Hello Readers,
This blog - Part 1 provides an overview of Grantor Claims Management process along with a specific 'Availability check' functionality in CRM 7.0 EhP1.
Part 2 would feature on CRM Grant Claim Integration with ECC PSCD /AP-AR and the complete Grantor Cycle.
Business Relevance: Grants Claims management is a process used when a Grantee with whom an Agreement is already made, now requests for payment based on the terms and conditions in the agreement.
- Payment Type is either Advance or Expense
- Payment Method can be One Time, Milestone, Periodic
Grant Claims are increasingly used in business scenarios wherein the Grantor would validate the performance reports of the Grantee and his Claims before any payout. This ensures tighter audit control during disbursement of funds.
Process Flow: Grant Agreement with at least one “claim-based” line item (Authorized Advance or Expense) which is set to the status “released” --> Applicant submits Web Request for Claim with Request Amt --> Claim Transaction created in CRM --> Grantor assess Claim and enters Authorized Amount --> AVC check performed wrt Agreement Auth Amount --> Claim Released --> Billing doc in PSCD /AP-AR --> Invoicing--> Payment Run
Billing in PSCD/ AP-AR is then based on the Claim Item, instead of Agreement Item
Availability Check (AVC): AVC check, although an optional feature, is an important control point to ensure that the amount claimed by Grantee do not exceed the authorized amount in Agreement, hence preventing the need for manual check and later headaches of reconciliation.
AVC can be set up in 3 simple steps:
- Define Tolerance Profile
Here we define behavior of system when claim amount exceeds by certain %. This is set based on Item Category Usage of Advance or Payment.
2. Define Availability Control Profile
Here we have scope of check at Header or Item Level:
‘Header Check’ compares the sum of all “claim-based” items on the agreement and with the sum of all “claim-based items on claims, while ‘Item Check’ would compare each line item of Claim with that of Agreement item.
3. Assign AVC Profile to Program Pofile
In Define Program Profile, we assign this AVC profile
Now, we test the result such that Claim Amt > Agreement Amt:
a) Create Agreement with Claim based items as below
| Item | Authorized Amt |
| Advance Claim | 2000 USD |
| Payment Claim | 2500 USD |
| Payment | 1000 USD |
So basically we have authorized a advance claim amount of 2000 USD and 2500 USD as subsequent claim payment.
Next the Agreement is Released. Note that on release of Agreement, BRI (Billing Request Item) would get generated only for 1000 USD, since the remaining 4500 USD is Claim Based.
b) Now the Applicant submits Claims for Advance of 7000 USD using web request. At the backend, the Grantor does claims assessment and enters ‘Authorized Amt’ as 5000 USD ( which is still exceeding the agreed Claim Advance amount of 2000 USD)
Now when we save this Claim, AVC displays error message "Agreement Item Authorized Amount exceeded by 3000 USD".
This check thereby prevents Claim to be saved and the replication of Claims as Billing doc in ECC. This behavior can be altered by modifying behavior from Error to Warning.
