ERP user acceptance testing, or UAT, asks whether business users can complete the agreed work with the system being delivered. A screen opening successfully is not enough: an order may look correct while its inventory movement or approval status is wrong.
Use UAT to connect the agreed requirements with observable business outcomes. It complements development testing; it does not replace checks for security, performance or technical defects.
Agree on scope and decision owners
List the workflows included in this release, the departments involved and the people who can approve them. Identify prerequisites such as configured roles, representative test data and working integrations. Keep excluded functions visible so that an unplanned feature request is not confused with a defect.
Business owners should define acceptable outcomes with the delivery team. Developers can support the tests, but should not be the only people deciding whether daily work is usable.
Write scenarios with measurable expected results
For each scenario, record the starting data, user role, steps, expected result, actual result and supporting evidence. Include transaction references so that a failure can be reproduced without relying on a screenshot alone.
Illustrative scenario: an order contains ten units, six are shipped and four remain open. The expected result should specify the shipment record, remaining quantity, stock movement and the applicable approval or invoicing rule. Do not assume that every company invoices partial shipments in the same way.
Cover exceptions and role boundaries
- Missing or invalid product information.
- A duplicate request or a retry after an interrupted connection.
- A cancellation after part of the workflow has completed.
- An ordinary user trying to perform an approval reserved for a manager.
- A correction that must preserve the history of the original action.
Use a controlled test environment and approved test data. Keep test transactions away from live fulfilment or customer notifications unless a specific supervised production check has been agreed.
Record defects separately from new requirements
A defect report should identify the expected behaviour, the observed difference, business impact and reproduction steps. Agree on severity using consequences for the operation, rather than how visually noticeable the issue is. Assign an owner and retest date.
After a fix, repeat the failed scenario and relevant connected steps. A corrected shipment calculation, for example, may also require checking the related inventory view and remaining order quantity.
Make the release decision explicit
Define blocking issues before testing starts. Keep unresolved items, workarounds, responsible owners and planned dates in the decision record. A successful demonstration is not a substitute for completed scenarios and an authorized sign-off.
Also confirm who will support users after launch and how they will report an issue. If a critical workflow remains unproven, narrow the release or postpone that part rather than treating a signature as evidence that it works.
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