Configure Workflows for Expense Management in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations -Test Your Knowledge Questions

The Reference Companion Guide is a Students guide and take away for this course. Please download, email or upload this guide for future use and take notes or provide additional information on any given topic. 

 

The Reference Companion Guide should be used in conjunction with an E-Learning or trainer led instruction course. 

 

NOTE: that module practices are best executed when a trial and/or test environment is available.

 

 

Contents

Module 00: Course Introduction. 2

Lesson 1: Course Introduction. 2

Module 01: Understanding Workflow Essentials. 2

Lesson 1: Understand Workflow Concepts. 2

Lesson 2: Understand Workflow Roles. 2

Lesson 3: Understand Workflow Actions. 3

Lesson 4: Understand Workflow Terminology. 4

Lesson 5: Understand Expense Workflow Types. 4

Module 02: Performing Workflow Tasks. 4

Lesson 1: View Expense Workflow Statuses. 4

Lesson 2: Perform Workflow Actions. 4

Lesson 3: Create Expense Workflows. 5

Lesson 4: Modify Expense Workflows. 6

Lesson 5: Submit Expense Reports Using Workflow.. 7

Test Your Knowledge Questions. 9

Test Your Knowledge Answers. 12

 

 

 

Module 00: Course Introduction

 

Lesson 1: Course Introduction

Welcome to the Configure Workflows for Expense Management in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations course.  This course provides information on configuring workflows for expense management in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations.  In it, we'll explore workflow concepts, workflow roles, workflow actions, workflow terminology, expense workflow types, viewing expense workflow statuses, performing workflow actions, creating expense workflows, modifying expense workflows, and submitting expense reports using workflow.  Let's get started.

 

 

Module 01: Understanding Workflow Essentials

 

Lesson 1: Understand Workflow Concepts

In this lesson, we explore essential workflow concepts that are important in understanding how the expense management functionality operates in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations.  A workflow can be defined in two ways, as a system and as a way of automating a business process.  To effectively use the workflow functionality in expense management, you should be familiar with the general workflow terms.  Expense workflows can be viewed from the expense workflows list page.  Each workflow has a version number, and each workflow version may have multiple instances associated with it.  This is valuable to show you which version of the workflow is the currently active one.  Only one version can be active at any given point in time.  And the number of currently running workflow instances.  Workflow instances can be running for a version that is no longer active.  Every time a change is made to a workflow, a new version is created.  To better understand this workflow, suppose that Sam submits an expense report for 7,000 U.S. dollars, or USD.  In this scenario, Ivan must review the receipts that Sam routes to him.  Then Frank and Sue must approve the expense report.  Now, suppose that Sam submits an expense report for 11,000 USD.  In this scenario, Ivan must review the receipts, and Frank, Sue, and Ann must approve the expense report.  There are several benefits of using the workflow system in your organization, such as consistent processes, process visibility, and a centralized worklist.  Thinking about consistent processes, you can define how specific documents such as purchase requisitions and expense reports are processed.  Using the workflow system, you ensure that documents are processed and approved in a consistent and efficient manner.  In terms of process visibility, you can track the status, history, and performance metrics of workflow instances.  This helps you determine whether changes should be made to the workflow to improve efficiency.  Finally, users can view a centralized worklist that displays the workflow tasks and approvals that are assigned to them.  This worklist is available from the Role Center pages in the Dynamics 365 client.

 

Lesson 2: Understand Workflow Roles

In this lesson, we explore the various roles associated with workflows such as originator, assignee, decision-maker, and approver.  The originator starts a workflow instance by submitting a document for processing.  For example, for Sam to submit his expense report, he must click submit on the expense report form.  A task can be assigned to multiple people or to a queue that is monitored by several people.  However, only one person can complete a task.  Using the expense workflow scenario figure, assume that Sam has submitted an expense report and has routed his receipts to his organization's expense reports department for review.  The members of the Adventure Works expense reports department monitor the queue.  Suppose that Julie, a member of the department, has accepted the task of reviewing Sam's expense report and receipts.  She can complete, reject, delegate, request a change, reassign, or release Sam's expense report and receipts.  It's important to note that the actions available vary depending on how the software developer designed the task.  When a document is assigned to a decision-maker, it is typically because a question must be answered by the decision-maker.  The answer to the question is typically yes or no or true or false.  If the decision-maker does not select one of those choices, the decision-maker can delegate the decision.  It's important to note that the answer that the decision-maker selects determines the workflow branch that is used to process the document.  When a document is assigned to an approver, the approver can take one of the following actions:  approve, reject, delegate, or request a change.

 

Lesson 3: Understand Workflow Actions

In this lesson, we explore the various workflow actions and how those actions affect expense management workflows.  When a user approves a document, the workflow moves forward to the next workflow task and is assigned to a user.  Consider this example.  Sam has submitted an expense report for 12,000 USD.  The expense report is assigned to Frank, who is responsible for approving all expense reports.  If Frank approves the expense report, the report moves forward to the next task in the workflow.  When a user rejects a document, the workflow goes back to the originator or submitter who can then resubmit it.  For example, Julie has accepted the task of reviewing Sam's expense reports and receipts.  If Julie rejects the document, it goes back to the originator or submitter who can then resubmit it.  Sam can resubmit the expense report with or without changes.  If Sam resubmits the expense report, the workflow resumes at the beginning of the stage in which the rejection occurred.  When a user delegates a task, the task is assigned to another user.  Let's say that Julie has accepted the task of reviewing Sam's expense report and receipts.  Julie delegates this task to Tim, her assistant.  Tim then acts on behalf of Julie.  This means that when Tim completes the task, the expense report is assigned to John, just as if Julie had completed the task.  When a user requests a change to a document that was submitted, the document can be sent back to the originator or to another user in the system.  The user who invokes the request change action can select any user in the system, then a work item is created for that user.  When that user has completed the necessary action, the workflow resumes at the step from which the request change was triggered, and that step is rerun.  Consider Julie.  She has accepted the task of reviewing Sam's expense report and receipts.  Julie notices some errors in the expense report and requests changes to the report.  The expense report is returned to Sam.  Sam can resubmit the expense report with or without changes.  If Sam resubmits the expense report, a member of the queue must review the report and the receipts again.  The members of a work item queue can reassign documents that are in the queue to another queue.  In our scenario, Julie is monitoring the queue.  To help balance the workload, she can reassign the expense report and the receipts included with it to another queue.  If a member of a work item queue has accepted a task but decides that he or she cannot complete the task, that member can release the document back to the work item queue.  Consider that Julia has accepted the task of reviewing Sam's expense report and receipts.  If Julie decides that she is unable to complete the task, she can release the document.  The expense report is returned to the queue so that other members of the Adventure Works expense reports department can complete the task.

 

 

Lesson 4: Understand Workflow Terminology

To effectively use the workflow functionality and expense management, you should be familiar with the general workflow terms.  In this lesson, we explore various terms used in workflow processes in expense management.  The workflow type defines where a workflow is activated, the approval actions available, and the outcome of those actions.  There are several workflow templates for expense management that have already been created in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations.  The workflow itself defines the assignment rules for tasks and approvals such as who should approve the document and notifications and escalation options.  The workflow instance is a workflow process for an individual document.  The work item is an individual to-do action in a workflow instance assigned to one specific user or to a queue.

 

Lesson 5: Understand Expense Workflow Types

In this lesson, we examine expense management workflow types in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations.  The cash advance request workflow type which is associated with a particular company is used to approve requests for cash advances.  The expense report auto posting workflow type, which has an organization-wide association, is used to automatically post expense reports.  The expense report workflow type is associated with the entire organization.  It is used to approve expense reports.  The expense line item auto posting workflow type, which is associated with your organization, is used to automatically post expense report lines.  The expense line item workflow type, which has an organization-wide association, is used to approve expense report lines.  The VAT tax recovery workflow type is associated with the organization and is used to approve the recovery of VAT.

 

 

 

Module 02: Performing Workflow Tasks

 

Lesson 1: View Expense Workflow Statuses

In this lesson, we discuss how to view expense workflow statuses in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations.  Expense management workflows are viewed from the expense workflows list page.  Each workflow has a version number.  The workflow version is created each time the configuration of the workflow is changed and only one version may be active at any time.  Once the new version is created, the user must activate the new version and any expense submissions, new instances after the activation uses the new version of that workflow.  The workflow version may have multiple instances associated with it.  This is valuable to show which version of the workflow is the currently active one.  Only one version may be active at any given point in time, as well as the number of currently running number of workflow instances.  Bear in mind that workflow instances may run for a version that is no longer active.  To view the status of a workflow, we first open the all-expense reports list page.  To do this, we click expense management, process expense reports, all expense reports.  We view the approval status on the list page or click the expense report number to open the expense report form.  Note that the approval status on the list page is this last column.  If we open the first one, the approval status is on the details form.

 

Lesson 2: Perform Workflow Actions

In this lesson, we explore performing expense workflow actions in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations.  During the life of an expense claim, it will advance through a number of approval statuses with actions associated to each status that are dependent upon role.  Consider the following scenario with three roles:  worker delegate, reviewer approver, and accounts payable clerk.  The worker delegate creates and submits the workflow.  The reviewer approver is responsible for viewing and approving the expense report.  And the accounts payable clerk is responsible for posting or reviewing the final posting of the expense report.  Now let's take a look at the status of an expense workflow.  To do this, we click expense management, process expense reports, all expense reports.  We view the approval status on the list page or click the expense report number to open the expense report form.  Note that the approval status on the list page is this last column.  Statuses we may see include draft, in review, approved, rejected, and processed for payment.  Draft approval status is the initial status on an expense claim and will not change until the expense report has been completed and submitted for approval by the worker delegate.  When a workflow is in the in-review approval status, the worker delegate has submitted the expense claim for approval, and it is currently waiting for the reviewer approver to review the expense claim.  Worker delegate role users can view and recall the expense report, which will move the approval status back to draft status.  Alternatively, reviewer approval role users can review the expense report and the receipts and can approve or reject the report.  The role can also delegate the expense report to a different approver.  When a workflow has the rejected approval status, the worker delegate gets the expense report back to fix any issues the reviewer has noted and resubmit the expense report for approval.  When a workflow has the approved approval status, the accounts payable clerk can review the expense claim, modify the general ledger distribution and the tax claim, and post the expense claim for payment and general ledger posting.  With the process for payment approval status, no actions are allowed, but the expense claimant can view the expense report.  It's important to note if a workflow appears to be stuck in a status, verify that the workflow batch job is configured correctly and that there isn't an error in progressing the workflow.  Now we can click on the workflow bar to complete the next step in the workflow.

 

Lesson 3: Create Expense Workflows

In this lesson, we discuss how to create expense workflows in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations.  In general, there are multiple steps required to set up expense workflows including creating the new workflow, setting up the work item, resolving errors and warnings, assigning one or more users to approve the work item, and activating the workflow.  Consider the following scenario.  You are an employee with Contoso and they're in charge of the expense process.  The company decides to set up document-level approval to use whenever an expense report is submitted within Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations.  As part of the Contoso business process, employees are required to submit an expense report for approval after they enter expenses.  All expense reports are assigned to the employee's manager for approval.  To create an expense workflow, we first click expense management, setup, general, expense workflows.  Now we click new to create a new expense workflow.  Next, we select the expense report on the create workflow form.  If a popup appears, we must log in.  And then we click the close button.  In the toolbox on the left of the page, since we are working with approvals on expense reports, we select approve expense reports in the approval section and drag it to the canvas on the right.  Now we place the mouse pointer over the start element on the canvas.  We see small gray boxes on each side of the start element.  We place the mouse pointer on the lower part of the start element, click and hold, and then drag the mouse pointer down to the approve expense report task element that we dragged onto the canvas.  This links the two elements together in the series.  We go ahead and place the mouse pointer on the lower part of the approve expense report task, click and hold, and then drag the mouse pointer to the end element.  This is because we only have one defined step in the approval process.  Great.  We've created the base of the approval workflow for the expense document.  The approval workflow may contain one or more steps or levels of approvals, but they must be of the same type:  document approval and not document line approval.  Additional criteria may be added like flow controls which are used to add conditions or workflow decisions, et cetera.  In this example, we only use one workflow logic.  To resolve any errors, we double click the error message in the toolbox.  Let's fix the first error message, select assignment type none is not supported.  In the assigned users or role to workflow elements box, go ahead and verify that the assignment type tab is selected.  We select the user option and then click the user tab because we want to have a specific user approve the expenses.  Other options for assignments may be used such as participant's roles, like project manager, or we may use hierarchy, like department managers, et cetera.  In the list of available users, we select admin and then click the arrow button to move admin to the list of selected users.  In this case, we see it's approved by that admin user.  We close the properties form.  We double click the next error message.  We must enter a message text for language EN US.  In the work item subject field, we go ahead and type expense report approval.  In the work item instructions field, we type please approve this expense report.  Both of these texts are used when the workflow is displayed to users during approval.  They may be stored in different languages and displayed depending on the user's preferred language.  We're done, so we close the form.  Let's double click the next error message.  You must define submission instructions for the workflow expense report.  In the submission instructions field, we type you must submit this expense report for approval.  This text is displayed to the worker during the submission of the expense report and is also defined in different languages by pressing the translation button.  We're done, so we close the form.  Now we click save and close in the lower right corner of the main window.  A dialog box appears to enter version notes.  This notes field stores information with the creation of the workflow.  Every time it is changed, a note is stored to detail the reason for the change and also to give a good audit trail for the changes made.  To proceed in the version notes field, the type created and then click OK.  Next, we activate the workflow and set it as the default.  If the workflow isn't activated, it is created but not used when the expense report is submitted.  Not activating it straightaway is usually because the setup isn't complete or it needs to be activated at a later date.  In the activate workflow dialog form, we select to activate the new version and then click OK.  In the expense workflows list, let's select the expense report workflow we created and then click set as default on the action pane.  This makes it the default workflow for the expense reports.

 

Lesson 4: Modify Expense Workflows

In this lesson, we explore how to modify the setup of existing workflows in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations.  In general, the steps for modifying existing expense workflows include multiple steps:  change the workflow, change the workflow name, add conditions for the workflow, and change the notifications.  To change a workflow, we navigate to expense management, setup, general, expense management workflows.  This opens the expense management workflows screen.  Every time a change to a workflow is done, a new version is created to store the changes.  This doesn't immediately change the active version.  Once the change is saved, the new version is activated to apply the new changes to the workflow.  First, we click a workflow ID in the list to open the workflow.  In this case, we select 000101.  A screen may pop up requiring us to log in.  So now we change the name of the workflow as it appears in the expense management workflow list page.  We click basic settings on the action pane and change the name of the workflow to expense doc WF hyphen assign to admin.  The other options in the properties screen are to change the owner responsible for the workflow, the email template for workflow notifications, and the submission instructions.  Let's take a look at some of the other tabs available to us.  The activation tab allows conditions to be set up for this workflow on when it should be run or not.  This is often used when multiple workflows are created and conditions are used to determine which workflow to use.  In this example, the workflow should only be run for department number 022.  If necessary, we click to set the conditions for running this workflow checkbox to add them.  We click add a condition to add new parameters about when the workflow should be used.  We select the expensereports.defaultdimension.departmentoption and add 022 in the value field.  This workflow is only used when the worker belongs to department 022.  Notifications are used to notify different users of specific events in the workflow journey.  Some of these events are exceptions and others are a logical part of the workflow journey.  We click notifications on the action pane to modify when the workflow alerts should be sent.  Setting this parameter notifies the users of changes in the workflow.  We enable the stopped event and specify the notification text expense workflow for expense report has stopped.  Next we move the cursor between report and has and click the insert placeholder button.  We will use a placeholder to insert the expense number into the notification message by selecting percent expensereport.expnumber percent.  This now generates a notification that displays the expense report number and that the workflow has stopped, requiring investigation to get the workflow restarted.  Next we click the recipient tab to assign users to receive a notification.  We select the workflow users from the list.  This adds the workflow user tab where we confirm that the workflow originator is selected.  The notes section is used to describe any change to the setup of the workflow for audit trail purposes.  Here we can add or modify comments associated with the workflow.  We enter adding additional functionality in the enter comments about the workflow field and then click add to attach the note to the workflow.  We click close to close the properties window.  We go ahead and click save and close and enter a description of the changes we made.  We enter restricted workflow to workers belonging to department 022 in the version notes field and then click OK.  We select to activate the new version and click OK.  We refresh the list of expense management workflows and see the new name for the workflow.

 

Lesson 5: Submit Expense Reports Using Workflow

In this lesson, we discuss how to submit expense reports using workflow in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations.  An expense report is first created manually and then submitted to the workflow.  Once the workflow is processed, the approver reviews and approves the expense report.  Consider this scenario.  You are an employee with Contoso and have returned from a customer visit.  You have to add a $55 meal you ate yesterday as an out-of-pocket expense before submitting the expense report for approval.  The company has a workflow process to follow when submitting expenses.  Once submitted, a manager must approve the expense report.  Let's create an expense report, add an expense line for a personal meal and then submit and approve the expense report.  First we need to enter my expense report via the expense management module.  We navigate to expense management, my expenses, expense reports.  Then we click new expense report.  Next we fill in the necessary expense header information.  Note that purpose and location are predefined values for analysis purposes and the remaining fields are default financial information based on the worker.  We select customer visit as our purpose.  Now we click OK.  The add unattached expenses page opens.  We are going to manually add our expense, so we click cancel.  The expense report form opens with a new expense ready to be entered.  If there is not a new expense line ready, we can click new expense to add one.  First we select the expense category, which is meal.  Next we enter the transaction date, which was yesterday.  Then we enter the transaction amount, which was 55 U.S. dollars.  The expense report is now complete and ready to be submitted for approval.  To submit the expense report, we click submit on the ribbon bar.  A window opens with a comment text area.  Comments entered here travel with the workflow for this expense report.  We enter customer visit in the comment box and then click submit.  Now, let's take a look at the approval process.  In this scenario, a manager must approve the expense report.  But to keep this demonstration simple, we are set up to approve our own expenses.  We navigate to expense management, process expense reports.  Here there are a few options for viewing expense reports waiting for approval:  expense reports and review, expense reports assigned to me, expense reports assigned to my queues.  We click expense reports assigned to me.  Next we click on the expense report number to see the content of the expense report.  Here we can review the expense report and decide to approve or reject it.  We click approve in the ribbon bar to approve the expense report.  Just as when submitting the expense report, we can add a comment to include with the workflow of the expense report.  We enter approved in the comment field and click approve.  The expense report no longer appears in the list as it is no longer waiting for approval.  To check the status of the expense report, we navigate to expense management, my expenses, expense reports.  Here we are able to verify that the status of the expense report has changed to approved.

 

 

 

Test Your Knowledge Questions

 

Module 01: Understanding Workflow Essentials

 

1. What are valid definitions of a workflow in expense management? (Select all that apply.)

a)      An employee

b)     A system

c)      A method of automating a business process

d)     A design for tracking expenses

2. TRUE OR FALSE: Each version of a workflow must have only one instance associated with it.

a)      True

b)     False

3. Which are roles that are associated with workflows? (Select all that apply.)

a)      Originator

b)     Assignee

c)      Researcher

d)     Approver

4. What option is available to a decision maker who cannot answer a question regarding a workflow document? (select all that apply)

a)      The decision maker can return the question for clarification.

b)     The decision maker can reject the document.

c)      The decision maker can wait until the question is resolved.

d)     The decision maker can delegate the decision to someone else.

 

5. What workflow actions are available to a user who is assigned a document? (select all that apply)

a)      Approve

b)     Reject

c)      Delegate

d)     Delete

6. What happens to the workflow when a document is rejected by a user?

a)      The workflow is redirected to a decision maker.

b)     The workflow returns to the originator.

c)      The workflow is paused for further instructions.

d)     The workflow is reassigned to another user.

7. What does a workflow type define? (Select all that apply.)

a)      Where a workflow is activated

b)     The approval actions available

c)      The outcome of approval actions

d)     The schedule for workflow completion

8. Which of the following is the definition of a workflow instance?

a)      A to-do action assigned to a specific user

b)     A step within a workflow that leads to another user

c)      A workflow process for an individual document

d)     The final step in a workflow process

9. Which of the following are Expense Management workflow types in Microsoft Dynamics for Operations? (Select all that apply)

a)      Travel expense summary

b)     Expense report auto posting

c)      Expense line item auto posting

d)     Travel requisition workflow type

10. Which of the options below describe the scope of the Expense report workflow type?

a)      The entire organization

b)     The entire project for each worker

c)      All expenses for a specific category

d)     The daily summary of expenses

 

Module 02: Performing Workflow Tasks

 

1. When are new versions of a workflow created? 

a)      Each time the workflow is viewed

b)     Each time the configuration of the workflow is changed

c)      The first time a workflow is opened each day

d)     The first time the workflow is opened each month

2. TRUE OR FALSE: A workflow version must be active for an instance of the workflow to run.

a)      True

b)     False

3. What actions must occur for an expense claim to proceed beyond the Draft stage? (Select all that apply.)

a)      The worker or delegate must complete the claim.

b)     The supervisor must approve each claim item.

c)      The worker must submit the claim for approval.

d)     All previous claims for the worker must be approved or rejected.

4. Which is the path to view the status of an expense workflow?

a)      Expense Management > Setup > All Expense reports > Process Expense reports

b)     Expense Management > Process Expense reports > All Expense reports

c)      Expense Management > Process Expense reports > Open Expense reports

d)     Expense Management > Open > All Expense reports

 

5. Which of the following steps are part of creating workflows in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations? (Select all that apply.)

a)      Setting up the work item

b)     Resolving errors and warnings

c)      Assigning users to approve the work item

d)     Adding the workflow template

6. TRUE OR FALSE: All of the steps or levels of approval in an approval workflow must be of the same document approval type.

a)      True

b)     False

7. Which of the following are valid options for modifying the setup of existing workflows? (Select all that apply.)

a)      Change the workflow.

b)     Change the workflow name.

c)      Change the approval levels.

d)     Change the notifications.

 

8. TRUE OR FALSE: The Activation tab on the Action pane is used for modifying the types of users who can run the workflow.

a)      True

b)     False

 

9. Which of the following are steps to process an expense report using workflow in Dynamics 365 for Operations? (select all that apply)

a)      Creating an expense report

b)     Submitting the expense report

c)      Reviewing the expense report

d)     Approving the expense report

 

10. TRUE OR FALSE: Expense reports that are to be added to the workflow must be created manually.

a)      True

b)     False

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