Understanding the Automatic Maintenance Process

The Automatic Maintenance process (AR_AUTOMNT) is a PeopleSoft Application Engine process that matches debit items to credit items. The process is useful when you want to automatically match items with the same amounts or when you want to automatically close deductions and disputed items.

The process places the items that meet your matching criteria in match groups unless they are already selected in a worksheet, such as the payment or maintenance worksheet. A match group must contain at least one debit item and one credit item, but it can contain multiple debit and credit items.

You create automatic maintenance methods that define the rules for matching the items, and specify which method to use for each business unit or when you run the process.

The process:

• Executes the steps in the automatic maintenance method that you assign to the business unit, unless you override it for all business units on the run control page.

  As the process executes each step, it creates a row in a temporary table for each item that it tries to match. The process also stores the appropriate action for each step in a temporary table.

• Writes off the remaining balance for match groups, if the balance meets the write off tolerances.

  If the match group contains only one debit and one credit, it creates either a MT-02 (write off a credit) or MT-03 (write off a debit) item. If the group contains multiple debits or credits, it creates either a MT-06 (write off remaining credit) or MT-07 (write off remaining debit) item.

• Creates a maintenance group for each corporate customer, which has match groups for conditions where the step does not create a worksheet.

  The process sets the group to post. When you post the group, the Receivables Update process (ARUPDATE) creates distribution lines for the items, using the accounting template for the appropriate automatic entry template.

• Creates a maintenance worksheet for each corporate customer, which has match groups for conditions where the step creates a worksheet.

  You must review the worksheet and set the group to post.

• Creates an item maintenance activity for each item.

  Enters the same value in the match group ID field in the item maintenance activity for each item in the group.

• Uses the anchor business unit on the run control as the anchor business unit for each maintenance group or worksheet.

  The Receivables Update process uses the anchor business unit to generate interunit accounting entries when items are matched across business units.

• Converts the item amounts to a common currency to handle items in different currencies.

  The process uses the general ledger base currency for the anchor business unit that you entered on the run control for the common currency. If you do not enter an anchor business unit on the run control page, the process uses the general ledger base currency for the business unit with the lowest value in the grid that appears on the run control page.