3667359 - Workflow Email Sent Too Early (Before Approval Completion) in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition

• When using Flexible Workflow for Sales Orders, an email notification (for example, Sales Order Approved) is sent immediately when the approval step starts, even though the sales order has not yet been approved.
• The expectation is that the notification should be sent after the approval is completed however, the email is triggered prematurely.

SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition

1. Create or copy a Sales Order Approval Workflow in Manage Workflows for Sales Orders.
2. Configure a workflow step with:
   • Email Template: Sales Order Approved
   • Trigger: Step Started (under Deadlines)
3. Send a sales order for approval.
4. Observe that the email notification is sent immediately, before the approver actually approves the sales order.

This behavior is standard design in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition.

• The system currently does not support “Step Completed” as a time trigger for email notifications in workflows.
• Available time-based triggers are limited to:
  • Step Started
  • Overdue
  • Custom Time Duration

Because of this, emails configured under the Deadline tab will always be sent when the step starts, not when it is completed.

Option 1 – Remove the “Sales Order Approved” Email Notification

If the current setup causes confusion, remove the email notification entirely from the Deadline configuration in the workflow step.

Users can continue to track approval progress via:

• My Inbox app (App ID: F0862A)
• Standard SAP notifications in the Fiori Launchpad

Option 2 – Keep the Email but Adjust the Template Name

If users still need an email notification, the template can be renamed to reflect the actual timing of the trigger.

Example:

• Change template name from “Sales Order Approved” -> “Sales Order Sent for Review”

This prevents confusion, as the email now correctly indicates that the workflow step has started, not completed.

Note

• The "Step Completed" trigger is currently not supported in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition workflows.
• Any user assigned as recipient (via fixed user or role in Responsibility Management) will receive the email when the workflow step starts.

• Refer to: Set Up Email Notifications for Approval Workflows Help Portal.
• Refer to: 2927390 - Credit Memo Request Workflow Approval Notification doesn't reach Approver's My Inbox app - SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition.
• Refer to: Defining a Workflow Help Portal.

Workflow, Flexible Workflow, Sales Order, Approval, Email Notification, Step Started, Step Completed, Deadline, My Inbox, SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Public Cloud, Notification Timing, F1306, F0862A, Responsibility Management , KBA , SD-SLS-GF-OC-2CL , S/4HANA: Output Control on Sales Documents (Public Cloud) , Problem