In the past there have been several questions about the “Release” button in our Supplier Invoice app when viewing an invoice in the display mode. I would like to clarify some of those recurring questions in this blog entry.
The “Release” button in our app “Create Supplier Invoices” (when opened in display-mode) will release the invoice for payment. The button is only visible if the invoice is blocked for payment and the current user displaying the invoice has specific authorizations. This specific authorization comes from the business catalog SAP_MM_BC_INV_RELEASE_PC.
In case you are using the workflow “Workflow for Blocked Invoice” to release blocked invoices, the button will be visible and usable if the approver or any other user has got the authorization from above mentioned business catalog.
There is no check which prevents the usage of the “Release” button in case a workflow is active for the supplier invoice. By clicking the “Release” button the user will overwrite the workflow and directly release the invoice for payment. If you only want to enable the release of a supplier invoice via workflow, you do not need the business catalog SAP_MM_BC_INV_RELEASE_PC. This business catalog allows a user to use the "Release" button and the app "Release Blocked Invoices".
If you only want to permit the release of an invoice via workflow, please make sure to remove the business catalog SAP_MM_BC_INV_RELEASE_PC from all business roles.
Please note: The “Release” button in the app “Create Supplier Invoices” and the “Release” button in the My Inbox app have different semantics.
For the create supplier invoices app, following sematic is implemented
- Release the invoice for payment
- If applicable: Cancel a running workflow for blocked invoices
For the My Inbox app, following semantic is implemented:
- Release the work item
- If current approval was the last step in the workflow configuration, the invoice will be released for payment and the workflow will be completed
- Otherwise: Create a work item for the next approver
