Consolidated Invoices with Charges from Multiple Sources

Generate invoices by consolidating charge lines from multiple sources based on predefined frequencies. Billing specialists can review draft lines and make corrections before generating the final invoice.

Below are the business benefits -

  • Improves efficiency in billing operations by enabling the creation of consolidated invoices across multiple sources.
  • Reduces processing time for cash application by lowering transaction volumes and simplifying reconciliation efforts.
  • Supports proactive charge line validation before billing, ensuring accuracy and minimizing downstream disputes, thereby improving customer satisfaction.
  • Reduces dependency on post-invoice adjustments and corrections, leading to faster collections and a more predictable cash flow.

Steps to Enable

To enable this feature you need to log a Service Request (SR).

  1. After entering the promotion code, enable the feature opt-in from Financials > Customer Invoice Processing.
  2. Navigate to the Consolidated Billing section of the applicable customer account profile -
    • Set the Enable option.
    • Associate the billing terms to specify the criteria to be applied for consolidation.
    • Optionally enable the Review of Invoice Lines Before Import.
  3. Repeat these steps for each customer account.

Customer Account Profile

Customer Account Profile

4. There are multiple ways to enable consolidation at customer account profile level -

  • Manual update through UI: In the new section for consolidated billing within customer account > profile history.
  • Update customer profile classes from UI and propagate the changes to the corresponding customer profiles: Three profile class update options are available -
    • Apply changes to new profiles only
    • Apply changes to unmodified profiles and version existing unmodified profiles
    • Apply changes to all profiles and version all existing profiles
  • Mass update via FBDI (File-Based Data Import): Populate values into the new attributes available in the tab RA_CUSTOMER_PROFILES_INT_ALL within the FBDI template.
  • SOAP service to create or update customer profile.

NOTE: It is recommended to review the details before propagating the revisions on profile classes to customer profiles, especially when the update option is set to 'Apply changes to all profiles and version all existing profiles', as it can potentially update other attributes which were modified earlier.

5. The consolidated billing terms provides the below user-configurable options that drive the consolidation process for a customer -

  • Consolidation method: In this case it is time-based.
  • Billing cycle: Specifies the frequency of billing which can be daily, weekly, monthly, with various options to run the billing on specific day/s in the week or month, last day of the month, with an option to skip week-ends.
  • Inclusions: Lists the Transaction Sources that should be considered for consolidation.
  • Exclusions: Lists various exclusion types like payment terms, receipt methods, business units, legal entities that should be excluded from consolidation.

6.  Schedule the new ESS Job 'Consolidate Charge Lines for Invoice Import Into Receivables' to be run at periodical intervals.

Tips And Considerations

  • Charge lines from Oracle Order Management, Oracle Subscriptions, and External Sources (interfaced via FBDI/Web Services) can be consolidated. Include only these transaction sources in Billing Terms.
  • Use only 'Import Receivables Transactions using AutoInvoice' ESS Job when consolidation is enabled. Replace any schedules that use 'Import AutoInvoice' Job.
  • Schedule the ESS Jobs in this order -
    • Import Receivables Transactions using AutoInvoice (Using feeder system sources): Identifies lines eligible for consolidation.
    • Consolidate Charge Lines for Invoice Import Into Receivables (Using the source ORA_Consolidated Invoice): Groups eligible lines for review or invoicing based on Billing Terms.
    • Import Receivables Transactions using AutoInvoice (Using the source ORA_Consolidated Invoice): Creates consolidated invoices.
  • Consolidated invoices are generated using the seeded transaction source ORA_Consolidated Invoice. Charge lines belonging to different feeder systems are captured as invoice lines. The transaction source interfaced by feeder system is shown as 'Line Transaction Source' on each invoice line.
  • All charge lines for a customer account within a billing cycle are consolidated into an invoice. However, if any mandatory grouping attributes differ (such as currency, transaction type, or billing site), separate invoices will be created. To generate a single invoice for a billing cycle, ensure feeder systems pass charge lines with the same mandatory grouping attributes. Refer to the Key Resources section for the full list of these attributes.

NOTE: The attributes Purchase Order, Purchase Order Revision, Purchase Order Date, Comments, and Internal Notes are excluded from the mandatory grouping for the lines intended for consolidation. These details are captured as references on invoice lines.

  • It is recommended to clear all pending interface lines for a customer by running the ESS Job 'Import Receivables Transactions using AutoInvoice' before enabling consolidation.
  • If review invoice lines before import is enabled for a customer account, then the user is expected to review the charge lines from 'Manage AutoInvoice Lines' (ADFdi) and change the consolidation status from 'Ready for Review' to 'Ready for Billing'.
  • Consolidated invoices are not generated if any charge line has errors. Fix all errors before running the ESS Jobs.
  • To bill the customer before the cycle date, use the 'Manage AutoInvoice Lines' (ADFdi) to change the consolidattion status to 'Bill Now', followed by the ESS Job Import Receivables Transactions using AutoInvoice. This adhoc consolidated invoice uses the current system date.
  • To move a charge line to another billing cycle, change its status to 'Ready for Consolidation' and update the transaction date to match the new cycle.

Key Resources

  • List of mandatory grouping attributes are available here.

Access Requirements

The new ESS process 'Consolidate Charge Lines for Invoice Import Into Receivables' and the revised 'Manage AutoInvoice Lines' ADFdi can be accessed using the existing privilege Submit AutoInvoice Import Process (AR_SUBMIT_AUTOINVOICE_IMPORT_PROCESS_PRIV).