How Reversals are Processed Based on the State of the Distributions

It’s important to understand how and when distributions are processed for reversals, which can depend on the reversal method and the state of the distribution.

Distributions That Have Been Accounted

Remember that an invoiced distribution is considered accounted only after the invoice GL references are updated in the joint venture distribution. An internal transfer journal is accounted only when the status of the internal transfer journal is updated to “Final Accounted.”

For distributions that are accounted, the reversal process performs these actions:

  • Cancels the original distributions, setting the distribution line type to Canceled.
  • For each canceled distribution, the reversal process creates a reversed distribution with a distribution line type of Reversed.
    Note: Each Reversed distribution record includes the reason for the reversal. This reason is specified by the user when setting up the reversal method to perform the reversals.
  • Updates the status of the transaction whose distributions were reversed.

    If reversing distributions due to a retroactive change in ownership, it changes the transaction status to “Available to process” so that they can be redistributed.

    If performing a mass reversal of distributions, you have the option to reset the status of the transactions to “Available to process” or “Reversed.”

To complete the processing of reversed distributions, you must perform these tasks as described in the Complete the Accounting of Reversed Distributions topic:

  • Create Credit Memos for Joint Venture Receivables Invoices
  • Create Debit Memos for Joint Venture Payables Invoices
  • Reverse the Amounts in Internal Transfer Journals
  • Return Partner Contributions (if applicable)
  • Reverse Cost Adjustments to Project Costing (if applicable)

Distributions That Have Been Invoiced or Journaled but Not Accounted

If an unaccounted invoice or internal transfer journal exists for a distribution, the reversal process won’t reverse any distributions associated with the transaction. In the Joint Venture Distributions work area, unaccounted distributions have a status of "Accounting in progress."

Distributions That Haven't Been Invoiced or Journaled

For distributions that haven’t been invoiced or journaled, how the distribution reversals are processed depends on the reversal method.

If performing reversals due to a retroactive change in ownership, the reversal process performs these actions:

  • Replaces the original distribution with a new distribution that’s generated based upon the new ownership definition. No reversal records are created.
  • Sets the distribution line type of the new distribution to Redistributed.

If performing a mass reversal of distributions, the reversal process cancels the original distributions, setting the distribution line type to Canceled. No reversal records are created.

Note: Manual reversals of distributions that haven’t been invoiced or journaled is not supported.

"Distribution Only" Distributions

How “Distribution Only” distributions are processed for reversals depends on the reversal method that you use.

If reversing “Distribution Only” distributions due to a retroactive change in ownership, the reversal process performs these actions:

  • Replaces the original distribution with a new distribution that’s generated based on the new ownership definition. No reversal records are created.
  • Sets the distribution line type of the new distribution to Original.

If performing a manual reversal of distributions, the process cancels the distributions and creates the following distributions for each canceled distribution:

  • A reversal record in Process Complete status.

  • A reassignment record that's not marked as “Distribution Only”, which enables you to assign it to a different stakeholder and invoice it.

If performing a mass reversal of distributions, the reversal process cancels the distributions and creates reversal records in Process Complete status.

When Distributions Are in Various States

You might encounter distributions in these various states when you try to reverse them using the retroactive change to ownership method or the mass reversals method:

  • On hold
  • In error
  • Invoicing in progress
  • Credit memo in progress

If at least one distribution associated with a transaction is in one of these states, the reversal process won’t process any of the transaction’s distributions.

However, there’s one exception to this when using the retroactive change to ownership method for reversals. The exception is when a transaction has accounted distributions as well as unprocessed distributions that have a “Reassigned” distribution line type and an “On hold” status. This line type indicates that the original distributions were manually reversed. In this case, the reversal process will process all the distributions, including unprocessed distributions that are on hold.

Review Log File for List of Skipped Reversals

The reversal process generates a log file that includes a list of transactions whose distributions were not reversed. You can use these details to identify and review the distributions and determine how you want to handle them.