map, not a complete catalog. SAP adds scenarios with each release, so check the SAP Fiori apps reference library and the product documentation for your release before you assume one exists.
Procurement
Purchasing has the richest set. Purchase requisitions can be approved for the whole document (overall release) or item by item, maintained in Manage Workflows for Purchase Requisitions. Purchase orders use Manage Workflows for Purchase Orders, with start conditions such as company code, purchasing organization, purchasing group, document type, material group, account assignment category, currency and total net amount. Further scenarios cover documents such as service entry sheets and, for invoice processing, supplier invoices. For POs in Private Edition and on-premise, you choose per document type whether flexible workflow or a classic release strategy applies.
Finance, sales and master data
The best-known finance scenario is journal entry verification. A requester enters a general journal entry and submits it rather than posting it. The entry is held, a processor reviews it in their inbox and either approves it, which posts it, or rejects it back to the requester. The rules are maintained in Manage Workflows for General Journal Entry Verification, and the reviewers are grouped in Manage Teams and Responsibilities. The requester works in the Verify General Journal Entries – For Requester app. Bank account master data in Bank Account Management is another common finance approval area.
Journal entry verification changes the daily routine of the accounting team more than most scenarios. An accountant who used to post a correction in two minutes now submits it and waits. Contoso therefore limited verification to entries that really need a second look (large amounts, sensitive accounts such as bank clearing, and entries to prior periods) and agreed a same-day review target with the reviewer team. A rule that sends every entry for review trains reviewers to click Approve without reading.
Beyond finance, sales has approval scenarios for documents such as quotations, sales orders and credit memo requests in recent releases, and master data changes can be routed for approval too, either through scenario-based workflow or through a governance solution such as SAP Master Data Governance. The availability of each depends on release and edition, so confirm in your system's Manage Workflows apps which scenarios are actually there.
| Area | Typical document | Typical start conditions | Typical approver | Where the requester sees status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purchasing | Purchase requisition, purchase order | Amount, company code, purchasing group, material group, account assignment | Purchasing manager, cost center owner | Manage Purchase Orders / requisition apps |
| Invoice processing | Supplier invoice | Amount, company code, variance or blocking situation | Accounts payable lead, buyer | Supplier invoice apps |
| General ledger | General journal entry | Company code, account, cost center, amount | Finance reviewer team | Verify General Journal Entries – For Requester |
| Sales | Quotation, sales order, credit memo request | Amount, discount, sales organization | Sales manager | Sales document apps |
Edition differences
In SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, approvals are built on flexible workflow configured through the Manage Workflows apps; there is no SAP GUI and no Workflow Builder for business users, and custom approval logic must use the released extension points. In Private Edition and on-premise, you have the same flexible scenarios plus the classic options: release strategies in purchasing, document parking with classic workflow in finance, and custom workflows built by developers. More options means more decisions. Contoso's ECC system used classic PO release strategies; the S/4HANA design decision to move to flexible workflow belongs in the process owner's sign-off, because approvers, screens and evidence all change.
- Does a standard flexible workflow scenario exist for this document?Yes → configure it in the Manage Workflows app · No → continue
- Is this Private Edition or on-premise with a classic option (for example a PO release strategy)?Yes → weigh the classic option against moving to flexible workflow · No → continue
- Can the need be met by a released extension point or a custom flexible scenario?Yes → build it as a clean extension and plan its regression tests · No → continue
- Is a detective control (a review report after posting) acceptable to the process owner?Yes → document it as the control · No → escalate the gap to the process owner and design authority
What would you do?
Contoso finance wants every manual journal entry above $250,000 on the bank clearing accounts reviewed before posting. Which approach fits SAP S/4HANA standard best?
- Flexible workflow scenarios exist in purchasing, invoice processing, finance, sales and master data; the list grows each release.
- Purchasing offers PR (overall or item) and PO workflows with rich start conditions.
- Journal entry verification holds a manual journal entry until a reviewer approves it.
- Public Edition relies on flexible workflow; Private Edition and on-premise add classic release strategies and custom workflows.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. What happens to a general journal entry submitted under journal entry verification?
2. Which purchase requisition approval options does flexible workflow offer?
3. Where should you check whether a workflow scenario exists in your release?
4. Which approval option is available in Private Edition but not as a business-user tool in Public Edition?