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New Features in Oracle Projects Release 11

In Release 11, Oracle Projects provides the following new features:

New Windows

Review Transactions Window

The Review Transactions window enables you to query and update transactions that were rejected during Transaction Import. You can query transactions by transaction source or expenditure batch name, and Oracle Projects displays details of the matching transactions. After you make corrections, you can resubmit the Transaction Import process from the Review Transactions window.

You can also use this window to enter new transactions into the interface table for testing purposes.

See: Resolving Import Exceptions.

Billing Cycles Window

Use the Billing Cycles window to specify the billing cycle name, type, value, effective dates, and a description of the billing cycle. You define billing cycles to fulfill your business needs, and then assign a billing cycle to each project. The billing cycle uses your billing definition to derive the next billing date for the project.

See: Enhanced Billing Cycle.

Mass Update Batches Window

Use the Mass Update Batches window to change the organization of multiple projects and tasks. The Mass Update window performs the following functions:

You can also run the update as a concurrent program by submitting a request to run the PRC: Process Mass Update Batches process.

This window was added to support the organization flexibility and reorganization support feature.

See: Mass Update Batches and Organization Flexibility and Reorganization Support.

PTE Employee Assignment to Operating Unit Window

If you intend to use Oracle Personal Time and Expense and have implemented multi-organization support in Oracle Projects, use the PTE Employee Assignment to Operating Unit window to populate and maintain the assignment of each employee to an operating unit in the PA_PTE_MORG_EMP_TAB table. The values in this table determine the operating unit in which the employee's time and expenses are collected. You must perform this step before users can submit PTE expenditures.

See: Setting Up PTE for Multi-Organization Support.

Dimensions Window

Use the Dimensions Window to enable or disable the standard dimensions predefined by Oracle Projects for Oracle Applications Data Warehouse integration. After you enable or disable a dimension, choose Regenerate Views to recreate the views used for the interface table collection process.

This window was added to support Oracle Project Analysis Collection Pack.

See: Disabling a Standard Dimension and Oracle Project Analysis Collection Pack.

New Reports

Project Subledger Audit Reports

The Project Subledger Audit Reports print cost distribution lines related to projects. The reports enable you to drill down from a GL account balance in the trial balance to the individual project-related transactions. The Project Subledger Audit Reports include the following reports:

See: Project Subledger Audit Reports.

Summarization Period Exception Report

This feature was included in Oracle Projects Release 10SC Production 16.1 and is documented in Release 11.

When you change the current reporting period, Oracle Projects displays a warning message indicating if the change would affect the summary amounts reported on any projects. This report lists projects that will be affected by a change in the reporting period for which project summary amounts should be created, updated, or refreshed.

See: Summarization Period Exceptions and Setting the PA Reporting Period.

Integration with Other Oracle Applications

Oracle Payables Account Generation Enhancements

Oracle Payables now uses the workflow-based Account Generator instead of FlexBuilder to generate the GL accounts for project-related transactions.

In addition, Oracle Payables passes the descriptive flexfield values from the invoice header and the invoice distributions to the Account Generator. You can use these values in your account generation rules.

See: Using the Account Generator in Oracle Projects.

Oracle Manufacturing Integration

Oracle Projects integrates with Oracle Manufacturing to provide Oracle Project Manufacturing, a solution for companies that manufacture products using projects or contracts.

You set up the work breakdown structure (WBS) for a manufacturing project in Oracle Projects. All manufacturing costs are tracked by project and task in your manufacturing system and then imported to Oracle Projects.

See: Project Manufacturing.

Oracle Inventory Integration

You can now issue inventory transactions (issues and receipts) from Oracle Inventory to projects in Oracle Projects. You can order and receive items into inventory before assigning them to a project. You can then assign them to a project as they are taken out of inventory.

See: Inventory Integration.

Oracle Workflow Integration

Oracle Projects includes Oracle Workflow functionality. You can enable workflow for the following activities:

You decide which projects or budgets need to be routed through Oracle Workflow, set up the approval chain, and define the business rules that must be met before the transaction can be approved.

You can initiate project and budget approval in an external system via Activity Management Gateway (AMG) or via the standard Oracle Projects windows. You can customize project and budget approval workflow rules using client extensions.

See: Project Status Change Workflow and Budget Workflow.

Oracle Project Analysis Collection Pack

Oracle Project Analysis Collection Pack provides out-of-the-box integration with Oracle Applications Data Warehouse. This integration enables you to perform multidimensional analysis of project information across projects and organizations. The following features are provided:

See: Overview of Oracle Project Analysis Collection Pack.

Integration with non-Oracle Applications

Oracle Project Connect (for Microsoft Project)

Oracle Project Connect provides integration with Microsoft Project using the Activity Management Gateway. This integration enables you to share information between the Oracle Projects and Microsoft Project. You can perform the following activities using this integration:

(This feature is also available with Oracle Projects Release 10SC Production 16.1.)

See: Integration with Microsoft Project and Oracle Project Connect User's Guide (for Microsoft Project).

Other Enhancements

Project Status Controls

You can now better control the status of each project during its life cycle.

When you define a project status, you specify which functions in Oracle Projects are allowed for that status. You can control the following functions:

When you change the project status of a project, Oracle Projects uses project verification rules to enforce company-specific business rules that must be met before the change is allowed. With each status change, you can also initiate workflow.

See: Project Statuses, Project Verification Extension and Workflow Integration.

Project and Budget Verification Rules

Before you change the status of a project or a budget, Oracle Projects uses verification rule client extensions to confirm that required conditions have been met. For budgets, Oracle Projects applies different verification rules depending on whether the budget is being submitted or baselined. You can customize the extensions to apply verification rules specific to your company's business.

See: Project Verification Extension and Budget Verification Extension.

Organization Flexibility and Reorganization Support

Oracle Projects provides the flexibility to accommodate company reorganizations. You can change your original organization hierarchy and optionally place effective dates on multiple versions of the hierarchy. Oracle Projects also supports changes to project and task organizations after transactions have been entered for the project or task.

Oracle Projects now uses new organization classifications, along with organization hierarchies, to specify which organizations are allowed to:

You also specify the default reporting hierarchy, and the organization hierarchy to be used for burdening. In prior releases, Oracle Projects used a single organization hierarchy. An organization type was used to specify the functions that an organization could perform.

See: Organizations in Oracle Projects or Mass Update Batches or Case Study: Organization Change in Fremont Corporation.

Multiple Expenditure Type Classes Per Expenditure Type

You can assign multiple expenditure type classes (previously called "system linkages") to each expenditure type. In previous releases, you assigned only one expenditure type class to each expenditure type.

This feature allows you to use a single expenditure type to classify as many different costs as you require. For example, an expenditure with the expenditure type Materials can have the expenditure type class Supplier Invoice if it originated in Oracle Payables, and the expenditure type class Inventory if it originated in Oracle Inventory. This example is illustrated below:

Expenditure Type Module Where Expenditure Originated Expenditure Type Class
Materials Oracle Payables Supplier Invoice
Materials Oracle Inventory Inventory
Table 1 - 1. Example of Multiple Expenditure Type Classes for One Expenditure Type

With this enhancement, it is no longer necessary to create separate expenditure types for expenditures that have different origins (and possibly different accounting), but which should otherwise be grouped together for costing, budgeting, or summarization purposes.

See: Expenditure Types.

New Expenditure Type Classes

Collecting miscellaneous costs in Oracle Projects has been simplified with the addition of the following new expenditure type classes:

Miscellaneous transactions track miscellaneous project costs. This expenditure type class is similar to the Usages expenditure type class, but does not require a non-labor resource or a non-labor resource organization. When you use the Miscellaneous Transaction expenditure type class to collect miscellaneous costs, you do not need to define any non-labor resources or non-labor resource organizations.

Burden transactions track burden costs that are calculated in an external system or that are calculated on a project set up to track burden costs as separate, summarized burden transactions. Such costs are created as separate expenditure items that have burdened cost amounts, but have quantities and raw costs of zero. You can interface these costs to Oracle General Ledger and treat them as you would any other transaction in Oracle Projects that you can adjust and capitalize, and for which you can accrue revenue and generate invoices.

Work In Process transactions track manufacturing resource costs that are interfaced from Oracle Manufacturing for Project Manufacturing integration. You can also use this expenditure type class when you import other manufacturing costs via Transaction Import.

Inventory transactions track manufacturing material costs that are interfaced from Oracle Manufacturing and inventory issues and receipts from Oracle Inventory. You can also use this expenditure type class when you import other manufacturing costs via Transaction Import.

You can collect costs with these expenditure type classes via Transaction Import or pre-approved batch entry. If you integrate Oracle Projects with Oracle Manufacturing or Oracle Inventory, use the function security feature to prevent users from entering pre-approved expenditures with an expenditure type class of Work in Process and Inventory.

Oracle Projects provides AutoAccounting functions for each of these expenditure type classes to enable you to define appropriate rules for the cost and revenue accounts.

See: Expenditure Type Classes.

Enhanced Transaction Import

The Transaction Import enhancements enable you to import a broader range of transactions that are processed in external systems or converted from legacy systems. The enhancements include the following options, which you can control by transaction source:

In addition, you can query and update transactions that were rejected during the Transaction Import process using the Review Transactions window. After you make corrections, you can resubmit the process from this window.

See: Using Transaction Import and Resolving Import Exceptions.

Expenditure Enhancements

Oracle Projects now allows you to perform the following actions to expenditures:

Burden Cost Accounting and Display Options

Oracle Projects now provides the ability to post burden amounts by burden cost code, such as fringe or overhead, to separate GL accounts. Burden cost components are summarized into separate expenditure items using the new Burden Transactions expenditure type class.

You can choose to store burden cost amounts as:

You specify which method to use by project type.

See: Accounting for Burden Costs by Burden Cost Component.

Enhanced Billing Cycle

You can configure your billing cycle to comply with your company's billing practices. You can set up multiple billing cycle codes, and then select the appropriate billing cycle for each project. You can define billing cycles that last a set number of days, bill on a set day of the month, bill on the first Monday of the month, and so on.

Oracle Projects provides a new billing cycle client extension that you can use to derive the next billing date for a project based on a variety of factors, including day of the month, day of the week, and a user-defined billing cycle duration. See: Billing Cycle Extension.

See: Billing Cycles.

Cost-to-Cost Revenue Accrual: Change Budget Type

You can now specify which cost budget type you want to use as input to the cost-to-cost revenue calculation. For example, you may want to use the forecast cost budget instead of the approved cost budget. You specify the cost budget type for cost-to-cost revenue calculation when you define the cost-to-cost billing extension.

See: Billing Extensions and Revenue Generation Process.

Percent Complete Revenue Accrual and Invoice Generation

You can enter the percent complete value that will drive the revenue accrual or draft invoice calculation. You can enter percent complete values manually in Oracle Projects or interface them from project management systems. Oracle Projects supports percent complete revenue and invoicing at the funding level. You use the billing extension to implement this feature.

See: Revenue Accrual and Invoice Generation Based on Percent Complete.

Cost Accrual in Revenue Generation

With Cost Accrual, you charge all costs to a cost WIP account and accrue costs when you generate revenue. Oracle Projects provides a case study to illustrate how to implement this feature.

See: Revenue-Based Cost Accrual.

Changes to Billing Extensions

The following changes have been made to the Billing Extensions:

See: Billing Extensions.

Automatic Invoice Approve/Release Extension

Use this extension to include automatic approval and invoice release in the Generate Draft Invoice process.

See: Automatic Invoice Approve/Release Extension.

AR Transaction Type Extension

Use this extension to determine the AR transaction type when you run the Transfer Invoices to Oracle Receivables process.

See: AR Transaction Type Extension.

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 can define 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 need, and associate them with a primary set of books.

Typically, you use MRC in the following situations:

Oracle Projects supports MRC for all accounted amounts in:

Oracle Projects provides two additional responsibilities related to MRC. If you log into Oracle Projects using either of these responsibilities, you will not have access to all of the standard Oracle Projects windows, functions, reports, and processes. In addition, you must perform certain actions separately in your primary and reporting currencies.

See: Multiple Reporting Currencies in Oracle Applications.

Ability to Set the PA Reporting Period to a Prior Period

This feature was included in Oracle Projects Release 10SC Production 16.1 and is documented in Release 11.

You can set the PA reporting period to a period earlier than the current PA reporting period. You should do this carefully and typically only if you have incorrectly advanced the reporting period. Setting the PA reporting to a prior period may result in a large volume of additional processing if the change requires you to refresh the project summary amounts for most of your projects.

When you set the PA reporting period to an earlier period, the system checks to see if any projects have been summarized through a PA period later than the new PA reporting period. If so, Oracle Projects displays a message indicating that you need to run the Refresh Project Summary Amounts process. You have the option to cancel or proceed with the change.

See: Setting the PA Reporting Period and Summarization Period Exceptions.

Multi-Byte Support

Oracle Projects now supports multi-byte character sets to support implementation in foreign languages.

Descriptive Flexfields on Setup Entities

Oracle Projects had added descriptive flexfields to many setup entities to facilitate the configuration of your implementation data for reporting and AutoAccounting. You can use these descriptive flexfield attributes to store values used in AutoAccounting instead of maintaining lookup sets for the entries. These entities include:

New AutoAccounting Parameters

Oracle Projects has added a new parameter for expenditure ID to the following AutoAccounting functions:

Oracle Projects has added a new parameter for event number to the following AutoAccounting function:

You can use the new event parameters to read various attributes about an event by defining an AutoAccounting SQL rule using the following example:

SELECT ...
FROM pa_events e
WHERE e.project_id=:1
AND nvl(e.task_id,-1)=nvl(:2,-1)
AND e.event_num=:3

The example above uses the following rule parameters:

1. Project ID
2. Event Task ID
3. Event Number

Miscellaneous Enhancements

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