Understanding General Control Data

Asset profiles are templates that contain standard depreciation criteria for an asset type and its corresponding asset books. Profiles help reduce data entry and ensure consistency and accuracy when you add assets. You can use profile data as default values, and you can override any field that is in the asset profile when you enter assets into the system. You set up asset profiles in PeopleSoft Asset Management if you use that application. If you don't use PeopleSoft Asset Management, you must set up asset profiles in Project Costing before you can summarize transactions by profile or by asset.

You must set up at least one asset profile before any assets can be added to the system. Set up asset profiles to match most, if not all, of the major asset categories you track on the books. Asset profiles can range from standard categories, such as land or furniture and fixtures, to more detailed categories, such as computers, phones, and fax machines.

Each asset profile has a unique profile ID that the system uses to group profiles by type. For example, you can define automobile profiles as autos, autos-luxury, and autos-leased.

You can use transaction codes to deal with exceptions and specific cases without creating a transaction type for each case. Add transaction codes to resource transactions as an additional key, and define accounting rules for transactions containing those transaction codes. The accounting rules for those resource transactions can then use the same transaction types but specify different accounts. For example, transaction codes can identify costs specifically for month-end or year-end processing.

Using transaction codes is optional.

Accounting rules determine how project transactions are translated into entries that are sent to the general ledger. Transaction types define generic transactions that are used to define an accounting rule.

Transaction rows that belong to the transaction type are assigned to a general ledger account based on an accounting rule. By defining transaction types in a separate table, you save time and reduce errors when you define accounting rules.

Standard transactions involve moving money from one account to another within the same general ledger business unit. Intercompany transactions involve moving money from an account in one general ledger business unit to an account in another general ledger business unit. Additional transaction rows are required for intercompany transactions.