Working with TrackLink
Gimmal Link Enterprise TrackLink is a ALV based "report" that is considered home-base for all users and administrators. TrackLink is used as the end users processing queue as well as a host of additional functionality for inbox management, searching and tracking, and administrator functions.
Below is a sample view of TrackLink (**note: this is sample only — you configure and choose which columns are displayed — from available Gimmal Link pre-available columns to your own custom fields):
Below is a list of functionality offered:
- User inbox processing
- Load balancing across processing group
- Dynamic filtering and sorting
- Wide range of search options
- Configurable layout at the global or user level
- Customizable layout content
- Drill-down functionality to invoices, purchase orders, etc.
- Integration with your SAP payment run status
- Enhanced Work-Item Processing function:
- Security based forwarding (optional)
- Displaying image from content repository
- Enhanced "note" taking and viewing
- Exception processing
- Reprocessing
- Administrator functions:
- Single and mass Reassignment
- Single and mass forced completion and buffer status management
- Single and mass enhanced "note" taking
- Single and mass Role Resolution update
- Full invoice year-end rollover toolset with link management
The ability to search and find a work-item quickly for customer support or other reasons is essential.
Gimmal Link Enterprise TrackLink and its underlying structure means the data is at your fingertips without any data compilation that would result in long wait times. A wide variety of search options are available in standard SAP format (ie: select-options).
Results are displayed in a straightforward layout and then be further filtered and sorted.
Search results are independent of whether the user searching is able to process the work-item or not (they are of course prevented from processing if they are not a "possible agent").
You can choose to display in-progress invoices only or included completed workitems.
User inbox processing is the day to day work queue of your AP team and Exception managers. Albeit TrackLink is also used by approvers when outside-of-sap or mobile approval is not configured, TrackLink flexibility is realized when leveraged as home-base for end-users main job is to process work-items.
Working in tandem with configured role-resolution to determine "possible agents," Gimmal Link Enterprise AP and the underlying SAP workflow runtime system manages the sharing of these work-items and prevents work-items from being processed more than once. Once a user has "touched" a work-item, it is reserved by them for processing until it is either completed or resubmitted back to the larger "team".
Therefore, at the highest level, a user can view any list of work-items (which is basically equivalent to Searching), but they can also choose to view work-items that they are a "possible agent" for / are allowed to process.
By choosing to only view "their" work-items, this enables TrackLin to be their SAP Inbox for processing.
A user can further filter and sort by configurable and saveable layouts to provide different "views" of their queue.
Within their queue, there are 9 processing functions available:
- Execute Work-item: The most common function, this allows the user to execute the work-item of which they are a possible agent of. What happens upon execution depends on the workflow stage and configured functionality (ie: create invoices, display invoice, approve invoice, triage an exception, etc).
- Display History: Every detail about an invoice is logged extensively and is viewable for light reading enjoyment as well as analysis into the history of an invoice and its processing.
- Forwarding: If and only if a user has the appropriate authorization, forwarding a work-item outside of the possible agent group is available. Enabling forwarding is completely optional and is typically driven by a customers internal process.
- Create Note: Allows you too notes to a work-item.
- Display Note List: Display a list of all notes for a work-item. You can then view the note itself by drilling down into that note.
- Display Note Summary: Displays a summary of all notes so you do not have to search through all the notes if there are a number of them.
- Display Work-item: Displays the SAP workflow runtime system work-item.
- Display CMS Image: Displays the original invoice from your content management system.
- Drill-down: If the SAP invoice has been created, you can drill down to display without processing the work-item. You can also drill down into the purchase order.
If configured as a Gimmal Link Enterprise Administrator, the below functions are available. These functions can be processed for single work-items as well as mass processing:
- Force Buffer Status(Terminated/Completed/Reprocessed): Administrators can force work-items to a particular status.
- Re-Assign: Individual work-items can re-assigned to a different invoice.
- Create Note: Above what is available at the end-user level, Administrators can add mass notes to the list of work-items displayed.
- Forward: Above what is available at the end-user level, Administrators can mass forward the list of work-items displayed.
- Role-Resolution Redo: If agent configuration is changed, this allows the redo of the role-resolution logic to update the appropriate agents/possible agents.
- Year End Rollover: SAP document number contain the fiscal year. For in-process work-items with SAP invoices that are not posted and year-end occurs, the year end process changes the key for the SAP invoice (including the SAP document number itself depending on your SAP configuration). The Gimmal Link Enterprise Year End Rollover Utility automatically:
- Re-creates the invoice in the new year
- Updates the Gimmal Link Enterprise AP database
- Re-establishes any linkages to your content management system attachments
- Can optionally set the previous years invoice as marked for deletion