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Chapter 5

Payables
Overview
Oracle Payables is a high-productivity accounting solution that provides strong financial
control, so you can prevent duplicate payments, pay for only the goods and services you order
and receive, and maximize supplier discounts. Oracle Payables is part of Oracle Applications,™
an integrated suite of business solutions designed to support continuous process improvement
for enterprises competing in time-critical markets.

Enter Supplier

Match to Enter Invoice


PO

Purchase
Order
Invoice

No Holds
Create PO
Approve Invoice

Create Journal Entries

Requisition

Pay Invoice
Enter Requisition

Reconcile Payments

Oracle Payables

Proactive Supplier Relations

Oracle Payables helps resolve business issues quickly by providing immediate and accurate
responses to supplier inquiries. Record detailed information about your suppliers, including
their purchasing, payment, and invoice processing preferences.

Automated Invoice Approvals

Oracle Payables supports two-, three-, and four-way matching of purchase orders, invoices,
receipts, and requestor acceptance documents. All the information you need to authorize
payments is on-line, eliminating the paper flow of purchase orders, invoices, receipts, and
requestor documents. Approve invoices on-line during invoice entry or in batch.

2 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Effective Payment Controls

Oracle Payables provides the information you need to make effective payment decisions. Stay in
control of payments to suppliers and employees, and keep your accounting records up-to-date
so you always know your cash position.

Oracle Payables handles every form of payment, including automatic checks, manual payments,
wire transfers, bank drafts, and electronic funds transfers. Oracle Payables integrates with
Oracle Cash Management to support automatic or manual reconciliation of your payments with
your bank statements.

Cash Requirements Management

Oracle Payables saves you money by forecasting your cash requirements and preventing
duplicate and unauthorized payments. Analytical reports, as well as system, supplier, invoice,
and payment batch options help you determine whether to take available discounts.

Oracle Payables 3
Key Features
Multiple System Options

• Customize to meet your needs: Purchase Order Matching

Accounting Flexfields • Perform two-, three-, and four-way purchase


Descriptive Flexfields order matching
• Customize your payment calendar • Pay on receipt or advance shipment notice
• Choose from a variety of system options, • Use QuickMatch to automatically create
including: invoice accounting
Invoice batching • Automatically record price, quantity, and
Discount accounting exchange rate variances
Tax options • Set quantity and price tolerances
Apply advances Percentage-based
Require purchase order matching Value-based
Automatic Withholding
Expenses
Sequential Numbering
• Suppliers • Process employee expense reports on-line or
• Quickly enter suppliers with AutoEntry over the Web
• Record multiple addresses, bank accounts and • Route expense reports with Oracle Workflow
contacts for each supplier • Verify receipts and audit expense reports
• Set up tax reporting and withholding entered in Oracle Web Employees
• Set limits for invoice amounts Payments
• Access current balances on-line
• Use Payment Workbench to design custom
• Hold payment to selected suppliers
views of data for each user or workgroup
• Automatically format addresses based on
• Choose from a variety of payment methods,
supplier’s country
including:
Invoices Electronic payments

• Use Invoice Workbench to design custom Checks

views of data for each user or workgroup Wire transfers

• Record sales, use, and VAT with complete tax Bills of Exchange

reporting Clearing payments

• Quickly enter invoices with AutoEntry • Create a fully EDI compliant outbound
• Apply prepayments to invoices and expense payment data file
reports • Choose from multiple payment formats
• Match credits to originating invoices including several laser printer compatible
• Automatically generate recurring invoices formats
• Automatically check for duplicate invoices • Create separate checks for selected invoices
• Import and validate invoices with Invoice • Stop and void payments
Import • Produce single checks on-line
• Adjust distributions as needed Payment Controls
• Cancel invoices on demand
• Set payment controls by:
• Set payment terms:
Proxima Pay group
Payment priority
Split
Payment method
Multiple discounts
• Create partial payments
• Perform on-line inquiries

4 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


• Specify separate closing status
• Place holds on payments: • Choose from several accounting methods,
By vendor including:
By invoice Accrual basis
User-defined holds Cash basis
• Reconcile payments Combined basis
Automatically • Post to general ledger anytime
Manually • Define intercompany payables
• Prevent check fraud with Positive Pay • Perform Encumbrance accounting
• Set Budgetary Controls
Multicurrency Accounting
• Purge invoices, purchase orders, purchase
• Enter transactions in any currency requisitions, & suppliers from your database
• Automatically perform currency
• conversions Self-Service Access

• Record gains and losses • Supplier inquiries on the Web


• Employee inquires on the Web
Accounting Controls

• Specify multiple open and future periods

Oracle Payables 5
Suppliers

Oracle Payables provides a variety of flexible and powerful tools for efficient and easy supplier
processing. With Oracle Payables, you record complete and accurate supplier information.

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Enter supplier information, including payment control features and names and phone
numbers of key contacts

• Use your own supplier numbering system or let Oracle Payables automatically number
suppliers for you

• Maintain supplier history, keeping a record of supplier sites and other details

• Define additional accounting information to facilitate data entry

• Let selected users review supplier information without being able to make updates

• Review your outstanding balance with a supplier, based on a variety of invoice criteria

• Control supplier payments by defining supplier holds, including a matching required option
and an invoice amount limit

• Define a new supplier while entering an invoice

• Control duplicate supplier entry and merge any duplicate suppliers and sites with the correct
supplier and site

Major Features

AutoEntry

Oracle Payables provides many defaults that you can set up and default to each new supplier
you enter. Oracle Payables then uses these supplier values as the default for each new supplier
site you enter. Of course, you can always choose to override these defaults. When you enter an
invoice for a supplier site, Oracle Payables uses the supplier site's default for the invoice. You
can override the default for each invoice as well.

Unlimited Supplier Sites and Contacts

Oracle Payables lets you record an unlimited number of supplier addresses and contacts. For
example, you can buy from and send payments to more than one location for a single supplier
and you can keep supplier address and contact history to help you with research.

Validation of Tax Registration Number and Taxpayer ID

Oracle Payables provides country specific validation of supplier tax registration identification
numbers and Taxpayer ID to protect against data entry errors.

6 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Enter as many supplier sites as you require for each supplier

Supplier

Tokyo San Francisco Paris

Purchasing Site Purchasing Site Pay Site


RFQ Only Site Pay Site

Contacts Contacts Contacts

Define an unlimited number of supplier sites and contacts

Invoice Amount Limit

Define the maximum invoice amount you allow for a supplier. Oracle Payables automatically
places a payment hold on invoices entered for this supplier which exceed this amount.

Oracle Payables 7
Payment Controls

Oracle Payables provides the power to control supplier payments. Use a Pay Group or a
Payment Priority to choose a select group of suppliers for payment. Select the matching
required option for a supplier or supplier site to place a hold on any invoices for a supplier or
supplier site that are not matched to a purchase order. Place a hold on a supplier or supplier site
if you do not want Oracle Payables to pay any invoices for this supplier or site.

Supplier Hierarchy

Oracle Payables lets you enter the parent company of a supplier to record a relationship
between a parent company and its franchises or subsidiaries.

Supplier Inquiry

You can review supplier information without being able to change any data. Provide separate
access for personnel who do not have supplier update privileges. Oracle Payables gives you
maximum control of your supplier data.

Supplier Balance On-line

View the current unpaid balance for any supplier or supplier site on-line. Oracle Payables
displays the total number and amount of outstanding invoices for the supplier or supplier site
you choose. Reconcile any difference with your suppliers by reviewing the specific invoices
underlying the balance. Oracle Payables displays the balance based on a variety of criteria
including approval status, invoice date range, currency, or discount taken.

Concurrent Supplier Entry

Define a new supplier while you are entering an invoice. Without interrupting invoice entry,
you can enter a new supplier and return to invoice entry to complete your data input.

SupplierMerge

Oracle Payables helps prevent the entry of duplicate suppliers. However, if duplicates exist or
one company merges with another, you can merge them into a single supplier or supplier site.
Oracle Payables automatically updates the associated purchase orders and invoices for the
suppliers so they all refer to the correct supplier. Oracle Payables automatically generates merge
reports so you can review the suppliers, sites, invoices, and purchase orders affected by the
merge.

8 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


1099 Reporting (U.S. Requirement)

Oracle Payables provides the tools to meet your 1099 reporting needs. Create and update 1099
supplier payment information and report your accumulated 1099 payment information to your
suppliers, the Internal Revenue Service, and other tax authorities.

Set up 1099 Reporting

Enter 1099 Details for Suppliers

Enter and Pay 1099 Invoices

Submit 1099 Reports


1096 Forms
1099 Forms
1099 Payments
1099 Tape
Identify and Resolve 1099 Exceptions

1099 Supplier Exceptions Report


1099 Invoice Exceptions Report

Oracle Payables provides complete 1099 reporting

Business Needs
With Oracle Payables you can:

• Maintain 1099 information for 1099 suppliers to comply with all Internal Revenue Service
reporting requirements

• Participate in the Combined Filing Program

• Automatically produce letters for suppliers who have not provided a Tax Identification
Number

• Identify and fix 1099 supplier and invoice reporting exceptions

Oracle Payables 9
Major Features

1099 Suppliers

Oracle Payables enables you to comply with all Internal Revenue Service reporting
requirements for 1099 suppliers. Define a supplier as federal reportable and record its 1099
type. Oracle Payables assigns the income tax type to each invoice for that supplier. Record a
supplier's tax region if you participate in the Combined Filing Program. Payments to 1099
suppliers are accumulated and reported by type.

Combined Filing System Option

Oracle Payables allows you to produce combined federal and state 1099 records. If you enable
the Combined Filing system option, Oracle Payables produces K records for all tax regions (or
states) participating in the Combined Filing Program that have qualifying payments. Oracle
Payables also produces a B record for each supplier to summarize qualifying payments made to
a supplier for a particular tax region. When you submit your 1099 Tape, the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) forwards these records to the appropriate tax authority for each tax region.

1099 Reporting

Oracle Payables provides you with supplier, government, and user reports, so that you can
comply with all Internal Revenue Service reporting requirements for 1099 suppliers.

Tax Information Verification

Submit a Tax Information Verification letter for your 1099 suppliers requesting that they submit
any missing 1099 information and that they verify previously-submitted 1099 information that
you have recorded in Oracle Payables.

Review and Update 1099 Supplier and Invoice Details

Oracle Payables provides several reports which can help you identify incomplete or inaccurate
1099 suppliers and invoices. With Oracle Payables, quickly and easily update your 1099
suppliers and invoices. Submit the Update Income Tax Details Utility to automatically update
invoices missing an income tax type or an income tax region.

10 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Audit of Suppliers and Invoices

Oracle Payables provides the tools you need to ensure maximum control over your suppliers
and invoices. Use Oracle Payables auditing tools with other Oracle Payables controls to
maintain the integrity of supplier and invoice data.

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Identify possible duplicate suppliers

• Combine suppliers the way you want

• Identify possible duplicate invoices and payments

• Resolve duplicate invoices

Major Features

Supplier and Invoice Audit Reports

Oracle Payables provides audit reports of possible duplicate suppliers and invoices. Use these
reports to maintain the integrity of your suppliers and invoices.

Invoice Audit Listings

Oracle Payables provides complete invoice listings, sorted the way you want. Oracle Payables
makes it easy for you to review invoices.

SupplierMerge

Use SupplierMerge to automatically transfer invoices and purchase orders from a supplier and
site to another supplier and site, or to a different site of the original supplier. Oracle Payables
provides you with audit reports of your SupplierMerge activity.

Oracle Payables 11
Invoices

Oracle Payables provides the high-productivity tools you need to process invoices efficiently,
and puts you in complete control of your invoice payments. With Oracle Payables, you can
spend less time entering invoices and more time managing your cash position.

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Define invoice entry defaults which simplify and speed invoice processing

• Enter invoices in batches

• Control payment and posting of invoices with payment terms and hold reasons you define

• Automatically prorate tax, freight, and miscellaneous expenses across selected invoice
distribution lines

• Create one or more invoice notes which you can send internally or to suppliers

• Attach images, sound, text, and video to invoices; for example, you can scan an invoice and
automatically attach it to the related invoice

• Enter foreign currency invoices

• Adjust an invoice, even after payment and posting

• Automatically record voucher numbers on each invoice

• Apply prepayments to invoices during invoice entry

• Match invoices to purchase orders

• View additional purchase order information and purchase order notes while entering an
invoice

• Record invoice price and exchange rate variances between an invoice and its matched
purchase order

• Match debit and credit invoices to their originating invoice

• Designate an invoice as requiring its own payment document

• Enter employee expense reports quickly and easily

• Automatically create invoices and payments for recurring expenses

• Automatically create invoices based on purchase order information and receipt transactions

• Automatically create invoices based on advance shipment and billing notice information

12 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Major Features

Invoice Types

Oracle Payables supports your different invoice types, including Standard, Credit Memo, Debit
Memo, and Expense Report.

Enter all types of invoices using the powerful Invoice Workbench

AutoEntry

Oracle Payables allows you to define financials, system, and supplier site defaults which speed
invoice entry. With AutoEntry, you can enter just a supplier name, invoice number and amount
to completely process an invoice since Oracle Payables automatically enters the remaining fields
using supplier site and system defaults.

Invoice Batches

Use invoice batch controls to proactively manage invoice entry. Enter invoice values at the
batch level which automatically default to all invoices in the batch. You can override these
defaults.

Oracle Payables 13
Mail

Group a Batch of Invoices

Complete a Batch Control Form

File by Batch

Enter Batch of Invoices


Update Batch Control Window

Review Batch Control Reports

Use invoice batches to control invoice entry

Invoice Notes

Define standard notes to send to your suppliers to inform them of actions you take which affect
invoice payment. Use invoice notes internally as well.

Distribution Sets

Distribution Sets enable you to automatically create invoice distribution lines during invoice
entry. A Distribution Set is a set of predefined accounting distribution lines which you can
optionally assign to a supplier or supplier site.

Automatic Voucher Numbers

Oracle Payables automatically assigns a unique, sequential voucher to each invoice you enter
when you enable the Automatic Voucher Numbers profile option. Review each voucher number
on-line or in a report.

Apply Prepayments

During invoice entry, Oracle Payables notifies you if there are outstanding prepayments for a
supplier. Oracle Payables allows you to apply an approved and paid prepayment to an invoice
during invoice entry.

Credit Matching

Easily match a credit or debit invoice to its original invoice. If you matched the original invoice
to a purchase order shipment, match the credit or debit invoice to the purchase order shipment
and Oracle Payables automatically updates the quantity invoiced and the amount on the
purchase order shipment.

14 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Price Corrections

Enter price correction invoices that you receive from suppliers, and easily match them to the
original invoices. If you matched the original invoice to a purchase order shipment, match the
price correction to the same purchase order shipment and Oracle Payables automatically
updates the unit price on the purchase order shipment to reflect the price correction.

Tax Distribution Lines

Enter sales, use, and offset tax names and tax amounts for invoices. For a sales type tax name,
Oracle Payables automatically creates a tax invoice distribution line, using the tax name
Accounting Flexfield that you define. Alternatively, you can prorate your tax expense across
selected invoice distribution lines. Use offset taxes for suppliers in the European Economic
Community (EEC).

Prorate

Prorate tax, freight, and miscellaneous expenses across selected invoice distribution lines.

Payment on Receipt

Oracle Payables automatically creates standard invoices for payment of goods either based on
receipt transactions or advance shipping and billing notices. An invoice which Oracle Payables
creates based on a receipt transaction, uses a combination of the receipt and purchase order
information to create the invoice. An invoice which Oracle Payables creates based on an
advance shipping and billing notice, uses a combination of the notice and the purchase order
information to create the invoice. You have the option to choose to create invoices either at the
time you receive your ordered goods or when you receive an Advance Shipment and Billing
Notice from your trading partner. You can define which suppliers participate in Payment on
Receipt.

Invoice Approval

Oracle Payables prevents posting and payment of an invoice until you approve the invoice.
Approve an invoice on-line during invoice entry or approve invoices in batch using Approval.

Approval Codes

Hold payment and posting of invoices with approval codes that Oracle Payables predefines as
well as approval codes and tolerances you define. Apply an unlimited number of holds to an
invoice to prevent payment and/or posting. Oracle Payables records your hold reasons and
provides authorized users the ability to release holds.

Pay Alone

Designate an invoice as Pay Alone to have Oracle Payables pay the invoice on its own payment
document rather than combining it with other due invoices for the same supplier site.

Invoice Adjustments

Make adjustments to an invoice, even if you have paid or posted the invoice. If you have not
paid the invoice, you can cancel the invoice.
Oracle Payables 15
Expense Report Templates

Define expense report templates with selected expense items for your employee expense
reports. Use to create default accounting information for expense items.

Apply Employee Advances to Expense Reports

Enter employee advances and later apply them to expense reports. Oracle Payables notifies you
if there are outstanding advances for an employee when you enter an expense report. You can
specify if you want Oracle Payables to apply all outstanding advances, one specific advance, or
a certain maximum amount of advances to an expense report.

Invoice Import

Import invoices from other accounting systems with Invoice Import.

Recurring Invoices

If you have regular payments, such as rent, that you make to a supplier who does not provide
an invoice, define a recurring invoice to automatically create invoices and payments. If
necessary, you can associate a purchase order with a recurring invoice.

Invoice Reporting

Review on-line all the invoice information you need to respond to supplier and internal
inquiries. You can calculate a supplier's outstanding balance and review all components of an
invoice, including holds and payment information.

16 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Prepayments

Oracle Payables provides the high-productivity tools you need to process prepayments
efficiently and gives you complete control over the application of prepayments to invoices.

Enter a prepayment if a supplier requires payment before sending you an invoice. For example,
a supplier may require a deposit, or an employee may request an advance. Before you send a
supplier or employee a check, record that payment in Oracle Payables. When the supplier later
sends you an invoice, you want to ensure that you apply the prepayment already sent so that
you do not overpay your supplier.

Enter Prepayment

Approve Prepayment

Pay Prepayment

Select Prepayment and Apply to One Select Invoice and Apply One or More
or More Invoices Prepayments Against It

Oracle Payables makes it easy to enter and apply prepayments

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Enter prepayments and advances in any currency

• Associate a prepayment with a purchase order and apply the prepayment only to invoices
matched to the associated purchase order

• Specify a date before which you cannot apply a specific prepayment or advance

• Record and manage tax information for a prepayment

• Designate a prepayment or advance as requiring its own payment

• Review prepayments or advances for a supplier or an employee on-line

Oracle Payables 17
• Apply or unapply a prepayment or advance to any approved invoice or expense report

• Notify a supplier of the prepayments you applied to an invoice

Major Features

Multi-Currency

Enter a prepayment in any currency you choose. Oracle Payables automatically calculates
realized gains and losses due to fluctuations in your foreign currencies.

Purchase Order Association

When you enter a prepayment, you can associate a purchase order with the prepayment. If you
do so, Oracle Payables allows you to apply the prepayment only to invoices matched to the
associated purchase order.

Tax Name and Calculation

Optionally enter sales or use tax names and tax amounts for prepayments. For a sales type tax name,
Oracle Payables automatically creates a tax distribution line.

Pay Alone

Designate a prepayment as Pay Alone to have Oracle Payables pay the prepayment on its own
payment rather than combining it with other invoices for the same supplier site.

On-line Review and Application

Review on-line all the outstanding prepayments and advances for a supplier or employee.
Apply a prepayment, part of a prepayment, or multiple prepayments to an invoice or expense
report.

18 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Select a prepayment and apply it to one or more invoices

Prepayment Remittance

Print a letter, addressed to a supplier, which details all the information about a prepayment that
you applied to an invoice.

Oracle Payables 19
Recurring Invoices

Oracle Payables provides a variety of recurring invoice capabilities to enable you to pay
periodic business expenses for which you do not receive invoices. Oracle Payables provides on-
line access to your recurring invoice information, so you always know what your authorized
recurring invoice amount is, and how much you have spent against it.

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Make recurring invoices at intervals you specify

• Define the item and tax expense distributions you want to use for each invoice you create

• Define recurring invoices which increase or decrease by a fixed percentage from period to
period

• Authorize a fixed amount and enter an expiration date for a recurring invoice

• Associate a purchase order with a recurring invoice

• Handle special payments like a deposit or balloon payment

• Generate recurring invoices in foreign currencies

• Create recurring invoices in open or future accounting periods

Oracle Payables lets you define recurring invoices at intervals you specify

20 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Major Features

Invoice Creation

Oracle Payables creates invoices automatically from your recurring invoice. Create invoices all
at once or one at a time, even if they are in a future accounting period.

Recurring Invoice Periods

Define recurring invoice periods of any length and type you want: months, quarters, or other
period types.

Special Payments

Specify special payments to handle non-standard payment amounts such as deposits or balloon
payments as part of your recurring invoice. Define your recurring invoices to increase or
decrease by a fixed percentage from period to period over the duration of the recurring invoice.

Invoice Distributions

You can define a Distribution Set for Oracle Payables to use when it creates a recurring invoice.
Choose an existing 100% Distribution Set or define a new Distribution Set to use with your
recurring invoice. Instead, you may choose to associate a purchase order with your recurring
invoice.

Purchasing Integration

You can associate a purchase order with a recurring invoice. Oracle Payables uses accounting
information from the purchase order when creating the invoice distribution lines for the
recurring invoice. Instead, you may choose to associate a Distribution Set with your recurring
invoice.

Tax Name and Calculation

Optionally enter sales or use tax names and tax amounts for prepayments. For a sales type tax
name, Oracle Payables automatically creates a tax distribution line.

Oracle Payables 21
Automatic Interest Invoices

Oracle Payables provides the features you need to automatically pay interest on overdue
invoices. You no longer have to calculate payment due dates and interest charges on past due
invoices because Oracle Payables does it for you.

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Calculate interest charges on overdue invoices at payment time based upon due date and
payment date

• Review your interest payments on-line and report on them

• Print your check and remittance advice document separately

Major Features

Automatic Interest Payments

Oracle Payables automatically calculates interest amounts on overdue invoices when you pay
them.

Flexible Interest Rates

Oracle Payables calculates interest amounts based on interest rates you provide. Oracle
Payables lets you define interest rates and effective date ranges so you can automatically pay
interest on overdue invoices.

Reports and Inquiries

Use inquiries in Oracle Payables to review how much interest you paid to a supplier. Query all
invoices or just interest invoices for a supplier. Review all interest invoices you paid with a
particular check. Oracle Payables also provides you with listings of how much interest you paid
on an invoice and the associated interest rate.

22 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Taxes

Oracle Payables provides the functions you need to easily record, review, and report on the
taxes you pay to your suppliers.

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Define the tax names and rates you use in your organization

• Record tax charges on invoices to distinguish between the tax portion of your invoices and
the portion representing the goods and services you purchased

• Automatically create invoice distributions for tax charges

• Prorate your tax charges across one or all invoice distribution lines

• Enter multiple taxes for an invoice

• Distinguish between sales tax and use tax charges

• Automatically calculate a tax amount for a tax name you enter on an invoice

• Verify that the tax amount for an invoice is correct according to the tax rates you define and
within the tolerances you define

• Use offsetting taxes to record zero-rate taxes on which you need to report

• Automatically withhold taxes for your supplier invoices and employee expense reports

Major Features

User-Defined Tax Names

Define as many tax names or tax authorities as you require. For each tax name you define, you
enter a tax type, tax rate, and default tax expense account number.

Invoice Distribution Line Types

Oracle Payables provides four types of invoice distribution lines: Item, Tax, Freight, and
Miscellaneous. All item, freight, and miscellaneous distribution lines can be taxable.

Automatic Tax Distribution Lines

When you enter a default tax name for an invoice and the tax name has a sales or user-defined
tax type, Oracle Payables automatically creates a tax distribution line to record the tax charge.

Oracle Payables 23
Invoice Tax Reporting

Oracle Payables provides standard reports for reporting on your invoice taxes. These reports
include a tax audit trail report, a use tax liability report, the Intra-EU VAT Audit Trail Report,
and a listing of your defined tax names.

VAT Taxes

You can define an unlimited number of VAT (Value Added Tax) taxes. You define VAT taxes in
the same method as any other sales tax. You can assign a VAT tax as a supplier site default. You
can easily enter invoices with VAT taxes and Oracle Payables provides complete VAT
reporting.

Tax Type
Tax Name
Tax Rate
Define Tax Names

Define EEC Suppliers and Assign


Tax Name to Supplier Site

Enter VAT Charges for Invoices

Review VAT Charges


Tax Declaration Report
Intra EC VAT Audit Trail

Oracle Payables makes it easy for you to define and record taxes

Gross Method Taxation

When you enable the Automatic Tax Calculation system option and you enter a tax name for
the invoice that has a sales or user-defined tax type, you can manually enter the tax amount or
you can have Oracle Payables automatically calculate the tax amount.

Tax Exceptions

Oracle Payables’ automatic invoice approval (Approval) automatically performs tax variance
checking and places tax exception holds on any invoice with a tax amount that does not match
the calculated invoice tax amount(s) as determined by the tax rates you define for the tax names

24 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


on your invoice. You can define percentage and amount tolerances to determine the amount of
tax variance you allow on your invoices.

Expense Report Tax Items

You can easily record tax charges on your employee expense reports.

Automatic Tax Withholding

You can automatically withhold taxes for your supplier invoices and employee expense reports.
You have flexibility in defining your withholding tax rate structures using effective date and
taxable amount ranges, and single invoice limits or period limits. Using withholding tax
groups, you can withhold multiple taxes for an invoice or expense report.

Tax Inclusive or Exclusive Item Amounts

You can specify whether supplier invoice items or employee expense report items include tax in
their pricing. Oracle Payables performs the appropriate tax calculations, based on the item.

Flexible Tax Rounding

You can control how Oracle Payables rounds tax calculations to meet varying country
requirements. Choose the rounding rule Up, Down or Nearest as a system default and
optionally change this default at the supplier or supplier site.

Oracle Payables 25
Fixed Assets Integration

Mass Additions lets you add assets and cost adjustments to assets directly into Oracle Assets
from invoices in your Oracle Payables system. The Mass Additions Create process sends valid
invoice distribution lines from Oracle Payables to an interface table in Oracle Assets. After
sending the invoice lines, you can review them and determine whether to create assets from any
of the lines in Oracle Assets.

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables and Oracle Assets you can:

• Add items from Oracle Payables directly into Oracle Assets

• Minimize data entry

• Manipulate invoice lines before they become assets in Oracle Assets

• Transfer discount taken information on asset purchases

26 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Purchasing Integration
Oracle Payables fully integrates with Oracle Purchasing and other purchasing systems. This
allows you to access your purchasing information on-line and automatically match invoices to
purchase orders using two-, three-, or four-way matching.

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Share supplier information with your purchasing department, so that you do not have to
enter the same data twice

• Require matching for selected suppliers to ensure their invoices are matched to purchase
orders

• Match invoices to purchase orders and automatically hold those invoices that exceed your
matching tolerance, whether you use Oracle Purchasing or another purchasing system

• Define amount-based and percentage-based matching tolerances

• Record a price, quantity, or exchange rate variance between an invoice and its matched
purchase order

• Match an invoice at the purchase order shipment line level or the distribution line level

• Review purchase order details and purchase order notes when matching an invoice

• Assign a match as final and have Oracle Payables permanently close the matched purchase
order

• Associate a purchase order with a recurring invoice

Major Features

Matching to Purchase Orders

Oracle Payables allows you to match the invoices you enter to the purchase orders (and related
receipts) in your purchasing system. Oracle Payables supports the level of matching (2-way, 3-
way, and 4-way) that your organization requires for matching invoices to purchase orders and
receipts.

Oracle Payables 27
Match an invoice to one or more purchase orders

Purchase Order
2 Bikes@ $150.00 ea.
Receipt Required
Supplier
Inspection Required To Receiving
Receipt
Invoice

Invoice To Inspection
Bikes
Quantity
Quantity 2 Accepted
Price $150.00

4-Way Match

Purchase Order Receiving Accepted


Bikes Bikes Bikes
Quantity 2 Quantity 2 Quantity 2
Price $150.00

Use 2, 3, or 4-way matching for optimal control over your purchases

28 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Approval

An Oracle Payables process you initiate to automatically perform two-, three-, and four-way
matching for unapproved invoices. Approval places an invoice on matching hold when the
purchase order and invoice information do not match within the tolerances you define.

Manual Matching Hold Release

You can manually release an invoice that has a matching hold to pay the invoice.

Oracle Payables 29
Invoice Approval
Oracle Payables provides a wide variety of powerful, easy-to-use features to approve invoices.
Oracle Payables is fully integrated with Oracle General Ledger, Oracle Purchasing and Oracle
Alert to provide a complete solution for your invoice approval needs.

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Create your own approval cycle based on your organization's invoice approval process

• Approve invoices in batch, on-line, or both

• Prevent payment and posting of invoices that do not meet your invoice approval criteria

• Access invoice hold and release information on-line

• Notify accounts payable supervisors and purchasing agents automatically when an invoice
fails approval for a specific reason

• Selectively approve invoices for posting and payment after reviewing the original reasons for
failing approval

• Report on approved invoices, invoices on hold, and invoices released from hold

Major Features

Approval

Approval validates your invoice information and places holds on invoices that do not meet
approval criteria. For example, Approval automatically places a hold on an invoice when a
supplier overcharges you or bills you for items you have not received, ordered or accepted.
Approval also validates invoices for tax, currency, accounting, matching, and other invoice
exceptions.

Approval in Batch and On-line

Submit Approval on-line for an invoice during invoice entry or approve invoices in batch. When
you approve an invoice on-line, you can immediately review any invoice holds Approval
creates due to matching exceptions, incomplete information, or data entry errors.

Daily Approval Resubmission

Oracle Payables helps you automate your approval cycle through automatic Approval
resubmission. You can enter invoice selection criteria for Approval, then specify the time you
want to automatically initiate Approval each day.

30 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Invoice Holds

Oracle Payables lets you define your own holds, based on your invoice approval needs. You can
define your holds to only prevent payment of an invoice or you can prevent both payment and
posting of an invoice. You can apply an unlimited number of invoice holds to an invoice during
invoice entry. Oracle Payables records your hold reasons and allows authorized users to
manually release invoice holds from invoices.

Supplier Controls

Define a supplier or supplier site control that causes Oracle Payables to place a hold on all
invoices you enter for the supplier site from the time you enable the control. Define an invoice
amount limit for a supplier site so that Oracle Payables places a hold on invoices for the
supplier site that exceed the amount you specify.

Exception Reporting

Oracle Alert provides an integrated system of alerts, messages, and message distributions to
focus attention on time-sensitive or critical information and streamline the approval process.
Exception reporting in Oracle Alert is accomplished using either electronic mail or paper
reports.

Invoice Adjustments

Authorized users can always correct an invoice, even if the invoice is approved, paid or posted.
Approval also creates the necessary adjusting journal entries to keep your accounting records
accurate and complete.

Oracle Payables 31
QuickRelease

Oracle Payables lets you manually remove all holds that you place on an invoice and most holds
that Approval places on an invoice. For those holds that you cannot manually release, you must
correct the invoice and resubmit Approval to remove the hold(s).

Easily release one or more holds from selected invoices

Invoice Inquiry

Oracle Payables provides on-line access to all the invoice information you need. Review
supplier balance and invoice detail information, including hold, distribution, payment, and
currency information.

32 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Invoice Import

Oracle Payables integrates with Oracle Projects and other accounting systems by allowing you
to import expense reports and invoices so that you can pay them using Oracle Payables. Use
Invoice Import to create invoices from expense reports you enter in Oracle Payables, Oracle
Projects or Oracle Web Employees.

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Import and pay invoices from other accounting systems

• Create invoices in Oracle Payables to pay expense reports you entered in Oracle Payables,
Oracle Projects or Oracle Web Employees

• Report on the invoices created as well as any exceptions for the imported expense reports and
invoices

Major Features

Invoice Import

An Oracle Payables process you initiate to automatically create invoices from expense reports or
invoices from other accounting systems. Invoice Import verifies all your expense report and
invoice information to ensure it creates valid, fully-distributed invoices, ready for approval and
payment. If the expense report or invoice information fails validation, Invoice Import does not
create an invoice from the information and reports the exception so that you can easily fix the
problem.

Integration with Oracle Projects and Oracle Web Employees

Oracle Payables fully integrates with Oracle Projects and Oracle Web Employees so that you can
easily create and pay invoices for expense reports entered in these applications.

Invoice Import Reporting

Oracle Payables automatically produces the Invoice Import Report and the Invoice Import
Exceptions Report when you submit Invoice Import. Use these reports to review the invoices
that Invoice Import successfully created from your expense report and invoice information and
to identify the expense reports and invoices that Invoice Import was unable to import.

Oracle Payables 33
Payments

Oracle Payables provides a variety of features for fast, controlled payment processing.

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Disburse funds using multiple payment methods, including computer-generated checks,


electronic payments, recorded checks, and wire transfers

• Ensure that duplicate invoice payments never occur

• Pay only those invoices which are due and automatically take the maximum discount
available

• Select invoices using a wide variety of criteria and create payments automatically

• Ensure that you always take the better of the invoice payment terms or the purchase order
payment terms when you match an invoice to a purchase order

• Modify the payment amount or discount taken on a particular invoice before creating the
payment

• Create payment documents in any format you want

• Reduce expenses by distributing payment discounts you take to the proper accounts

• Pay an invoice on its own separate payment document

• If your printer jams, restart your check printing where the printer left off

• Print a check on-line

• Laser print checks on blank check stock

• Automatically create standard invoices for payment of goods either based on receipt
transactions or advance shipping and billing notices

• Record a stop payment

• Void a payment and cancel or hold all invoices on the void payment

• Review on-line information regarding the result and status of every payment

• Reconcile your bank account with Oracle Payables' payment history

• Automatically clear your payments made with future dated payment documents

34 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Major Features

Payment Methods

Oracle Payables allows multiple methods of payment, including computer-generated checks


and electronic payments, future dated payment documents, and recorded payments.

For more information on electronic payments, please see the Electronic Payments section within
this document.

Approval

Oracle Payables prevents payment or posting of an invoice until you submit it for approval. If
Approval places a hold on an invoice, you cannot pay the invoice until you release the hold.
Decide how you want to perform invoice approval, either on-line, in batch or both, to match
your approval process with your company policy and your computing resources.

Multi-Currency

Enter and pay an invoice in any currency you want. Oracle Payables automatically tracks any
realized foreign exchange gains or losses on your payments.

Payment Batch

Oracle Payables produces payments for invoices you select and records the results so that you
have accurate and timely payment information. Initiate a payment batch to create checks or
electronic funds transfer files.

Oracle Payables produces your payments in several steps to give you optimal control over
automatic payments. You first select the invoices for your payment batch. You have the option
to modify the selected invoices so you can delete, add, or change the payment amount of
invoices selected for payment. You then format the payments for these selected invoices. If the
payment batch is for checks, you then print the checks. The last step is to confirm your printed
payment documents against your payment records.

Alternatively, you can combine invoice selection and payment formatting into a single step if
you do not intend to modify any of the invoices selected for payment.

Oracle Payables 35
Invoice

Select Invoices Initiate Payment


Batch

Modify Invoice Selection


(Optional)

Confirm Payment Batch

Format Payments

Create Payments
(Checks or EFT’s)

Oracle Payables provides optimal control over your automatic payments

Invoice Selection for Payment

Automatically pay invoices using rules you establish for pay-through-date, Pay Group,
payment priority, payment amount limits and several other criteria.

Select invoices for payment based on criteria you specify

Pay Alone

Oracle Payables provides the ability to control payments to suppliers that require separate
payment for an invoice. Optionally designate an invoice as a Pay Alone invoice when you enter
the invoice. When you pay a Pay Alone invoice, Oracle Payables ensures that the invoice
payment is separate from any other invoice payments for the supplier site.

Quick Payment

Use a Quick Payment to create an individual check on demand. Select the invoices you want to
pay and Oracle Payables prints your check.

36 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Payment Schedule Recalculation

Ensure that you always take the better of invoice terms or purchase order terms when you
match an invoice to a purchase order. Oracle Payables automatically recalculates your payment
schedule to reflect the best terms.

Automatic Discount Proration

Oracle Payables lets you decide how you want to distribute any discounts you take. Credit a
payment discount to a single Discount Taken Accounting Flexfield or prorate your discount
amount across your invoice distribution lines.

Payment Document Creation

You have several options for ordering payment documents. Choose supplier name, supplier
number or postal code to order your payments the way you want. Oracle Payables allows you
any number of setup checks for aligning your printer, and automatically records them as non-
negotiable setup checks.

Check Print Restart

Easily restart your payment batch if your printer malfunctions. Simply identify the spoiled
checks and Oracle Payables does the rest.

Partial Payments

You have complete control over the amount you pay and take as discount for invoices on any
payment. Partial payments automatically reduce the balance due, and Oracle Payables
schedules the remainder for future payment.

Payment Hold

In addition to holds that Oracle Payables automatically places during Approval, define your
own invoice holds to prevent payment.

Payment Document Control

Oracle Payables helps you manage multiple payment documents. Decide the type of payment
for which you want to use a payment document. Oracle Payables displays the next available
document number when you format payments, and warns you before you run out of payment
documents.

Payment on Receipt

Oracle Payables automatically creates standard invoices for payment of goods either based on
receipt transactions or advance shipping and billing notices. You have the option to choose to
create invoices either at the time you receive your ordered goods or when you receive an
Advance Shipment and Billing Notice from your trading partner. You can define which
suppliers participate in Payment on Receipt.

Oracle Payables 37
Stop Payment

Record a stop payment on any payment, then void the payment or release the stop payment.
Oracle Payables keeps your stop payment status up-to-date. Oracle Payables also provides a
report that you can use to review all current stop payments.

Void Payment

Oracle Payables automatically reverses the payment and accounting records after verifying that
the payment has not already cleared the bank. You can then repay the invoice on a new
payment, place a hold on the invoice, or cancel the invoice.

Positive Pay

Work with your bank to prevent check fraud by using Positive Pay. When you create a
payment batch or individual payment in Oracle Payables, you can create a list of checks issued
to suppliers and employees called a Positive Pay file. Use a third party product of your choice
to format and electronically transmit this file to your bank. As checks clear your bank, the bank
identifies exceptions which you can choose to process or exclude from payment.

Payment Reconciliation

Automatically reconcile your bank account with Oracle Payables payment history using Oracle
Cash Management. Load a bank reconciliation file from a tape or diskette and Oracle Cash
Management records a cleared date and cleared amount on each payment that matches the
bank information. Oracle Cash Management automatically prints a reconciliation report,
highlighting exceptions.

For more information about Oracle Cash Management, please refer to the Bank Statement
Reconciliation with Oracle Cash Management section within this document.

Laser Printed Payment Documents

Oracle Payables allows you to laser print checks on blank check stock. With this feature, you
can incorporate scanned signatures, MICR encoding, variable fonts, and custom objects into
your checks.

Automatic Clearing of Future Dated Payments

Oracle Payables automatically clears your payments made with future dated payment
documents based on their maturity date and the number of clearing days you specify for the
payment document.

38 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Electronic Payments

You can pay your suppliers electronically by using either the Oracle EDI Gateway or by
delivering to your bank an electronic funds transfer output file. Oracle Payables fully integrates
with Oracle EDI Gateway to produce electronic payments and remittance advice information
for suppliers of your choice.

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Create Electronic payments quickly and accurately whether you are using Oracle EDI
Gateway or Oracle Payable’s standard electronic funds transfer process

• Transfer payment data through Oracle EDI Gateway to the EDI translator of your choice to
create an ASC X.12 820, EDIFACT equivalent or other outbound payment data file

• Use any of the standardized electronic funds transfer payment formats that Oracle Payables
provides to create electronic payments, or create your own custom payment format

• Keep a complete audit trail of Electronic payments you make

Major Features

Automatic Payment

Oracle Payables creates electronic payments automatically when you initiate a payment batch
using an electronic payment document. Oracle Payables automatically creates electronic
payments for all approved invoices with the Electronic Payment Method that are available for
payment on or before the pay-through date you specify when you initiate a payment batch.

EDI Payments

Oracle Payables fully integrates with Oracle EDI Gateway to produce electronic payments and
remittance advice information for suppliers of your choice. Oracle EDI Gateway extracts
payment information from Oracle Payables to be processed by the EDI translator of your choice
to create an ASC X.12 820, EDIFACT equivalent or other outbound payment data file.

Custom Payment Formats

Create your own electronic payment programs and formats to generate electronic funds transfer
files that meet the specific format needs of your bank. Customize the electronic payment
programs Oracle Payables provides, or create your own.

Oracle Payables 39
Audit Trail

As with checks or wire transfers, Oracle Payables maintains a complete audit trail of all EFT
payments. The audit trail includes when you make a payment, the supplier and invoices it pays,
what discounts you took, any realized gains or losses, and other payment information.

Separate Remittance Advice

Print your payment remittance information separately from electronic funds transfer payments.
You can define your own remittance advice formats or use a standard format that Oracle
Payables provides.

40 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Future Dated Payments

You can optionally pay your suppliers with the Future Dated payment method, sometimes
referred to as the Bills of Exchange payment method. Use the Future Dated payment method to
control the timing of your payments and therefore maximize your cash flow.

Manual Future
Dated Payment
Request
Enter Invoice Enter Invoice Approve Request and
Enter Manual Future
Dated Payment

Create Future Dated Payment

Send Manual Future Dated


Payment back to Supplier

Send to Supplier

Supplier Submits to Bank

Bank Distributes Funds on Future Date

Create future dated payments, also known as Bills of Exchange

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Create a payment batch, Quick payment, or manual payment with the future dated payment
method

• Automatically create two sets of accounting entries for future dated payments, the first when
you create a payment, and the second after you record that the bank has cleared the payment

Major Features

Future Dated Payment Method

A payment method which indicates your agreement with a supplier to transfer funds from your
bank account to the supplier's bank account on a specific future date. The agreement calls for
payment of one or more invoices on the future date.

Oracle Payables 41
Bank Statement Reconciliation with Oracle Cash
Management

Oracle Cash Management is a high-powered, flexible, financial management solution for global
enterprises. Oracle Cash Management gives you the ability to efficiently reconcile bank
statements, create necessary miscellaneous and accounting entries, and effectively manage your
cash flow. With Oracle Cash Management you can reconcile your bank statements manually or
automatically. The system will automatically verify accuracy, handle exceptions and generate
all necessary accounting entries and reports. Oracle Cash Management is integrated with
Oracle Receivables, Oracle Payables and Oracle General Ledger, and also provides an open
interface for external systems.

Business Needs

With Oracle Cash Management you can:

• Automatically or manually import your bank statement

• View all transactions, journal entries and batches available for reconciliation

• Manually create a payment or receipt for any bank statement line

• Create miscellaneous transactions, such as bank charges, automatically or manually

• Reconcile foreign currency invoices and account for corresponding exchange loss or gain

• Use a cash clearing account for timely recognition of cash

• Reconcile bank statement lines to journal entries, payments, receipts and batches

• Create all necessary accounting entries

• View and print your bank statements and all reconciliation reports

Major Features

Automatic Reconciliation

With Automatic Reconciliation, bank statement details are automatically matched and
reconciled with appropriate accounting transactions. You can control the reconciliation process
by specifying acceptable tolerance levels for reconciliation, methods to handle foreign exchange
fluctuations, bank charge handling, and appropriate GL accounts for accounting entries. Oracle
Cash Management. generates all necessary accounting entries during automatic reconciliation.

Manual Reconciliation

With Oracle Cash Management, you can manually reconcile your bank statements. This
method allows you to match each statement line against the appropriate batch, journal entry, or
transaction to ensure accuracy. Any adjustments needed to account for differences between the
sum of the transaction and the statement line amount can be generated using Oracle Cash

42 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Management. For example, you can use Oracle Cash Management to handle any bank charges
or NSF transactions. You can also use manual reconciliation to reconcile any bank statement
details which could not be reconciled automatically.

Search For Available Transactions

When using manual reconciliation, you reconcile each statement line with available receipts,
payments, miscellaneous transactions, batches, journal entries, or external sources. Oracle Cash
Management helps you quickly find and review any of these transactions that meet the criteria
you specify, with the find available window.

Cash Management Tools

With Oracle Cash Management’s manual clearing functionality, you have the flexibility to
recognize cash prior to receiving your bank statement to know your cash position at any time
during your accounting cycle.

Oracle Cash Management’s reconciliation open interface allows you to easily reconcile
payments and receipts from external systems.

Full reporting and inquiry capabilities of Oracle Cash Management allow you to review and
analyze your company’s bank statements, cash position, and transactions available for
reconciliation.

For more information, see the Oracle Cash Management Functional Overview.

Oracle Payables 43
High Productivity

Oracle Payables offers many features which help you to process invoices and payments
efficiently to obtain higher productivity.

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Enter data with a few keystrokes

• Use defaults that you control and enter a supplier or invoice, or create payments with
minimal data entry

• Enter invoices in batches for control and efficiency

• Attach notes, images or other objects to invoices on-line so you do not need to rely on the
original paper invoice to research invoice history

• Measure productivity

• Create complex invoice distributions automatically as you enter invoices

• Approve invoices for payment and posting automatically

• Automatically select invoices for payment and create payment documents in one step

• Create and print a check on-line

Major Features

List of Values

Enter the first several letters of a value for a field such as supplier name, terms, or PayGroup.
Oracle Payables fills in the rest of the field for you or displays the field choices in a List of
Values pop-up window.

AutoEntry

Whether entering invoices, processing automatic payments, or defining suppliers, Oracle


Payables fills in most fields for you with the values from defaults you specified. For example, by
specifying defaults for suppliers and invoices, you can enter as little as supplier name, invoice
amount, and invoice number to create an invoice.

Batch Controls

You can use batch controls to increase productivity. Specify the batch size and the control total.
Oracle Payables keeps track of the total count and amount, and warns you of imbalances when
you exit. Batch Control reports help you analyze productivity and resolve batch imbalances
quickly.

44 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Attachments

Link non-structured data such as images, word processing documents, spreadsheets, or video
to your invoices.

Key Indicators

Key Indicators tell you how many invoices you enter and how accurately you enter them.

Distribution Sets

Using Distribution Sets, you can create invoice distribution lines automatically as you enter
invoices. Define invoice distribution lines in a Distribution Set and assign the Distribution Set to
one or more suppliers or supplier sites. Oracle Payables automatically creates invoice
distribution lines from the Distribution Set.

Matching Distributions

You can create invoice distribution lines automatically from purchase order distribution lines
when you match an invoice to one or more purchase order lines. Oracle Payables requires no
further data entry.

Approval

Oracle Payables increases your productivity by identifying matching errors for you without
slowing up invoice entry. Approval automatically holds invoices for payment when the
invoices do not match purchase order and receipt information within tolerances you specify.
Approval automatically releases invoices for payment when you correct the errors or adjust the
tolerance.

Payment Batch Initiation

When you initiate a payment batch, you need only enter your payment batch name to select
invoices for payment. The payment initiation uses defaults for other payment batch criteria. You
can even select invoices and create payments in one step.

Cash Management

Reconcile your bank account with Oracle Payables payment history using Oracle Cash
Management. Load a bank reconciliation file from a tape or diskette and automatically verify
that your bank information is complete and accurate, and update Oracle Payables payment
history.

Complete Descriptions

Enter as long a description as you need, up to 240 characters, so you have room for all your
comments. Save time by never needing to refer to a paper invoice or a hand-written note.

Oracle Payables 45
Oracle Alert
Oracle Alert provides automated exception reporting fully integrated with Oracle Payables,
Oracle Purchasing, and Oracle Office. You can increase the effectiveness of your receipt,
matching, and payment processes using the powerful message capabilities of Oracle Alert.
Oracle Alert automatically notifies you of important and unusual matching events as soon as
they occur, reduces your paper flow, increases the quality of your information, and improves
your productivity.

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables and Oracle Alert you can:

• Set goals for your payables managers and employees and measure their performance against
these goals

• Automatically remind employees of incomplete or upcoming payables tasks

• Respond immediately to messages with electronic mail

• Receive messages through both electronic mail and printer facilities

• Customize Alert, messages, and reports quickly and easily without support from data
processing professionals

Major Features

Immediate Alerts

Oracle Alert immediately notifies you of events as they occur with event-triggered messages.
Modify Oracle’s pre-coded conditions or create your own, and send messages when events
occur to as many individuals in your organization as you want. For example, Oracle Alert can
immediately send a message to a purchasing agent if an item is rejected after receipt from the
supplier. With that information your purchasing agent can contact your supplier to prepare
replacement items while the item is being returned.

Periodic Alerts

Oracle Alert periodically notifies you of key information and events on a schedule you choose.
Modify Oracle’s pre-coded conditions or create your own, and send messages for them to as
many individuals in your organization as you want. For example, Oracle Alert can help you
manage your invoices on receipt hold by sending daily or weekly reminders to the purchasing
agents or requestors to verify receipt.

Customizable Messages and Distribution Lists

Oracle Alert can send different messages to different people for the same alert condition.
Customize messages to reflect specific responsibilities. For example, if a supplier delivery is
overdue, Oracle Alert can request the purchasing agent to expedite the order, and can inform
the requestor of the delay.

46 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Summary Reports

Oracle Alert lets you use summary reports to receive a single list of exceptions matching an
alert, as opposed to receiving many individual mail messages.

Performance Goals

Use Oracle Alert to monitor performance against accounts payable performance goals.

Escalated Messages

Oracle Alert lets you send escalated messages to remind recipients of uncorrected conditions.
For example, increase the severity of an expediting reminder message to a payables agent until
receipt of payment is recorded in Oracle Payables.

Duplicate Message Suppression

If you do not want Oracle Alert to send repeated or escalated messages, choose to suppress
duplicate messages. Then, if Oracle Alert detects an uncorrected condition, it will not send
another message.

Electronic Mail Interface

Oracle Alert is completely integrated with Oracle Office and, through Oracle Office gateways,
with most other electronic mail systems. Use your mail system to further communicate with
your organization following a business agent message.

Printing Capability

Oracle Alert lets you print messages for those who do not use electronic mail. Everyone can
receive Alert information quickly and directly.

Completely Customizable System

With Oracle Alert, you can always modify messages, business agent conditions and distribution
lists to meet your unique or changing needs.

Oracle Payables 47
Multi-currency

Oracle Payables provides powerful and easy-to-use multiple currency features to help you
manage your international transactions and operations. With Oracle Payables, meet the
increasing demands of international business without the complexity you often associate with
multi-currency accounting.

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Define multiple currencies to meet your invoice, payment, and reporting needs

• Enter and maintain daily exchange rates on-line for foreign currency conversion

• Enter and pay foreign currency invoices

• Calculate unrealized gains and losses at period-end or after a severe currency movement

• Calculate realized gains or losses after payment of a foreign currency invoice

• Match a foreign currency invoice to a purchase order

• Report on accounts payable activity by currency using standard reports

Major Features

Multiple Currency Definitions

You can define multiple currencies for financial reporting.

User-Maintained Exchange Rate Types

Oracle Payables predefines the following exchange rate types: Corporate, Spot, and User. You
can define any additional exchange rate types you require. You specify an exchange rate type
when you enter a foreign currency invoice. Oracle Payables uses the daily exchange rate that
you define for the exchange rate type to convert the amount of your invoice to your functional
currency.

User-Maintained Daily Exchange Rates

You can maintain any type of daily exchange rate you require, including spot rates. With Oracle
Payables, you maintain daily exchange rates for foreign currency conversion. And, Oracle
Payables automatically performs conversion using the daily exchange rates you specify.

48 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


General Ledger Integration
Oracle Payables fully integrates with Oracle General Ledger and other general ledger systems
so you can easily update your general ledger with accounts payable activity. Oracle Payables
lets you validate your expense, liability, cash, and other accounts against your chart of accounts,
resulting in fewer data entry errors.

You can use standard Oracle Payables reports to reconcile your posted invoices and payments
to your Accounts Payable Trial Balance. You can use your Accounts Payable Trial Balance to
reconcile to the accounts payable liability in your general ledger system.

Enter Invoices
and Payments
for the Period

Submit Expense
Open Accounts Detail Report
Payable Period

Submit Posted Invoices, Submit Posting


Posted Payments and Holds Report and
Trial Balance Reports Resolve Posting Holds

Close Accounts
Payable Period

Create Journal Entries

Oracle Payables fully integrates with Oracle General Ledger and other general ledger systems

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Define your set of books and create journal entries for that set of books

• Open and close your accounts payable period independently of your general ledger

• Validate your accounts payable accounts directly against your general ledger chart of
accounts

• Record statistical quantity information for invoice distribution line items which you can
transfer to your general ledger

Oracle Payables 49
• Transfer journal entry records of payment and invoice activity to your general ledger

• Maintain detail or summary invoice and payment audit information in your general ledger

• Create journal entries using the accrual, cash, or combined basis of accounting

• Create journal entries for multi-currency invoices and payments

• Automatically balance your intercompany journal entries to keep each company in proper
balance

• Reconcile your invoice and payment activity to your Accounts Payable Trial Balance and to
your general ledger system

Major Features

Flexible Accounting Structure

Define your accounting structure according to the way you do business. Oracle Payables
provides you with pop-up windows that make entering accounting information quick and easy.

Full Integration

Oracle Payables fully integrates with your general ledger system. If you have Oracle General
Ledger, everything is ready for you to access your accounting data. If you are using your own
general ledger system, a few simple steps allow you to fully integrate with Oracle Payables.

Multiple Sets of Books

Your set of books defines the account structure, accounting calendar, and functional currency
that your organization uses to record transactions in Oracle Payables.

Multiple Accounting Methods

When you install Oracle Payables, choose whether you wish to record journal entries and report
on an accrual basis, cash basis, or combined basis of accounting.

Intercompany Accounting

When you post Oracle Payables journal entries, Oracle General Ledger automatically creates
intercompany journal entries to balance your accounts.

Audit Information

Optionally choose to maintain detailed audit information for the invoice and payment
information you transfer to your general ledger.

50 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Invoice Distribution Statistics

If you use Oracle General Ledger, define the units of measure you use to record statistics on
invoice distribution lines. In Oracle General Ledger, you can define a different unit of measure
for each account. Oracle Payables then lets you enter a statistical quantity for each invoice
distribution line that has an account defined with a unit of measure.

Posting Reports

Oracle Payables provides several standard reports that you can use to review your unposted
and posted invoice and payment information. Submit a report to review invoices that Oracle
Payables does not allow you to post because they have posting holds or have not been
approved. Submit reports that let you review all your posted invoices and payments, as well as
the trial balance for your unpaid, posted accounts payable liabilities.

Accounting Period Statuses

Open and close accounting periods in Oracle Payables independently of your general ledger.
The period statuses available in Oracle Payables are Never Opened, Future, Open, Closed, and
Permanently Closed. Oracle Payables allows invoice entry, payment entry, and payment
voiding in an open accounting period. You can enter invoices in a Future accounting period but
you cannot pay or post any invoices in a Future period until you open the period.

Never Open
Future (Optional)

Permanantly Closed
(Optional)
Open

Closed

Oracle Payables lets you control the status of your accounting periods

Oracle Payables 51
Combined Basis Accounting

In addition to the accrual basis and cash basis accounting methods, Oracle Payables also
supports a combination of both methods called Combined Basis Accounting. With Combined
Basis Accounting, Oracle Payables creates journal entries for both sets of books simultaneously.

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Define two sets of books, for cash and accrual accounting methods

• Use one set of books to manage your business and use the other set of books for reporting
purposes

• Choose your accounting method each time you transfer accounting entries from Oracle
Payables to your general ledger

Major Features

Multiple Accounting Methods

Choose primary and secondary accounting methods for creating accounting entries in Oracle
Payables. For each accounting method, cash or accrual, choose a set of books. Each time you
transfer accounting entries from Oracle Payables to your general ledger, you choose to transfer
activity for your primary, secondary, or both sets of books. Oracle Payables creates accounting
entries for both sets of books so that you can report under each accounting method.

Journal Entry Audit Options

Within each set of books you can choose to maintain various levels of audit detail for your
invoice and payment transactions. You can override these defaults each time you initiate the
Payables Transfer to General Ledger program. Payables automatically maintains audit
information for all expense and cash transactions, however you can optionally choose to store
full or partial audit information on your liability distributions and audit information for your
discount, gain/loss and cash clearing distributions.

Create Summary or Detail Journal Entries

If you use Oracle General Ledger, you can choose to create either summary or detail journal
entries based on the invoice and payment transactions you transfer from Oracle Payables. You
can create summarized journal entries even if you want to maintain detailed audit information
for drilldown purposes.

52 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Automatic Offsets

Oracle Financials provides a number of flexible accounting capabilities to control your expenses.
With Oracle Financials you can support a complete set of accounts for each balancing segment.
Oracle Financials also lets you record balance sheet effects across multiple balancing segments.

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Specify system options and defaults which reflect your business practices; for example, you
can specify that you want to automatically create balancing entries (both liability and cash
accounts)

• Create multiple liability accounts automatically for an invoice. For example, you can enter an
invoice and distribute it to Balancing Segment A, Balancing Segment B, and Balancing
Segment C. You can automatically record liability entries for Balancing Segment A, Balancing
Segment B, and Balancing Segment C

• Create multiple accounts payable liability accounts and selectively assign them as supplier
defaults

• Specify a bank account as a pooled account or as a non-pooled account

• Create multiple cash entries automatically when paying an invoice from a pooled bank
account

• Create all necessary balancing entries when you use a non-pooled account to pay an invoice

• Prorate discounts across invoice distributions, or use one discount taken account

Major Features

System Options and Defaults

Oracle Financials gives you multiple system options and defaults which increase your control
and make data entry easier. For example, your cash and liability accounts all default from your
system defaults, so you do not have to enter them every time you create a supplier or enter an
invoice. Of course, you can always override a default.

System options, such as whether to create balancing entries automatically, give you the
accounting controls you need. Oracle Financials provide the flexibility for the way your
company does business.

Oracle Payables 53
Multiple Liability Accounts

Oracle Payables gives you the flexibility to record multiple liability accounts for your invoices.
If you specify Automatic Offsets as a system option, Oracle Payables automatically allocates
your liability amounts across multiple balancing segments, according to your invoice
distributions. If you do not specify Automatic Offsets as a system option, Oracle Payables
credits your liability to one account.

Multiple Discount Accounts

Choose how Oracle Payables distributes the discounts you take when making payments.
Prorate any discounts across your invoice distribution lines or credit all discounts to one
Discount Taken account.

Intercompany Balancing Entries

Oracle General Ledger enables you to create intercompany balancing entries quickly and easily.
You can create balancing entries manually, or let Oracle General Ledger create them for you
automatically when you post a payment transaction which does not balance by balancing
segment.

Multiple Cash Accounts

When you define a bank account, specify whether you centrally pool cash or not. Use a pooled
account to pay invoices for multiple balancing segments. Use a non-pooled bank account to pay
a single balancing segment's invoices.

Multiple Receipt Accrual Accounts

Oracle Purchasing makes it easy for you to record accruals for your unbilled receipts.
Automatically accrue receipts as often as you need. Accrue receipts to the next period, or a
current period. Set up Oracle Purchasing to automatically accrue receipts to the correct
balancing segment when you run your receipt accrual process.

Posting Options

Oracle General Ledger gives you the option of ensuring that your entries balance by balancing
segment. Oracle General Ledger automatically creates intercompany entries for your journal
entries that are not balanced by balancing segment.

54 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Intercompany Accounting

Manage your accounts payable information within any company structure you define. Maintain
multiple companies and create expense distributions and payments on behalf of any
combination of those companies.

Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Create accounting entries for invoice and payment transactions that reflect activity across
multiple companies, including having one company pay for the expenses of another company

• Perform intercompany accounting to automatically balance your intercompany transactions

Major Features

Multiple Sets of Books

Oracle Payables allows you to define different sets of books for companies with different
currencies, accounting calendars, and chart of account structures. Use one set of books for each
installation of Oracle Payables, or use the Oracle Applications Multiple Organization Support
feature to use multiple sets of books within one Payables installation.

With the Multiple Organization Support feature, you can assign a unique set of books (with its
unique calendar, chart of accounts, and functional currency) to each organization you define.
When you assign responsibilities using function security you can limit a user to one
organization's set of books. With the Multiple Organization Support feature you can segregate
transactions by operating unit but you can still choose to share certain information, such as
supplier information, between organizations so the information needs to be entered only once.

Multiple Companies

Within each set of books, set up as many companies as you need. Add new companies
whenever you want, without any complicated restructuring.

Intercompany Journal Entries

Oracle Payables is completely integrated with Oracle General Ledger. When you transfer
journal entries for invoices and payments, Oracle General Ledger automatically creates
intercompany journal entries to balance your accounts. Specify the intercompany balancing
account you want to use for each company. Define additional intercompany accounts for Oracle
General Ledger to use for balancing different types of journal entries.

Oracle Payables 55
Budgetary Control
Oracle Financials provide a variety of powerful, flexible, easy-to-use budgetary control
capabilities to control your expenses and prevent you from spending beyond your budgets.
Oracle Payables, Oracle General Ledger, Oracle Purchasing and Oracle Inventory are fully
integrated to give you a complete solution to your budgetary control needs.

Business Needs

With Oracle Financials you can:

• Ensure that your actual and planned expenditures do not exceed your available funds

• Check funds on-line for all transactions which affect available funds, at any level of a
transaction

• Update your funds available balances immediately when you reserve funds for a requisition,
purchase order, invoice, or journal entry

• Choose the degree of budgetary control you want over your expenditures

• Choose the degree of budgetary control you want by type of document

• Check funds and reserve funds at multiple levels within your organization

• Control your expenses based on the period you want

• Control your expenditures regardless of your accounting method or currency

• Specify the budget you want to use for budgetary control

• Choose the detail accounts for which you want to enforce budgetary control

• Perform budgetary control by journal entry source, category, and responsibility; for example,
you may want to perform budgetary control on Payroll journal entries, but not Accrual-type
journal entries

• Specify tolerances for budgetary control; for example, you may want to allow transactions for
which there are insufficient funds available if the transactions exceed available funds by $1000
or less

• Override transactions selectively for which there are insufficient funds available

• Reserve funds for your journal entries

• Import journal entries from other non-Oracle applications and check funds for these imported
journal entries

• Reserve funds for invoices by approving them on-line or in batch

• Liquidate excess encumbrances easily

• Record cancellations of encumbrances differently from reversals

56 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Major Features

Many government, educational, and not-for-profit agencies use budgetary control, as well as
many corporations. Each of these organizations may use different terminology for budgetary
control.

We use the term requisition encumbrance to refer to the journal entry Oracle Financials creates
when you reserve funds for a requisition. We use the term purchase order encumbrance to refer
to the journal entry Oracle Financials creates when you approve a purchase order. You may
define an unlimited number of encumbrance types in Oracle General Ledger, so you can call
these journal entries commitment and obligation, pre-commitment and commitment, or pre-lien
and lien.

On-line Funds Checking

You can check funds on-line independently of reserving funds for your transaction. Oracle
Financials notifies you on-line whether you have enough funds available for a transaction. You
can check funds at any level of a journal entry, requisition, purchase order, or invoice.

Immediate Update of Funds Available

Oracle Financials automatically updates your funds available balances when you successfully
reserve funds for a transaction. Your funds available balances are always up-to-date.

Absolute or Advisory Budgetary Control

With Oracle Financials, you decide whether to allow transactions which exceed your available
funds. If you use absolute budgetary control, Oracle Financials does not allow you to reserve
funds for a transaction unless you have funds available. If you use advisory budgetary control,
Oracle Financials provides you with on-line notification that you do not have available funds,
but reserves funds for your transaction anyway.

Multiple Levels of Funds Checking and Funds Reservation

You can define unlimited funds checking levels for budgetary control. You may choose to have
Oracle Financials check your funds at the detail level of an Accounting Flexfield or at a
summary level of a group of Accounting Flexfields. You can also decide to check funds at both a
summary and detail level.

Multiple Interval Types

Specify the interval for which you want Oracle Financials to exercise budgetary control. Choose
whether your boundaries are hard (you do not have access to available funds over the
boundary) or soft (you automatically have access to funds available past period boundaries).

Multi-Currency Encumbrances

Oracle Financials perform funds checking based on the functional currency equivalents of your
multi-currency purchase order distributions or invoice distributions. And, Oracle Financials
automatically create encumbrances in your functional currency.

Oracle Payables 57
Funds Reservation Options

Oracle Financials provide the flexibility you need to control your expenses the way you want.
You can define budgetary control options by journal entry source, category, and responsibility.
You can define the range or ranges of accounts for which you want to perform budgetary
control.

Tolerances

For each journal entry source and category for which you perform budgetary control, specify a
tolerance amount and a tolerance percent. The tolerance percent is the percent by which you can
exceed your budget per transaction that fails budgetary control. The tolerance amount is the
amount per transaction in functional currency by which you can exceed your budget.

Funds Check Override

For each journal entry source and category for which you perform budgetary control, you can
allow manual override of transactions that have insufficient funds. And, you can specify an
override amount (in functional currency) by which you want to limit manual overrides.

Invoice Budgetary Control

Oracle Payables provides budgetary control on invoices and prepayments. Oracle Payables
automatically creates an encumbrance entry in Oracle General Ledger when you successfully
approve an invoice or prepayment which you do not match to a purchase order. Oracle
Payables also creates encumbrances when you successfully approve an invoice having a
quantity or price variance with the purchase order to which you matched it.

Oracle Payables creates a detailed journal entry of invoice activity for posting to the general
ledger. If you match an invoice to a purchase order, Oracle Payables automatically creates an
entry in Oracle General Ledger to reverse the purchase order encumbrance. Oracle Payables
also creates an encumbrance reversal for an unmatched invoice which it previously
encumbered.

Document Controls

Oracle Financials provide complete control over your purchase and accounts payable
documents. You can record a final invoice, which liquidates excess encumbrances associated
with purchase orders matched to the invoice. Oracle Financials make it easy for you to liquidate
excess encumbrances and increase your funds available.

Cancellations and Reversals

Oracle Financials treat cancellations of encumbrances different from reversals, so you can easily
report on gross encumbrances-to-date (gross obligations-to-date or gross commitments-to-date)
as well as net encumbrances (net obligations or net commitments).

58 Oracle Financials Functional Overview


Purge

Oracle Payables provides a powerful and easy-to-use purge feature to help control your
accounts payable and purchasing data. With Oracle Payables, you can easily purge invoices,
purchase orders, purchase requisitions, and suppliers that you no longer need to review on-line
so you can maintain better access to your current transactions.

Oracle
Payables
Database

Review Purge
Candidates
Back Up Oracles
Payables Database Submit Purge

Preliminary Purge
Candidates Invoice Listing
Abort a Purge

or Confirm Purge
Submit Purge

Submit Purge
Export and Import the
Database Tables and Indexes

Review Purge Results

Contact the DBA

Final Purge Register Listing


Rejected Invoices Listing
Final Purge Statistics Report

Oracle Payables lets you purge suppliers, invoices, and payments from your database

Oracle Payables 59
Business Needs

With Oracle Payables you can:

• Purge invoices and related records from your database

• Purge purchase orders, requisitions and related records from your database

• Purge unused and inactive suppliers from your database

• Specify criteria by which to purge data and review purge data before and after you purge

• Abort or restart a purge during any stage of the purge process

• Maintain summary information for records you purge

Major Features

Purge Submission

An Oracle Payables feature you use to initiate a purge. Specify a purge name, a purge category,
and a last activity date, and Oracle Payables automatically selects all records and their related
records which match your criteria to purge from the database. Oracle Payables only selects
records which you have not updated since the last activity date you specify and which do not
have any dependencies with other records you are not purging.

You can abort or restart a purge at any stage of the purge process, except during the actual
deletion of records. Oracle Payables provides information on the status of a purge during each
stage of the process.

Preliminary Purge Reports

Oracle Payables automatically prints the Preliminary Purged Listings which let you review all
requisition, purchase order, receipt, invoice, payment, and supplier records that Oracle
Payables selects to purge. Oracle Payables selects records to purge based on criteria you specify.

Final Purge Reports

Oracle Payables automatically prints several audit reports when it completes a purge, including
the invoice, payment, purchase order, requisition, receipt, and supplier records which you
purged and summary statistics on the number of records you purged from each table.

60 Oracle Financials Functional Overview

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