Payment Conversion

To understand the alternatives for converting payment information, you should understand how payment processing works in PeopleSoft Receivables.

The goal of all payment application methods—express deposit, the payment worksheet, and the Payment Predictor Application Engine process (ARPREDCT)—is to create pending groups for posting. These payment application methods enable the cash applier to identify what is paid and to create necessary adjustments without having to construct the group directly. In this way, you can process deposits and payments that you received from the bank from the perspective of their source documents.

The end result of payment application, regardless of the method used, is one pending group for each payment: a row in PS_GROUP_CONTROL and one or more rows in PS_PENDING_ITEM, depending on how many items were paid by the payment.

If you have already entered the deposit information and applied the payment in a zero balance form in your current system, no real value exists in creating deposits and payments, and then reapplying the payments to create groups to send through the Receivables Update process. Directly creating the pending items that reflect the result of your current application process is more efficient than using our online or background processes to create the items, reenter these payments, and then reapply them to items. You have already accomplished this matching in your current system.

To understand how to construct these pending items, you need to understand the use of item entry types and automatic entry types.

Item Entry Types

PeopleSoft Receivables uses item entry types to identify pending items that are created during online item entry or by an external interface. When you enter or build pending items that make up a group, you use entry types that you specifically enable for use as item entry types. Two types of item entry types are available: those with positive amounts (associated with the system function IT-01) and those with negative amounts (IT-02).

Automatic Entry Types

Automatic entry types work in the background to translate instructions for overdue charging, payments, maintenance, draft and direct debit processing, and transfers into pending items. When you initiate an online or background process for these types of groups, such as selecting an item on one of the worksheets or running the Payment Predictor process, the system creates the necessary pending item by using the information that is defined on the automatic entry type for that action.

For example, every time you select an item for payment on the payment worksheet, the system uses the entry type, entry reason, and accounting entry information from the WS-01 (Pay An Item) automatic entry type to create the pending item.

Automatic entry types fall into six categories:

  • Overdue charges (prefaced by FC).

  • Maintenance (prefaced by MT).

  • Payment worksheet (prefaced by WS).

  • Transfer worksheet (prefaced by TR).

  • Direct debit management (prefaced by DD).

  • Draft management (prefaced by DM).

Entry Types

The program that converts existing items should create the necessary pending items to represent the level of detail that you want to see after you post the converted items. These pending items include payments that are applied to items and any form of debit or credit memo that you use in your existing system.

You establish entry types and entry reasons, if necessary, to represent the different types of entries that you convert. You then qualify these entry types for use as item entry types on the setup tables. Entry types that are expected to have a positive amount are associated with the IT-01 system function; entry types that are expected to have a negative amount are associated with the IT-02 system function.

On the pending item itself, supply the entry type and entry reason values, and place a value in the entry use ID field—either IT-01 or IT-02—that is associated with the entry type.

The entry types that you use for conversion can be the same as or different from the entry types that you use on an ongoing basis. By using a different entry type, you can clearly identify the entry as created during conversion. If you use the same entry types, you should disable their use as item entry types when conversion is complete to prevent entry of an item with this entry type into the group entry environment.

For example, you decide to convert open receivables and any receivables that are closed within the last 30 days. You must convert transaction detail at least for closed items. You decide to use the PY entry type to represent payments that are made in your existing system, and you enable it as an item entry type of IT-02. You also enabled PY as an automatic entry type to represent payments that PeopleSoft Receivables records.

After you complete the conversion activities, you may want to inactivate PY as an item entry type. Alternatively, you could use a different entry type, such as CP for converted payments, to distinguish converted data from data that PeopleSoft Receivables processes.

You may want to use a similar approach for write-offs, deductions, or other types of transactions that you convert.