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Setup Overview

See: Setup Overview.

Define Locations (Required)

If you're also setting up other Oracle applications, you may already have defined locations when you set up those applications.

Define Freight Carriers (Optional)

Note: You must perform this step for each inventory organization.

If you're also setting up Oracle Inventory, you may already have defined freight carriers when you set up Inventory.

Define Categories

Defining categories involves the following tasks:

• Define category codes. See: Defining Categories. (Required)

• Define category sets. See: Defining Category Sets. (Required with defaults)

• Define default category sets. (Required with defaults) See: Defining Default Category Sets.

Note: Purchasing requires you to enforce a list of valid categories. Therefore, in the List of Valid Categories in the Category Sets window, you must list all categories that are eligible for that category set. In particular, make sure that the Default Category in the Category Sets window also appears in the List of Valid Categories.

Define Payment Terms (Optional)

If you're also setting up Oracle Payables, you may already have defined payment terms when you set up Payables.

Define Transaction Reasons (Optional)

If you're also setting up Oracle Inventory, you may already have defined transaction reasons when you set up Inventory.

Set Up Approval Workflow Option (Required with defaults)

Additional Setup Notes

If you want to define descriptive flexfields, do so last, after all the other setup steps. See: Oracle Applications Flexfields Guide.

Choosing Workflow Options

Send PO Autocreation to Background

Background and online modes affect your system performance in different ways. For more information on what background and online mean, see PO: Workflow Processing Mode in the section Profile Options in Purchasing.

Attention: Since this attribute is set to 'Y' by default--which means automatic document creation occurs in background mode--you must start the Workflow Background Process in the Submit Requests window in the System Administrator responsibility. As long as this attribute is set to 'Y,' you must start the Workflow Background Process. You can submit the process for all workflows or just for a particular workflow, in this case the PO Requisition Approval workflow. See: To Schedule Background Engines.

Note: A function activity in both the PO and Requisition Approval workflows, called "Get Workflow Approval Mode," sets the processing mode for the entire approval workflow in Purchasing, based on how the profile option PO: Workflow Processing Mode is set. While this function activity sets the processing mode for the entire approval workflow in Purchasing, the item attribute "Send PO Autocreation to Background" enables you to change the processing mode specifically for automatic document creation, regardless of how the profile option PO: Workflow Processing Mode is set. "Send PO Autocreation to Background" informs the function activity "Get AutoCreate PO Mode" whether "Launch Create PO Workflow" in the Main Requisition Approval Process should initiate automatic document creation in background or online modes.

See:

Approval Workflows

Profile Options in Purchasing

PO: Set Debug Concurrent ON

Caution: For performance reasons, it is very important that this profile option always be set to No, unless you are instructed otherwise by Oracle Corporation.

PO: Set Debug Workflow ON

Caution: For performance reasons, it is very important that this profile option always be set to No, unless you are instructed otherwise by Oracle Corporation.

See:

Using the Account Generator in Oracle Purchasing

The section "Using the Account Generator in Oracle Purchasing" currently lists eight Account Generator workflows (also called item types) that automatically build charge, budget, accrual, and variance accounts--four for purchase orders and releases, and four for requisitions.

However, to enhance the performance of the Account Generator in Purchasing whenever an account is generated on a purchase order or requisition, these eight item types were recently collapsed into two--one for purchase orders and releases, and one for requisitions:

• PO Account Generator

• PO Requisition Account Generator

Collapsing the eight item types into two has not changed anything else about how the Account Generator in Purchasing works as described currently in your documentation. However, it does change how the processes are organized within the two item types, and what you can and cannot customize.

The following sections show which parts of your documentation need to be updated accordingly.

See: Using the Account Generator in Oracle Purchasing

Decide How to Use the Account Generator

The Default Account Generator Processes for Oracle Purchasing

Evaluate whether the default Account Generator processes meet your accounting requirements. No setup steps are required to use the default. The default processes can also be updated later as your needs change.

Note: If you used FlexBuilder in Release 10 but did not customize the default configuration, you can use the default Account Generator process in Release 11, which gives you the same result as the default assignments in FlexBuilder.

Each Account Generator workflow is called an item type. Purchasing comes with the following Account Generator item types for purchase orders, releases, and requisitions:

• PO Account Generator (for purchase orders and releases)

• PO Requisition Account Generator (for requisitions)

• Generate Default Accounts

This process is the default workflow in Purchasing that builds the accounts.

• Generate Accounts Using FlexBuilder Rules

Viewing Account Generator Processes in the Workflow Builder

To open the PO Account Generator in the Oracle Workflow Builder, choose Open from the File menu and select PO Account Generator. To open the PO Requisition Account Generator in the Workflow Builder, choose Open from the File menu and select PO Requisition Account Generator. Explore how these item types break down in the Workflow Builder's Navigator.

Although all the processes are listed together in the Workflow Builder's Navigator, only two--Generate Default Accounts and Generate Accounts Using FlexBuilder Rules--are the top-level processes. Note that the icons for the two top-level processes look slightly different from the other process icons, indicating that they are the top-most processes. The rest of the processes belong to the two top-level processes. For example, when you open (double-click) the top-level process Generate Default Accounts to view it as a diagram, you see it contains four main processes--Generate Default Accrual Account, Generate Default Budget Account, Generate Default Charge Account, and Generate Default Variance Account.

When you open the process Generate Default Accrual Account, you see it contains many function activities and one subprocess--Build Project Related Account. (For an example of how a default Account Generator process itself looks in the Workflow Builder, see the current Purchasing documentation.) As you can see, all of these processes and subprocesses are listed under Processes in the Workflow Builder's Navigator.

To better understand which processes are subprocesses of the others, use the following structural breakdown:

• PO Account Generator (workflow item type)

- Generate Default Accounts (top-level process)

• Generate Default Accrual Account (process)

- Work Item Destination Type (function activity)

- PO Project-Related? (function activity)

- Build Project Related Account (subprocess)

- Accrual Account for Expense Item (function activity)

- Accrual Account from Organization (function activity)

• Generate Default Budget Account (process)

- PO Project-Related? (function activity)

- Build Project Related Account (subprocess)

- Work Item Destination Type (function activity)

- Get Budget Account from Item/Sub (function activity)

- Get Item Level Budget Account (function activity)

- Get Org Level Budget Account (function activity)

- Get Charge Account (function activity)

• Generate Default Charge Account (process)

- Work Item Destination Type (function activity)

- Build Expense Charge Account (subprocess)

- Expense Account (function activity)

- PO Project-Related? (function activity)

- Build Project Related Account (subprocess)

- Build Inventory Charge Account (subprocess)

- Build Shop Floor Charge Account (subprocess)

- Type of WIP (function activity)

- Job WIP Account (function activity)

- Schedule Account (function activity)

• Generate Default Variance Account (process)

- Work Item Destination Type (function activity)

- Get Charge Account for Variance Account (subprocess)

- PO Project-Related? (function activity)

- Get Charge Account (function activity)

- Build Project Related Account (subprocess)

- Get Variance Account from Organization (subprocess)

- Variance Account from Organization (function activity)

- Generate Accounts Using FlexBuilder Rules (top-level process)

- Generate Charge Account Using FlexBuilder Rules

- Generate Budget Account Using FlexBuilder Rules

- Generate Accrual Account Using FlexBuilder Rules

- Generate Variance Account Using FlexBuilder Rules

• PO Requisition Account Generator (workflow item type)

This workflow item type breaks down exactly like the PO Account Generator item type above.

Standard Flexfield Workflow

Item Attributes

Build Project Related Account

For more information about using the Account Generator when you integrate Purchasing with Oracle Projects, read the following essay: Using the Account Generator in Oracle Projects.

What the Account Generator Does in Oracle Purchasing

Generate Account Using FlexBuilder Rules Process

If you customized FlexBuilder in a previous release to generate account combinations, you can use the Generate Accounts Using FlexBuilder Rules process to replicate your FlexBuilder setup automatically, without changing any of your predefined FlexBuilder Rules, and without customizing the Account Generator. This top-level process consists of the following processes:

• Generate Charge Account Using FlexBuilder Rules replicates your charge account FlexBuilder rules in the Account Generator.

• Generate Budget Account Using FlexBuilder Rules replicates your budget account FlexBuilder rules in the Account Generator.

• Generate Accrual Account Using FlexBuilder Rules replicates your accrual account FlexBuilder rules in the Account Generator.

• Generate Variance Account Using FlexBuilder Rules replicates your variance account FlexBuilder rules in the Account Generator.

If you are upgrading from Release 10, follow the guidelines in the FlexBuilder chapter of the Oracle Applications Upgrade Preparation Manual.

Customizing the Account Generator for Oracle Purchasing

Purchasing provides default Account Generator processes for you to use. If the defaults do not satisfy your accounting requirements, you can use the Oracle Workflow Builder to customize the default processes.

You can customize any of the following processes and the subprocesses within them:

• Generate Default Accrual Account

• Generate Default Budget Account

• Generate Default Charge Account

• Generate Default Variance Account

• Generate Default Accounts

• Generate Accounts Using FlexBuilder Rules

• Generate Charge Account Using FlexBuilder Rules

• Generate Budget Account Using FlexBuilder Rules

• Generate Accrual Account Using FlexBuilder Rules

• Generate Variance Account Using FlexBuilder Rules

If you want to create a new process or customize an existing one to meet your business needs, make a backup copy of the default processes that Oracle provides, and then use the Oracle Workflow Builder to customize a process or create a new one.

For more information on the generic features and functions of the Account Generator, see Customizing the Account Generator.

For more information on how to use the Oracle Workflow Builder, see the Oracle Workflow Guide.

Customization Guidelines

When you choose to customize the Account Generator in Purchasing, consider the following:

Once the Account Generator successfully builds accounts for a document, it does not attempt to rebuild when you update the document. For example, if you build a custom process to generate the requisition charge account for Expense purchases based on requestor, and change the requestor after the Account Generator constructs the charge account, it will not attempt to rebuild.

Requisition Import does not use the Account Generator to construct charge, budget, accrual, or variance accounts. Any custom process that you create cannot be used by this utility.

Customization Example

In the Generate Default Charge Account process, under the PO Account Generator item type, you could modify the Build Expense Charge Account subprocess by replacing the Get Expense Account ID function activity with one of your own. A new function activity, however, must have the same result type as the function activity you replace. In your new function activity in this example, you also must set the item attribute, Temp Account ID, with the code combination identification number (CCID) of the account being built. This attribute is used by the function activity, Copy Values from Account ID, to fetch the concatenated segments.

You must test any customizations to the Account Generator before using them on a production database.

Implementing a Customized Account Generator Process

Use the Account Generator Processes window to choose either the Generate Default Accounts process or the Generate Accounts Using FlexBuilder Rules process and associate the process with the appropriate Accounting Flexfield structure and item type.

Choosing the Process for a Flexfield Structure

If you customize any of the customizable processes belonging to the Generate Default Accounts process, and you make sure the Generate Default Accounts process is associated with the appropriate Accounting Flexfield structure and item type in the Account Generator Processes window, your customizations will take effect.

1. Navigate to the Account Generator Processes window by switching to the System Administrator responsibility and choosing Application > Flexfield > Key > Accounts.

2. With your cursor in the Application field, choose Query > Find and select the combination of Application, Flexfield Title, and Structure that you need.

Or, perform a Query > Run and locate the PO Account Generator and PO Requisition Account Generator item types in the Item Type column.

3. In the Process field, specify the process--Generate Default Accounts or Generate Accounts Using FlexBuilder Rules--that you want to use to generate these accounts.

The default process, Generate Default Accounts, will default in.

Using the Account Generator Profile Option

Receiving Catalog Information Electronically

Importing Price Break Information

• LINE_NUM

• SHIPMENT_NUM

• QUANTITY

• UNIT_PRICE

• MIN_ORDER_QUANTITY

• MAX_ORDER_QUANTITY

For example:

Header: one header-level record (row) in PO_HEADERS_INTERFACE corresponds to:

- Line 1: one line-level record (row) in PO_LINES_INTERFACE with its corresponding shipment:

• Shipment 1: one shipment record in PO_LINES_INTERFACE corresponding to Line 1

- Line 1: the same line-level record (another row) in PO_LINES_INTERFACE with the other corresponding shipment:

• Shipment 2: the other shipment record in PO_LINES_INTERFACE corresponding to Line 1

See:

Purchasing Documents Open Interface, Oracle Manufacturing, Distribution, Sales and Service Open Interfaces Manual, Release 11

Confirm Receipts Workflow Select Orders Process

The Confirm Receipts workflow sends notifications for items with a Destination or Deliver-To Type of Expense, a Routing of Direct Delivery, and a Need-By date that is equal to or later than the current date.

The Workflow Background Process must be running before you can submit the Confirm Receipts Workflow Select Orders process. In the Submit Requests window, in the System Administrator responsibility, select Workflow Background Process in the Request Name field. See: To Schedule Background Engines.

To submit the Confirm Receipts Workflow Select Orders process, navigate to the Submit Requests window, select Confirm Receipts Workflow Select Orders in the Request Name field, choose Schedule, and choose how often you want the process to run. For example, if you set it to run one or two times a day, the Confirm Receipts workflow will query for purchase orders that meet the criteria described above and send notifications (if required) one or two times a day.

See: Confirm Receipts