Document parking enables you to enter and save (park) incomplete FI documents in the SAP System without making extensive entry checks. When you park a document, the system allocates a document number and lets you view the parked documents online. When you park a vendor invoice, the system does not update the balance of the vendor. Instead, you can display individual item lists for this vendor and display this document in a special category, ‘Parked Documents’. Taking the individual item list as a starting-point, you can display the document to check the information. This gives you a complete overview of the vendor debits. Documents can be parked without triggering an approval workflow. This can be necessary, for example, if an invoice arrives before a service has been performed.

Two prerequisites must be fulfilled before a document can be automatically routed for approval via workflow. First, the user must park the document. Second, the system analyses the amount of the parked document. If the amount is equal to or greater than the base trigger amount defined for the "workflow variant" in the Preliminary Posting configuration, the workflow is activated. The routing of the document and levels of approval rules are defined in Customizing for Preliminary Posting workflow. Once the authorizations have been released by authorized persons, parked documents can be completed, checked, and then posted by the system at a later date, even by a different data entry clerk.

Three different levels of approval have been defined in the IDES system.

· Under 500.00 No Approval Necessary

· From 500.00 to 1,000.00 One Approval Level Required

· From 1,000.00 to 10,000 Two Approval Levels Required

· Greater than 10,000 Three Approval Levels Required

In this business scenario the system automatically forwards an incoming invoice to a superior, if the invoiced amount is above DEM 500.00, but below DEM 1000.00. Further information about the technical realization of this demo with the SAP Business Workflow tools and the necessary preparations and Customizing settings can be found in the online help under R/3 Library ® BC-Basis ® Business engineering workbench ® SAP Business workflow ® BC-Workflow Application Scenarios: FI - Financial Accounting

Workflow scenarios in Financial Accounting (FI) - Preliminary Posting