Understanding PeopleSoft ChartFields

In Oracle's PeopleSoft applications, the fields that store your charts of accounts and provide your system with the basic structure to segregate and categorize transactional and budget data are called ChartFields. Each ChartField has its own attributes for maximum efficiency and flexibility in recording, reporting and analyzing its intended category of data. While a particular ChartField always represents only one category of data, it stores many values that you use to further categorize that same data.

In addition to this basic categorization of a transaction amount using the account ChartField, you can simultaneously record the same transaction by product, project, investment portfolio, policy, endowment, fund, service, or any number of categories by using other ChartFields with appropriate values. This creates additional subsets of that same transactional data.

PeopleSoft delivers a set of ChartFields and associated functionality that fully covers most accounting and reporting requirements. ChartFields are designed to be configured by you to meet your specific requirements.

This topic discusses:

  • Delivered ChartFields.

  • Balancing ChartFields.

  • Alternate accounts and statutory accounting.

  • ChartField values.

  • ChartField combination editing.

PeopleSoft delivers the following ChartFields:

Label Long Name

Label Short Name

ChartField Name (Field Length)

Component Name and Component Interface

Description

Account

Account

ACCOUNT (10)

Component: GL_ACCOUNT

Component Interface: ACCOUNT_CF

Classifies the nature of a transaction. This field is required. Use it for corporate accounts.

Alternate Account

Alt Acct

ALTACCT (10)

Component: ALTACCT

Component Interface: ALTACCT_CF

Classifies the nature of a transaction for regulatory authorities. Use it for statutory accounting.

Operating Unit

Oper Unit

OPERATING_UNIT (8)

Component: OPERATING_UNIT

Component Interface: OPER_UNIT_CF

Can be used to indicate a location, such as a distribution warehouse or a sales center.

Fund Code

Fund

FUND_CODE (5)

Component: FUND_DEFINITION

Component Interface: FUND_CF

The primary structural units of Education and Government accounting.

Department

Dept

DEPTID (10)

Component: DEPARTMENT

Component Interface: DEPT_CF

Tracks information according to a divisional breakdown of your organization. Can be used to indicate who is responsible for or affected by a transaction.

Program Code

Program

PROGRAM_CODE (5)

Component: PROGRAM_DEFINITION

Component Interface: PROGRAM_CF

Tracks revenue and expenditures for programs within or across your organizations. Can be used to identify groups of related activities, cost centers, revenue centers, responsibility centers and academic programs.

Class Field

Class

CLASS_FLD (5)

Component: CLASS_PNL

Component Interface: CLASS_CF

Can be used to identify specific appropriations.

Budget Reference

Bud Ref

BUDGET_REF (8)

Component: BUDREF_PNL

Component Interface: BUDGET_REF_CF

Use to identify unique budgets, when individual budgets share budget keys and overlapping budget periods.

Product

Product

PRODUCT (6)

Component: PRODUCT

Component Interface: PRODUCT_CF

Captures additional information useful for profitability and cash flow analysis by product sold or manufactured.

PC Business Unit (project costing business unit)

PC Bus Unit

BUSINESS_UNIT_PC (5)

Component: PC_BU_DEFN

Component: PC_BUS_UNIT_OPT

Component Interface: PROJECT_BU_OPTIONS

Use as an operational subset of an organization to organize project activity independently of the constraints of the standard accounting procedures for the financial posting and reporting of the organization. You create PC Business Units on the Project Costing Definition page.

Project ID/Grant

Project

PROJECT_ID (15)

Component: PROJECT

Component Interface: PROJECT_CF

Captures additional information useful for grant and project accounting.

The Project ChartField does not have effective dating.

Activity

Activity

ACTIVITY_ID (15)

Component: FS_ACTIVITY_TBL

Component Interface: PC_STD_ACT_INTFC

Activities are the specific tasks that make up a project. You create activities on the Project Activities page or the Activity Details page.

Source Type

Source Type

RESOURCE_TYPE (5)

Component: PROJ_RES_TYPE

Component Interface: PC_RES_TYPE_INTFC

Source types identify the purpose or origin of a transaction. For example, you might create a source type of Labor to track total labor costs in a project.

Category

Category

RESOURCE_CATEGORY (5)

Component: PROJ_CATG_DEFN

Component Interface: PC_CATG_DEFN_INTFC

Use categories to further define source types.

Although defining categories and subcategories is optional, using them provides greater flexibility and granularity for tracking and analyzing costs.

Subcategory

Subcategory

RESOURCE_SUB_CAT (5)

Component: PROJ_SUBCAT_DEFN

Component Interface: PC_SUBCAT_DEFN_INTFC

Use subcategories to further define categories.

ChartField 1

N/A

CHARTFIELD1 (10)

Component: CHARTFIELD1

Component Interface: CHARTFIELD1

Generic expansion ChartField is delivered Inactive. It can be configured for use, hidden, or deleted

ChartField 2

N/A

CHARTFIELD2 (10)

Component: CHARTFIELD2

Component Interface: CHARTFIELD2

Generic expansion ChartField is delivered Inactive. It can be configured for use, hidden or deleted

ChartField 3

N/A

CHARTFIELD3 (10)

Component: CHARTFIELD3

Component Interface: CHARTFIELD3

Generic expansion ChartField is delivered Inactive. It can be configured for use, hidden or deleted

Affiliate

Affiliate

AFFILIATE (5)

N/A

Used to map transactions between Business units when using a single interunit account.

Fund Affiliate

Fund Affil

AFFILIATE_INTRA1 (10)

N/A

Use to correlate transactions between Funds when using a single intraunit account.

Operating Unit Affiliate

Oper Unit Affil

AFFILIATE_INTRA2 (10)

N/A

Use to correlate transactions between Operating Units when using a single intraunit account.

Scenario

Scenario

BD_SCENARIO (10)

Component: BD_SCENARIO

Component Interface: BUDGET_SCENARIO

Identifies different budget iterations that use different assumptions.

Book Code

Book Code

BOOK_CODE (4)

N/A

Identifies subsets of ledger rows to segregate and maintain in the same ledger various accounting, recording and reporting requirements for transactions in different accounting environments.

Adjustment Type

Adjustment

GL_ADJUST_TYPE (4)

N/A

Use to define Adjustment Types associated with varying accounting treatments of prior period adjustments.

Statistics Code

Stat. Cd.

STATISTICS_TBL

Component: STATISTICS_TBL

Component Interface: STATISTICS_CODE

Use to define statistical data such as number of units.

PeopleSoft Project Costing ChartFields are further described in the product documentation for PeopleSoft FSCM: Project Costing.

Business unit is not considered a ChartField.

Warning! If you have not licensed PeopleSoft Project Costing, Expenses, Resource Management, or Services Procurement and you see the following ChartFields: PC Business Unit, Activity, Source Type, Category, or Subcategory on pages, deselect the check boxes for these products on the Installation Options - Products page and run ChartField configuration to inactivate the ChartFields because they are specific to these products.

If you have not licensed Project Costing but have licensed Expenses, Resource Management, or Services Procurement and you still see Source Type, Category, or Subcategory on pages, deselect the check boxes for the unlicensed products on the Installation Options - Products page and run ChartField configuration to inactivate these ChartFields because they are specific to Project Costing. ChartFields that are not necessary can cause performance and other processing problems when they are allowed to remain active.

See Using Standard ChartField Configuration.

See Understanding Project-Related Control Data.

The project ChartFields consist of:

  • PC Business Unit

  • Project

  • Activity

  • Source Type

  • Category

  • Subcategory

Add the Project ChartField on one of two different pages, depending on whether Project Costing is installed or is not installed. Use the Project page (PROJECT_GL) to enter project ChartField values when PeopleSoft Project Costing is not installed. Otherwise, add the Project Chartfield when adding projects within Project Costing (PROJECT_GEN_01A).

The values and control data for the other five Project Costing ChartFields are not entered using a separate page within common definitions. They are entered using the pages and components mentioned in the preceding list of ChartFields and are fully described in the PeopleSoft Project Costing documentation.

The Project Costing ChartFields are available on various page displays and entry grids for use within Project Costing, Expenses, Resource Management or General Ledger. Some examples include the Journal Entry - Lines page and SpeedTypes.

Note: Resource Analysis Type is not considered a ChartField and, for that reason, is not included in the list of Project Costing ChartFields; nor is it included on either the Standard or Advanced Configuration pages. However, it is available for entry on the General Ledger Journal Entry - Lines page, located between the Activity and Source Type ChartFields. If the Project Costing ChartField display order is reordered during ChartField configuration, the Resource Analysis Type retains its relative position and is reordered accordingly.

See Understanding Project-Related Control Data.

See Using Standard ChartField Configuration.

Business unit or a ChartField is said to be balancing when you require debit amounts to equal credit amounts to maintain a balanced set of accounts for the particular business unit or ChartField.

Defining balancing ChartFields is done on the Ledger Group definition using the Ledger Groups - Balancing page. A balanced detail ledger requires that the debit amounts equal the credit amounts for business unit, base currency code, book code and adjustment type.

When you select additional ChartFields for balancing, all unique occurrences of the combination of values must be in balance. You can choose to have the system automatically generate intraunit balancing entries for transactions that involve multiple values of a balanced ChartField. If you do not have this option active, or if the journal is not in balance for other reasons, journal edit uses the rules set up for balancing journals (such as, suspend or recycle) on the Journal Edit Options page.

For example, if you define department as an additional balancing ChartField, any journal created requires that business unit FR001 and department A have debits that equal credits. If they do not, the journal entry is out of balance. This also means that business unit USA01 and department B must balance.

You then see why account and alternate account cannot be balancing ChartFields. If for example, account could be made a balancing ChartField, business unit A and account 101200 would have to have debits equal credits that would always result in a zero balance for account 101200.

The PeopleSoft alternate account feature enables you to enter a statutory chart of accounts as well as analytic or primary accounts at the detail transaction level. The alternate account produces journal line or transaction level balances for statutory reporting requirements. The primary account ChartField contains the corporate accounts, and alternate account ChartField contains the statutory accounts. This is useful for organizations that have two different reporting requirements—one for internal management or a corporate parent, and another for a local jurisdiction or national government.

In PeopleSoft applications, the analytic or primary account ChartField is ACCOUNT.

Local regulatory authorities often require statutory accounts. In PeopleSoft applications, this is termed the alternate account ChartField (ALTACCT).

You link alternate account ChartField values with account ChartField values. When you enter values for the account ChartField, the system enters the associated alternate account value. When you enter values for the alternate account ChartField, the system enters the associated account value. You can override the default values by selecting another value from the prompt list. The system displays only account values that you have mapped to the account or alternate account ChartField.

To create different alternate accounts for different statutory reporting, use the PeopleSoft SetID functionality when you set up your ChartFields.

If you use the ChartFields as delivered by PeopleSoft, sample ChartField values are already set up and in many cases are populated with sample amounts. All PeopleSoft sample or model values are entered with the 01/01/1900 effective date. To distinguish your data avoid using this date and instead use another early date, such as 01/01/1901.

You can enter an unlimited number of values for each ChartField. You can enter values using the online ChartField Values page, but because of the volume of entries needed to populate some ChartFields, you might use a batch import process or the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for the PeopleSoft Component Interface process to initially load values to ChartField tables.

The project ChartFields component interfaces mentioned in the previous ChartField listing are more fully described in the Project Costing documentation.

See Loading ChartField Values Using the Excel Spreadsheet to Component Interface Process.

Note: PeopleSoft recommends that you not use special characters and embedded blanks in ChartField values. Use the generally accepted alphanumeric characters and the underscore. In general avoid special characters such as apostrophes and do not include embedded blanks when defining ChartField values. Special characters and embedded blanks can be problematic and in particular can cause problems in some batch processes, such as those in allocations, combination editing and open item accounting. (This caveat also applies to such things as business units, ledgers and journal IDs.)

Because changes to the definition of most ChartField value are effective-dated, you can establish when you want to activate a department, introduce a product line, or close an account. Use effective dating with activation and inactivation functionality to maintain a full history of all changes or additions, to provide a complete audit trail and to make possible historical comparisons with past, present, or future conditions. When you no longer use a certain ChartField value, add a row to create an effective-dated inactive entry, instead of inactivating the original row. If you simply make the existing row inactive, you will have no history of its time as an active ChartField value.

Project ChartField values can be made active or inactive, but the values cannot be effective-dated for status.

However, the project status of a project can be effective dated for these statuses: budgeted, closed, hold, open, and proposed if Project Costing is not installed. These statuses are memo data only and do not provide control functionality.

Optionally, combinations of ChartField values can be edited to determine such things as which accounts are valid with which departments, funds or operating units. Use ChartField combination editing to maintain discipline over accounting entries and eliminate as much as possible additional account analysis and reconciliation. ChartField combination editing is in addition to ChartField validation editing.

ChartField combination editing is also available for commitment control budget entries.