OracleAppsBlog

A day in the life of an Oracle Applications Consultant

Chart of Accounts

Saturday, August 21, 2004

The Strategic Enterprise Planning Solution (STEPS) at the University of Alabama

This post contains a review of the the Strategic Enterprise Planning Solution (STEPS) site which documents an Oracle ERP implementation undertaken at the University of Alabama.

I was rather pleased to stumble across the Strategic Planning and Enterprise Solutions (STEPS) site at the University of Alabama (UAB) the other day. It has loads of documentation and information pertaining to an implementation they are undergoing in the areas of Oracle Financials and Human Resource Management System (HRMS).

According to their site: -

UAB’s vision for a new administrative computing system at UAB has reached a major milestone with the implementation of Oracle Human Resources (HR) applications on January 20, 2004. The Finance implementation has been delayed to October 2004. By exploring these pages, you will gain knowledge about the STEPS Project and the new Oracle system.

Oracle HR

According to this section of the site: -

A suite of Oracle HR modules are being implemented for the management of all UAB personnel. The advantage of the new system is the creation of an integrated information environment, and improvement in the quality of human resources data, thereby providing better HR services to individuals.

Data currently viewed in the Human Resource System (HURS) will be found using the ACT form (screen) in Oracle. Several paper processes will be replaced with new electronic processes, such as new hire appointments, salary reclassifications, and effort reporting.

Specific features of the new system include a web-based self-service environment for all employees and an electronic administrative processing environment for staff to conduct day-to-day business. Also, seven-digit employee numbers will replace social security numbers as a means of identifying UAB employees.

HR modules to be implemented as part of the STEPS project are:

• Core Human Resources Management
• Advanced Benefits
• Payroll and Time and Labor
• Labor Distribution and Effort Reporting

This area of the site also discusses self service and you can download a copy of the new HR Organizational Hierarchy codes.

Oracle Finance

According to this section of the site: -

UAB is preparing to replace its existing financial accounting system (EFS) with the Oracle Financials suite of applications to create an integrated information environment that is web based and flexible to handle future growth. With the implementation of the Oracle system, UAB will have a new Oracle General Ledger accounting structure and a new Oracle Grants accounting structure.

Data currently viewed in FAS will be found in Oracle and transactions currently processed using EFS will be processed using Oracle. What are currently called “account numbers” in FAS will be referred to as “account strings” in Oracle and the format of these account strings differs from the current account numbers. Prior to implementation, a “cross-walk table” will be provided matching FAS account numbers to Oracle account strings where possible. Also, the object codes will change from a four-digit to a seven-digit number. The new Oracle object codes can be viewed from this site.

Finance modules to implemented as part of the STEPS project are:

• General Ledger
• Purchasing
• Accounts Payable
• Grants/Plant Accounting
• Accounts Receivable (for Sponsored Projects only)

This section of the site has a variety of documents and presentations you can download that relate to the new Oracle General Ledger accounting structure and Oracle Grants accounting structure. Briefly stated, the new chart of accounts will contain six segments as follows: -

• Account - Identifies primary activity for which money is being spent (7 digits) 
• SubAccount - An account can be broken down to track one or more activities, tasks, time periods, or allocations (3 digits)
• Balancing - Indicates the level at which UAB chooses to carry a balance sheet, whether for internal or external purposes (9 digits)
• Organization - Identifies the organizational unit with which has primary fiscal responsibility for the Account String (9 digits)
• Future - Reserved to meet future requirements (4 digits)
• Object Code - Categorizes the nature of the dollars as a specific type of revenue, expense, asset, etc. (7 digits)

The new Grants Accounting segment structure is as follows: -

• Project – The work performed (6 digits)
• Task – Further breakdown of work performed under project (5 digits)
• Award – Funding source (7 digits)
• Organization – Type of string, and University vs Hospital (2 digits)
• Expenditure Type – Similar to GL Object Code (7 numeric digits plus description - 30 maximum segment length)

Oracle Training

Under this section of the site you will find course descriptions, online course manuals and online simulation courses (training videos). Online course manuals are available for the following modules: -

• Finance
• Navigation
• ACT (Appoint, Change and Terminate)
• TEL(Time, Entry and Labour)
• Self Service

The online simulations are quite good for those who are just starting to earn Oracle Applications. The following simulations are available: -

• Oracle Navigation
• Human Resources
 
• Appoint, Change, Terminate (ACT)
• Workflow Approvals
• View HR Data
• TEL (Time, Entry and Labour)
• Self Service

End User Readiness

Here you will find the specifications for a Desktop PC which needs to run Oracle Applications. There is also a Go-Live Checklist which is designed to ensure that users are prepared for utilising Oracle Applications.

Oracle Access

Here you will find a listing of End User responsibilities for Oracle HRMS at the University. For each responsibility a summary of access areas is documented. If a user does not have access to the system the appropriate forms are made available to apply for access.

Oracle Workflow

Here you will find a workflow presentation given at a STEPS workflow officer meeting.

Lastly, you should also consider visiting the Universities IT department.

Friday, August 20, 2004

Oracle ERP implementation - the Douglas Omaha Enterprise Resource System 〈DOERS〉

This post contains a review of the Douglas Omaha Enterprise Resource System (DOERS) site and highlights useful documentation which can be downloaded. 

Last week I came across a really good site documenting an Oracle ERP implementation at the City of Omaha which has been named the Douglas Omaha Enterprise Resource Systems (DOERS). According to their site and related documentation: -

The City of Omaha, Douglas County, and the Omaha Douglas Public Building Commission are participants in a joint implementation of Oracle HRMS application suite, a project called DOERS (Douglas Omaha Enterprise Resource System). The DOERS project is a phased implementation and Oracle HRMS is Phase 3 of the total project.Phase 2, which includes Inventory, Grants Management, Projects and Public Sector Budgeting, began in early 2002. Phase 1, involving the Oracle Core Financials, began in early 2001 and includes General Ledger, Receivables, Payables, Fixed Assets, Cash Management, Purchasing and iProcurement.

Following is a summary and analysis of key areas of the site: -

HRMS

According to this section of the site: -

The City/County DOERS project continues building an Oracle Solution to integrate HR, Payroll, and Benefit functions with the new Oracle Financial modules. This initiative falls under the DOERS project umbrella specifically called Phase 3. This Phase of the Oracle implementation also named HRMS for Oracle’s Human Resource Management System has been made significant progress. Douglas County and the Omaha Building Commission went live on version 11.5.5 in January of 2004. Due to the complexity of this phase and limited resource availability the Go Live date for the City has been pushed back.

Here you will find two very good documents to download, namely the RD.020 documents for Human Resources and Benefits. The RD.020 Current Business Requirements is an Oracle AIM (Applications Implementation Methodology) document which is designed to identify and document current business processes and requirements. This document often incorporates a questionairre and is completed during the Definition phase of a project.

Inquiry and Reports

Contains business forms, chart of accounts and end user documentation and training material for Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable and General Ledger.

Chart of Accounts

Here you can download the latest Chart of Accounts which is structured according to the following segments: -

• Funds
• Orgs
• Activities
• Assets
• Liabilities
• Fund Balance
• Expense
• Revenues

Current Practices

Here you will find the RD.020 documents for the various modules implemented in each phase of the project.

Future Processes

Contains the RD.030 documents for the following future processes: -

• Payables
• Purchasing
• General Ledger
• Fixed Assets
• Accounts Receivable
• Grants and Projects

The RD.030 document is an Oracle AIM document which is used to establish a process and mapping summary for your organisation. It is normally completed within the Operations Analysis phase of the project lifecycle. In this task, you create the repository for key project findings and decisions that occur during the process and functional requirements gathering activities.

Friday, July 23, 2004

Oracle Financials R11.5.9 at Stanford University

Recently I came across the Oracle Financials site at Stanford University. This post contains a review of the various sections of the site.

The Oracle Financials Site at Stanford University is an excellent resource for anyone interested in learning and reading about Oracle Financials implementations. Being a University, the site gives you a good idea of how Oracle E-Business Suite can be implemented in a Higher Education Institute. It’s also interesting to note that Stanford has recently upgraded to the latest version of Oracle E-Business Suite, namely R11.5.9. You can read about Stanfords Upgrade from 11.5.8 to 11.5.9 here. The Oracle Financials System site is categorised in to the following sections: -

• Learning Centre
• Chart of Accounts
According to this page: -

The Chart of Accounts is the underlying structure for organizing financial information at Stanford. Stanford adopted a new Chart of Accounts along with the new Oracle Financials system in 2003. News and general information about the Chart of Accounts and associated issues may be found here.

In the news item "What is the Chart of Accounts" the University explains: -

The Chart of Accounts is the set of codes used to classify and record financial transactions in meaningful ways. These codes enable Stanford to: -

• identify specific “pots” of money; 
• specify what that money may be used for; and 
• record the transactions related to that money

By fulfilling the above functions, the Chart of Accounts also: -

• facilitates financial reporting;
• provides a framework for understanding the financial results of Stanford’s operations; and
• controls how financial transactions and balances are collected and stored in the Oracle system

Under this news item you will also find the Universities Chart of Accounts Segment Structure as well as mapping tables and spreadsheets which outline how the legacy Chart of Accounts translates to the new structure.

 

• Authority
• Reporting
• iJournals
• Purchasing
• Reimbursements
• Labor Distribution
• PCards
• Sunflower

Thursday, July 08, 2004

The Financial Systems Project (FSP) - an Oracle Implementation and Upgrade

This post contains details of a Financials Systems Implementation and Upgrade that was undertaken at the University of Waterloo and contains links to the associated documentation.

The University of Waterloo undertook an Oracle Applications R10.5 Implementation in 1996 and Upgraded to R10.7 in1998. Although the implementation and upgrade was carried out some time ago I thought that the documentation provided on their site would still be useful to any potential implementors of Oracle Applications. According to their site: -

The May 1996 implementation of the Financial Systems Project (FSP) was motivated by the realization that UW’s Computer-based central accounting systems had many limitations and inefficiencies. Its mission has been: “To conduct a comprehensive review of financial processes leading to the development of an integrated, effective and efficient system for managing the financial affairs of the University”.

The December 1998 upgrade of the Financial System was motivated by the need to achieve year 2000 compliance within the application software.

The Financial System Project consists of the implementation of Oracle Government Financials (General Ledger, Accounts Payable and Purchasing modules) from ORACLE Corporation plus the custom extensions written to accomodate interfaces with other systems used on campus.

The Financial Systems Project site contains the following types of documentation: -

• Upgrade Project Summary
• Project Team Structure and Membership
• Architectural Diagram
• Information Security Policy and Standards
• ORACLE Government Financials Security
• Technical and Functional Documentation

Of particular interest to those involved in Chart of Accounts design will be the Accounting Flexfield Values portion of the site. Here the Chart of Accounts segments structure and associated values that populate the structure is outlined.

The Applications Technology “department” of the University should also be looked at. According to the site: -

“Applications Technology is responsible for the application software supporting the University’s information systems. This responsibility encompasses all aspects of the System Development Life Cycle; including business process and system analysis, design, acquisition, development, implementation, documentation, and ongoing maintenance. In particular, this includes responsibility for designing and evolving the corporate database. As systems move into production, this group cooperates with Client Services and Electronic Workplace to train users and provide them with access to systems, and with Production Support to commission systems and provide second-level support to ongoing production”.

On the Applications Technology site you will find details of ongoing projects at the University in the areas of Co-operative Education & Career Services (CECS), Financial Systems, Human Resources, Strategic Consulting and Student Information Systems.

I’m interested to know whether the University has upgraded to 11i. I’ve fired a mail their way to find this out and will update this post with any further information or documentation I obtain.

Friday, June 25, 2004

Oracle Apps Implementation Documentation for a University

This post contains details of implementation documentation for an Oracle Applications Implementation at the Queensland University of Technology. In particular, I will discuss the Chart of Accounts documentation available at the Universities web site.

The Queensland University of Technology has some very useful Business Forms, Procedure Manuals and Training Documentation at the Division of Finance and Resource Plannings site. In particular the Chart of Accounts documentation clearly illustrates the accounting flexfield structure and associated values that should be used in such types of organization as a University.

Another sample Chart of Accounts can also be downloaded from my personal site.