Oracleâ 11i Receivables Implementation Primer

 

Overview

 

The implementation of Oracle 11i Receivables does not have to be riddled with showstopper issues and numerous open TARs.  With a little forward thinking, organization, and preparation, your project can roll out successfully.  With any Oracle 11i Receivables implementation, it is pretty much a foregone conclusion that issues will occur; but the good news is these issues occur for just about every Receivables project, are well documented, and are easily corrected.

Introduction

 

This article will focus on the top ten Oracle 11i Receivables implementation and testing issues, and will provide the steps to take to correct them before opening an Oracle TAR.

 

1.         Define Item Validation Organization Parameter

 

Oracle Receivables shares some common functionality with Oracle Order Management

 

The Item Validation Organization parameter must indicate the operating unit that can be used for processing orders and returns if certain order / line attributes are not entered.  Even if you are not using Order Management or do not have a multi-organization configuration, this parameter must be defined for Oracle Receivables to function correctly as it impacts tax configuration.

 

Using the navigation path Oracle Order Management > Order Management Super User > Setup >

Parameters, select Item Validation Organization from the list of values (LOV) and save.

 

Figure 1 shows the resulting error message.

 

Figure 1:  FRM-40735 upon Form Save

 

This is a classic error message throughout an Oracle 11i Receivables implementation.  Improper configuration of this parameter impacts item selection in the transaction workbench and tax configuration, to name a couple. 

 

Before opening an Oracle MetaLink TAR, perform the following steps, in order:

 

  1. Confirm you have selected the correct Item Validation Organization from the LOV for your operating unit.
  2. Recompile the AR schema; repeat until the error record count drops.
  3. Using ADADMIN, recompile all AR, JTF, and ONT forms and libraries.
  4. Manually recompile the Item Validation Parameter form and its associated PLS file.
  5. Relink the ONT and FND forms; relink the AR and FND forms.
  6. Execute synonyms.
  7. Re-test.
  8. If it still fails, open a SEV 2 ESC TAR, as this is a showstopper for your Receivables implementation.
  9. Oracle Support will respond by asking you to run the AR Diagnostics Patch.  If you have not installed this patch, do not waste your time, as it is not an easy install, has many prerequisites, and impacts both your technology stack and OA framework. Instead, ask Oracle Support to provide the SQL scripts that collect the same data as the Diagnostics utility.

 

2.         Define AutoAccounting

 

You want to take advantage of AutoAccounting and enter a constant value for one or more of your organizations chart of accounts.  Upon save, an error as shown in Figure 2 appears.

 

Believe it or not, the most likely cause for this issue is that the accounting flexfield segments sequence numbers are defined as 10, 20, 30, 40, etc., instead of 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.

 

Figure 2:  AutoAccounting Error Message

 

Before opening a MetaLink TAR, perform the following steps, in order:

 

  1. Using the navigation path Oracle System Administrator > Application > Flexfields > Key > Segments, query your accounting flexfield structure.
  2. Change the segment numbers to one digit sequential numbers.
  3. Save. Freeze and re-compile the flexfield structure.
  4. Re-test.
  5. If it still fails, open a SEV 2 TAR, as this is not a showstopper for your Receivables implementation but definitely an inconvenience.
  6. Oracle Support will respond by asking you about your setup, i.e., item validation parameter, system options, etc.

3.         Define Customers

 

Using the navigation path Oracle Receivables > Receivables Manager > Customer > Standard, open the form. 

 

Figure 3 displays the result, which is another classic error message and one of my favorites because even seasoned Oracle consultants, myself included, usually forget to do both steps necessary to prevent this error from occurring.

 

Figure 3:  FRM-40735 upon Open Form

 

Before opening a MetaLink TAR, perform the following steps, in order:

 

  1. Recompile the Location Flexfield Structure in the System Options window. Yup, this is a key flexfield issue.

Using the navigation path Oracle Receivables > Receivables Manager > Setup > System > System Options > Tax tab, go to the Location Flexfield Structure.

Remember when you defined your Sales Territory Flexfield, the default “State.County.City” populated the field and if that is what you are using, you accepted it. 

The secret is to de-select, and then re-select the value from the LOV, and then save this form.  Doing so kicks off five concurrent programs called “Flexfield PL/SQL Pre-Processors.” Ensure your concurrent manager is running and ensure these programs all complete successfully.

  1. Next, re-compile the Sales Tax Location Flexfield in the Key Flexfield Segments window. 

Using the navigation path Oracle Receivables > Receivables Manager > Setup > Financials > Flexfields > Key > Segments, query the Sales Tax Location flexfield. Unfreeze, save, re-freeze, and compile. This kicks off two concurrent programs called “Flexfield View Generator.”  Ensure your concurrent manager is running and ensure these programs all complete successfully.

  1. Re-test.
  2. If it still fails, open a SEV 2 ESC TAR, as this is a showstopper for your Receivables implementation.
  3. Oracle Support will respond by asking you to run the AR Diagnostics Patch.  If you have not installed this patch, do not waste your time, as it is not an easy install, has many pre-requisites, and impacts both your technology stack and OA framework. Instead ask Oracle Support to provide the SQL scripts that collect the same data as the Diagnostics utility.

 

 

4.   Tax Forms (Authorities, Locations, Sales Tax Rates, Exemptions, Exceptions)

 

So you have jumped ahead and did not read the first step, which was to define the Item Validation Organization Parameter.  Now you have a tax form issue as shown in Figure 4.  Guess what, even though the error message tells you to re-compile your Sales Tax Location flexfield both as a KFF and System Option, (and it’s not a bad idea), what you really need to do is go back to the first tip and ensure your Order Management configuration is completed.  Tax forms depend on this step, and you cannot open any of the tax forms until it is properly defined.

 

Figure 4:  AR-11254 Error upon Open Form

 

Before opening a MetaLink TAR, perform the following steps, in order:

 

  1. Using the navigation path Oracle Order Management > Order Management Super User > Setup > Parameters, ensure you have defined and saved the Item Validation Organization Parameter.
  2. Next, recompile the Location Flexfield Structure in the System Options window. Yup, this is a key flexfield issue.

Using the navigation path Oracle Receivables > Receivables Manager > Setup > System > System Options > Tax tab, go to the Location Flexfield Structure.

Remember when you defined your Sales Territory Flexfield, the default “State.County.City” populated the field and if that is what you are using, you accepted it. 

The secret is to de-select, and then re-select the value from the LOV, and then save this form.  Doing so kicks off five concurrent programs called “Flexfield PL/SQL Pre-Processors.” Ensure your concurrent manager is running and ensure these programs all complete successfully.

  1. Next, re-compile the Sales Tax Location Flexfield in the Key Flexfield Segments window. 

Using the navigation path Oracle Receivables > Receivables Manager > Setup > Financials > Flexfield > Key > Segments, query the Sales Tax Location flexfield. Unfreeze, save, re-freeze, and compile. This kicks off two concurrent programs called “Flexfield View Generator.” Ensure your concurrent manager is running and ensure these programs all complete successfully.

  1. Re-test.
  2. If it still fails, open a SEV 2 ESC TAR, as this is a showstopper for your Receivables implementation.
  3. Oracle Support will respond by asking you to run the AR Diagnostics Patch.  If you have not installed this patch, do not waste your time, as it is not an easy install, has many pre-requisites, and impacts both your technology stack and OA framework. Instead ask Oracle Support to provide the SQL scripts that collect the same data as the Diagnostics utility.

 

5.         Create Transactions

 

Once customers and customer sites are created and their relationships defined, it’s time to start creating transactions.  Unfortunately, your customer bill-to location is not defaulting when you select a customer nor does the bill-to location LOV contain any values.

 

This is another quirky example of contradictions Oracle Receivables introduces.  All customers, regardless of whether you will be billing them for goods and services sold and shipped, must have a primary bill-to location defined.

 

Before opening a MetaLink TAR, perform the following steps, in order:

 

  1. Using the navigation path Oracle Receivables > Receivables Manager > Customers > Standard, query the customer you were attempting to create a transaction for.
  2. Navigate to the Business Purposes tab and note the usage setup.  Does the customer have a primary, active bill-to usage and location defined?  If not, check the primary checkbox.

Note: If your customer has multiple sites, only one site can be the primary bill-to site.  All other sites you should mark as active but not primary.  During transaction creation, these sites will be available to select from the LOV.

  1. Re-test.
  2. If it still fails, open a SEV 2 TAR, as this is not a showstopper for your Receivables implementation but definitely an inconvenience.
  3. Oracle Support will respond by asking you to run the AR Diagnostics Patch.  If you have not installed this patch, do not waste your time, as it is not an easy install, has many pre-requisites, and impacts both your technology stack and OA framework. Instead, ask Oracle Support to provide the SQL scripts that collect the same data as the Diagnostics utility.

 

6.         Create Transaction Line Items

                               

Now that the Bill-to and Ship-to business purposes primary and active checkboxes have been enabled for each customer and/or customer site, you are ready to proceed with invoice creation.  Unfortunately another problem surfaces as shown in Figure 5.

 

This error has occurred because you have enabled AutoAccounting using the site G/L accounts to derive the receivables, tax, or revenue segment information, but you forget to define the default accounts at the customer site level.

 

Figure 5:  Transaction Workbench AutoAccounting Error

 

Before opening a MetaLink TAR, perform the following steps, in order:

 

  1. Using the navigation path Oracle Receivables > Receivables Manager > Customers > Standard, query the customer you were attempting to create a transaction for.
  2. Navigate to the Business Purposes tab and open the Bill-to usage. Navigate to the Accounts tab and enter receivable, revenue, and tax code combinations. Save.

Note: If your customer has multiple sites, repeat for every site.

  1. Re-test.
  2. If it still fails, open a SEV 2 TAR, as this is not a showstopper for your Receivables implementation but definitely an inconvenience.
  3. Oracle Support will respond by asking you to run the AR Diagnostics Patch.  If you have not installed this patch, do not waste your time, as it is not an easy install, has many pre-requisites, and impacts both your technology stack and OA framework. Instead ask Oracle Support to provide the SQL scripts that collect the same data as the Diagnostics utility.

7.         Complete Transactions

 

Congratulations, you have created and saved your first transaction.  Having read the Oracle 11i Receivables User Guide, you know you need to complete the transaction if you want to print it, post it, or have it appear on your aging reports.  You click the Complete button.  Nothing happens, but the message at the bottom of your window said one record saved and completed.  But, wait a minute, should not the Complete checkbox in the upper-right corner of the transaction workbench window be checked and should not the Complete button now be the Incomplete button.  You click again, and click again, and still the message tells you one record saved and completed.  Oops. 

 

This is a tricky issue that requires your Oracle Database Administrator involvement.  The transaction workbench form and its associated libraries require re-compiling.

 

Before opening an Oracle MetaLink TAR, perform the following steps, in order:

 

  1. Recompile the AR schema; repeat until the error record count drops.
  2. Using ADADMIN, recompile all AR, and JTF forms and libraries.
  3. Manually recompile the transaction workbench form (ARXTWMAI) and its associated PLS file.
  4. Relink the AR and FND forms.
  5. Execute synonyms.
  6. Re-test.
  1. If it still fails, open a SEV 2 ESC TAR, as this is a showstopper for your Receivables implementation.
  2. Oracle Support will respond by asking you to run the AR Diagnostics Patch.  If you have not installed this patch, do not waste your time, as it is not an easy install, has many pre-requisites, and impacts both your technology stack and OA framework. Instead ask Oracle Support to provide the SQL scripts that collect the same data as the Diagnostics utility.

 

Tip:        This solution will also resolve two other classic issues: creating and completing Credit Memos and selecting items or descriptions (standard memo lines) during invoice creation.

 

8.         Interface to General Ledger

 

Transactions are entered, receipts applied, you are ready to post to the General Ledger.  Using the navigation path, you submit the General Ledger Transfer process and click on View > Requests to monitor the concurrent manager.  Shortly thereafter, the program completes with error, as shown in Figure 6, and the first stage in the request set Revenue Recognition completes with warning.  What happened?  A quick glance at the log file tells little but does include a cryptic error message.  Like any good Oracle user, you type the error message into MetaLink’s search engine, which quickly returns with a solution.  The print option for the Revenue Recognition concurrent program is enabled, which causes the General Ledger Transfer process to fail.

 

Figure 6:  Concurrent Manager View Requests

 

Before opening a MetaLink TAR, perform the following steps, in order:

 

  1. Using the navigation path Oracle System Administrator > Concurrent > Programs > Define, query the concurrent program “Revenue Recognition.” Scroll down to the one that has ARBARL_NON_SRS as its shortname.
  2. Disable the print option and save.
  3. Re-test.
  4. If it still fails, open a SEV 2 ESC TAR, as this is a showstopper for your Receivables implementation.
  5. Oracle Support will respond by asking you for concurrent program version information, which you can find by using the UNIX command grep to find the report header.

 

9.         Print Invoices

 

The next logical step in using Oracle 11i Receivables is printing customer invoices.  You navigate to the Invoices sub-function, enter the concurrent program parameter information, and submit the request.  Using the View > Requests menu, you watch your concurrent program complete successfully and even view the output on screen.  You go to the printer where a pile of blank paper greets you.  Not what you were expecting. 

 

This is another tricky issue that is easily resolved with the help of your Oracle System Administrator.

 

Before opening a MetaLink TAR, perform the following steps, in order:

 

  1. Using the navigation path Oracle System Administrator > Concurrent > Programs > Define, query the executable “Transaction Print.” Five concurrent programs use this executable.

  2. For each validate, the print style is Invoice Print and the print option is enabled.

 

  1. Next, still within the Oracle System Administrator responsibility, navigate to Install > Printer > Register.  Query the name of the printer you will be using to print invoices, and document its associated printer type.

 

  1. Next, still within the Oracle System Administrator responsibility, navigate to Install > Printer > Type. Query the type of printer identified in step 3. Insert a new record, selecting from the list of values INVOICE as the printer style and the landscape driver for your printer. Save.

 

  1. Re-test.

 

  1. If it still fails, open a SEV 2 ESC TAR, as this is a showstopper for your Receivables implementation.

 

  1. Oracle Support will respond by asking you to run the AR Diagnostics Patch.  If you have not installed this patch, do not waste your time, as it is not an easy install, has many pre-requisites and impacts both your technology stack and OA framework. Instead ask Oracle Support to provide the SQL scripts that collect the same data as the Diagnostics utility.

 

Tip:        If you want to suppress the header page from printing, set the default value for Number of Alignment page to zero.  This is a concurrent program parameter for each of the concurrent programs that use the executable “transaction print.”

10.       Dunning Letters

 

Custom Dunning Letters are easy to define, right?  So why, then, does your Dunning Letter not print the customer’s invoice information?   All the rest of the verbiage you entered is there as shown in Figure 7.

 

Figure 7:  Dunning Letter

 

Dunning Letters come pre-seeded with bind variables for invoices and collector information.  The invoices will print on the Dunning Letter if you create a message line with the text “&INVOICE.”

 

Tip:        Case is very important and must be UPPER.

 

Before opening a MetaLink TAR, perform the following steps, in order:

 

  1. Using the navigation path Oracle Receivables > Receivables Manager > Setup > Print Documents > Dunning Letters, query your custom letter.
  2. Position your cursor on the message line where you want invoices to print.  Enter &INVOICE. Save.
  3. Re-test.
  4. If it still fails, open a SEV 2 TAR, as this is not a showstopper for your Receivables implementation but definitely an inconvenience.
  5. Oracle Support will respond by asking you about your setup, i.e., item validation parameter, system options, etc.

Conclusion

And there you have it.  The top ten issues Oracle customers encountered when first implementing and testing Oracle 11i Receivables.  As you have read, most are easily resolved with very little assistance from Oracle Support or your technical team.  And following the steps at the time of implementation rather than waiting to encounter the issue can avert many.

 

This white paper originally was published in ORAtips.