This chapter covers the following topics:
Sales organizations are composed of teams that include many team members. Budget, Offer, and Claim collaboration enables you to communicate and coordinate the efforts within the team to deal with problems and track them. You can create contact points for different trade promotion objects and activities (budgets, offers, claims, and so on), communicate with the team members through notes and attachments, assign and keep track of tasks, and add or remove team members or groups from the activities of the trade promotion object.
Note: Page level security has been enabled for the Notes, Team, and Tasks options. You can access these options in Trade Management objects such as offers and budgets only if you belong to the team that has access to these objects. However, Admin users can access these options irrespective of the team to which they belong.
This guide contains a brief overview of Notes, Tasks, and Attachments and provides examples specifically related to Oracle Trade Management. For detailed information about these products, see the Oracle Common Application Calendar User Guide and the Oracle Common Application Calendar Implementation Guide.
Notes
Notes enables you write and record information that you would like to communicate to others who deal with a trade promotion object at various levels. You can create any number of notes, and edit and modify notes. In Oracle Trade Management, you can associate notes to trade promotion objects such as budgets, offers, quota, and claims. When you create a note, you must select a category. This enables all the users concerned with that category to view the notes.
For example, to create a note for the approvers of an offer, you must select the category--"Approval" and create the note. This enables the approvers to view this note when the offer is submitted for approval.
Tasks
Tasks enables you to assign follow-up activities such as resolving problems related to the budget, offer, or claim. A task may be a follow-up action, a reminder, or a daily work assignment. For example, a support manager of a company may want to create a task for an employee stating, “Please call back customer by 9:00am.” This task specifies that the employee must call back the customer.
Attachments
Attachments are used for sharing and storing information about trade management activities. You can add files, text, or web addresses as attachments to budgets, offers, and claims. After you add the attachments, the associated team members can access and download them.
For example, you create an offer for a customer to offer an incentive if the customer displays a product banner in his store for one month. The customer performs as expected and raises a claim. You have a photograph of the banner display as proof of performance. You scan this photograph and add it as an attachment to the claim.
The following procedure describes how to create and edit a note for a budget. You can also use this procedure to create and edit a note for any trade promotion object.
To create and edit a note for an existing Oracle Trade Management object, log into Oracle Trade Management as Oracle Trade Management User.
Navigation: Budget > Budgets > Budget Name > Collaboration > Notes > Create.
Notes:
Note Type: The note will be classified based on the type that you select. This enables you to search for notes belonging to a particular type.
The following procedure describes how to create a task for an offer. Use this procedure to create a task for any other trade promotion object. However, a budget cannot have any tasks associated with it.
To create a task for an existing offer, log into Oracle Trade Management as Oracle Trade Management User.
Navigation: Trade Planning > Offers > Collaboration > Tasks > Create.
Notes:
Task Type: The task will be classified based on the type that you select. This enables you to search for tasks belonging to a particular type.
Parent Task: Select a parent task to make the existing task a sub task of the parent.
The following procedure describes how to add an attachment to an offer. You can also use this procedure to add an attachment for any other trade promotion object.
To add an attachment to an existing offer, log into Oracle Trade Management as Oracle Trade Management User.
Navigation: Trade Planning > Offers > Offer Name > Collaboration > Attachments > Create.
Notes:
You can add files, text, or url as attachments. To modify an existing attachment, navigate to the object, make the required changes and save the changes.
Contact points for trade promotion objects serve as a reference to direct customers for further information. You can specify contact points for a budget, offer, or claim. A trade promotion object may have any number of contact points. Contact points can be defined for one of the following:
User: The selected individual becomes the contact point.
Team: All the individuals who belong to the specific team become the contact points.
This procedure describes how to create a contact point for an existing offer. Use this procedure to create contact points for any object.
Log into Oracle Trade Management as Oracle Trade Management User.
Navigation: Trade Planning > Offers > Offer Name > Collaboration > Contact Point.
Notes:
Remove: Use this icon to remove an existing contact point.
The Team option enables you to add or remove other groups or users to the activities of budgets, offers, quotas, or claims. By using this option, you can assign access to team members. The access that the group or team member gets depends upon the group type that the team member belongs to.
For example, if you add the Administrator Group to a budget, then all the team members belonging to that group will have administrator rights on the budget.
The following procedure describes how to add users to an existing offer. Use this procedure to add users to any other trade promotion object.
Log into Oracle Trade Management as Oracle Trade Management User.
Navigation: Trade Planning > Offers > Offer Name > Collaboration > Team.
Oracle Trade Management provides different access levels based on the security group. Under this rule, the owner of the an object such as a claim, budget, offer, and so on, can change the all the fields including the Owner field. A member of the security group can update claim information except the Owner. A non-member cannot update any field. An application profile option is also provided to disable this feature, if necessary.
The security of the object is ensured by dividing the users into different types. Each user type has defined access permissions that determine the actions that users can perform on the claim. Only those users who create or own the trade management object can view and update parameters of the respective object. The authority to view and edit an object also depends on the hierarchy.
For example, a Vice President of Sales or a Regional Sales Director may view and update objects, such as offers that belong to their reporting subordinates. Offer owners can select users to view the promotional activity vertically through the sales hierarchy while limiting visibility across the hierarchy. For example, peer Sales Representatives of the same region who manage separate account bases may be denied editing rights, and in some cases viewing rights to each others promotional activities.
The following table describes the different user types and the access levels in Oracle Trade Management. These user types apply to all the modules in Oracle Trade Management.
| User Type | Access Level |
|---|---|
| AMS:Admin Group | Update all the fields:
|
| Owner | Update all fields:
|
| Team Member with Edit Metrics | Update all fields:
|
| Team Member without Edit Metrics | View the object (budget, offer, claim, and so on) |
Oracle Trade Management includes a few attributes that you may modify. The Profile link displays the profile page with items such as passwords, calendar preferences, navigation preferences, default currency and other attributes.
Access to many of the tabs is controlled by a responsibility. Each user is given a responsibility which determines what tabs are displayed and what rights a user may have. You can modify user profiles based on your preferences. The changes that you make to your user profile do not affect the functionality of the application.
To change your password, log into Oracle Trade Management as Oracle Trade Management User, and click the Profile link.
Navigation: Account Setting > Change Password.
You can set your calendar preferences to modify the manner in which the calendar items are displayed in your personal calendar. You can modify the weekly setup, add new resources to your calendar, create new groups, and subscribe to group calendars.
Log into Oracle Trade Management as Oracle Trade Management User and click the Profile link.
Navigation: Calendar.
Notes:
Personalize: Use this option to modify the manner in which the calendar items are displayed.
Privileges: Use this option to add new users to the activities of your calendar. If you would like the user only to view your calendar, then add the user under the View Only Access region. If you wish to grant the user complete access to your calendar, then add the user under the Full Access region.
Group Calendar: Use this option to create a new subscription group or to subscribe to an existing group. The options available are:
Request New Group: Enables you to create a new group.
Subscribe To Group: Enables you to subscribe to an existing group.
Navigation preferences, display preferences, and quick menu enable you to switch responsibilities and set default responsibilities, specify the manner in which data must be displayed, and customize the quick menu.
Log into Oracle Trade Management as Oracle Trade Management User and click the Profile link.
Navigation: Personalization > Navigation Preferences.
Notes:
Current Responsibility: Use this option to switch responsibilities.
Default Responsibility: Use this option to set the default responsibility. This is the responsibility with which you will log in next time.
Display Preferences: Use this option to customize data display.
Quick Menu: Use this option to customize the quick menu.
Application preferences enables you to set general preferences for data display, and also specify the default searches that each of the tabs in Oracle Trade Management must display.
To set application preferences, log into Oracle Trade Management as Oracle Trade Management User and click the Profile link.
Navigation: Trade Management.
Notes:
You can set general preferences such as the default country, time zone, and number of rows that a search should return. You can also specify the default searches that each of the tabs in Oracle Trade Management must display.
Manufacturers may deal with multiple customers. Each customer may have different preferences for payment, such as different means, methods, and frequency for payments. The trade profile of a customer can store the frequency for paying a customer, the customer's preference for receiving the payment in check or in credit, as well as any threshold amount whereby a customer gets paid only if the customer's accruals reach the threshold limit. Based on these preferences and schedule setups, you can set Autopay to periodically reimburse customers for their accruals.
The trade profile of a customer serves the following main purposes:
Link to Vendor Setup
The Administrator can link a customer with the vendor setup in Oracle Payables so that the related claims can be settled with checks.
Assigning Days Due
If claims are not settled on time, they become disputed items in Oracle Receivables. To avoid such situations, the Administrator may establish a time period for claim settlement.
For example, your organization determines that all claims for an important customer must be resolved with 15 days from the time they are created. In the customer's trade profile, the default days due is assigned as 15 days. When a claim for this customer is created on January 1st, it automatically gets a due date of January 16th.
Similarly, distributors may deal with multiple suppliers or manufacturers. Each supplier may have different preferences for payments and approval communication. The trade profile of a supplier can store the frequency of debit, the threshold tolerance on an offer, and approval requirements and communication methods.
Related Topics
Set Up Customer Trade Profiles, Oracle Channel Revenue Management Implementation Guide
Set Up Supplier Trade Profiles, Oracle Channel Revenue Management Implementation Guide
Creating Ship and Debit Supplier Trade Profile, Oracle Channel Revenue Management Implementation Guide
System Parameters define the basic functionality for budgets, offers, and claims. System Parameters includes the following components:
Set of Books
When you create a budget, offer, or claim in Oracle Trade Management, you can define it in any currency. In the background, however, a functional currency is always recorded with the budget. The functionality currency is the main currency used by a Set of Books. In cases when the exchange type is unclear, the currency that is specified in the System Parameters will be used. The GL postings are created in the functional currency.
Accounting
GL integration parameters are determined in the System Parameters.
Sales or Expense or Charge Account
When accruals are created either from a Lump Sum, Accrual, Scan Data or Volume offers, such accruals may be treated as liabilities by some companies. These accruals are tracked in the General Ledger. Oracle Trade Management provides GL integration by creating the accounting entries--Debit Sales or Expense or Charge, and Credit Liability.
The accounting entries that are created by Oracle Trade Management during accrual use the GL accounts from the following setups:
As defined on a budget itself
According to any Account Generator workflow updates. For more details on the Account Generator Workflow, see the Budgets chapter.
As defined in the System Parameters
Accrual Liability Account
Liabilities represent the monetary obligations of an organization. When accruals are created either from a Lump sum, Accrual, Scan Data, or Volume offers, such accruals may be treated as liabilities because the customers will ultimately claim the amount through claims or deductions.
These liabilities are tracked in the General Ledger. Oracle Trade Management provides GL integration by creating the accounting entries--Debit Sales or Expense or Charge, and Credit Liability. Crediting the liability account means that the liability balance will be increased.
Receivable Clearing Account
When a claim or deduction is created and associated to promotional accruals, during claim settlement, if the settlement method is a credit memo, the GL entries--Debit Liabilities, and Credit Receivables Clearing are created. While the Liabilities account that is used will be the same as the account used at the time of accruals, the Oracle Receivables clearing accounts that will be used during claim settlement will be taken from the following setups:
As defined on the Claim Type
According to the Account Generator workflow updates.
As defined in the System Parameters
Vendor Clearing Account
If a promotional claim is settled by a check instead of a credit, the GL entries--Debit Liabilities, and Credit Vendor Clearing are created. While the Liabilities account that is used will be the same as the account used at the time of accruals, the Oracle Payables clearing account that is used during claim settlement will be taken from the following setups:
As defined on Claim Type
According to the Account Generator workflow updates
As defined in the System Parameters
System Parameters enables the Administrator to setup the following information for claims:
Claim Reason
When a deduction or an overpayment comes through Oracle Receivables, the claim reason is often not supplied by the customer's remittance and therefore the claim reason is unknown when the claim is created. In such cases, the Claim Reason selected in the System Parameters will default on the deductions or overpayments.
For example, the Administrator in an organization can set it up such that all deductions and overpayments that do not have a reason are created with the claim reason--"Unknown Claim Reason".
Claim Type
When deductions or overpayments come through the Oracle Receivables, sometimes, the claim type is not captured. Such claims will therefore be created with the claim type defaulted from the System Parameters page.
For example, the Administrator in an organization may set such claim types as Unknown Claim Type or To be Determined.
Days Due
The number of days due determines the due date of each claim. If this is not set up for customers, the due date can be defaulted from System Parameters. When a claim is created, the days that are due according to the customer's Trade Profile will first be assessed to determine the due date of the claim. But if that is not assigned, the number of days due that is set up in the System Parameters will be used to derive the due date of the claim.
Default Owner
An owner of a claim is the person responsible for driving a claim to resolution. Claims may be assigned based on various criteria such as claim type, reason, customer or geographical attributes. In cases when certain claims are created and for various reasons the claims assignment territories fail to assign an owner, it is still imperative that a default owner be assigned. This default owner may be an Administrator or a Claims Analyst who will be responsible for resolving the claims or for finding the proper owners.
Custom Setups generally serve the following purposes:
Defining the prefix for the source code or number (a unique identifier for a budget, offer, or claim)
Determining the layout of the navigation items on the side navigation bar
Determining whether a budget, offer, or claim requires approval
For a budget, however, the last function does not apply since a budget almost always requires approval. The only time when a budget does not require approval is when the one and only approver according to approval rule setups is actually the budget owner himself.
Mandatory Rules
Mandatory Rules enable you to control data entry by mandating that certain fields must always be entered on screen by users. In addition to data mandated by system, mandatory rules can be created to make other data fields mandatory.
For example, Business Unit in a budget is not a system mandatory field. Ordinarily users have a choice to select value for it or not. If the Management wants to ensure that users always select value for this for reasons such as proper classifications, reports, and so on, a mandatory rule may be created for Business Unit.
Locking Rules
Locking Rules are another way for organizations to control data entry by disallowing updates to certain data at certain statuses.
For example, you cannot update certain fields and information after an offer becomes active because they are locked.
Note: By design, locking rules are ignored for the Oracle Trade Management Super User responsibility. Whenever a user is logged in as Oracle Trade Management Super User, the user can update the fields that are locked.