Another new document has been published in our Business Process Advisor series.  We've blogged before about our new Advisor type documents, telling you about the Service Request to Resolution and the CRM Channel Revenue Management  business process advisors.  We've just added a new document: Sales Lead to Cash - EBS Business Process Advisor: CRM Sales [Video] (Doc ID 1628024.2).

This new advisor covers the business process of taking a Lead and converting it to an Opportunity, converting an Opportunity to an Order and, finally, taking the Order to Cash.

This business process involves a number of different EBS modules, including Sales, Trading Community Architecture, Quoting, Order Management and others.Take a look at Doc ID 1628024.2 for information about how the integration between these modules works, setup steps, help on troubleshooting and lots more useful information.

Webcast: Discrete Job Interface (WIP Mass Load)

Date: April 23, 2014 at 11:00 am ET, 10:00 am CT, 9:00 am MT, 8:00 am PT, 8:30 pm, India Time (Mumbai, GMT+05:30)

This one-hour session is recommended for technical and functional users who handle Oracle Work in Process. Explore options as to how the Discrete job open Interface (WIP Mass Load) works and what are all the different operations we can perform against a job.

Topics will include:

• WIP Mass Load Interface Tables
• Controlled Columns and Their Use
• Scheduling Based on the New Profile Option
• Different Operations We Can Perform Against A Discrete Job

Details & Registration: Doc ID 1627624.1

To view an illustration on this account and how it's used  see DocID: 969260.1

[Read More]

Webcast: E-Business Tax Series, Session 4 – Advanced Setups From A Financials Perspective

Date: April 30, 2014 at 11:00 am ET, 9:00 am MT, 4:00 pm GMT, 8:30 pm IST

This one-hour session is recommended for technical and functional users wanting to learn advanced E-Business Tax (EBTax) setups. We will review Product Fiscal Classification, self-assessed tax, tax compounding and exemptions from a Financials perspective. This session will focus on US based examples. Session 4 of 6 in the E-Business Tax Webcast Series, complete details can be found in Doc ID 740966.1.

Topics will include:

• Product Fiscal Classification
• Self Assessed Tax
• Tax Compounding
• Tax Exemptions
  

Details & Registration: Doc ID 1626088.1

Webcast: E-Business Tax Series, Session 3 – Manufacturing Regime to Rate Setup & Transactional Flow (Non-US Based Setup)

Date: April 29, 2014 at 11:00 am ET, 9:00 am MT, 4:00 pm GMT, 8:30 pm IST

Join us to learn how to create a Regime to Rate Flow in R12. This session will focus on non-US based examples from a Manufacturing perspective. This one hour webcast provides functional users with the knowledge to create Regime to Rate Flow, Default Tax Rules, and User Defined Tax Rules. Session 3 of 6 in the E-Business Tax Webcast Series, complete details can be found in Doc ID 740966.1.

Topics will include:

• Creating Regime to Rate Flow
• How to setup Default Tax Rules
• Setting up User Defined Tax Rules
  

Details & Registration: Doc ID 1640273.1

Currently, you can order only service contracts of type Extended Warranty through Order Management.  In release 12.2.2, you can order service contracts of type Subscription Contract too. You can order Tangible as well as Intangible subscription contracts.  Tangible subscription contracts are fulfilled through Order Management. You can record Subscription Contract specific attributes such as Start Date, Period, Duration, and Subscription Template on the order line. As currently supported for standard inventory items, you can attach Extended Warranties to a Subscription Contract as well. Additionally, you can include a Subscription Contract in a model/kit. After fulfillment of the line, a Subscription Agreement is created in Service Contracts.

Currently, when an Extended Warranty is invoiced through Order Management, the invoice amount is for the entire duration of the Extended Warranty. In this release, additional billing options have been introduced for Extended Warranties and Subscription Contracts. The options are as follows:

• Retain the existing behavior of generating an invoice for the entire duration from Order Management.
• Generate the invoice for the first installment from Order Management and for the subsequent installments from Service Contracts.
• Generate invoices for all installments from Service Contracts. In this scenario, Order Management does not generate any invoices.

For the orders that are billed in multiple installments over the duration of the service contract (Extended Warranties/Subscription Contracts), you can specify the billing schedule.

For additional information on this new Feature, refer to the Sell Services From Order Management section of Doc ID 1377743.1 Oracle Order Management Release Notes for Release 12.2.2.

Oracle In-Memory Cost Management is a new set of application tools that provides a bottoms-up approach to maximizing profit margins by enabling near real-time insight into all aspects of cost management. Oracle In-Memory Cost Management’s extreme performance is possible because of the game-changing technical innovations within Oracle’s engineered systems, including smart scans, flash cache, and high-bandwidth low-latency InfiniBand networking.

Cost accountants and finance / operations managers now can use Oracle In-Memory Cost Management to quickly perform what-if simulations on complex cost data and instantly visualize the impact of changes to their business. Specifically optimized for Oracle’s engineered systems, Oracle In-Memory Cost Management provides a suite of solutions to perform complex cost analyses, identify optimal profit margins, and perform cost planning and forecasting so that companies can make decisions in time to capture the highest possible profits, safeguard current margins and identify optimal future margins, streamline financial overview across the supply chain, and increase financial close efficiency

For additional information, please refer to Doc ID 1561872.1 Oracle In-Memory Cost Management Installation and Configuration Guide.

Recently we've found that some customers are reporting errors after applying Patch 17182398:R12.CSI.B.  We found that this was due to not applying a pre-requisite patch (Patch 16914038:R12.CSI.B).  So, to avoid this problem, the Install Base development team have released a new consolidated patch which includes the pre-requisite: Patch 18479621:R12.CSI.B: ORACLE INSTALLED BASE 12.1.X CONSOLIDATION. 

This patch supersedes Patch 17182398:R12.CSI.B and should be applied by all new R12 IB implementations or any R12.1.x upgrades.  The patch includes a large number of fixes and is recommended for all Install Base customers.  If you have already applied Patch 17182398:R12.CSI.B with its correct pre-requisite patch, then there is no need to apply Patch 18479621:R12.CSI.B.

All details about this new consolidation are included in article: About R12.1.X Consolidated Patch For Oracle Installed Base - 18479621:R12.CSI.B (Doc ID 1642057.1)

Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1.3+ Recommended Patch Collection is Available!

The last RPC for Oracle Payables was released in September 2013 (Doc ID 1397581.1) and usually at this time of year we see development release the next RPC for Payables.   However, this year there will not be a new Payables RPC released until much later in the year.

Instead of a March 2014 Payables RPC development have released the 12.1.3+ RPC that is EBS wide.  This patch includes ALL the recommended patches along with their dependencies. 

If you are running R12.1.3 but have not yet applied the September 2013 RPCs for Payables then you can instead choose to apply this latest R12.1.3+ patch which includes all the RPCs for Payables and the companion RPCs for Workflow, PCard and iSupplier in addition to Cash Management and EBTax RPCs.  

Applying this patch in a single downtime patching window saves effort and time, rather than applying each recommended patch individually.

For more information on the R12.1.3+  RPC please refer to Doc ID 1638535.1 - Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1.3+ Recommended Patch Collection 1 (RPC1) 

Note: Before upgrading to Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1.3 and applying 12.1.3+ E-Business Suite RPC1, refer to Doc ID 761570.1 - Database Preparation Guidelines for an Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Upgrade - and ensure that all patches for your specific database release are applied to your environment. 

Webcast: Oracle EBS Channel Revenue Management - Channel Rebates and Point of Sales: Setup and Execution of Rebates and Pricing Programs

Date: April 24, 2014 at 2.00 pm ET, 1:00 pm CT, 12.00pm MT, 11.00am PT,  7.00pm GMT, 11.30 pm IST

Get an overview of rebate design and execution from the perspective of Manufacturers, Distributors and Consumers. Tune in to this live webcast to:

• gain insight into the usage and setup of rebates
• get an understanding of the rebate earnings and tracking capability with integrations to Order Management and Pricing
• understand Channel Rebates and Point of Sales module with a specific reference to the various rebate / pricing program types including Accrual, Off Invoice, Lumpsum and Volume Rebates for direct and indirect sales.
  
• get an understanding of budgets and an introduction to the adjustment functions that allow execution teams to support challenging real time business situations including changes to rebate amounts, dates and products.
  

This will be followed by additional sessions to cover Indirect Sales Management including Chargeback capability, Third Party Accrual and Special Price Request flows. Additional sessions on accounting details and settlement flows using claims / deduction and autopay will be covered in the Accounts Receivable Deduction Settlement Module.

Details & Registration : Doc ID 1636054.1

Webcast: E-Business Tax Series, Session 2 – Basic Overview, Regime To Rate Setup & Transactional Flow (US Based Setup) From A Financials Perspective

Date: April 23, 2014 at 11:00 am ET, 9:00 am MT, 4:00 pm GMT, 8:30 pm IST

Join us to learn how to create a Regime to Rate Flow in R12. This session will focus on US based examples from a Financials perspective. This one hour webcast provides technical and functional users with an overview of E-Business Tax (EBTax), its setup and flow. It will also be helpful to those who’ve recently upgraded or are planning to upgrade to R12. Session 2 of 6 in the E-Business Tax Webcast Series, complete details can be found in Doc ID 740966.1.

Topics will include:

• Overview of E-Business Tax
• Regime to Rate setup
• Sample transactional flow

Details & Registration: Doc ID 1626097.1

Webcast: E-Business Tax Series, Session 1 – Prerequisites for Regime to Rate Flow Creation

Date: April 22 , 2014 at 11:00 am ET, 9:00 am MT, 4:00 pm GMT, 8:30 pm IST

What prerequisites need to be considered before creating Regime to Rate Flow in E-Business Tax? This one hour webcast provides functional users with an overview of E-Business Tax in Release 12, a brief introduction to the setup creation process, and more. Session 1 of 6 in the E-Business Tax Webcast Series, complete details can be found in Doc ID 740966.1.

Topics will include:

• E-Business Tax introduction
• Brief introduction of E-Business Tax setup creation process
• Importance and creation of Geography Structure
• Validation process of locations for Tax Calculation
  

Details & Registration: Doc ID 1640295.1

The Oracle Asset Tracking product supports various transactional flows to capitalize a physical asset's (item instance) cost into a fixed asset at an appropriate point of its eligibility. Depreciable items (aka Capitalize on Receipt or COR items) make the item eligible for capitalization at the point of receipt transaction whereas Normal items (aka Capitalize on Issue or COI items) make the item eligible for capitalization when the instance is put in service or when issued to a field location.

In environments such as Equipment rentals and leases, there is a need for Oracle Asset Tracking to initiate capitalization when a normal item is shipped out to the customer. As a result, the existing Loaner flow functionality in Oracle Asset Tracking module has been extended to provide an out of the box functionality to capitalize of Normal Items when they are shipped to customer locations.  This functionality is in R12.2 and in R12.1.3 via Patch 17181028:R12.CSE.B: Consolidated Patch For Oracle Asset Tracking.

In Doc ID 1623821.1 a detailed test case is described, explaining the business flow and giving the necessary application setups and step-by-step process.

If you are interested in other Oracle Asset Tracking test case examples, take a look at Doc ID 1550977.1: Master Note For Oracle Asset Tracking Test Case Documents.

Enhancement Request (ER) Bug 4061138 - SUPPORT FOR CONTINUOUS PRICE BREAKS brought about the continuous price break functionality.

This functionality is also used in Service Contracts and Transportation.   However, not everyone wanted or needed the ability to use continuous price breaks.

Now, R12 has been enhanced to allow the ability to disable continuous price lists.  This new functionality is made available and controlled by the profile "QP:Continuous Price Breaks".  Additional information regarding the profile setting; as well as, what patches are needed for this functionality can be found in:

Doc ID 1488000.1 How Can One Disable Continuous Price Breaks In R12 of Oracle Applications? 

We have a new depreciation error log analyzer for Fixed Assets.  This new tool can be found in the document:  Log Inspector: Assets Depreciation (FADEPR) Terminated in Error (Doc ID 1626908.1).  When your depreciation process has terminated in error, you can use this tool to explore possible causes and find solutions. The Log Inspector will step you through the process. 

When you first view the Log Inspector document, you can select the link to view a short presentation about the use of the tool.  When you are ready to access the tool, you first select your release 12.0.x, 12.1.x, or 12.2.x.  Then select "Next."

The Log Inspector presents the second screen to you.  You will paste the contents of your depreciation error log file into the blank entry field.  When you select "Next," the Inspector will process the information provided to obtain a possible solution.

In this example, the depreciation error log was pasted into the Log Inspector's window, "Next" was selected, and the Inspector returned a solution:

The next time you encounter an error when running the depreciation process, consider utilizing the Log Inspector for analysis of the issue.