Business Units, SetIDs, Tablesets, and Record Groups

During implementation planning, familiarize yourself with these concepts:

Name	Description
Business units	A business unit enables you to track specific business information for reporting and other data consolidation. A business unit may be, but is not required to be, a legal entity. You define and implement business units to suit the organizational needs of the company. The data from one business unit is segregated from the data of other business units in the organization, although it exists in the same physical database table. The entire organization may have only one business unit if every department uses the same processing rules. Multinational or otherwise diversified companies, such as those that contain multiple cost centers, divisions, or subsidiaries, may have multiple business units.
SetIDs and TableSets	The accounting structure and processing rules for each PeopleSoft application are defined in a series of control tables, or tablesets. A tableset is a group of rows across control tables, identified by the same SetID, that allows sharing of control data among business units. Many business units may share the same set of data on the physical tables in the PeopleSoft HCM or PeopleSoft Financials system. In order for a business unit to process transactions, it must have an associated tableset. In simple terms: The business unit contains the actual transaction data. The tableset contains the rules by which the data is processed. A SetID identifies each tableset. You must create at least one SetID even if you are not taking advantage of tableset sharing. You can have as many SetIDs as necessary, but tableset sharing becomes more complex with multiple SetIDs. Define tablesets when you implement PeopleSoft HCM or any other PeopleSoft application.
Record groups	A record group is a set of logically and functionally related control tables and views. Record groups save time by enabling tableset sharing to be accomplished quickly without the burden of redundant data entry. Record groups also ensure that tableset sharing is applied consistently across all related tables and views in the system. The PeopleSoft TableSet Record Group control table associates a business unit or SetID value with a SetID value for each record group. One business unit or SetID can be associated with different SetIDs by record group. Group the record definitions for the tables that you want to share, as well as any dependent record definitions. If a new table is added to a PeopleSoft application, the appropriate record group may already be defined. However, if tables are added for a new business function, a new record group may also be required.

See the product document for PeopleTools: Applications User's Guide