UAT (B): Automate execution of supplier cost updates with necessary approval workflow - not approved items are not exported to ERP

Key Roles

Cost administrators and potentially Pricing managers are the ones usually targeted by this use case. To understand why this use case is important, you should know what a cost administrator does.

A cost administrator is responsible for managing and monitoring the costs associated with a company's operations. This includes analyzing expenses, identifying areas where costs can be reduced, and developing strategies to increase efficiency and profitability. They may also be involved in budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting.

Scenario

In Pricefx, Price Setting ➡️ cost administrators can calculate and verify in real time and at significant speed the prices for products to make sure that they are in line with the company goals and strategy. Moreover, they can automate cost updates and streamline workflows.

In this use case, as a Cost Administrator, you want to automate the execution of supplier cost updates with necessary approval workflow, then have only the approved items exported to ERP.

To make sure that your user story is viable and can be correctly implemented, you need to clearly define the acceptance criteria used for testing the use case. In this situation, the acceptance criteria is:

☑️ Dashboards display correctly

☑️ All Items in the LPG are submitted

☑️ Selected items in the LPG are approved

☑️ Only approved items were exported to the ERP system

Once you are familiar with what UAT entails, you can proceed and test your scenario. Keep in mind that this is a sample UAT script and that in most cases, acceptance test are highly tailored to the customer and their needs. This is why it is paramount that in the Preparation Sprints you take the time to clearly design your user stories, you make sure that all the data uploaded is of good quality and that the person assigned to test is familiar with the user story and Pricefx.

Sample UAT

Below, is a sample UAT for Price Setting ➡️ LPG. You will notice that this is an end to end test, meaning a reliable way to guarantee that the application performs as expected and seamlessly handles data flow and mimics real-life scenarios error free. It also means that it encompasses several user stories that make up the use cases utilized to design the testing scenario in question.

Scenario details

The scenario we are looking at here is:

The Cost Administrator wants to verify that supplier cost update leads to automatic update of all relevant prices with necessary approval workflow. Upon approval we are looking at the possibility to have only selected items that have been approved exported to ERP.

The expected result here is that the LPG accurately reflects the changes, is easily approved, and it is seamlessly exported to ERP.

User Acceptance Test Script: Price Setting - Automate execution of cost updates with necessary approval workflow and export approved list only to ERP

Dependency

1. Access to the partition

Pre - condition:

Ensure access to the Pricefx application as a Cost Administrator by checking that you have the right permissions.

Test steps

Change cost in ERP and import to Pricefx

1. Login to Pricefx as a Cost Administrator

Action: Enter valid credentials and click on the Login button. 

2. Open Dashboard - Supplier Cost Alerting with the correct filtering of LPG and verify not approved statuses are correctly displayed in Cost Grid Approval Status

Action: Navigate to Supplier Cost Alerting and browse unapproved item in Cost Grid Approval status

3. Check Home page "My ToDo List" - and verify COST MGT review new supplier cost data is correctly displayed

Action: Navigate to the homepage >my ToDo list > visualize COST MGT data

Click on Number of Items in COST MGT review new supplier cost data and verify LPG is correctly displayed

4. Change View Preferences to Best View - Summary - All Products

Action: Navigate to Settings (cogwheel) and select view preferences

Click on Best View - Summary - All Products

5. Check that Product and Contextual information are correctly displayed in the LPG

Action: Navigate to the home button :options: > Price Setting> Live Price Grids

6. Select several items in the LPG and Submit them. Be sure some Items were not submitted in this step

Action: Go to the Live Price Grid and select a sample of items to test and submit for approval

7. Verify items selected in the LPG in step 6 are submitted but not approved

Action: Scroll to the end of the item table and check for the paper plane icon. This means that the item has been submitted.

8. Login to Pricefx as a Pricing Manager and display the correct LPG

Action: Enter valid credentials and click on the Login button. 

9. Approve some of the items submitted in LPG in this test. Make sure some items remain submitted but not approved

Action: Approve items one by one clicking the paper plane icon. When approved, the icon will change into a check mark.

10. Check that all approved items were correctly exported to ERP but unapproved ones were not changed in ERP

 Expected Results

Step 2 - Expected Result: Supplier Cost Alerting Dashboard is correctly displayed. 

Step 3 - Expected Result: COST MGT review new supplier cost data line is correctly displayed on the Home page.

Step 5 - Product and Contextual information are correctly displayed in the LPG.

 Step 7 - Expected Result: Selected Items in the LPG are submitted successfully.

Step 9 - Expected Result: Selected items in the LPG are approved.

Step 10 - Expected Result: Just approved items were exported to the ERP system.

Validation

If the test was performed correctly and the application behaved as expected, the UAT is considered successful and validated as PASS.

If during testing there were errors, mistakes in data, or the application did not meet the expected results and criteria, then the test is considered as FAIL.

In latter situation, a comprehensive list of bugs and errors should be submitted for fixes and re-testing. Depending on the reported issues, the time until re-testing is possible may vary.

Bugs and errors

Any deviations or failures in the expected results should be reported as defects for further investigation and resolution.

Considerations

Some acceptance tests will take a few days, so make sure that you allocate the right amount of time as recommended. In this situation, the recommended man days is 5.

Remember that a designated person who is familiar with the user story and the acceptance criteria and is capable to identify errors should test.

Challenges and how to avoid them

UAT testing is a bit different from other QA activities because it involves not only tech specialists but also actual end users. It is important to involve QA professionals, business analysts, the project manager, and the development team to ensure a smooth process.

During UAT activities, just like any other stage of the development cycle, you might encounter some challenges. But do not worry, here are some ideas to help you stay prepared:

• If poor planning is the issue, make sure to allocate enough time for UAT to avoid incomplete results.

• Get the right testing environment otherwise a wrong environment can cause an array of issues. The UAT environment should be different from the one used for functional testing.

• Inappropriate tester selection is another hurdle. Choose testers from the specific group that represents the main target audience of the feature/ scenario you are testing.

• Ensure that testers receive proper training before conducting UAT to maximize its effectiveness as lack of training can hinder effective testing.

• Inefficient communication can be detrimental to the acceptance test. Establish a seamless communication process between teams to prevent gaps, misunderstandings, and delays. 

By keeping these challenges and our guidelines in mind, you'll be able to carry out efficient and productive user acceptance testing.