Introduction
When a governance process gets rejected, the requester might be left with one question: why? Without a clear explanation, they will reach out to the approver, wait for a response, and only then fix the issue and resubmit. And all of that could have been avoided with a short note from the approver.
For MDG change requests in classic mode, rejection reasons have been available for a long time. This feature is now also coming to master data processes on SAP Master Data Governance on S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and is planned for SAP Master Data Governance on S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition 2025 FPS2, cloud-ready mode.
How it works
When an approver clicks “Reject” or “Send for Revision” from My Inbox-App, a dialog appears asking for a reason. The dialog has two parts:
- Free text note: the approver needs to write a detailed explanation. This note is added to the process and is visible to the requester.
- Rejection reasons: if configured, the approver can pick from a drop-down list of rejection reasons. These are defined per process template, so different processes can have different sets of reasons.
If rejection reasons are configured for a process template, both fields become mandatory. There is no way to reject a process without providing at least some explanation. This makes the approval workflow more transparent and cuts down on back-and-forth between approvers and requesters.
Where can you see the rejection reason?
After a process is rejected, the rejection reason appears directly in the process header. The requester does not have to search for it. The free text note is also stored as a process note and can be reviewed at any time.
The rejection reason is also available as a filter option in all process apps, which makes it easier to spot patterns in data quality issues or submission problems.
And it’s also visible for withdrawn and deleted processes:
How to configure rejection reasons
Rejection reasons are configured per process template. For SAP Master Data Governance on S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition this can be done via a Self-Service Configuration UI. (SSCUI > Database and Data Management > Master Data Governance > Define Process Rejection Reasons)
If no rejection reasons are configured for a process template, the drop-down is not shown. When rejection reasons are configured for a process template, the same dialog also appears when a user tries to delete an active, not yet completed process.
Are you planning to use rejection reasons in your master data processes? We’d love to hear what you think. Share your experience or questions in the comments below!
Availability
- SAP Master Data Governance on S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition
- Planned for SAP Master Data Governance on S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition 2025 FPS2, cloud-ready mode
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Further Links and Resources
- SAP Customer Influence Portal – SAP Master Data Governance on SAP S/4HANA – Submit new ideas or vote on existing requests to shape the MDG roadmap.
- SAP Learning – SAP Master Data Governance on SAP S/4HANA – Learning content covering MDG strategy, domains and processes related to MDG central governance, consolidation and mass processing end-to-end.
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