Overview of Oracle Personal Time and Expense (Oracle Projects Help)


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Overview of Oracle Personal Time and Expense

Note: You need to install Oracle Personal Time and Expense separately from the Oracle Projects product.

Oracle Personal Time and Expense (PTE) is a Windows-based application that lets you collect timecard and expense report information without having to connect to the Oracle Projects production database. You collect labor and expense information in a local (PC-based) database and then submit it to Oracle Projects.

PTE is designed for two kinds of users, non-networked and networked. The non-networked user works in the field and is not connected to your network and its databases. The networked user works in the office and is connected to a network, but not necessarily to the Oracle Projects production database. The location of project, task, and expenditure type values determine which type of user you are; labor and expense data are stored locally for both types of users.

Both types of users can select project, task, and expenditure type values from a lookups database, or they can enter values directly into these fields. This lookups database can reside on the PC or a network-based SQL Server. For non-networked users, the lookups database resides on a PC; for networked users, the lookups database is a SQL server somewhere on the network. The system administrator or the non-networked user keeps the lookups database current by downloading valid lookup data from the Oracle Projects production database, or some other database, such as a subset of the production database.

You submit timecards and expense reports to the Oracle Projects production database by initiating an upload session in PTE. This session interfaces with the standard Oracle Projects Transaction Import Process.

PTE creates timecard and expense report records in Transaction Import as uncosted transactions with the following transaction sources:

PTE TIME - Timesheets

PTE EXPENSE - Expense Reports

Oracle Projects checks your timecard and expense report data for validity (based on transaction controls in Oracle Projects and PTE extensions you have written), and notifies you of whether it is accepted or rejected. If accepted, the Transaction Import Process creates expenditure records in Oracle Projects. (These records may or may not require review and approval, depending on how you implement PTE.)

If the data is rejected, the timecard or expense report is marked in PTE as Rejected. You can modify the rejected data and resubmit it. PTE automatically initiates the upload session when the you select the Submit button, and then terminates it when the process is complete. Both Oracle Personal Time and Expense and Oracle Projects validate expenditures during the submission process. For a list of the reasons Oracle Personal Time and Expense may reject an expenditure, see: Oracle Personal Time and Expense Help. For a list of reasons Oracle Projects may reject an expenditure, see: Expenditure Item Validation.

Neither non-networked nor networked users have permanent connections to the Oracle Projects production database. Both users enter timecard and expense report information stored in a local database on the PC, and both submit this information to Oracle Projects when necessary. The non-networked user must download lookup information as necessary to their local lookups database. The networked user, however, must have their lookups database updated periodically by the system administrator.

PTE contains a report function which allows users to print copies of their timecards or expense reports. PTE users can do this in a local mode of operation without having to connect to a server. This capability is both convenient for the user and offloads report generation from the Oracle Projects production server.

Overview of Oracle Personal Time and Expense

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