RELEASE PURCHASE ORDER TRANSACTION ME28 Procedural Description

Upon saving a purchase order, it will be in a blocked status and will require subsequent approval (release) before further processing can take place (e.g. before it can be transmitted to the vendor). The approval levels are assigned to AASIS users via activity roles defined within the system. Each approval must be assigned a Procurement Management role along with the role containing the release group and release code for the document and level at which they may release. Workflow has been configured to alert users when they have purchase orders pending release. When the user accesses their workflow item, the system automatically takes the approver into the AASIS purchase order release transaction (ME28) to execute the release for the designated purchase order. If multiple releases are required, once the first release is completed, the system automatically notifies the user(s) with the next level of approval the need to release the purchase order. The notified approvers can process the release via workflow or directly from the ME28 transaction. The Release Group for all purchase orders is defined as P1. There are four Release Codes within the Release Group. Grp P1 P1 P1 P1 Code AG OA SB SP Description Agency Approval DFA-OSP Approval (Professional Services) ABA Approval (Construction projects) DFA-OSP Approval (EM Emergency) and (SS Sole source)

Within the P1 Release Group, multiple Release Strategies are defined. These Release Strategies are based on several characteristics (values)established for the release of purchase orders. They are: 1. 2. 3. 4. The total net order value: The total value of all lines on the purchase order The document type: Whether the document is a Standard (NB) or Professional Services (PB) purchase order SBS approval is required: The purchasing code SBS entered into the Our Reference field OSP approval required: The purchasing code EM or SS entered into the Our Reference field

Different combinations of the above characteristics determine what approvals have to be completed in order to release the purchase order for print and to the vendor to be fulfilled. Purchase orders may require one or two levels of approval based on specific values entered in the document. In all cases, the agency must release the purchase order at agency level (AG), before any other required release can be effected. This approval represents agreement with the terms and conditions of the purchase order and validation of funding source. Currently, there are four possible combinations of release approvals: AG only, AG and OA, AG and SP, and AG and SB. Below are the values required for each release combination:

1. Purchase orders that are not required by law or regulation to be approved by Arkansas Building Authority (ABA) or Office of State Procurement (OSP) will require only one agency level approval (release code AG). Release Strategy P1, P4, or P8 will be assigned by the system. The document will only be assigned one of these Release Strategies and appear automatically in the Agency approvers workflow if the following values are entered in the purchase order.
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Release Strategy P1 a. Total net order value less than $20,000 b. Document type NB, normal c. Our reference field value not EM or SS Release Strategy P4 a. Total net order value between $0.00 and $25,000 b. Document type PB, professional services c. Our reference field has no impact and can be any value Release Strategy P8 a. Total net order value greater than or equal to $20,000 b. Document type NB, normal c. Our reference field value not EM, SS, or SBS

2. Purchase orders for construction projects that are required by law or regulation to be approved by Arkansas Building Authority (ABA) will require one agency level approval (release code AG) and a second approval from ABA (release code SB). Release strategy P7 will be assigned by the system. The document will only be assigned this release strategy and appear automatically in ABAs approvers workflow if the following values are in the purchase order: a. Total net order value equal to or greater than $20,000 b. Document type NB, normal c. Our reference field value SBS 3. Purchase orders for professional services that are required by law or regulation to be approved by the Office of State Procurement (OSP) will require one agency level approval (release code AG) and a second level approval from OSP (release code OA). Release strategy P5 will be assigned by the system. The document will only be assigned this release strategy and appear automatically in OSPs approvers workflow if the following values are in the purchase order: a. Total net order value greater than $25,000 b. Document type PB, professional services c. Our reference field value has no impact and can be any value 4. Purchase orders for emergencies and sole source items that are required by law or regulation to be approved by the Office of State Procurement (OSP) will require one agency level approval (release code AG) and a second level approval from OSP (release code SP). Release strategy P2 or P3 will be assigned by the system. The document will only be assigned these release strategies and appear automatically in OSPs approvers workflow if the following values are in the purchase order: a. Total net order value greater than $0.00. Theoretically, the value should be greater than $5,000 b. Document type NB, normal c. Our reference field value either SS (sole source) or EM (emergency)

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Process to Release (Approve) Purchase Orders

Enter the transaction code ME28 in the command field or follow the Menu path: Logistics > Materials Management > Purchasing > Purchase Order > Release The following screen appears:

Release (Approve) Purchasing Documents

Use the following fields to limit your selection to those documents which you can approve. Field Name Description Release Code Required. Enter your release code. AG Agency Approval, OA DFA Approval (PSrv), SB ABA Approval, SP OSP Approval (EM/SS) Set Release Required. Leave checked. Cancel release Required. Leave indicator unchecked. Release Required. Leave checked prerequisite fulfilled List with items Optional. Check this indicator to see the item details from the purchase order. Leaving this indicator unchecked allows only header data to be displayed. Scope of list Required. BEST defaults. You can use the drop down and select BEST_ALV if you want a grid view.
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Purchasing document category Purchasing organization Document number Document type Purchasing group Vendor Supplying plant Document date

Required. Leave unchanged. The multiple selection F (purchase orders) and L (Scheduling agreement) defaults. L may be deleted but since we do not use Scheduling agreements, it is more efficient to accept the default values. Optional. You may enter a 4-digit purchasing organization to restrict the search if you have approval authorization for more than one purchasing organization. Otherwise, leave blank. Optional. If known, enter the document number(s) of the purchase order(s) you wish to approve. Optional Enter a document type if you want to restrict your search to a specific purchase order document type, e.g. NB Standard PO or PB Professional Svc PO. Optional. Enter purchasing group number(s) or range to restrict your search to purchase orders created by specific purchasing groups. Optional. If known, enter the 10-digit number for the vendor in the purchase order(s) you want to approve. Optional. Leave blank Optional. If known, enter the date the purchase order was created and saved

Click to continue. The following screen appears if you use the default Scope of List: BEST:

Release Purchasing Documents with Release Code XX

A list of purchase orders ready for release is displayed. The first line list the document number, document type, vendor number and name, purchase group number of the person who created the document, and the date of the purchase order. The line below the document number reveals the required Release Group / Release strategy and the release status. This reveals which approvals are required. To approve a document and retain the capability of canceling the release in the same screen, click on the document number and then the Release push button. The resulting release is displayed in a colored bar below the approved document, indicating that the document has been released for further processing. Note that the Release indicator changes from Blocked to Released and the Release option changes from Release possible to Release set. Continue to release subsequent documents in the same way. You may also release by selecting the
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document and hitting the F5 key on your keyboard or following the Menu Path: Edit > Release. After each release, the following message appears at the bottom of the screen: Release effected with release code XX.

If you mistakenly flag a document for release, you may cancel the release by selecting the document and clicking on the Cancel release push button. You may also follow the Menu Path: Edit > Cancel release. Note that the highlighted line changes from Released to Blocked and Release set to Release cancelled. The following message appears at the bottom of the page: Release cancelled for release code XX.

If you do not need the option of being able to cancel a release from the release screen, you can select the document and click on the Release + save push button or follow the Menu path: Edit > Release + save. You will be returned to the initial screen and the following message appears at the bottom of the screen: Releases save. Tips and Tricks You may release any listed document that has a Release indicator: S Blocked and a Release option: Release possible or Release cancelled
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You cannot cancel a document that has not been released. If you try, you will receive the following error message: Release not effected. You may cancel the release (revoke) on any listed document that has a Release Indicator: Released and a Release option: Release set. You may view the document details via the ME23N Display Purchase Order transaction by doubleclicking on the document number or selecting the document number and following the Menu path: Environment > Display document. You may display the printed view of the hard copy purchase order by selecting the document and clicking on the Print preview push button. You may view the release strategy to see what approvals are required and have been fulfilled by selecting the document number and clicking on the Release strat. push button. You may also follow the Menu path: Goto > Release Strategy. You may see changes to the document by selecting the desired document number and following the Menu Path: Goto > Changes. Click the save icon to save your releases. You are returned to your initial screen and the following message appears at the bottom of the screen: Releases saved. If you prefer an ALV grid screen to approve your purchase orders, enter the same selection criteria as outlined above but select Scope of List: BEST_ALV.

Click the execute button to continue. The following screen appears:

Release Purchasing Documents with Release Code XX

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Click on the Release possible icon (green check mark and pencil) for the desired purchase order. The release icon changes from Release possible to Released (green check mark). Continue to release subsequent documents in the same way.

If you mistakenly flag a document for release, you may cancel the release by clicking on the Released icon. The Released icon changes back to the Release possible icon.

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Green arrow to return to your initial screen. Your changes are saved automatically.

Release Purchases Orders Revoking Previously Released Purchase Order Documents

In cases where an approver releases and saves a purchase order and then later decides that the approval should not have been made, the approval may be revoked using the same release purchase order transaction ME28.

Procedural Description
Enter the transaction code ME28 in the command field or follow the Menu path: Logistics > Materials Management > Purchasing > Purchase Order > Release The following screen appears:

Release Purchasing Documents with Release Code XX

Use the following fields to limit your selection to those documents against which you can cancel (revoke) approval. Field Name Release Code Set Release Cancel release Release prerequisite fulfilled List with items Scope of list Description Required. Enter your release code. AG Agency Approval, OA DFA Approval (PSrv), SB ABA Approval, SP OSP Approval (EM/SS) Required. Deselect this indicator. (See screen print on the following page.) Required. Select this indicator. Required. Leave checked

Optional. Check this indicator to see the item details from the purchase order. Leaving this indicator unchecked allows only header data to be displayed. Required. BEST defaults. You can use the drop down and select BEST_ALV if you want a grid view.
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Purchasing document category Purchasing organization Document number Document type Purchasing group Vendor Supplying plant Document date

Required. Leave unchanged. The multiple selection F (purchase orders) and L (Scheduling agreement) defaults. L may be deleted but since we do not use Scheduling agreements, it is more efficient to accept the default values. Optional. You may enter a 4-digit purchasing organization to restrict the search if you have approval authorization for more than one purchasing organization. Otherwise, leave blank. Optional. If known, enter the document number(s) of the purchase order(s) you wish to revoke (cancel). Optional Enter a document type if you want to restrict your search to a specific purchase order document type, e.g. NB Standard PO or PB Professional Svc PO. Optional. Enter purchasing group number(s) or range to restrict your search to purchase orders created by specific purchasing groups. Optional. If known, enter the 10-digit number for the vendor in the purchase order(s) you want to revoke (cancel). Optional. Leave blank. Optional. If known, enter the date the purchase order was created and saved

Click the execute button or hit Enter to continue. The following screen appears:

Release Purchasing Documents with Release Code XX

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This screen displays all documents against which you may revoke a previous approval as per your selection criteria. NOTE: Release revokes must be done in the opposite order of releases. For example, if a purchase order had two approvals, i.e. AG and SP, the AG release cannot be revoked until after the SP release has been revoked. Additionally, you cannot revoke a release for a purchase order that has already been outputted (printed). The first line lists the document number, document type, vendor number and name, purchase group number of the person who created the document, and the date of the purchase order. The line below the document number reveals the Release strategy and the release status. To cancel a released document and retain the capability of reversing the cancellation in the same screen, click on the document number and then the Cancel release push button. The resulting release cancellation is displayed in a colored bar below the document, indicating that the document has been blocked for further processing. Note that the Release indicator changes from Released to Blocked and the Release option changes from Release already in effect to Release cancelled. Continue to revoke subsequent documents in the same way. You may also revoke by selecting the document and hitting the F5 key on your keyboard or following the Menu Path: Edit > Cancel release. After each release cancellation, the following message appears at the bottom of the screen: Release cancelled for release code XX.

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If you mistakenly flag a document for release cancellation, you may revoke the cancellation by selecting the document and clicking on the Release push button. You may also follow the Menu Path: Edit > Release. Note that the green colored bar changes from Blocked to Release and Release cancelled to Release set. The following message appears at the bottom of the page: Release effected with release code XX.

Tips and Tricks You may revoke the release of any listed document that has a Release indicator: Released and a Release option: Release already effected or Release set. You may not revoke the release of any listed document that has already been outputted (printed). You will receive the error message: Document has already been outputted (function not possible). You may view the document details via the ME23N Display Purchase Order transaction by doubleclicking on the document number or selecting the document number and following the Menu path: Environment > Display document. You may display the printed view of the hard copy purchase order by selecting the document and clicking on the Print preview push button. You may view the release strategy to see what approvals are required and have been fulfilled by selecting the document number and clicking on the Release strat. push button. You may also follow the Menu path: Goto > Release Strategy. You may see changes to the document by selecting the desired document number and following the Menu Path: Goto > Changes. Click the save icon to save your releases. You are returned to your initial screen and the following message appears at the bottom of the screen: Releases saved.

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