FAQ KB0402869
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When should I force process a document?
Symptom

In what situation should I force process a document? Is it a recommended approach?


Resolution

Force processing a document in the SAP Ariba Procurement solution means that the automatic workflow of that particular document is being terminated forcefully.

You can find the force process button in all documents that are integrated with an external enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.

In all the below cases, the system only moves the document to its final status and does not transmit it to the ERP, so it is not ideal to force process a document unless there is no other way to move forward with it.

DocumentButton/ActionComments
Purchase order (PO)Force Order/Force Cancel

The PO is not sent to the ERP/SAP Business Network based on when the force action is performed.

  • If it is force ordered when it is failing to reach the ERP/SAP Business Network, the PO will not be sent.
  • When you cancel a PO that has already been force ordered, the system will trigger a cancellation to the ERP since there is no restriction on the webservice call. However, when the cancellation reaches the ERP, there will be no document to cancel, which leads to an ERP push error. You need to enable the parameter Application.Purchasing.AllowForceCancelForForceOrderedERPOrders to resolve this issue. Once the parameter is enabled, the cancel integration event for the force ordered PO will be restricted. The cancellation will not be sent to the ERP and the Business Network, and you can then use the Force Cancel option to cancel the PO.
  • If the PO is failing while being sent to the Business Network, upon force ordering the PO, current and any future versions of the PO will have to be manually delivered to the supplier. The Business Network will reject the cancellation of the force ordered PO for this and other reasons (for example, an expired trading relationship with the supplier). The Force Cancel option can be used in these circumstances.
  • Please note that no future actions are supported on forced orders, e.g. order change, order cancellation, etc. This action is performed only for the sake of moving the PO from a stuck state and for reporting purposes. Refer to Order transmission and failed orders for more information.
ReceiptForce ProcessThe receipt is not transferred to the ERP. If the site is configured for SAP Business Network integration, the receipt will still be sent to the Business Network.
Blanket purchase order (BPO)Force SendThe Force Send button will not send the BPO to the supplier via the SAP Business Network. Current and any future versions of the BPO have to be manually delivered to the supplier.
Service entry sheet (SES)Force RejectService sheets work differently from other documents. Ariba still sends the status to the ERP.
InvoiceForce ReconcileForce reconciling an invoice will skip sending a copy to the SAP Business Network and create an IR.
Invoice reconciliation (IR)Force RejectForce Reject will update the status of both the invoice and the IR to Rejected and reverse all PO accumulated values.
Payment request (PAY)Force PayOn clicking the Force Pay button, the status of the payment request changes from Paying or Paying Failed to Paid. Payment has to be settled with the supplier outside of the Ariba application.
Additional Information

When creating a Case, please ensure that your document is not already force processed. Identifying the root cause of an already force processed document is difficult as webservice integration with ERP is real time and debug level logs are not enabled by default. So unless all the options are exhausted, you might not want to force process.



Applies To

Purchasing
Purchasing > Purchase Orders

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