Overview
A workflow represents a business process. It defines how a document flows, or moves, through the system by showing who must complete a task, make a decision, or approve a document. For example, a purchase order approval workflow is triggered by a user after inputting a purchase order. This directs the purchase order to different users for approval based on pre-defined conditions. This applies a level of control to the purchasing process alongside consistency and visibility into the approval process.
Purchase order approval workflows are only necessary if they are defined as a business requirement. Alternatively, if no workflow was enforced, users that create purchase orders would be able to confirm and communicate with suppliers freely without restriction.
Procurement Level 1: A single approval workflow approval process can be configured for purchase orders or purchase order lines.
Procurement Level 2: A multi-level approval workflow can be configured for purchase orders, purchase order lines, purchase requisitions and purchase requisition lines.
Procurement Level 3: A multi-level approval workflow can be configured for purchase orders, purchase order lines, purchase requisitions, purchase requisition lines and to support vendor collaboration.
Workflow Types
The following workflow types are available for Procurement and sourcing.
| Workflow Type | Use Case |
| (Procurement Level 2 and 3) Purchase requisition review | Create review and approval workflows for purchase requisitions. |
| (Procurement Level 2 and 3) Purchase requisition line review | Create review and approval workflows for purchase requisition lines. |
| (Procurement Level 1, 2 and 3) Purchase order workflow | Create review and approval workflows for purchase orders. |
| (Procurement Level 1, 2 and 3) Purchase order line workflow | Create review and approval workflows for purchase order lines. |
| (Procurement Level 3) Supplier collaboration workflow | Create review and approval workflows for adding new suppliers. |
Workflow Example Business Process
Purpose
Introducing a purchase order approval process enhances control within an organisation. Purchase order workflows allow transactions to be approved by a user other than the person who created it. They enable a business to control spending by requiring approval for pre-defined conditional decisions. Automatic actions can be configured to automatically approve or reject a purchase order if a certain condition is met.
In D365
Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management supports the configuration of workflows for purchasing processes. This can be set up for businesses that require that purchase requisitions and purchase orders are approved by a user other than the person who entered the transaction.
To set up an approval process, create a workflow in the procurement and sourcing module.
APQC Framework
Please find below the relevant PCF ID’s.
Level 1 Category: 10216
Level 2 Process Group: 10279
Level 3 Process: 10292, 10293, 10295