New Features in Oracle Assets Release 11.0.0.0
Physical Inventory
You can now enter physical inventory information, such as data from a bar code reader or a laptop device, into Oracle Assets through an open interface. You can run the Physical Inventory Comparison Report to determine how this information compares with the asset information in the database. To reconcile any discrepancies generated on the exceptions report, you can add assets that were found during the physical inventory check but that are missing from the production system. You can also transfer assets that are recorded at the wrong location, retire assets that cannot be found, and reinstate assets that were retired incorrectly.
See: Physical Inventory.
What-if Depreciation
You can now perform what-if depreciation analysis to optimize your asset management. You use what-if depreciation analysis to simulate multiple depreciation scenarios using different combinations of depreciation criteria, for example, methods, asset lives, and prorate conventions. You can select assets using various selection criteria, such as range of assets numbers, asset category, and asset description. You can also analyze the effects of expensing versus amortizing a change to an asset's depreciation information. You can view the results of your what-if analysis in the What-If Depreciation Analysis Report. You can use this feature to effectively project depreciation on your existing assets before performing a mass change operation to change the depreciation rules or use this feature to choose the best depreciation strategy for assets not yet added in the system.
See: Forecasting Depreciation Using Hypothetical Parameters.
Fixed Assets Desktop Integrator
The Fixed Assets Desktop Integrator (FADI) provides an easy interface facilitating the flow of data from the desktop to the Oracle Assets system. Currently FADI supports interfaces to upload mass additions and physical inventory data from a Microsoft Excel file. The following wizards are now in production:
Mass Additions Wizard
This feature allows you to load asset data into the FA_MASS_ADDITIONS interface in Oracle Assets. This is particularly useful in the conversion of data from legacy asset systems into Oracle Assets. This feature may also be used to bridge Oracle Assets with a third party Payables application.
Physical Inventory Wizard
This feature allows you to load raw physical inventory data into the FA_INV_INTERFACE table in Oracle Assets. You can then use the standard physical inventory functionality described in the Physical Inventory section to perform reconciliations between the raw data you loaded with the information in the Oracle Assets production system.
Multiple Reporting Currencies
The Multiple Reporting Currencies (MRC) feature allows you to report and maintain accounting records at the transaction level, in more than one functional currency. You do this by defining one or more reporting sets of books, in addition to your primary set of books. In your reporting sets of books, you maintain records in a functional currency other than your primary functional currency. You can set up as many reporting sets of books as you decide are necessary and associate them with a primary set of books.
Typically, you use MRC in the following situations:
- You operate in a country with an unstable currency and you need to concurrently report your business in a hard currency.
- Your company is multinational, and you need to report financial information in a common functional currency other than that of the transaction or your primary functional currency.
- You operate in a country that is part of the European Monetary Union (EMU), and you want to concurrently report in Euro in preparation for the single European currency.
See: Multiple Reporting Currencies in Oracle Applications.
Dated Adjustments
You can now set up your amortized adjustments to have a retroactive start date by changing the default amortization start date (usually the system date) to a date in a previous period. Any adjustment amount missed since the amortization start date is taken in the current period.
See: Amortized Adjustments Using a Retroactive Start Date .
Lease Amortization Schedule
You can view the principal and interest portions of the minimum lease payments in the new lease amortization schedule.
See: Create an Amortization Schedule.
Asset Warranties
You can define and track descriptive information on manufacturer and vendor warranties in Oracle Assets using the Asset Warranties window. You can then assign assets to these previously defined warranties using the Asset Details window. You can assign any number of assets to the same warranty.
See: Defining Asset Warranties.
Depreciating Assets Beyond the Useful Life
You can depreciate the salvage value of an asset following the asset's useful life, which was specified when the asset was added. You can set up salvage value depreciation for the asset over a specified number of years. The number of years you select determines the rate at which the salvage value of the asset depreciates.
See: Depreciating Assets Beyond the Useful Life.
Mass Retirements Enhancement
The criteria available to select assets for mass retirement has been expanded to include fully reserved assets and asset cost range. The Asset Type now includes Expensed Assets.
See: Retiring Assets.
View Financial Information Window
You can now view the remaining life of an asset in the Financial Inquiry window and the Asset Workbench.
Assignments Window
You can now view the unit of measure, if one has been defined, in the Assignments window.
