Using Open Item Accounting

This chapter provides an overview of open item accounting and discusses how to:

Set up an open item prompt table.
Enter and process open item transactions.
Reconcile and close open item balances.

Understanding Open Item Accounting

Open item accounting in Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise General Ledger enables you to define, control, and maintain subledger detail for selected balance sheet accounts used in open item transactions. You can track these open item transactions until they are resolved and the balance of the open item account is zero. A common example of open item accounting is the tracking of employee draw account transactions. This section lists prerequisites and discusses:

Open item accounting in General Ledger.
Common open item terminology.
Open item prompt tables.
Reconciliation and closing of open item balances.

Prerequisites

Before you can use open item accounting you must:

Identify open item accounts.
Specify an open item ledger.

Defining a Detail Ledger

Open Item Accounting in General Ledger

Use General Ledger open item accounting to:

Create one or more open item accounts to track numerous open items.
Reconcile open item balances either by using the Open Item page or by using the PS/GL Open Item Reconciliation (GLPPOITM) process.
Display open item balances for each open item account online in the Open Item Status page.
Generate reports on each open item’s status and transaction detail.

Common Open Item Terminology

These terms are common to open item accounting in General Ledger:

Open Item Account	A ChartField account, normally balance sheet accounts, used for open item accounting, such as Employee Advances.
Open Item Key	The identifying or search key for open items in an open item account. For an employee advances account, the Open Item Key field typically is the employee ID or social security number. This implies that any journal entry that posts to the employee advances account also carries an employee ID in the Open Item Key field. This search key is required by the system.
Open Item	Each transaction that affects an open item account remains an open item until the balance of all transactions with a given open item key equals zero. For example, the first open item in the employee advances account is the issuance of an advance. payment against the initial advance become open items until a final payment brings the balance for a given employee ID to zero. When that transaction is posted, all open items for the employee ID are closed.
Closed Item	Transactions for an open item key become closed items when the balance of the open item key transactions equals zero.
Tolerance Amount	Indicates that General Ledger should close transactions in which open items do not sum up to zero, provided the open item balance falls within this specified tolerance amount. This only applies to open items you reconcile manually (online). The system does not apply a tolerance amount for open items reconciled through background (batch) processing.

Open Item Prompt Tables

You can add an Open Item Prompt Table to perform an online lookup of valid open item keys.

The prompt table is a SQL view that you create by selecting two fields from the Open Item Edit Record, as defined with the Open Item Account, in PeopleTools Application Designer. The two fields are:

The Open Item Edit Field that you must rename to OPEN_ITEM_KEY in your new SQL view.
A description field that is informational only.

Note. Before performing modifications, complete the PeopleTools classes to learn to use the PeopleTools Application Designer and its associated database tools. Completion of the PeopleCode and SQL/SQR classes is recommended.

See Also

Enterprise PeopleTools PeopleBook: PeopleSoft Application Designer

Reconciliation and Closing of Open Item Balances

You can reconcile and close open item balances using one of the following methods:

When you leave the Skip Open Item Reconciliation check box on the User Preferences - General Ledger page blank and post your open item transaction online, the transactions are reconciled and closed during the posting process.
When you do not select the Skip Open Item Reconciliation check box on the Request Posting - Run Journal Post page, the transactions are reconciled and closed during the posting process.
When you access the Reconcile Open Items - Open Item Recon (reconciliation) page and run the PS/GL Open Item Reconciliation process as a background (batch) process.
When you access the Update Open Items - Open Item page, you can select, reconcile, and close open item transactions manually.

This option is normally used for open items with balances that do not equal zero. The entries you close must still balance or meet the reconciliation tolerance amount.

Setting Up an Open Item Prompt Table

This section describes how to create an open item prompt table.

Creating an Open Item Prompt Table

To create an Open Item Prompt Table:

Create a new record using the Application Designer.
Change the record type to SQL View.
Insert OPEN_ITEM_KEY field into the record.

Make it a key, search key, and list box item.
Insert a DESCR or NAME field to the record.

Make it an alternate search key and list box item.

Enter the View text:

select [open item edit field], [description or name field]
from [open item edit record]

Save the View.
Use Build menu option to create the view.

Access the Account page for the open item account and enter the SQL view name in the Prompt Table field for this account.

See Also

Enterprise PeopleTools PeopleBook: PeopleSoft Application Designer

Entering and Processing Open Item Transactions

This section discusses how to:

Create open item transactions.
Process open item transactions.

Use the Create Journal Entries menu option to enter and process open item transactions. Edit and post the transactions online or use the Process Posting option on the Process Journals menu.

Note. You cannot use open items with accounts that are value-added tax (VAT) enabled.

See Also

Creating Journal Entries

Understanding Journal Processing

Pages Used to Enter and Process Open Item Transactions

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Journal Entry - Header	JOURNAL_ENTRY1	General Ledger, Journals, Journal Entry, Create Journal Entries	Identity the Ledger Group that contains the Ledger used to track open items.
Journal Entry - Lines	JOURNAL_ENTRY2_IE	Journals, Journal Entry, Create Journal Entries	Create open item transactions by selecting the open item account and the open item key. You can also perform online editing and posting on this page.

Creating Open Item Transactions

Access the Create Journal Entries - Header page.

To create open item transactions:

Select the ledger group that contains the open item ledger.
Access the Journal Entry - Lines page.
On line 1 enter or select the open item transaction parameters including the open item account, the amount, and the open item key.
Add line 2 of the transaction.
Save the transaction.

Note. If you did not enter or if you entered an incorrect open item key, a message appears when you add another line or attempt to save the transaction. Also, an open item account cannot be VAT enabled. If you have an existing open item account that is VAT enabled, access the account in Define ChartFields, Define Values - ChartField Values and remove the check mark from the Open Item Account check box, or change this account from a VAT Account to a Non-VAT Related account.

Processing Open Item Transactions

You can edit or post open item transactions online or in batches.

Note. If you select the Post Journal Process on the Creating Journal Entries - Lines page, the system checks the User Preferences - General Ledger page and uses the value specified for the Skip Open Item Reconciliation flag. If the check box is selected, the Open Item Reconciliation process is bypassed during the posting process and the open items are posted but not reconciled. However, if you run the Journal Post process (GLPPPOST) from the Journal Post - Request page, you must select the Skip Open Item Reconciliation field on the page.

See Also

Posting Journals

Reconciling and Closing Open Item Balances

This section describes how to:

Use the PS/GL open item reconciliation process (GLPPOITM).
Use the manual open item reconciliation and close process.
Review reconciled open items.

Pages Used to Enter Open Item Transactions

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Process Reconciliation - Open Item Recon	GL_OI_RECON_REQ	General Ledger, Open Items, Process Reconciliation	Close open items automatically. The items that remain open appear on the Open Item and the Open Item status pages after the posting process. You must reconcile these remaining open items manually.
Open Item Maintenance	GL_OPEN_ITEM_SUM	General Ledger, Open Items, Maintenance, Open Item Maintenance	Review, at the summary level, a list of open item balances and associated ChartFields that you can reconcile or reopen.
Open Item Transaction	GL_OPEN_ITEM_DET	General Ledger, Open Items, Maintenance, Open Item Maintenance page. Select and click an open item key number to access the Open Item Transaction page.	Review open item transaction details to that you can reconcile individually, change the open item key name, and reopen an item.
Review Status Online - Review Open Item Status	GL_OPEN_ITEM_SUM	General Ledger, Open Items, Review Status Online - Review Open Item Status	Review status of open items. You cannot reconcile, reopen any items, or edit the open item key.
Open Item Detail	GL_OPEN_ITEM_DET	General Ledger, Open Items, Review Status Online, Review Open Item Status. Click the Open Item Key number link to access the transaction detail.	Review status of open item transaction details. You cannot reconcile, reopen any items, or edit the open item key.

Using the PS/GL Open Item Reconciliation Process (GLPPOITM)

Access the Process Reconciliation - Open Item Recon page.

To reconcile and close open items using the PS/GL Open Item Reconciliation process:

Enter the run parameters.
Run the PS/GL Open Item Reconciliation process.

Note. The system uses Reconciliation Tolerance amounts solely for manual reconciliation. The PS/GL Open Item Reconciliation process only closes open item transactions with a zero balance.

Using the Manual Open Item Reconciliation and Close Process

Access the Open Item Maintenance page.

This Maintenance option enables you to:

Enter open item criteria.
Reconcile and close open items at the summary level.
Reconcile and close open items at the detail level.
Reconcile and close multiple currency rows with the same Open Item Key.
Reopen reconciled and closed items.

Entering Open Item Criteria

Enter the criteria to list your open item balances. In the Inquire field, select open, closed, or both to display the status of Open Item Balances at the summary level.

Note. If you do not know the open item key or want to select all open items for the ChartFields you specify, leave the Open Item Key field blank and the system selects all open items.

Reconciling and Closing Open Items at the Summary Level

Click Reconcile to reconcile and close open item balances at the summary level.

If the summary rows net to a zero balance or meet your tolerance amount test, the system closes all open item detail lines contained within the selected summary rows and issues reconcile numbers and dates closed values for the selected rows and their detail lines.

Note. To reconcile multiple summary rows simultaneously, all the summary rows must have the same open item key and ChartField values

Two Read-Only Fields

Selected	Displays the total of all of the selected Open Item Balances rows. This total changes each time you select another row.
Total	Displays the open item balance total of all the rows on the page.

Note. Tolerance amounts are used solely for manual reconciliation. The background process closes only open item transactions that have a zero balance.

Reconciling and Closing Open Items at the Detail Level

You can close detail lines as a group or you can select specific detail lines to close for an open item key. The total balance of the detail lines you want to close must have a zero sum balance or fall within the reconcile tolerance amount specified when you set up your open item accounts.

To reconcile and close detail lines as a group:

Click the Open Item Key field to display the open item transaction detail lines.
If the open item key has more than one transaction detail line, you can select each of the lines and reconcile them as a group.

If all the detail lines have a sum balance of zero or meet the tolerance amount, the system closes all open items for that key and issues a reconcile number for all detail lines. The reconcile number identifies the reconciled open item, distinguishing it from all other closed items. The system also assigns a closed date value to all detail lines, which is the most recent journal date among the detail lines of the open item key.

To reconcile and close selected detail lines, select the specific detail lines that you want to close and click Reconcile.

The system closes only the selected open items and assigns these lines the same reconcile number and date closed value. When you close the remaining detail lines, the system assigns them a new reconcile number and date closed value. Both reconcile numbers and date closed values display on the corresponding summary row.

Note. You can make corrections to open item key values even after you have posted the journal because you are changing a key related specifically to the open item line and not to the journal line.

Reconciling and Closing Multiple Currency Rows with the Same Open Item Key

Two options are available when open item transactions within the same key value have different transaction currencies. If there are two currencies, there are two rows, and you can choose to reconcile individual currency separately, or use base currency amount to reconcile across currencies.

Reconcile Each Row Separately	The system closes each summary row individually and assigns a different reconcile number and date closed.
Reconcile Selected Rows As One	The system closes all the summary rows as a group, moving from one row to the next, and assigning all the selected rows the same reconcile number and date closed.

You can close multiple rows with different transaction currencies and the same open item key at the same time. The system groups open item lines for each currency as separate rows at the summary level. If all ChartFields are the same and the selected summary rows have either a zero sum balance or meet the reconcile tolerance amount, you can select and close these rows as a group.

Reopening Reconciled and Closed Items

You can reopen reconciled and closed items by:

Selecting the individual open item lines with the same reconcile number and clicking Re-Open.
Clicking Select All and then Re-Open to reopen all the lines.

Reviewing Reconciled Open Items

Access the Review Status Online - Open Item Status page.

Where you can:

Review open item balances or review closed open item transactions.
Search by Chartfield values, open item keys, reconciliation number, or document sequence number.
Change the Inquire option to Closed to display reconciled items.
Specify Closed From and Closed To date range.

If you do not specify these dates, the system uses the current system date.
Use the Reconcile Nbr (number) field to search for all reconciled open items closed by this reconcile number.