3279932 - Unexpected / Skipped Approver in Purchase Order or Supplier Invoice Approval Process

Purchase Order or Supplier Invoice Approval Task is sent to unexpected Approver which is not following the Approval Process.

Or

An Approval step is skipped even when the condition satisfied.

SAP Business ByDesign

For Purchase Order:

1. Go to the Purchase Requests and Orders work center.
2. Go to the Purchase Orders view.
3. Create a Purchase Order ABC (ABC refers to Purchase Order ID).
4. Select the Approvals tab, there you will notice that the step 1 Approver is X, step 2 Approver is Y.
5. Submit the Purchase Order for Approval.
6. Approver X approves the Purchase Order, and the Purchase Order ABC status is updated to Sent. Step 2 Approval is skipped.

Navigate back to the Purchase Order ABC, to the Approval tab, only step 1 of the Approval Process is showing, step 2 has disappeared.

For Supplier Invoice:

1. Go to Supplier Invoicing work center.
2. Go to Invoice Entry view.
3. Create a Supplier Invoice PQR (PQR refers to Supplier Invoice ID).
4. Select the Approvals tab, there you will notice that the step 1 Approver is X, step 2 Approver is Y.
5. Submit the Supplier Invoice for Approval. 
6. Approver X approves the Supplier Invoice, and the Supplier Invoice PQR status is updated to Posted. Step 2 Approval is skipped.

Navigate back to the Supplier Invoice, to the Approval tab, only step 1 of the Approval Process is showing, step 2 has disappeared.

There can be multiple causes of this behavior, one of which is outlined below.

1. Go to Application and User Management work center.
2. Go to Approval Processes view
3. Search for Active Purchase Order or Supplier Invoice Approval Process 

Skip Reapproval checkbox is enabled for expected steps (E.g: step 2).

Meanwhile,

1. Application and User Management work center
2. Go to Substitutions view

Here, Approver Y is substituted by Approver X, with a validity of Active.

Hence when the system is checking the necessity of step 2 in the Approval Process, it notices that the actual Approver should be Y's substitute X, who already approved the Purchase Order in earlier steps. As Skip Reapproval is in scope, the system skips step 2 and triggers the next step Approval (if there are any) or directly sends the order to the supplier (if no follow up approval steps are required).

This is the expected system behavior.

To have the approval in flow without skipping expected steps, Uncheck Skip Reapproval from the Approval Process, or deactivate the Substitution for the users according to your business case.

Wrong Approver; Skipped Step; Substitution; Purchase Order; Approval Process; , KBA , SRD-SRM-PRO , Purchase Requests and Orders , How To