Oracle General Ledger Interview Questions in R12

1) Can a flexfield qualifier be changed after it has been created?

Ans)  No.

Once a segment qualifier has been designated for a specific segment and has been saved, it will permanently have the attributes with that qualifier.
For example, you accidentally designate the cost center segment as the natural account segment. Even though you do not compile this, the system saves the changes. And once it has been saved, it will have all the attributes designated for the natural account qualifier, even after it has been changed back, resaved with the correct qualifier and compiled. This is the inherent functionality of the software.
Unfortunately, there is no real easy solution for this issue. The only option is to create a new chart of accounts and attach a new set of books.

2) How to delete a segment value?

Ans) There is no supported way to delete a segment value. Segment values can only be disabled not deleted.

3) Is there a way to load values for a specific segment outside of the form?

Ans) iSetup is the Oracle product that provides supported APIs to load values into Oracle Applications flexfields.
To load code combinations ADI may be used. Uploading zero amount journals will create new code combinations.
In this case Dynamic Insertion should be enabled and all account segment values need to exist before the new account code combinations will be dynamically created.

4) What are the different types of Journals in General Ledger ?

Ans)  

1. Functional Currency Jv: This Journal, we enter Local Currency transaction purpose.

2. Foreign Currency Jv: this Journal, we enter other than local currency transaction purpose...before we define exchange rates

3.Suspense Jv: this Journal, whenever debit is not equal to credit that time, we enable in set of books window Suspense button, then it works otherwise it's not working

4.Tax Jv: this Journal, calculate taxation of Purchased items

5.Reverse Jv: this Journal whenever we enter recurring journal, at the time of we using..We have two methods...one is Debit to Credit and second one is sign (+ to -)

6.Recurring Jv :this one is We define one template, we use Periodically, these are 3 types
1.Standard 2.Skeleton 3.Formula

7.Mass Allocation Jv :Set of Expenses or Set of Revenue allocate different parts using Formula A*B/C
A is Total Cost Pool..B is Usage Factor...C is Total Usage Factor...

8. Batch JV: Group of Journal we enter at a time, We Define Control Amount
9. Stat JV: This JV we have one side of Amount either debit or Credit.....

5)  What is average Balance In Oracle Financials? 

Ans) The Average Balance feature of Oracle General Ledger provides organizations with the ability to track average and end-of-day balances, report average balance sheets, and create custom reports using both standard and average balances. Average balance processing is particularly important for financial institutions, since average balance sheets are required, in addition to standard balance sheets, by many regulatory agencies. Many organizations also use average balances for internal management reporting and

Profitability analysis.

The difference between an average and standard balance sheet is that balances are expressed as average amounts rather Than actual period-end amounts. An average balance is computed as the sum of the actual daily closing balance for a balance sheet account, divided by the number of calendar Days in the reporting period .

6) Is there a limit to the number of periods in a budget year or how many years a budget can span?

Ans) One can define budgetary control for n number of years however, one year can have maximum of 60 fiscal periods7)   

7) What is a funding budget?

Ans) A budget against which accounting transactions are checked for available funds when budgetary control is enable for your set of books.

8) What is planning budget

Ans) The plan for the future expenses is planning budget. It is a paper work. There is no funds requirement. It does not require journals. There are no restrictions for estimating of funds.

9) I was able to post a budget journal to a closed period, why? 

Ans) Yes you can do so, reason being budget journal is not linked with your accounting period. Once you have open the budget period then you can book budget journal for that whole period.

 10) What is the specific purpose of assigning Balancing Segment Values to the Legal Entity in Accounting Manager Setup (as once assigned, the same value is not allowed to be selected for any other Legal Entity), if this value is usable for the Operating Unit(s) that does not have this Legal Entity Context?

Ans) Summary of key facts:
1. Common COA Structure used for Primary and Secondary Ledgers
2. Ledger shared by Multiple Legal Entities
3. Specific Balancing Segment Values assigned to Specific Legal Entity (Overlap not allowed)
4. Specific Legal Entity Vision Operations Assigned to Payables Manager OU for Legal Entity Context
5. User preference set to Access Vision Operations OU by Default in Payables

Conclusion and Findings:

1. Balancing Segment Value Assignment to the Multiple Legal Entities, sharing the same Ledger does not seem to restrict the user of these Balancing Segment Values in the Feeder, Operating Unit specific Modules Like AP, wherein Legal Entity Context is passed to the OU through the link of the Primary Ledger.

2. However, access to these Balancing Segment Values could be controlled through Security Rules being assigned to the Value Set and the Respective Responsibility

3. The Key question is: If Legal Entity having the context to the Operating Unit that shares the common Ledger does not have assignment to it, what impact it has on the integrity of data when this access is otherwise allowed, except through Security Rules?

11) What are the interface tables in General Ledger ?

Ans)

GL_BUDGET_INTERFACE
GL_DAILY_RATES_INTERFACE
GL_IEA_INTERFACE
GL_INTERFACE
GL_INTERFACE_CONTROL
GL_INTERFACE_HISTORY 

 12) What is DFF.

Question: What does DFF mean?
Answer: DFF is a mechanism that lets us create new fields in screens that are delivered by Oracle.

Question: Oh good, but can these new fields be added without modifying/customization of the screen?.
Answer: Yes, certainly. Only some setup is needed, but no programmatic change is needed to setup DFF.

Question: Why the word Descriptive in Name DFF?
Answer: I think Oracle used this terminology because by means of setup...you are describing the structure of these new fields. Or may be Oracle simply used a silly word to distinguish DFF from KFF(discussed in latter training lesson).

Question: Are these DFF's flexible?
Answer: A little flexible, for example, depending upon the value in a field, we can make  either Field1 or Field2  to appear in DFF.

Question: So we create new fields in existing screen, but why the need of doing so?
Answer: Oracle delivers a standard set of fields for each screen, but different customers have different needs, hence Oracle lets us create new fields to the screen.

Question: Are these new fields that get created as a result of DFF free text?
I mean, can end user enter any junk into the new fields that are added via DFF?
Answer: If you attach a value set to the field(at time of setup of dff), then field will no longer be free text. The entered value in the field will be validated, also a list of valid values will be provided in LOV.

Question : Will the values that get entered by the user in dff fields be updated to database?
Answer: Indeed, this happens because for each field that you create using DFF will be mapped to  a column in Oracle Applications.

Question: Can I create a DFF on any database column?
Answer: Not really. Oracle delivers a predefined list of columns for each table that are meant for DFF usage. Only those columns can be mapped to DFF segments. These columns are named similar to ATTRIBUTE1, ATTRIBUTE2, ATTRIBUTE3 ETC. Usually Oracle provides upto 15 columns, but this number can vary. 

Question: Can I add hundreds of fields to a given screen?
Answer: This depends on the number of attribute columns in the table that screen uses. Also, those columns must be flagged as DFF enabled in DFF Registration screen. Don't need to worry much about this because all the ATTRIBUTE columns are by default flagged for their DFF usage.

Question: Hmmm, I can see that DFFs are related to table and columns...
Answer: Yes correct. Each DFF is mapped to one table. And also each segment(or call it field) is mapped to one of the attribute columns in that table.

Question: I want these fields to appear in screen only when certain conditions are met. Is it possible?
Answer: Yes, we have something known as Context Sensitive Descriptive Flexfields.

In Order to do this, we will follow the below steps(screenshots will follow) :-
1.    Navigate to the DFF Registration screen in Oracle Apps and query on Table AP_BANK_BRANCES. Now click on Reference Field
2.    Navigate to DFF Segments screen and query on the Title of the “Bank Branch” and Unfreeze the Flexfield and add segments as to Section "GLOBAL Data Elements" as shown in screenshots.

13)   What is Journal Import?

Ans) Journal import is an interface used to bring journal entries from legacy systems and other modules into the General Ledger.(Specifically Journal Import gets entries from legacy data into the GL base tables.
The tables populated during journal Import are
GL_JE_BATCHES,
GL_JE_HEADERS,
GL_JE_LINES,
GL_IMPORT_REFERENCES

14) What is the use of GL_Interface?

Ans) Gl_Interface is the primary interface table of General ledger. It acts as an interface between data originating from other modules such as AP,AR, Legacy data and the Gl Base tables.

15) What is Actual Flag?

Ans) Actual flag represents the Journal type.
A-Actual
B-Budget
E- Encumbrance.

16) What is Encumbrance?

Ans) It is a process of Reservation of funds for anticipated expenditure from a budget. Encumbrance integrates GL, Purchasing and Payables modules.

17) How many Key Flex Fields are there in General Ledger?

Ans)  One. Accounting Key Flex Field.

18) How many types of Budgets are there?

Ans) Two Types.
Expenditure Budgets
Revenue Budgets.

19)What are Spot Rate, Corporate Rate, Transaction Calendar and Accounting Calendar?

Ans) Spot Rate:
An exchange rate which you enter to perform conversion based on the rate on a specific date. It applies to the immediate delivery of currency.

 Corporate Rate:
An Exchange rate that we define to standardize rates for our company. This rate is the standard market rate determined by the senior financial management for use through out the organization.

 User Rate:
Conversion rate that is defined by the user.
EMU Fixed Rate: An exchange rate that is provided automatically by the General Ledger while entering journals. It uses a foreign currency that has a fixed relationship with the euro.
Transaction Calendar: Defines the business days and holidays for any calendar.
Accounting Calendar: Defines different types of calendars namely Fiscal, Federal Fiscal, Month etc.

20)What is Security Rule?

Ans) Security Rules are defined to control the access of a flexfield segment value (Financial information) at a responsibility level.

21) What are Cross Validation & ADI?

Ans) CVS – Cross validate segments – Allows only valid code combinations.
ADI – Allow dynamic inserts. – Allows any code combination irrespective of validity.
ADI would prevail if both of CVS and ADI are checked.

22)What is Translation?

Ans) Translation is a process used to convert functional currency to other reporting currencies at the account balances level.

23)What is Revaluation?

Ans) It is process used to revalue assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currency into functional currency based on period end exchange rate we specify. Unrealized gains/losses are resulted because of exchange rate fluctuations which are recorded in unrealized gain/loss account in GL.

24)What is FSG (Financial Statement Generator)?

Ans) Financial statement generator feature helps us to generate reports such as balance sheets and income statements with out programming. It also provides a high degree of control on the rows, columns, contents and calculations on the report. Different components such as row set, column set, content set, row order, display set have to be defined before a statement is generated, of which row set and column set are mandatory.

25) What is Consolidation?

Ans) Consolidation is a period-end process of combining the financial results of separate business subsidiaries with the parent company to form a single combined statement of financial results.

26) At what level General Ledger data is secured?

Ans) GL data is secured at Set of Book level. Subledger module data is secured at Responsibility level (i.e., at Operating Unit Level).

27) Difference between Primary Ledger and Secondary Ledger in R12 ?

Ans) Primary ledger:

The primary ledger acts as the primary accounting representation

Secondary Leger:
Secondary ledgers represent the primary ledger's accounting data in another accounting representation that differs in one or more of the following ways:

• chart of accounts
• accounting calendar/period type combination
• currency
• subledger accounting method
• ledger processing options

Use secondary ledgers for supplementary purposes, such as consolidation, statutory reporting, or adjustments for one or more legal entities within the same accounting setup. For example, use a primary ledger for corporate accounting purposes that uses the corporate chart of accounts and subledger accounting method, and use a secondary ledger for statutory reporting purposes that uses the statutory chart of accounts and subledger accounting method. This allows you to maintain both a corporate and statutory representation of the same legal entity's transactions in parallel.
Assign one or more secondary ledgers to each primary ledger for an accounting setup.
The secondary ledgers assigned can only perform the accounting for the legal entities within the same accounting setup.

FAQ for Segment Security Rules

I have defined a security rule and assigned it to my responsibility. Why does it still not work?

Make sure that you have enabled security at both the segment and value set levels, it must be enabled at both these levels to work. Also make sure you have switched out and back into the responsibility.

My security rules don't work for the Account Analysis and General Ledger reports in Release 11.0.3.

This functionality is available starting in Release 11i. In Releases 11 and lower, one cannot set security for standard reports. Security Rules will only limit users from a few functions (e.g. Account Inquiry, Budgets, Journal Entries, and FSGs). In addition,in Release 11i there is limited use of the security rule functionality for running standard reports.
If your goal is to restrict users from submitting reports for a particular company, then this cannot be accomplished using security rules.

When using the intercompany segment, can I have a security rule on the balancing segment (company) without affecting the intercompany segment, since they share the same value set?

Yes it is possible. You would enable security on the value set, but then on the flexfield segment (intercompany) you would not enable security.

How can I assign different security rules to a responsibility based on the User ID?

You cannot apply different security rules to the same responsibility for different users based on the user ID. You will have to create a new responsibility and define its own security rules. Then you can assign the new responsibility to one of the users.

Can I use security rules to control the posting of journal entries?

Security rules apply only with regards to creation/modification of lines within a journal. They do not apply when the journal is posted.

When I perform a query, Security rules don't seem to work on all forms, why?

Flexfield Value Security gives you the capability to restrict the set of values a user can use during data entry. With easy-to-define security rules and responsibility level control, you can quickly set up data entry security on your flexfield segments and report parameters.

Flexfield Value Security lets you determine who can use flexfield segment values and report parameter values. Based on your responsibility and access rules that you define, Flexfield Value Security limits what values you can enter in flexfield pop-up windows and report parameters.

Security rules for the Accounting Flexfield also restrict query access to segment values in the Account Inquiry, Funds Available, and Summary Account Inquiry windows. In these windows, you cannot query up any combination that contains a secure value.
However in all other forms, you will be able to query up a value even if it is restricted to the user.

Can I use Security Rules to prevent users in one organization (in the same set of books) from adding Cross Validation Rules to another organization?

There is no way in the same set of books, to prevent users from one operating unit via security rules, from changing cross validation rules for another operating unit. The only way to do this would to be create a separate set of books for each operating unit. Since security rules prevent users from either viewing data or entering data in general, they do not pertain to set up issues such as creating cross validation rules. Therefore, the only other way to prevent one user from one organization from creating cross-validation rules to the other organization, when in the same set of books, would be to completely remove that menu function from the user.

Every Country has a Global Manager or User Responsibility to access Global SOB but it is supposed to limit users to their own Legal Entities. However, a journal from one country can be posted by a user of another country. How is this possible?

This is working as intended. Security rules will prohibit a responsibility from being able to enter or review certain values. However security rules will not prohibit the actions above because they are in the same set of books. The system does not determine if a journal has values in it that are blocked by security rules. If it did that, the journal would appear as unbalanced. There would have to be an incredible amount of logic involved, which would further reduce performance, for the posting program to scan the journal for security rules first before posting. Posting does not take into consideration the rules, this is done at the time of journal entry.

I forgot to check the security enabled flag for each segment and now it is not updateable. How do I correct this?

Check your Accounting Flexfield structure to see if it is frozen. Unfreeze the structure, then you should be able to enable Security for the Segment.

Can I delete an Exclude statement in order to resolve a Security Rule issue?

The Security rule should not be modified by deleting an exclude or include as it may corrupt the rule. Instead, delete all rule lines (include and excludes), save and redefine the include and excludes. If the rule still doesn't work, create a new rule and assign it to the responsibilities in place of the original rule.

What standard reports have security enabled in Release 11i?

Trial Balance, Account Analysis and General Ledger are the only standard reports in Release 11i for which security rules apply.

Must I use a universal Include when setting up rules?

It is recommended by development to start each security rule with a universal Include statement and then eliminate each value using Exclude statements.

What functions do security rules apply to?

Security rules apply to Account Inquiry, budgets, FSG's and journal entry functions.
Since Release 11i this also applies to several standard reports.
Please note, they do not apply to the posting of journals or the review of journals. When reviewing a journal with security rules, the totals are still displayed, it is only the individual lines with secured accounts that are not visible. This is standard functionality.

FAQ for Accounting Setup Manager

1.How to properly assign/remove Definition Access Sets in Oracle General Ledger?

Follow Document 415901.1 for steps on how to remove the Definition Acess Sets, but please note that DAS definitions cannot be deleted. These will remain in the Definition Access Sets -> Define form but will not have the definition name assigned to it (if all definitions were removed - in this example we only created one - then deleted it).

2.R12 Accounting Flexfield and GL Ledger Flexfield are not matching, is this a problem?

As documented in the General Ledger User Guide and Implementation Guide, the new GL Ledger Flexfield is automatically created and maintained. Users should ignore this Flexfield and never change it. Development has confirmed that the value for the dynamic insertion will not cause a problem. So if you notice any inconsistencies between Accounting Flexfield and GL Ledger Flexfield can be completely ignored.
See Document 418154.1 for more information.

3.How can I setup a Legal Entity country, if the country is not available in LOV?

Navigate into Legal Entity manager responsibility ->Setup -> Jurisdictions -> create identifying jurisdiction by setting identifying to Yes and territory to the country required, enter any name. Then enter registration codes. If the jurisdiction is already set to yes, then go to System Administrator Responsibility> go to Profile options> select the application name as General Ledger> then select the user by your user> in the profile choose <Default Country> , change the default country to the country required.
See Document 438089.1, Document 444633.1 for more information.

4.How do I remove Balancing Segment Value assignments from a Ledger?

Initially it was not possible to remove a BSV assigned to a Ledger once the setup has been complete, but it was delivered via recommended Patch 7529614:R12.GL.A.
However, this functionality does not apply to a Legal Entity. There is no possible way to remove a BSV assigned to a Legal Entity once the setup is complete.

5.Can I change the Ledger Currency after setup is complete?

No, it is not possible to change the ledger currency after the accounting setups have been completed. Same as in R11, in R12 the chart of accounts, calendar and currency cannot be changed after the setup has been completed and any attempt to perform such a change in the tables will not be supported and is highly un-recommended.
See Document 556220.1 for more information.

6.Can I enable Average Balances for a ledger after the ledger setup is complete?

No, it is not possible to enable average daily balances for a ledger once the ledger has been saved. Once the ledger setup is complete, the option to enable average daily balances is not available as part of the accounting setup manager.
See Document 734099.1 for more information.

7.Can I change the Subledger accounting method (SLAM) in the ledger definition after going live?

The accounting method should not be changed without advice from the subledger support team. Changing it can cause severe corruption, if, for example, you go from standard accrual to MFAR or the other way around. Please log a service request with the relevant subledger team to get further advice on whether the change is possible.

8.Can I delete, disable or end-date Primary Ledgers?

Document 782244.1 says that it is not possible to delete or end date the primary ledger whenever created and completed.
Yet, you can workaround this through the responsibilities - create a new Data Access Set, to prevent access to the ledgers that you wanted to delete and only allow access to the Primary Ledger required and attached this Data Access Set to the users responsibilities.

9.Can a Secondary Ledger be associated with more than one Primary Ledger?

No, a secondary ledger can only be associated with a single primary ledger.
See Document 735468.1 for more information.

10.How do I disable a Reporting Ledger?

Disable the Reporting currency from Accounting Setup Manager. In Accounting Setup Manager disable the conversions to the reporting ledger.
Create a new ledger set and a new data access set that contains only the Primary ledger
Update the GL: Data Access Set profile option at the responsibility level with this new data access set.

See Document 563546.1 for more information.

11.How do I disable a Secondary Ledger already created?

Query for your Primary Ledger from the ASM and click on the "Disable" icon next to the secondary ledger you in the Secondary Ledger table.
See Document 761380.1 for more information.

12.How do I set up the Responsibilities and Data Access Sets needed for a Primary Ledger and Secondary Ledger, when the ledgers have different charts of accounts? Can a Ledger Set be used in this case?

All ledgers in a Ledger Set must share the same chart of accounts and accounting calendar/period type combination. So a Ledger Set cannot be used in this case, where the charts of accounts are different. Instead, separate responsibilities must be used for access to each ledger. See Document 460654.1 for more information.

13.Can I change Primary Ledger to Secondary and Secondary to Primary?

No, changing ledger types is not permitted for the time being. The only way is to create new ledger after R12 implementation and use consolidation to put the 'history'.
See Document 603624.1 for more information

14.How to generate Reporting Sequence?

The ledger is setup to have Sequencing Context defined for GL Period Close - GL Journal Entry or GL Period Close - Subledger Journal Entry.
See Document 744962.1 for more information.

FAQ on Subledger or XLA to GL Transfer Process In R12

1. What are the important tables for sub-ledger accounting?

xla_transaction_entities
xla_events
xla_ae_headers
xla_ae_lines
xla_distribution_links
xla_control_balances

2. How the SLA events get generated?

Through the SLA API's in the subledgers code.

3. What are the steps to transfer the data to GL from the subledgers?

a. Create Accounting
b. Transfer to GL (includes Journal Import)
c. Post to GL

To transfer the journals from SLA to GL, you will have to run create accounting program in final mode from respective Sub-ledger i.e. AR,AP,CM,FA,PO etc. This program looks after your SLA accounting rules and accordingly generates the entries and transfer them to GL.

If you want to see the journals first before transferring them to GL, you can run the same program in Draft mode before running in final mode.

If you have already run the create accounting but not transferred to GL, it is sufficient to run the "Transfer Journal Entries to General Ledger" concurrent request.

4. Which process push the data into which tables?

Create Accounting : Subledger tables and xla_events -> xla_ae_headers, xla_ae_lines and xla_distribution_links
Transfer to GL: xla_ae_headers and xla_ae_lines -> gl_je_headers and gl_je_lines
Post to GL : gl_je_headers and gl_je_lines -> gl_balances
Subledger Accounting Balances Update : xla_ae_headers and xla_ae_lines -> xla_control_balances

5. What data will be there in xla_control_balances?

Balances related to Third Party Control Accounts

6. Does all subledger eg (AP,INV,AR) that transfer to GL will have to go through SLA by a must, or they can be transferred directly to GL?

It's must, all the Subledgers shall be routed through SLA which my be Seeded one or Customized

7. Is SLA only for the journal lines we have created rules for ?

No, its applicable for all lines

General Ledger FAQ for Flexfields

Requirements and Limitations defining the Accounting Flexfield

1. What are the requirements and limitations defining the Accounting Flexfield?

The Accounting Flexfield has several special requirements and limitations for its definition.
Follow these recommendations carefully, since an incorrectly defined Accounting Flexfield will adversely affect your chart of accounts and application features and in most cases they cannot be corrected.

Plan your key flexfield structures carefully, including segment information such as segment order and field lengths.
Once you define your key flexfields and enter flexfield values, you cannot change your structures. Attempting to do so may create data inconsistencies that impact the behavior of your application or require a complex conversion program. Changing your existing structures may also adversely affect the behavior of items that reference your present flexfield structure, such as financial statements, recurring journal entries, allocations, consolidations, cross-validation rules and shorthand aliases

Try to build flexibility for future needs into your account structure during setup:
- you may want to add an extra character to the size of each segment to anticipate future needs.
- You can define additional segments for future use.

The following is not a complete list of restrictions and does not excuse the reading of the General Ledger and Flexfields User Guides:
- It is mandatory to designate one segment as the Natural Account segment and another as the Balancing segment.
- The Accounting Flexfield supports only the Char format type. You should not select the Numbers Only check box for the Accounting Flexfield.
- The Accounting Flexfield requires consecutive segment numbers beginning with 1 (such as 1, 2, 3, ...).
- The Accounting Flexfield requires that all segments be Displayed and Required. Hiding segments is not supported.
- You can use dependent account segments when you want a "context-sensitive" segment, but avoid it if possible. Use the Cross Validation Segment Rules instead, as some functions may not work properly with dependent segments (for example the AHE - Account Hierarchy Editor).

Segments, Values and Value Sets

1. Can different Ledgers / Sets of Books share the same value set?

If there is a ledger or set of books that already uses a particular value set and a new one is created, it can share the existing value set.
When the Account Flexfield Structure is created, simply choose the existing value set from the List of Values.
However, if you use an existing value set, the new structure will also inherit the existing values in the value set. It does not create an empty value set to be populated.

2. Can the Accounting Flexfield Segment name be changed?

Almost nothing about a flexfield structure should be changed since this could seriously impact your existing data and cause inconsistencies.
The LOV (list of values) prompt and window prompt that appear on the segment form can be changed so the users can see the segment with a different name.

1. Navigate to Setup: Financial: Flexfield: key: segments
2. Query all
3. Unfreeze your flexfield
4. Open the segment summary screen
5. Choose the segment you wish to change
6. Change the LOV and window Prompts and insert the new name.
7. Save your work
8. Freeze the Flexfield which should launch a concurrent request.
9. Check the log and make sure the compile worked OK.

3. How to add a new value to an existing segment?

On the Segment Values form, insert a new row with your new value.
Make sure the segment qualifiers are set correctly (Allow Posting and Budgeting).
If this is the natural account segment, specify the Account Type also.

4. How to delete a segment value?

There is no supported way to delete a segment value. Segment values can only be disabled not deleted.

5. How to enable an existing Future-Use accounting flexfield segment?

Do the following, on the Key Flexfield Segments form:

1. Unfreeze the accounting flexfield
2. Change the Window Prompt name to a valid name (do NOT change the segment name)
3. Update the Default Type and Default Value (if necessary)
4. Freeze the accounting flexfield and recompile

6. How to re-enable an account value?

In order to re-enable an account value or remove an end date, do the following:

1. Unfreeze the accounting flexfield structure
2. Re-enable the account value or remove the end date of the segment value.
3. Re-freeze the accounting flexfield structure and recompile.
4. Log out of the applications and log back in.

The account value should now be once more available for use.

7. Is it possible to change the size of a Value Set used in the Accounting Flexfield?

It is possible to increase the size in some cases.
Once the value set is created, you should avoid changes in the size of a value set used in an accounting flexfield.

You should never change:
- from a larger to a smaller maximum size.
- from a smaller to a larger maximum size if your value set is Right-justify Zero-fill (for example "001" is not the same as "0000001") as all of your existing values would become invalid.

You will need to test the results thoroughly. All the account ranges may need to be re-entered everywhere (ranges like 00 to 99 will not include the same as 0000 to 9999).

Examples of areas to test (this is not a complete list):
- Summary templates,
- FSGs
- ADI (if you use it)
- Recurring Journals
- Mass Allocations
- Consolidation

8. Is there a way to load values for a specific segment outside of the form?

iSetup is the Oracle product that provides supported APIs to load values into Oracle Applications flexfields.

To load code combinations ADI may be used. Uploading zero amount journals will create new code combinations.
In this case Dynamic Insertion should be enabled and all account segment values need to exist before the new account code combinations are dynamically created.

9. What is the Segment Value Inheritance?

Segment Value Inheritance automatically propagates attributes of individual segment values to the account code combinations which contain that segment value.
This feature eases chart-of-accounts maintenance by automatically replicating changes in segment value attributes to the accounts containing each segment value.

Examples of the segment value attributes which can be propagated to the related account code combinations are:
- enabled/disabled flag,
- effective dates,
- allow posting
- allow budgeting
- control account
- reconciliation flag

10. What is the difference between Hierarchical and Non-hierarchical Security Type?

- Hierarchical Security: This feature combines Flex Value Security and Flex Value Hierarchy.
The end result is 'a flex value is secured if one of it's parents is secured', i.e. if a parent value is excluded then all the children are also excluded.

- With non-hierarchical security, the child values do not inherit the parent security.

11. Can security be changed from Hierarchical to Non Hierarchichal?

Yes, security can be changed from Hierarchical to Non Hierarchical. This is recommended at times as Hierarchical security may result in performance issues.

12. Which tables store segment values and descriptions?

The tables are:
- FND_FLEX_VALUES_TL
- FND_FLEX_VALUES.

13. Why can you update the Segment Values form (FNDFFMSV) when the flexfield structure is frozen?

You do NOT need to Unfreeze Flexfields to amend Segment Qualifiers since FNDFFMSV version 11.5.28.

14. Why is it possible to post to accounts with disabled segment values?

You must disable the segment value and disable every code combination that uses that segment value.
In version 11 and prior, you had to disable each code combination individually.
However, since 11i, you can disable a range of code combinations using the Segment Value Inheritance program.

Note: General Ledger does not distinguish between accounts which have transactions outstanding in order to determine if these accounts can or cannot be disabled.

15. Why is the Field still protected against update, even after unfreezing the structure?

Most probably another flexfield that uses this value set is still frozen.
You can find the other flexfields with the following sql which shows the frozen structures containing the value set:

select vs.flex_value_set_name, st.id_flex_structure_code
from fnd_id_flex_structures st, fnd_flex_value_sets vs, fnd_id_flex_segments sg
where st.id_flex_num = sg.id_flex_num
and vs.flex_value_set_id = sg.flex_value_set_id
and st.freeze_flex_definition_flag = 'Y'
and st.application_id = 101
and st.id_flex_code = 'GL#'
order by 1,2

Segment Qualifiers

1. Can a flexfield qualifier be changed after it has been created?

No.
Once a segment qualifier has been designated for a specific segment and has been saved, it will permanently have the attributes with that qualifier.

For example, you accidentally designate the cost center segment as the natural account segment. Even though you do not compile this, the system saves the changes. And once it has been saved, it will have all the attributes designated for the natural account qualifier, even after it has been changed back, resaved with the correct qualifier and compiled.

This is the inherent functionality of the software.

Unfortunately, there is no real easy solution for this issue. The only option is to create a new chart of accounts and attach a new set of books or ledger.
You may be able to just create a new chart of accounts if you have not assigned to the set of books or ledger yet.

2. Does the Accounting Flexfield needs one segment flagged with the Intercompany qualifier?

The intercompany segment is an optional Intercompany feature for the Intercompany Segment Balancing.
It is not required in order to do intercompany balancing.

It is just another way to do the intercompany balancing, instead of using different natural accounts to track intercompany balances, you can use the intercompany segment in the Chart of Accounts to record the same detail.

It is more just a matter of preference of how you want to track the intercompany transactions.

Note for R12: The intercompany segment should use the same value set as the balancing segment. If you intend to use AGIS (Advanced Global Intercompany System) for Intercompany Accounting you must define a separate segment for intercompany and assign a intercompany qualifier to that segment.

3. How to correct a misclassified account?

Since 11i the User's Guide have a section for correction of misclassified account types.
The documents below contain detailed steps for correcting Misclassified Account Types. The steps must be followed in the exact order if the misclassified account is to be corrected in its entirety:

4. What is a Reconciliation qualifier and how is it setup?

This Reconciliation flag is a Globalization feature. When the flag is set to YES, the account is set up to be reconciled.

GL Entry Reconciliation is a set of forms and reports that enable the user to selectively cross-reference transactions in the General Ledger.
Once the balance of a group of transactions (lines with the same account) is zero, the user can mark them as reconciled. This functionality enables the transactions in any account that should balance to zero (for example, an Intercompany suspense account) to be reconciled. With this, the unreconciled lines are the justification of the account net balance.

5. Why are segment Qualifiers or Rollup Groups for an existing value not updatable?

Because at least one of the structures using that value set is Frozen.
You need to unfreeze all flexfields that use the value set to be able to update the values.

Hierarchies, Parents and Rollup Groups

1. Can a parent value be changed to a child value and vice versa?

No. An account should never be changed from a child to a parent or vice versa.
This may cause corruption in the chart of accounts and balances at the table level and is not supported by development.

2. How to identify overlapping child ranges in a Value Set?

These can also be found by the Diagnostics script GL Check Setup. You can find it from Document <="" a="">Oracle General Ledger (GL) Diagnostics Catalog

3. Should Rollup Groups be frozen?

It is recommended that Rollup Groups be frozen unless they are being modified.
However, if they are not frozen, there should not be any effects on General Ledger reports, functions, or other processes.

4. Which table stores the parent value and its child ranges?

It is the FND_FLEX_VALUE_NORM_HIERARCHY table.

 Accounting Flexfield Structure

1. Are there any rules for the Names of the segments?

Yes, the names of the segments must follow the same rules as the SQL column names in a table:

- must be from 1 to 30 bytes long
- must begin with an alphabetic character from your database character set.
- can contain only alphanumeric characters from your database character set and the underscore (_), dollar sign ($), and pound sign (#)
- cannot use the SQL reserved words (this list may not be complete):
ALL, ALTER, AND, ANY, AS, ASC,
BETWEEN, BY,
CHAR, CHECK, CLUSTER, COMMENT, COMPRESS, CONNECT, CREATE, CURRENT,
DATE, DECIMAL, DEFAULT, DELETE, DESC, DISTINCT, DROP,
ELSE, EXCLUSIVE, EXISTS,
FLOAT, FOR, FROM, GROUP, HAVING,
IMMEDIATE, IN, INDEX, INSERT, INTEGER, INTERSECT, INTO, IS,
LEVEL, LIKE, LOCK, LONG,
MINUS, MLSLABEL, MODE,
NOT, NOWAIT, NULL, NUMBER,
OF, ON, OPTION, OR, ORDER,
PCTFREE, PRIOR, PUBLIC,
RAW, ROW, ROWID, ROWNUM,
SELECT, SET, SHARE, SMALLINT, START, SUCCESSFUL, SYNONYM, SYSDATE,
TABLE, THEN, TO, TRIGGER,
UID, UNION, UNIQUE, UPDATE, USER,
VALIDATE, VALUES, VARCHAR, VARCHAR2, VIEW,
WHENEVER, WHERE, WITH.
Incorrect names will cause the Accounting Flexfield Compilation program to fail with the error:
oracle error 904 invalid identifier
ora-06512 at system.ad_dll, line 165
ora-06512 at line 1 has been detected in afuddl ()[3_xdd]
do_ddl(APPLSYS,.......)
View Name: %_VIEW

Name NULL? TYPE
------------------------------ ----- -----
VIEW_HAS_FAILED_CHECK_LOG_FILE CHAR(61)

2. Can any changes be made to the Accounting Flexfield?

Any changes to an Accounting Flexfield that has been in use is NOT supported. This is documented throughout the GL Users Guide.
This will cause data inconsistencies and data corruption.
Development and Support do not support changes to the accounting flexfield.
Changing your flexfield definition once you have used it to acquire data can cause serious inconsistencies with existing data, which could cause data corruption.
For more information review the Oracle Applications Flexfields Guide in Defining Key Flexfield Structures:
Warning: Do not modify a frozen flexfield definition if existing data could be invalidated. An alteration of the flexfield structure once you have any flexfield data can create serious data inconsistencies. Changing your existing structures may also adversely affect the behavior of any cross-validation rules or shorthand aliases you have for your structures, so you should be sure to manually disable or redefine any cross-validation rules and shorthand aliases to reflect your changed structures.
If it is absolutely required to have changes on segments then a NEW ledger or set of books needs to be created with the desired accounting flexfield.
The GL Consolidation feature can be used to transfer journals or balances from the existing ledger/set of books to the new ledger/set of books with the new structure.
If Oracle Subledgers are used then they must also point to the new ledger/set of books. This may require Oracle Consulting services.

3. Can segments be added to or removed from an existing accounting flexfield structure?

No - this will cause data inconsistencies and data corruption.
Development and Support do not support changes to the accounting flexfield.
Changing your flexfield definition once you have used it to acquire data can cause serious inconsistencies with existing data, which could cause data corruption.
For more information review the Oracle Applications Flexfields Guide in Defining Key Flexfield Structures:
Warning: Do not modify a frozen flexfield definition if existing data could be invalidated. An alteration of the flexfield structure once you have any flexfield data can create serious data inconsistencies. Changing your existing structures may also adversely affect the behavior of any cross-validation rules or shorthand aliases you have for your structures, so you should be sure to manually disable or redefine any cross-validation rules and shorthand aliases to reflect your changed structures.

4. Can the segments of existing accounting flexfield structure be changed?

No. This will cause data inconsistencies and data corruption.
Development and Support do not support changes to the accounting flexfield.
Changing your flexfield definition once you have used it to acquire data can cause serious inconsistencies with existing data, which could cause data corruption.
For more information review the Oracle Applications Flexfields Guide in Defining Key Flexfield Structures:
Warning: Do not modify a frozen flexfield definition if existing data could be invalidated. An alteration of the flexfield structure once you have any flexfield data can create serious data inconsistencies. Changing your existing structures may also adversely affect the behavior of any cross-validation rules or shorthand aliases you have for your structures, so you should be sure to manually disable or redefine any cross-validation rules and shorthand aliases to reflect your changed structures.

5. Do all segments of the accounting flexfield have to be enabled and displayed?

Yes. This is mandatory for all applications versions.
All segments must be enabled, displayed and required. Any other configuration is not supported.

From the Oracle Applications Flexfields Guide:
"If you are defining the Accounting Flexfield, you MUST display ALL segments. Hiding segments will adversely affect your application features, such as Mass Allocations".

The only supported solution therefore, is to have all segments displayed from the start and for them to remain that way.

Oracle General Ledger does not support non-displayed segments. If you have non-displayed segments, it may be possible that some functionality will work anyway.
However this is not guaranteed, and just because the functionality works at some point in time does not mean that it will continue to work as bug fixes are applied and new releases are issued.

6. How to find which accounts are inactive?

Since Release 11i the standard report: Chart of Accounts - Inactive Accounts Listing can show the inactive accounts.

7. Can code combinations be deleted or purged ?

It is not possible to delete or purge the account code combinations and segment values. You can only end date the combinations and segment values.

The reason why it is not possible is that all applications that interface journals to GL could potentially use the combinations and you cannot remove a combination if it is used in a transaction.
Currently there is no process to determine if a code combinations is still referenced in any part of the EBS application.
Additionally, programs like translation check all the old values back to the earliest ever transaction in a separate table that stores the code combinations. Also transactions that used the code combination are stored and still referenceable in the subledgers, etc.

8. How to set up an Accounting Flexfield structure that has a dependent segment?

Define the accounting flexfield structure in two steps.

1.  On the Key Flexfields Segments form, you have to Save the flexfield structure after you define the segment with the independent segment (for example account). Then leave the form and come back.

2.  Now add your dependent segment (for example subaccount). You should see the dependent value set in the list of values.

9. What is the recommended numbering for the Accounting Flexfield structure and why?

The Accounting Flexfield structure requires consecutive segment numbers beginning with 1, such as 1,2,3.....
Gaps in numbering like 1,10, 20,... are not supported. This could cause errors when compiling and in other General Ledger functions.

10. Why are some of the segment separators displayed as question marks (?) ?

Check the descriptions of the Segment Values. If the same segment separator value (ie: dash) is used in the segment value description, the actual segment separator on the chart of accounts will appear at times as a "?".