Workflow Sample

I'm going to consider "Starter Template" of the 2016 edition.

This time, it is going to be the 3rd of the series, "Out-of-pocket Expenses Claim" in simplicity.

This Workflow will be Started by sending an email with attachment of receipt image taken with Smart phone. (Email Start)

Despite Reimbursement claim for Out-of-pocket Expense is carried out collectively at the end of months in most companies, in this example, it must be done at each time payment occurs. It is a focused to ease the management of the correspondence between the receipt image. After all, it is a business flow to let an employee to make E-mail application at the moment of getting a receipt, such as taxi fare or dining bill. It should be noted, it must be sent from a company email address (Login ID] of the workflow).

(That is not difficult for employees of a company that has introduced a Cloud-based email system like Google Apps.)

By the way, although it might needless to say again, this Workflow is a Business Process in anticipation of "Regulation change (around January 2017) that allowing to discard the original receipt replacing with the receipt image taken with smartphone".

Even though it seems "Premature" to include this into "Starter Template pack" of 2016 edition, yet it is significant to be ahead of the next generation toward the coming era of "Taking picture of Receipt with Smart phone". We should actively operate this Workflow in commissioning, and prepare by organizing various issues on its operation in advance. (Be aware that you are required to store the "original receipts" until the end of 2016. In addition, it is different from the regulation which has been enforced in October 2015, in the point of "Image of Scanned receipt".)

[Out-of-pocket Expenses Claim]

I'm going to consider "Starter Template" of the 2016 edition.

This time, it is going to be the 2nd of the series, "Procurement Request" in simplicity.

This procurement flow is a Workflow that allows you to comfortably make requests for anything you think you want to or should buy.

That is, it is possible to request for anything, as long as being an employee, from consumable goods such as "copy paper", "drinking water", or "detergent", to fixtures like "desk", "vacuum cleaner", or "personal computer". However, it is left to the Procurement Department for actually whether or not purchased. Especially, for those difficult to determine the need and urgency, it will be in a status of "pending the decision for purchase" for long term.

Incidentally, "being approved on the Approval flow" in advance will be the premise of purchasing of the "application for purchasing items of more than 100,000 JPY ".

[Procurement Request]

I'm going to consider "Basic Business Pack" of the 2016 edition.

This time I will introduce a simple "approval flow", for the first of the series.

It's nothing but basically

an employee submits a plan and
his/ her superior approves it.

That's what it's all about.

This Workflow is just a good template to "get used" to the online Workflow system. It will be sufficient to give some alteration to "Remark" (input hint) in the input form for your own usage. Yet, it will be more likely to be used longer.

If you are

thinking to quit approval documents in paper
feeling a limit to the approval documents management in MS-Excel or Google Spreadsheet

I would like you to try running it within a small team for commissioning by importing this Workflow to "Questetra BPM Suite", a Workflow platform for Free

[Planning-Approval flow]

The last time, I published a case of cooperation with "Corporate Identification Number System" (Web-API).

◇2015-12-07: Brush-up on Customer Master Data by "Corporate Identification Number System Web-API"

This Business Process is a mechanism to automatically check if "the Names of Businesses in connection have changed" or not every week. It is automatically started at six o'clock in every Sunday morning. Human beings can detect naturally something to be corrected has occurred in "Customer Master (XML)".

However, it is on the assumption that "all the company has a Corporate Number". That is, it makes inquiry about all the companies listed one by one toward the "Web-API system". In reality, there exist trade partners who do not have Corporate Number. (Sole traders, foreign companies, etc.)

In the following Business Process Definition, it tolerate the presence of dummy number of "9999999999999" (13-digit 9) in the "Customer Master".

That is, it is the rule that to register "13-digit 9" for the business partners like overseas clients that do not have a Corporate Number. In addition, it is devised to make request for 10 instances at one time, toward "Web-API system".

[Automatic check of Trade-name Registration in Customer Master #2]

"Company name (trade name) will be changed."
"Transaction company will be changed for a group restructuring."

You may have often received "Name change notification letters" from suppliers. However, it is really insecure to carry out maintenance on"Customer Master data", only relying on such a letter.

Since December 1st, 2015, the Japanese government has started running a "Web-API function" for the "Corporate Number system".

If the application side has obtained the "Corporate Number of business partners" (13-digit number), it is possible to refer the registration information such as the business name and location of the customer, at any time. In addition, it is now able to detect change information (processing segment), such as the "Name Change", "Merger", "Company dissolution".

The following workflow definition is a mechanism to automatically detect "Name changes", utilizing this "Web-API function".

Here, we assume that the "Business Partner Master" (Business-Connection. xml) is present on the Workflow platform. In other words, trade names that are registered in the "Business Partner Master" will be confirmed if it is as the same as the information registered in government. It is set to be automatically run every Sunday morning.

[Automatic check of Trade-name Registration in Customer Master]

Japanese people are fond of "life insurance".

Despite the population of approximately 100 million people, 40-50 trillion JPY money is paid for insurance every year. That calculates the total of 400,000 JPY per person a year.

There may be various reasons for being fond of insurance, such as

The risk of family will be serious when the wage-earner dies, because of mostly wives are full-time housewives. (There are fewer working-couples in Japan.)
Insurance companies also make social contributions, such as being major shareholders of companies and constructing buildings.
First of all, national characteristic is strongly savings-oriented.

Whereas, it is also in consideration of the existence of Tax incentives which is

Income tax and personal residence tax will be reduced. (Up to 240,000 JPY per year)

That is, in Japan, under the thoughts of "More people should buy insurances", there is a system that "You've got a benefit of cashback for buying insurances of up to 240,000 JPY worth. 32,000 JPY at the maximum* will come back to you!". (* In the case of income tax rate 20% and personal residence tax 10%)

Income tax refund of "up to 120,000 JPY deduction × tax rate"
Residence tax reduction of "maximum 84,000 JPY deduction × tax rate"

In fact, there are many cases that buying insurances in accordance with the "maximum amount of deduction".

However, you must make application at each year-end to receive this benefit. That is the one which is indicated as "Insurance premium deduction" among two of year-end-adjustment document to submit.

A) Application for Deduction for Insurance Premiums for Employment Income Earner and Application for Special Exemption for Spouse of Employment Income Earner for 2015
B) Application for (Change in) Exemption for Dependents of Employment Income Earner for 2016

The following Workflow is a mechanism for auto-generation of this "Application form PDF". You work hard on it once, and it will relieve you from working since the next year by data copy (Start in reusing data).

[Year-end-adjustment-Insurance premium Deduction]

There is a "seasonal tradition" in firms in Japan, so-called "Year-end Adjustment", an application for Tax deduction. Employees of a firm are required to fill "family Dependant circumstance" and "situation of personal insurance", etc. into application form, to get a refund of the difference between "amount of withholding" and "income tax to pay". 50 million wage earners in all over Japan would fill in the form document, then stamp a seal, and submit to their firm.

Incidentally, there is a rule that companies collect Income and Local tax on behalf of the government in Japan, which is referred to Tax Withholding Obligation in Income Tax Act.

Eventually, these paper documents won't be delivered to a Taxation office or the National Tax Agency. For the companies, it doesn't matter the rule of "submission in paper", as far as "correct information" could be obtained. However, they must comply with the obligation of storing data for 7 years. As a matter of course, many of the companies have the feeling of "wasting of resources, such as paper, printer, labor of transcription and postage, etc..."

Well, one of these form documents will change its format this year.

As you know at a glance, Individual Number has been added. You may recognize that this document will be upgraded to "Specific Personal Information" from "Personal Information"... (I guess I will need a secure locker...)