Part III of the series: “Automated Audit of the Configuration and Authorizations in SAP MM”
Today’s blog post presents you with three audit procedures for purchase requisitions.
1. Is everything well organized? Auditing organizational structures in SAP MM
2. Proper protection of vendor master data
3. The procedure for checking the approval process for purchase requisitions
4. Are your purchase orders ordered in the best way?
5. Everything under control for critical goods movements
6. How to protect your invoice verification
7. Clear interrelationships when recording the physical inventory
8. Customizing in SAP MM set at the test bench
9. Segregation of duties in “purchase to pay”
10. Good practices in relation to the segregation of duties between “purchase to pay” and “financial accounting”
Changes to purchase requisitions
Purchase requisitions may be changed into a purchase order before they are released or transferred. If there is no restriction or the restriction for the document type, purchaser, purchasing organization or plant is too general, this may lead to unwanted changes to the delivery dates/delivery quantity in the purchase requisition and cause the planned quantity to be incorrect. The authorization to change purchase requisitions must be viewed as more critical than for creating them.
Using approval procedures for purchase requisitions
The approval of a purchase requisition is to be understood as the process in which the item included in the purchase requisition is approved. The aim of this approval procedure is to check that the contents of the material, quantity and deadline specifications are correct and to ensure that the specified account assignment and source of supply is correct. Usually, a release point has to approve the items in a purchase requisition before the actual purchase order is placed.
If explicit approval of purchase requisitions is not mandatory, there may be a risk/increased risk of incorrect procurements or purchase requisitions that are not appropriate for requirements.
SAP Authorizations for approving purchase requisitions
The approval procedure replaces the manual signature system with a digital one and adheres to the dual-control principle. The group of people who are to act as approvers must be defined precisely by the company. The restriction to the relevant release codes, plants, purchasing organizations, buyers and document types should be applied to prevent undesired procurements. Outside of the responsible group of people, the release codes can also control the level of the permitted value. Incorrect authorizations may lead to unwanted procurements and the associated value outflows.
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