Understanding the Aging Application Engine Process
This chapter provides an overview of the Aging Application Engine process (AR_AGING), lists prerequisite tasks and common elements, and discusses how to:
Run the Aging Application Engine process.
Generate aging reports.
Understanding the Aging Application Engine Process
The Aging process is part of the Aging Preprocessor multiprocess job (ARAGE).
The Aging Preprocessor multiprocess job (ARAGE) includes:
The Aging Parallel Preprocessor Application Engine process (AR_AGEPP).
The Aging Parallel multiprocess job (AR_AGE).
The Aging Parallel multiprocess job calls AR_AGE1 through AR_AGE#, which run the Aging process (AR_AGING).
See Setting Up Parallel Processing for Aging.
The Aging process updates summary aging information that appears on various inquiry pages. Management and collection departments rely on aging to identify delinquent accounts and to assess possible cash flow issues.
The Aging process also updates the Due and High Due history IDs.
This section discusses:
The commit cycle
In use customers
See Also
Customer History Calculations in the Aging Process
The Commit CycleWhen you run the Aging process, aging occurs in two phases:
The system builds images of all the records as they appear after you run the Aging process and commits after every step.
The system updates the database with the new records.
Phase two is wrapped into one commit; therefore, database integrity remains intact, regardless of how you proceed after a problem.
In Use Customers
When you run the Aging process, it marks the customers as In Use by updating the process instance on the Customer Data (CUST_DATA) table with the process instance of the current job.
Note. If In Use customers are encountered (that is, if the process instance is less than or greater than zero) during the Aging process, the aging run is not terminated. The In Use customers are simply not aged, while the rest of the customers in the requested business units are aged normally. After you determine the reason that the customer is an In Use customer and correct the problem, run the aging request again.
Prerequisites
Before you run the Aging process:
Set up aging IDs.
Assign an aging ID to a business unit.
Set up system-defined history IDs to be used by the aging process.
Set up parallel processing.
You should also apply all of your payments to items and run the Receivable Update Application Engine process (ARUPDATE).
See Also
Common Element Used in This Chapter|
Aging ID |
Defines the aging categories into which you want transactions broken down. Also defines how the system ages disputed items. |
Running the Aging Process
This section provides an overview of aging run controls and discusses how to:
Create a run control ID for aging.
Add parameters to an aging request.
Understanding Aging Run Controls
The Aging process automatically processes all customers in all business units specified on the aging request. You can use a different method known as chunking, which enables you to process large sets of data more efficiently by breaking them into subsets or smaller units of work. You can chunk by collector, credit analyst, and receivables (AR) specialist.
To use chunking when you run the Aging process:
Create a run control ID for the Aging Preprocessor multiprocess job on the Aging Request page.
Modify the PeopleSoft Application Engine steps for each AR_AGE# process on the Application Engine Request page.
For example, if you have three partitions, you define the parameters for AR_AGE1, AR_AGE2, and AR_AGE3.
Return to the Aging Request page to run the process.
In most cases, you probably will run the Aging Preprocessor multiprocess job by using a scheduled job.
The name that you choose for any run control ID is significant. If you want to run aging as a separate process, we recommend that the name that you select for the run control ID be unique, such as ARAGING. Otherwise, if another Application Engine process is using the same combination of user ID and run control ID, your request for aging receivables is added to an existing request as another job step.
Warning! We do not recommend running multiple concurrent instances of aging unless you have planned the process very carefully. If you do, you must work with a unique set of customers and you might still encounter database contention issues. In addition, we do not recommend running the Aging and Receivable Update processes at the same time, because they both update customer data.
Pages Used to Run the Aging Process|
Page Name |
Definition Name |
Navigation |
Usage |
|
AGING_REQUEST |
Accounts Receivable, Receivable Analysis, Aging, Request Aging Process, Aging Request |
Enter run control parameters for the Aging Preprocessor multiprocess job and run the job. |
|
|
AE_REQUEST |
Accounts Receivable, Receivables Update, Request Application Engine, Application Engine Request |
Enter additional parameters for aging for each AR_AGE# process, such as parameters for smaller units of data or to narrow the scope of aging. |
Creating a Run Control ID for Aging
Access the Aging page (Accounts Receivable, Receivable Analysis, Aging, Request Aging Process, Aging Request).
Select the business units.
|
Process SubCustomer |
Select to update aging and history at subcustomer levels for all customers in the business unit for which subcustomer history is enabled. |
Adding Parameters to an Aging RequestAccess the Application Engine Request page (Accounts Receivable, Receivables Update, Request Application Engine, Application Engine Request).
Use the State Record, Bind Variable Name, and Value fields to define exactly what data you want to age. This enables you to process smaller units of data. Add as many rows as needed.
Using Chunking in Aging
If you have a large number of customers to age, use chunking to run the Aging process for a smaller group of customers. You can group customers by business unit or by a value that is associated with each customer on the Item record (ITEM), such as collector, AR Specialist, or credit analyst. This table provides descriptions and sample field values for how to do this:
|
Chunking Description |
Sample Field Values |
|
Age customers one business unit at a time. |
State Record: RA_AGING_AET Bind Variable Name: AE_CHUNK_BY Value: BU |
|
Age customers associated with a specific collector. The system processes collectors individually, marking each customer with items that are associated with a particular collector. For example, suppose that Collector A is associated with items for customers 1, 5, and 10 and that Collector B is associated with items for customers 7 and 9. The customers for Collector A (1, 5, 10) form the first chunk, and the customers for Collector B (7, 9) form the second chunk. |
State Record: RA_AGING_AET Bind Variable Name: AE_CHUNK_BY Value: COLLECTOR |
|
Age customers by associated collector and chunk collectors in groups of 10. |
First row: State Record: RA_AGING_AET Bind Variable Name: AE_CHUNK_BY Value: COLLECTOR Second row: State Record: RA_AGING_AET Bind Variable Name: AE_CHUNK_SIZE Value: 10 |
Narrowing the Scope of Aging
This table describes how to narrow the scope of aging:
|
Description |
Sample Field Values |
|
Age only those customers who have been active since you ran the last Aging process. |
State Record: RA_AGING_AET Bind Variable Name: RA_RUN_OPTION Value: ACTIVE_CUSTS |
|
Age only those customers who have not been aged since you ran the last Aging process. |
State Record: RA_AGING_AET Bind Variable Name: AGED_PI Value: (value of last process instance) |
Combining Narrowing and Chunking
You can combine chunking and narrowing by adding more rows to this page. For example, you could limit aging to only those customers with activity and also use a chunking method that limits processing to one business unit at a time.
Generating Aging Reports
This section provides an overview of aging reports, lists a common element used in this section, and discusses how to:
Run the Aging Summary by ChartField report.
Run the Summary Aged by Reason Code report.
Understanding Aging Reports
The aging ID that you select on the run control page for the aging reports determines how to age the items.
The aging buckets on the aging reports show the amount of the items due in the aging category. The name of each bucket matches the description that you gave the category on the Aging page. For example, suppose that the description of a category for items that are 10 to 20 days old is 10 – 20, then the column heading reads 10 – 20.
Amounts that fall under the Other column are for items whose age does not fall into any of the categories that you defined on the Aging page. For example, suppose that you have a category for items 1 to 10 days old and a category for items 21 to 30 days old, any items that are 11 to 20 days old appear in the Other column.
See Also
Common Element Used in This Section|
Display Option |
Select the type of items that you want to include in the aging report. Values are Include All, Collections Only, Deductions Only, and Disputes Only. |
Pages Used to Generate Aging ReportsRunning the Aging Summary By ChartField ReportAccess the Aging by Chartfield page (Accounts Receivable, Receivables Analysis, Aging, Aging Detail by Unit Rpt, Aging Detail by Unit).
|
Report Option |
Select the level of report detail. Values are: Detail: Includes the individual item detail within a customer. Summary: Summarizes information by customer. |
|
Refresh |
Click to display a list of ChartFields in the Field Long Name column. |
ChartField Selection
Use the ChartField Selection group box to determine which items are included in the aging totals. The process ages items that have distribution lines that include the ChartField values that you entered.
|
ChartField Name |
Displays a list of ChartFields. |
|
Subtotal |
Select the ChartField for which you want to subtotal amounts. |
|
Value and To Value |
Select the range of ChartField values for each ChartField for the items that you want to age. If you do not enter any values, the system automatically ages all items that have any AR account value in the distribution lines. |
Running the Summary Aged by Reason Code ReportAccess the Run AR30007 page (Accounts Receivable, Receivables Analysis, Aging, Aging by Reason Rpt, Run AR30007).
You can run this report for a specific reason or all reasons. Depending on your selection in the Display Option field, the reason that you enter varies:
If you selected Collections Only, select a Collection Code.
If you selected Deductions Only, select a Deduction Reason.
If you selected Disputes only, select a Dispute Reason.