R12
R12 Federal Financials Subledger Accounting Teardown Webinar, 10-Aug, 9:00am ET
OAUG has invited me to present as part of their upcoming Best of COLLABORATE ’12 Educational Series. I’ll be delivering the R12 Federal Financials Subledger Accounting Teardown presentation via Webinar on Friday, August 10th, starting at 9AM EDT. This presentation is a deep-dive into most of the key SLA concepts that support the R12 Federal Financials SLA accounting engine. My goal is to share what I’ve learned through 1 1/2 years of supporting one of the most complex Federal R12 upgrades to-date, now live for 5+ months.
Here’s the presentation agenda:
This is free for all OAUG (www.oaug.com) members. Additional information and registration details are at: bit.ly/eEK4ck
The slides of the presentation are available under the Federal Presentations/WhitePapers tab of the blog. I’d recommend trying to take some time to review the slides before-hand, especially if you are not already familiar with SLA. I have a lot of content packed into the presentation (hey I try to make the most of your time! LoL), so if you are already somewhat familiar with the content beforehand, it will probably help you absorb more during the webinar and be able to follow specific areas of interest.
I hope you’ll be able to attend.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Important R12 FV PO Commitment Accounting Attribute Assignment Updates identified in patch 13610367
Patch 13610367, released earlier this year, provided an update to the seeded Federal Purchasing AAD that is important for all R12.1 Federal PO Customers to understand, even if not using the seeded Federal SLA definitions. The AAD change included updates to a couple of the key Accounting Attribute Assignments for the FV PO Commitment JLT.
The changes were:
Accounting Attribute Assignment: Allocated to Distribution Type, changed to source: Allocated to Main Document Distribution Type
Accounting Attribute Assignment: Allocated to First Distribution Identifier, changed to source: Allocated to Main Document Distribution Identifier
The SLA configuration we’re using at my current gig is non-seeded and agency-unique but modeled after the FV.B 9000001 seeded FV SLA definitions. At first, I didn’t understand how this patch could be relevant to us, but Support and Development were suggesting it was a solution to some PO accounting issues. Upon digging deeper, I realized that the accounting assignments are a key driver in how the po_req_distributions_all.encumbered_flag/encumbered_amounts are updated upon AutoCreate.
The way these come into play is that:
1) the XLA create accounting process will leverage the specific accounting attribute assignments to drive how data is inserted into certain columns in xla_distribution_links and then,
2) the po_encumbrance_postprocessing package uses the data inserted into the specific xla_distribution_links.alloc_to_dist_id_num_1 field as a key join for going back and updating the po_req_distributions_all.encumbered_flag/encumbered_amount data.
If the accounting attribute assignments populate the xla_distribution_links.alloc_to_dist_id_num_1 with bad data, the po_req_distributions_all encumbered data is not updated properly. This causes multiple problems with other downstream PO XLA processing related to the autocreated lines, such as PO Line Unreserve/Rereserve and Cancellation actions. Also, if customers have 4700 Reconciliation analysis built off these po_req_disributions_all fields, those Recons will likely be way off.
Honestly, I was not expecting that a SLA JLT configuration such as this would be a driver in that kind of PO encumbrance functionality, but now I know and wanted to share. For anyone with custom PO Commitment JLTs in environments using Requisitions, I recommend looking hard at this to see if it helps with any issues and you’ll likely want to make these updates in your PO Commitment JLTs as well.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Oracle Spring ’12 Federal Development Update
I didn’t attend, but there was an Oracle Federal Financial Briefing on 17-Apr in Reston where information was shared about some of the upcoming GTAS enhancements and target patch release dates. Personally, besides focusing on our Fed R12.1.3 stabilization efforts on my current gig, I’m working to get smart on some of the basics associated with GTAS, the upcoming 6-digit USSGL standard and new Federal Accounting/System process changes associated.
As soon as we can get our hands on these new GTAS patches, we need to jump on them to start understanding some of the impacts to our EBS environments in further detail. As the Federal E-Business Suite community, we don’t really have much time to be able digest, test and prepare for these changes. First required reporting cycle for GTAS is after Nov FY13 month-end (Calendar Nov 2012) and the fact that GTAS will only accept Bulk File feeds (i.e. no pencil whipping any numbers like with FACTS today), means we’ve got to be ready with this stuff working. If anyone is looking for more info from Treasury on GTAS, you can find it here.
For R12 Fed Financials Installs who jumped on the CGAC & FV 90000001 patches early (me and my local Denver Federal Financials Shared Service provider!), at least we have that piece behind us. But certainly there is more coming, especially for all the agencies still on 11i.
Here’s the link to the deck I scored:
Oracle Federal Financials Spring ’12 Development Update
If you’ve been following the twitter feed, you know I’m heading to Collaborate ’12 to present two Federal Financials R12 sessions and catch-up on as much news/info as I can there. The FED Sig meeting is on Monday, maybe that will help. Keep watch on the twitter feed for anything I pick up relevant to the Federal EBS community.
If anyone has any comments or knowledge to share that you feel would help spread key info, please don’t hesitate to comment.
–Larry
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )XLA/SLA AMB Components Underlying Data Structure
For anyone dealing with R12 Subledger Accounting (SLA) configuration and troubleshooting, it can be helpful to understand how the SLA Accounting Methods Builder (AMB) Components are organized within the XLA schema of the R12 database. Here’s an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) I’ve put together as a tool to utilize when needing to build queries of most SLA configurations. This doesn’t encompass every type of SLA component (e.g. it doesn’t include Business Flow data), since I focused it on just the AMB Components I deal with the most, but includes the major components.
Here’s a PDF copy of it to print off: R12 Simple ERD of SLA AMB Components
In addition, here’s the SQL from a SQL Developer report I’ve developed to provide a data extract from the above which documents most SLA configs: SLA JLT and ADR Detail for AMB Components SQL.
Hope it helps..
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Finally Cool: @OracleFedApps is on Twitter
If you haven’t visited the actual blog lately and are just keeping up via a blog reader or some other type of subscription, you might have missed that I incorporated a Twitter feed a couple months back. I admit, my tweets aren’t going to be as entertaining as @CharlieSheen and I don’t expect to have 8 million+ followers like @BarackObama, but I’m trying to share a few experiences from the R12.1.3 Federal upgrade I’m working through. Hoping the short info may benefit others going through the same. Tweets are a great quick, simple way to share thoughts, but feel free to Mention/Direct Message (DM) or email me with any questions that need further detail.
#Winning
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )R12 SLA Sources Breakdown
One of the most fundamental components of the R12 Subledger Accounting Architecture (SLA) is the concept of SLA Sources. There is a good bit of documentation on many SLA components, including my prior OAUG Presentations on SLA, but good explanations of SLA sources are a bit harder to find. So I thought I’d take a shot at helping spread better understanding with this post.
SLA Source values play critical roles in XLA event processing and R12 GL journal creation such as:
- fundamental data elements that drive how Journal Line Type (JLT) and Account Derivation Rules (ADR) are selected through the use of Sources in JLT and ADR conditions
- fundamental data elements which are assigned as XLA Accounting Attributes (e.g. the value of the accounted_amount) to the JLTs
- often used in XLA Journal Line descriptions defined
To really understand why the XLA engine selects applicable JLTs/ADRs and how the accounting attributes are derived, a solid comprehension of what’s behind SLA sources is key. At the most basic level, Sources are (more…)
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 7 so far )Be aware of R12 Data Model changes to properly assess R12 upgrade rework
Any entity upgrading to R12 should sufficiently understand the data model changes between 11i and R12. Based on an entities’ dependence on the existing 11i data models that change, there can be a significant level of rework required to ensure that existing custom RDF/BI Pubisher Reports, Discoverer Reports, outbound interfaces, custom views, custom SQL & PL/SQL, etc. will function properly in the R12 environment. Analysis of custom objects relative to the data model changes can’t just be limited to whether objects will compile or run in R12, but should also include analysis of whether the proper data is returned from both upgraded 11i transactions and new transactions generated in R12. To properly plan and allocate resources to an R12 upgrade project, the impact of these changes to an entity should be thoroughly analyzed.
For example, in my years working in the Federal Financials space, I’ve seen a fairly heavy reliance on the gl_je_lines.referenceX (journal import references) columns for creating custom reports that provide subsidiary information (e.g. PO Number, Vendor, etc.) and gl information together. I’ve seen reports/interfaces often built from gl_je_lines up to best ensure the detail reports balance with trial balance amounts. In R12, the gl_je_lines.referenceX columns are no longer populated or are populated in a different manner. Thus any custom report, interface, etc. that leverages these fields will likely have to be reworked (or overall approach addressed) to continue to meet end-user requirements. The R12 GL -> Subsidiary drilldown path now runs through gl_import_references and a new suite of XLA tables as shown in this diagram.
An additional problem that confronts Federal Financials customers with this change is (more…)
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )Taking the edge off implementing SLA…
Are you struggling w/SLA burnout?? Looking for something to fill the time during a potential government shutdown??
Fully understanding and implementing SLA for Federal Financials continues to be quite a challenge in a current upgrade I’m working on. This is especially true when trying to ensure all the proper Upward/Downward accounting is properly done, but at the same time ensuring the PYA adjustments are not overstated as part of document revisions.
So, we thought we’d have a little fun and honor Colorado’s Microbrewing heritage with a nice new little home-brewed special for our team to help us enjoy our breaks away from the SLA grind.
I present: SLA Insanity.
Enjoy the pic…
New R12 CGAC & FV Consolidated Patches, Good, But…
Federal Development released a patch (9307787) for R12 in late December that provides a number of Federal Financials enhancements focused on better accommodating the OMB Common Government Accounting Classification (CGAC) attributes. The most obvious enhancements included are changes to the Treasury Symbols forms and related functionality. There is certainly more to the changes and a comprehensive document on the enhancements provided is available as MOS Note: 1277072.1.
These enhancements have been released for R12 Fed Financials only and the patch is currently in a controlled status for the 12.1 release. I’ve been focused on a Federal 12.1.3 upgrade for the last few months and we made the decision to start trying out the new CGAC patch in January. We ran into a few different issues resulting from the patch, but have been able to resolve them through a variety of additional patches, including the just released FV Consolidated patch 9000001 (also in a controlled status). Some of our issues with the CGAC patch were due to invalid object conditions caused by some FV objects (views, PL/SQL packages, etc.) getting out of sync with each other. The goal of this latest FV Consolidated patch is focused on providing the latest and greatest set of compatible FV objects. We are continuing to test, but our initial experience with the 9000001 patch on top of 9307787 has been positive, with the exception of having to rework a variety of our different Subledger Accounting (SLA) configurations a bit to deal with some changes. If looking at the CGAC patch, any agency will almost certainly need to go to the 9000001 patch as well.
Moving forward to uptake new enhancements is usually always a good thing, but due to the sensitivity and complexity of the R12 Federal SLA functionality, we must be a bit more careful with patching at this point in R12 than we might have been w/11i recently.
We’re used to (more…)
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Quick Collaborate ’10 Update
The trip was quick, but I enjoyed getting a quick taste of Collaborate ’10. Thanks to all those who attended my presentation bright and early on Monday morning. I have uploaded the slides from my presentation here for reference: Finally Federal! Exploring Projects Release 12.1.
I was able to catch the FedSig meeting where I got my first chance to see the Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) product live. The presentation included a demonstration of core R12 Advance Procurement Suite (APS) functionality with the CLM features integrated in. I thought the CLM demo team did a good job and certainly were well-versed in Federal (including DoD) Contracting business processes. For anyone interested in CLM, be sure to get up to speed on the core R12 APS functionality available, which you could start doing now. That will serve as a good baseline for understanding the additional features that the CLM product provides when available. There is a good amount of documentation on R12 APS functionality available online and feel free to check out my Collaborate ’09 Presentation on the APS functionality I thought would be most relevant to the Federal Community. CLM is said to be available “Calendar Year 2010”, when R12.1.3 is released. The 12.1 Release Content Documents have been updated to include 12.1.3 features, which makes me think 12.1.3 may not be too far off, although the Procurement RCD doesn’t include anything about CLM.
I also attended another Projects Federal Accounting features session by Neeraj Garg of Project Partners, where I picked up a few pieces of info that I hadn’t figured out yet on the R12.1 projects functionality. He did a great job.
It was evident from the Cliff Godwin Oracle Apps Strategy Session & the Financials Road Map Session, that Oracle is going to start turning up the pressure to upgrade from 11i10. Extended support for 11i10 ends in 2013 and Oracle is strongly suggesting to get moving on the R12 upgrade planning/execution.
Another quick nugget: there are a few new pieces of Federal functionality planned for 12.1.3 as documented in the updated Financials 12.1 RCD (Note: 561580.1). It looks like the Federal Year-End process is being enhanced to better support Pre-Closing Entries and some enhancements to the CCR integration functionality are included.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Dept. of Labor closing in on planned R12 go-live
First of all, sorry for the void of posts for the last few months, unfortunately I’ve just been severely swamped with project-work as we try to close in our USAF DEAMS go-live later this year. But I happened to notice an article where it looks like Dept. of Labor is targeting an Oct. 1st go-live for R12 Fed Financials, so I thought I’d post a link to that info here. I also know that SSA was targeting a R12 go-live a bit earlier this summer, but haven’t been able to stay much in the loop on how that’s going. It is definitely good to see more agencies getting further along with their R12 plans.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Collaborate ’09 Recap – A Federal Spin
Now that I’m back in Denver, here’s a recap from the Collaborate ’09 conference in Orlando that I thought would be helpful to share. I definitely enjoyed seeing friends, meeting new ones and taking in as much information as I could during the conference. Being responsible for three different presentations was a bit more than I would have preferred (especially with a newborn and a 3 year-old at home, along with supporting a pretty demanding project cutting into the prep time), but it seemed that the presentations went well and were favorably accepted. Thanks to everyone who came to them and please don’t hesitate to contact me with any follow-up questions. The presentations are available here.
Here’s an attempt at sharing some of the past week’s events, announcements and information of Federal relevance (with a few other items) that I picked up. The link to the Oracle Collaborate 09 Media Kit, which provides press-releases and additional info on a number of these items is available here.
E-Business Suite 12.1 Released – 12.1 (12.1.1) was made Generally Available on Monday, May 4th. 12.1 brings a variety of new capabilities to the table, but for the Federal community, the biggest news with 12.1 is the important step forward in the long awaited “Projects Federalization“. 12.1 now provides the capability to create the required USSGL Budgetary postings from PA Agreements/Fundings, Revenue and Costs. Projects has never provided USSGL Transaction Codes or any other solution for creating these entries and this gap has been a long-time Federal Top-Ten enhancement request.
Other top 12.1 new features include:
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )FedSIG CGAC call with Oracle Development – 1 Apr
FYI:
“The CGAC call for the FedSIG with Mike Barker, Director of Public Sector Development, will be a concall / web conference. Here are the logistics:
Participants should use Internet Explorer for the web conference. Participants should, at their earliest convenience, go to https://conference.oracle.com and click on “New User” to ensure that their system is compatible to the Oracle web conference system. To ensure success, please make sure that your pop-up blockers are turned off. You might need to turn the blocker off, exit Explorer and then start it back up again.
If a user does not have admin rights to accept the downloaded applet to initialize the web conference, they will not be able to view the slides and, if possible, should join other participants in a conference room to view the slides.
Date: Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Time: 1:00 pm ET
Duration: 90 Minutes
Call In: XXXXXXXXX
ID and Passcode: XXXXX
Web Conference ID: XXXXXX
Please encourage all participants to call in about 10 minutes before the start of the call at 1:00 pm ET, so we can start on time.
The intended audience for this call is existing Oracle customers, who are subject to the non disclosure in their Oracle License Service Agreement.”
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Oracle Federal Development CGAC/R12 Web Conference 4/1
It seems that Oracle development is offering up a web conference to the Federal Financials Special Interest Group (FED SIG) on how Oracle is addressing CGAC in R12. This is scheduled for April 1 from 1-2:30 Eastern. Oracle is asking how many different callers will be calling in to determine if they need to support a large audience, so if you want to post info on the poll about how many separate callers would be calling in, I can relay the info. It looks like they’re looking for a count by 3/19.
CGAC is the Common Government-Wide Accounting Classification Structure as published not too long ago by OMB FSIO. I’ve heard that Oracle has been making some changes in some of the table structures to better accomodate the definitions of some of the CGAC elements. More info on CGAC is available at http://www.fsio.gov.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )R12 FSIO Certification Press Release
I finally ran across an official press release from Oracle on the R12 FSIO certification. Here’s the link.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )FSIO Qualified Software now states Oracle E-Business Suite R12
I haven’t seen any press release, nothing on metalink or anything else official, but the FSIO Qualified Software page now shows version R12 as the certified version. Surprised there hasn’t been a bit more fanfare around this yet, but maybe some will be coming. Click here to go to the FSIO page.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )FSIO Certification of R12 Rumor Mill is Definitely Hot
Judging by the uptick in blog hits and searches like ‘R12 FSIO’ that are referring searchers here, many are hearing the same rumors I’m hearing. No official announcement yet (nothing on FSIO, metalink or any press releases yet), but the word is out that Oracle has received a FSIO letter for R12 certification. When I see anything official, I’ll update with a link/info. Or if anyone beats me to the punch, just go ahead & post a comment.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Latest on R12 FSIO Status
Here’s an update I saw today from Oracle. “Federal Financials development delivered a second R12 demo to FSIO on January 7, 2009. FSIO needs to review the reports / output from the demo. FSIO did not commit to a date, but said they would probably need at least two weeks. At the end of this process, [Oracle] expects R12 to be FSIO certified”.
For what its worth.
December Federal CAB Info
The most recent Oracle Federal Customer Advisory Board (CAB) meeting was held on 3-December.
A few interesting points of info include:
-Both Oracle and FSIO are pointing to January 2009 as finalizing the R12 FSIO certification
-In the Oracle Development update, Oracle pointed identified R12.1 as targeted for release in calendar year 2009 (12.1 is slated to include additional out of the box integration for Projects SLA items such as the capability for creating standard journal entries for Unfilled Customer Orders when an agreement is baselined). This obviously doesn’t really give much specificity, but at least they mentioned it.
Here are the slides from the meeting as presented from Oracle and OMB FSIO.
Oracle CAB Development Update (Dec. 3, 2008 )
R12 Overview for Dec 2008 Cab_v1
FSIO Presentation at Oracle 12-3-08
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )FSIO requests a 2nd R12 presentation/demo from Oracle prior to Certification
On the monthly Oracle Federal Financials Special Interest Group (FEDSIG) call this week (held on November 18), Oracle identified that FSIO has requested a 2nd followup presentation/demo from Oracle prior to certifying R12. Oracle provided an initial R12 demo/presentation in September to FSIO in hopes of attaining a thumbs-up on gaining the R12 certification, so this 2nd request seems to be a bit of a setback in terms of finalizing the certification. Details of the rationale were not disclosed and Oracle is eager to complete the process, however a date has not yet been set for the follow-up presentation.
Hopefully, this will not delay the process significantly as a number of agencies are eagerly awaiting the go-ahead from FSIO. Of course, the irony of the situation is that R12 solves a number of issues (due to SLA and other capabilities) and I’d consider it to be more compliant with FSIO requirements than prior releases
Other news from the call:
-The next Federal Customer Advisory Board (CAB) meeting is scheduled for 12/3 in Reston. This is typically an invite-only event for Federal Financials system owners/executives.
-Next FEDSIG call tentatively scheduled for 12/16.
-The FEDSIG will be extending its time frame for collecting enhancement requests from agencies. See the template at http://fedsig.oaug.org and contact information for forwarding the enhancements.
-AP Patchset O created a number of issues for an agency on the call, suggest testing it well prior to moving into prod.
-A straw poll was taken of how year-end closing processes went. For the most part, it seems agencies are getting through year-end easier with each passing year. Numerous agencies reported needing to develop custom year-end processes.
-2 large agencies have mentioned significant performance considerations with rebuilding summary accounts. Oracle is apparently working on some performance enhancements to the summary account build process so maybe we’ll see that in the future.
-Multiple agencies indicated continuing problems with unaccounted AP invoices (due to failures of the Payables Accounting Process) and mentioned the desire for enhanced focus by Oracle to assist with mitigating these continuing issues in the future (note: due to the changes in R12 SLA, these specific issues should go away and lets hope we don’t have too many new ones)
-A few months ago, Mike Barker (Oracle Federal Development Lead) offered up the possibility of providing a web conference on new R12 capabilities aimed to help agencies comply with CGAC. This is still being considered, however the current highest priority is getting through the FSIO process for R12. The webinar won’t be until after the next R12 demo/presentation with FSIO.
-The FEDSIG chair is researching the preferred time-frame of the OAUG Collaborate ’09 FEDSIG meeting. Options are somewhere between 1 hr & a half-day.
If anyone reading this is unsure on how to join the FEDSIG or is interested in getting on the distribution list for the monthly calls, see http://fedsig.oaug.org.
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