Procurement Testing

Overview

Systematically validate procurement workflows, skills, data extraction, compliance checking, and integration to ensure all procurement components work correctly. Covers unit testing patterns, integration testing, end-to-end workflow testing, data accuracy verification, and compliance rule validation for the procurement domain.

Announce at start: "I'm using the procurement-testing skill to validate procurement workflows, skills, and integrations."

When to Use This Skill

Trigger Conditions:

• Validating procurement workflow implementations before deployment
• Testing new procurement skills for correctness
• Verifying data extraction accuracy and provenance
• Validating compliance rules and audit trail functionality
• Integration testing between procurement services and UI components
• Regression testing after code changes

Prerequisites:

• Procurement components to be tested identified
• Test data available (sample orders, quotes, invoices, contracts)
• Expected outcomes defined for each test
• Testing environment configured

Step-by-Step Procedure

Step 1: Test Scope Definition

Define test scope based on changes or requirements:

Test Type	Scope	When to Use
Unit Test	Individual functions, validation rules, calculations	After code generation, before integration
Integration Test	Service interactions, API endpoints, data flow	After service deployment
Workflow Test	End-to-end procurement scenarios	Before release, after major changes
Data Accuracy Test	Data extraction, provenance, cross-references	After data pipeline changes
Compliance Test	Authority limits, audit trail, regulatory rules	Before audit, after rule changes
UI Test	Form submission, validation display, error handling	After UI changes, before release

Step 2: Test Data Preparation

Prepare test data covering positive, negative, and edge cases:

Test Order Data:

VALID_ORDER: {
  order_type: "PO",
  supplier: "approved_supplier_1",
  total_value: 50000,
  currency: "ZAR",
  budget_code: "WBS-01900-STR-01",
  line_items: [{item: "Steel W310", qty: 100, uom: "t", price: 18500}],
  incoterms: "DAP",
  delivery_date: "2026-07-15"
}

LOW_VALUE_ORDER: {
  order_type: "PO",
  total_value: 15000,  // Below $25k threshold
  workflow: "single_approval"
}

HIGH_VALUE_ORDER: {
  order_type: "PO",
  total_value: 250000,  // Above $100k threshold
  workflow: "multi_level_approval"
}

INVALID_ORDER_MISSING_FIELDS: {
  order_type: "PO",
  total_value: null,  // Missing required field
  expected: "validation_error"
}

INVALID_ORDER_OVER_BUDGET: {
  order_type: "PO",
  total_value: 150000,
  budget_code: "WBS-exhausted",  // Budget depleted
  expected: "budget_exceeded_error"
}

Test Approval Scenarios:

APPROVAL_<$25K: {value: 20000, expected_approvers: ["procurement_officer"]}
APPROVAL_$25K-$100K: {value: 50000, expected_approvers: ["procurement_manager", "project_manager"]}
APPROVAL_$100K: {value: 150000, expected_approvers: ["procurement_manager", "project_manager", "finance_manager", "director"]}
SELF_APPROVAL_BLOCKED: {value: 50000, created_by: "procurement_manager", expected: "approval_rerouted"}

Test Invoice Data:

VALID_INVOICE: {
  invoice_number: "INV-2026-001",
  po_reference: "PO-2026-0089",
  total_amount: 6290000,
  matches_po: true,
  expected: "pass_3way_match"
}

INVALID_INVOICE_AMOUNT: {
  invoice_number: "INV-2026-002",
  po_reference: "PO-2026-0089",
  total_amount: 6500000,  // Different from PO
  matches_po: false,
  expected: "fail_3way_match"
}

DUPLICATE_INVOICE: {
  invoice_number: "INV-2026-001",  // Same as processed invoice
  expected: "duplicate_detected"
}

Step 3: Workflow Testing

Execute end-to-end procurement workflow tests:

Test Scenario 1: Standard Order Creation

1. Submit requisition with valid data
2. Verify requisition stored with correct fields
3. Create PO from requisition
4. Verify PO fields match requisition
5. Submit for approval (<$25k)
6. Verify single approver assigned
7. Approve order
8. Verify status changed to "approved"
9. Issue PO to supplier
10. Verify PO sent and status updated
11. Record SO acknowledgment
12. Verify SO terms match PO
13. Record delivery and GRN
14. Process invoice
15. Verify 3-way match passed
16. Process payment
17. Verify order closed

Test Scenario 2: High-Value Order with Multi-Level Approval

1. Create PO with value >$100k
2. Verify 4-level approval chain configured
3. Obtain all approvals
4. Verify no approver approved own order
5. Process through delivery and payment

Test Scenario 3: Rejection and Rework

1. Submit order for approval
2. Reject with reason
3. Verify order returned to draft status
4. Correct issue and resubmit
5. Verify rejection reason logged in audit trail

Test Scenario 4: Compliance Boundary Testing

1. Attempt to order without budget allocation
2. Verify hard block enforced
3. Attempt to approve over authority limit
4. Verify approval rerouted or blocked
5. Attempt payment without GRN
6. Verify payment blocked

Step 4: Data Extraction Testing

Validate data extraction accuracy:

Test	Input	Expected Output	Pass Condition
PO Data Extraction	Sample PO PDF	Extracted JSON with all fields	All required fields extracted, accuracy >95%
Invoice Data Extraction	Sample invoice PDF	Extracted JSON with line items	All amounts match, PO reference captured
Quotation Data Extraction	Supplier quotation PDF	Extracted pricing, validity terms	All prices extracted correctly, validity date parsed
GRN Data Extraction	Delivery note	Quantities received, dates match	Quantities match delivery, timestamp extracted

Provenance Verification:

1. Verify every extracted value has source document reference
2. Verify source field mapping is correct
3. Verify extraction timestamp logged
4. Verify confidence score calculated

Step 5: Integration Testing

Validate integrations between procurement components:

Integration	Test	Expected Result
Order → Approval	Submit order for approval	Approval chain triggered, approver notified
Order → Budget	Create order with cost code	Budget allocated, remaining balance updated
PO → Invoice Reconciliation	Match invoice to PO	3-way match result correct
Contract → Order	Create order under contract	Order terms match contract, pricing correct
Supplier DB → Order	Select supplier for order	Supplier on approved list, tier verified
Audit Trail → All Actions	Execute workflow sequence	Every action logged with actor, timestamp, data

Step 6: Compliance Testing

Validate compliance enforcement:

Compliance Rule	Test Scenario	Expected Result
Authority Limits	Order at threshold boundary	Correct approver assigned
Budget Limits	Order at 105% of budget	Blocked with budget exceeded error
Approval Sequence	Attempt parallel approval	Sequential order enforced
Audit Trail	Complete workflow	All actions logged, no gaps
Immutability	Attempt to modify approved order	Modification blocked or requires re-approval
Segregation of Duties	User attempts to approve own order	Routed to different approver
Document Retention	Query historical records	Records accessible, complete

Step 7: Test Results Documentation

Document test results with pass/fail for each:

TEST RESULTS — [Test Suite Name]
Date: [YYYY-MM-DD]
Tester: [Agent/Person]

SUMMARY:
Total Tests: [N]
Passed: [N]
Failed: [N]
Skipped: [N]
Pass Rate: [X%]

FAILURE DETAILS:
| Test ID | Test Name | Expected | Actual | Root Cause |
|---------|-----------|----------|--------|------------|

REMEDIATION ACTIONS:
| Failure | Action Required | Responsible | Due Date |
|---------|----------------|-------------|----------|

Success Criteria

• Test scope defined covering all changed components
• Test data prepared covering positive, negative, and edge cases
• All workflow tests executed with expected results
• Data extraction accuracy >95% for all tested documents
• All integration tests pass (order → approval → budget → audit)
• All compliance rules enforced correctly (no bypass possible)
• Test results documented with pass/fail for each test
• Failures logged with root cause and remediation actions

Common Pitfalls

1. Testing Happy Path Only — Always test negative cases (missing data, over budget, unauthorized approval) and edge cases (threshold values, boundary conditions).
2. Using Production Data — Test data must be synthetic. Real orders contain sensitive pricing and supplier information.
3. Skipping Compliance Tests — Compliance rules are the most critical to test because failures create legal, financial, and regulatory risk.
4. No Regression Testing — After fixing one issue, always re-run the full test suite to ensure the fix didn't break something else.
5. Ignoring Timing Tests — Approval routing, workflow sequencing, and audit trail logging can fail under load. Test performance as well as correctness.

Cross-References

Related Skills

• procurement-order-management — Workflow testing for order creation
• procurement-compliance — Compliance rule testing
• procurement-data-extraction — Data extraction accuracy testing
• procurement-document-generation — Document generation testing
• contract-intelligence — Contract analysis validation
• testing-verification — General testing methodology

Related Agents

• Mobile Testing Specialist (DomainForge) — Mobile procurement testing
• Procurement Analytics Specialist (DomainForge) — Data accuracy validation
• QualityForge guardian — Quality assurance oversight, test strategy
• PromptForge Probe — Component testing execution

Example Usage

Scenario: Validate procurement order creation workflow before release

1. Scope: Order creation, approval routing, compliance checks
2. Test Data: 8 test orders (valid low value, valid high value, missing fields, over budget, self-approval attempt, expired quotation, duplicate, complex multi-line)
3. Workflow Tests: Full end-to-end for standard order, high-value order, rejected order
4. Compliance Tests: Authority limits, budget blocks, audit trail logging
5. Results: 47/47 tests passed (100%), no compliance bypasses found
6. Documentation: Full test results logged, signed off for release

Performance Metrics

Target Performance:

• Workflow test coverage: 100% of workflow paths tested
• Compliance test coverage: 100% of compliance rules verified enforced
• Data extraction accuracy: >95% across all document types
• Integration test pass rate: >98% of integration points working
• Test execution time: <5 minutes for unit tests, <30 minutes for full workflow suite