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Project-Related Work-Orders Tips and Traps

Jeannie Dobney
J D Consulting Services
Introduction
If your organisation uses Oracles eBusiness Suite Projects as well as Enterprise Asset Management
(eAM i.e. plant maintenance), you may eventually wonder if and how transactions from eAM can be
assigned and interfaced to a project?
The good news is that it can be done; this is the story of one companys
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journey to implementing project-related work-orders - integrating Oracle Enterprise Asset


Management with Oracle Projects!

Background
First some background:

At the time this implementation was attempted, the company was on 12.0.6 and have been using
eAM for some time.

The company uses average costing and the Inventory implementation supports the relatively
straightforward operation of an on-site warehouse. There are no bells and whistles: no system
support for rebuildables or consignment stock or anything else especially challenging.

Project Costing was being implemented primarily to support large capital works (for CIP
accounting)

Testing of P2P / supply chain integration with Projects had been completed successfully prior to
this authors involvement

Note that this article assumes that you already have at least a high level understanding of both Oracle
Projects and Enterprise Asset Management (eAM) work; it therefore focuses on getting the 2
applications to talk to one another successfully.

Application Configuration
The key eAM / PA integration set up is in an additional application: Project Manufacturing for which
Oracle provide an implementation manual. There are a number of set up screens, however the key
for us were the Project Manufacturing Parameters shown below:

In her excellent paper on Projects transactions , Dina Rotem summarises the impact of these settings
in the following table:

eAM Projects Process Overview

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GL Posting
Option

Account Option

Interface Accounting
to GL

Project Transactions

Manufacturing

N/A

All accounting
from Inventory

Accounted by
Inventory

Projects

Use Auto
Accounting

Not from Inventory.


PA Send to GL

PA generates

Projects

Send Accounts to
PA

Not from Inventory.


PA Send to GL

Accounted by
Inventory

Very briefly, the implication of this table is that you may choose to generate the accounting for project
related eAM transactions from either eAM or from Projects. The gotcha with the latter approach is
that all eAM transactions must then flow into GL through PA and that requires a common project
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(sort of a dummy project used by non-project related transactions ).
Our site chose to generate the accounting from eAM, using project specific work orders. This
requires an additional project definition step for each new project, during which the appropriate WIP
class is linked to the new project (Project Parameters form in Project Manufacturing application).

The Process Flow


So having completed the set-up, what happens when project related WO transactions are processed?
The following diagram provides an overview and assumes that both Inventory issues to projects (MTL
/ material transactions) and eAM / WIP transactions:
Inventory
Projects

Transactions
created in INV

Maintenance (eAM)
Transactions
created in eAM

Expenditure Inquiry
Windows

MTL
Transactions
Transaction Import
Process

WIP
Transactions
Transaction Interface
Cost Collector
Process
Create Accounting Process
(Cost Management SLA)

SubLedger Accounting

General Ledger

Note the implicit sequence in which the processes run:


Cost Manager (Inventory process: creates costing and accounting)
Create Accounting & Transfer to GL (Cost Mgmt SLA)
Cost Collector (Project Manufacturing)
Transaction Import (Projects)
These processes deal transparently with both sources i.e. WIP and MTL; it is only necessary to
understand them separately when troubleshooting transactions that get stuck.
The Cost Manager is called to calculate the cost of the transaction and to assign the accounting to it.
In our configuration, this was unchanged by the implementation of Project Manufacturing. If you are,
however, new to the Inventory / Manufacturing applications, the Cost Manager can be a daunting
new discovery. If it fails, you will see pending transactions reported during month-end processing
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and be unable to close the Inventory period . Typically your Inventory / Finance team will follow these
up prior to running Create Accounting at month-end.
The Cost Collector process is then run from the Project Manufacturing application to assign project
attributes to transactions and to transfer them to the Projects Transaction Interface. One of our
biggest challenges was in understanding where the Cost Collector was looking for those values.

eAM Projects Process Overview

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Briefly, we needed to add project attributes to resources and departments as well as making all our
HR Organisations also Expenditure Organisations. (For further detail see also Phil Millers OAUG
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2010 presentation Understanding the Transactional Flow.
A second challenge was in understanding that once the Cost Collector has attempted to process a
transaction, there is no way to reset the error flag at application level this must be done using SQL.
(Refer to MOS # 422044.1 for support instruction for this SQL.)
Briefly it is necessary to:

Identify the problem that caused the Cost Collector to fail and fix that first.

In the underlying table WIP_TRANSACTIONS or MTL_MATERIAL_TRANSACTIONS reset the


flag on the specific transaction i.e. update field PM_COST_COLLECTED changing it from
E to N

Rerun the Cost Collector

Once the Cost Collector has completed successfully, you can run Transaction Import from within
Projects. Note that when submitting this process, you must specify a transaction source. The
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following diagram indicates how to understand these:

Of course, we know all of this now but our first inkling that we had a problem was when we ran the
report EXC: Transaction Exception Details by GL Period in Projects and it gave us 1,200 pages of
errors! Each line listed a Transaction ID, however we werent sure where to look for the transaction:
the report simply listed Originating Table = 2.

Eventually it emerged that this report identifies stuck transactions as being from
Table 1 = MTL_MATERIAL_TRANSACTIONS or
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Table 2 = WIP_TRANSACTIONS.
It then became clear that we needed to understand the entire process flow now described briefly
above.

Key Learnings

eAM is a relatively new application, apparently built on the back of existing eBS architecture. As
a result, if you log an SR, it is likely to spawn other SRs related to individual system components
for what to the end-user is simply one integrated process. In our case what we thought of as
simply a problem closing the Projects period, required the involvement of the Cost Management,

eAM Projects Process Overview

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Bill of Materials and Work in Process Support teams who apparently only talked to one another
through us! Getting an end-to-end process view was almost impossible. So our recommendation
is that if you strike an integration problem, consider finding someone genuinely skilled in the end
to end flow even if they are on another continent or cost a mint and involve them early on.
The right knowledge can solve the problem quickly.

Do not underestimate the complexity of implementing Project Manufacturing, the impact of all the
possible combinations of available options makes it almost impossible for Oracle to provide
comprehensive documentation hence you are very likely to find the voluminous documentation
insufficient! (i.e. Which bit did I read in the BOM manual? Which bit was in the Inventory users
guide? Oh, and the bit about set-up was in the Cost Management Guide) Metalink is helpful
however you will need to ensure your consultants provide you documentation about how your
system derives its accounting outcomes, as well as maintenance instructions for all the
components that support those outcomes (e.g. what has to be set up for a new project, a new
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project organisation etc) and trouble-shooting tips .

Ensure your User Acceptance Testing (UAT) focuses on end-to-end transaction flows and that
someone verifies that the accounting outcomes are correct. Include a month-end in your UAT
our problems didnt start until we tried to close Projects, even though we had successfully closed
Inventory. It then took nearly a year and several SRs to resolve those problems!

Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Wesfarmers Resources for their willingness to share their experiences
with the wider user community via the publication of this article. We are grateful for the assistance of
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Oracle Consultings Brian Devlin who was key to solving the eAM/ PA mystery. Doug Volz also
provided remote assistance; his help and the OAUGs conference paper repository providing access
to papers such as those from Dina Rotem cited above, once again demonstrated the value of the user
community to its members.

Author Background
Jeannie Dobney is an independent consultant with over a decades experience with the Oracle
eBusiness suite, specialising in Oracle Projects; she has held leadership positions for both AUSOUG
and the OAUG. She can be contacted via email at jdobney@bigpond.com; her earlier papers
(including an overview of eAM) may be found at her web site: jdobney.com

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Appendix: Detail of eAM to Projects Transaction Process Flow


The following over view diagram was shown in the body of this paper.
Inventory
Projects

Transactions
created in INV

Maintenance (eAM)
Transactions
created in eAM

Expenditure Inquiry
Windows

MTL
Transactions
Transaction Import
Process

WIP
Transactions
Transaction Interface
Cost Collector
Process
Create Accounting Process
(Cost Management SLA)

SubLedger Accounting

General Ledger

This Appendix provides further detail on these process flows.

Process Flow Detail


The following diagram shows the 2 separate process flows in more detail:
- WIP transactions and
- Material transactions
each of these is described in more detail in the following pages.
The diagram is also helpful because it shows that the Cost Manager process is in fact a cluster of
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processes as well as other details which have been omitted in this overview .

eAM Projects Process Overview

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eAM Projects Process Overview

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WIP Transaction Process Flow


Receiving Transaction or
Timesheet entered by worker,
creates a resource transaction

Resource transaction error messages


generated by Cost Manager)
are placed in WTIE, join on Transaction_ID
WCTI
WIP_Cost_TXN_Interface

What about?
WMTI WIP_MOVE_TXN_INTERFACE
WMT WIP_MOVE_TRANSACTIONS

WTIE
WIP_TXN_INTERFACE_ERRORS

Cost Manager Process

Error messages from the Cost


Collector are also placed in
WTIE, join on Transaction_ID

WT
WIP_TRANSACTIONS
WTA
WIP_TRANSACTION_ACCOUNT

SLA to GL and
Cost Collector to Projects

Narrative Version
Table
Acronym

WCTI

Application Window

Pending Resource
Transaction

Table or Process or Action

Comments

Resource transaction
entered by user

Source may be a
timesheet entry or a
receiving transaction

WIP_Cost_TXN_Interface

aka Resource
Transaction interface

Cost Manager

WT and
WTA

View Resource
Transactions
(& Res Trans Distributions)

WIP_Transactions
WIP_Transaction_Accounts

Create Accounting (to GL)

And Cost Collector to


Projects

Transactions will initially hit WIP_COST_TXN_INTERFACE (Pending Resource form) where they will
remain until the inventory cost manager runs, validates and costs the transactions. If successfully
validated and costed the transactions are moved to WIP_TRANSACTIONS and
WIP_TRANSACTION_ ACCOUNTS (Resources Form). Where validation errors exist the record
remains in WIP_COST_TXN_INTERFACE until the error is rectified. Once an error occurs all
subsequent transactions will back up behind the errored record and will not be processed until the
errored record is rectified and re-processed.
Once costed if the transactions are project related the cost collection manager (project cost transfer)
process will transfer the records to PA_TRANSACTIONS_INTERFACE where they will be available to
import using the PRC: Transaction Import process from the relevant source. Note the Project cost
transfer will pick up both eAM and Inventory transactions which are projects related.
So the Cost Manager does 2 things cost calculations and accounting for transactions:

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1) Takes the rows from WIP_COST_TXN_INTERFACE and:


a) Creates the resource transaction and INSERTS into WIP_TRANSACTIONS, while also,
b) Creates the resource accounting transaction and INSERTS into
WIP_TRANSACTION_ACCOUNTS

Notes

The WIP Interface table includes:


a flag to show the status of Cost Manager processing for each transaction

The WIP Transactions table includes:


- PM_COST_COLLECTED flag to show if Cost Collection has run successfully
- WIP_ENTITY_ID which is the primary key for the work order
- SOURCE column may be used to distinguish e.g. PO and RCV transactions
Refer debugging document for SQL relating to these.

The Cost Collector which copies relevant Inventory transactions into the PA transaction
Interface, is not the same as the Cost Manager, which is an Inventory (Cost management)
process which calculates the cost of a transaction such as 8 hours of labour from Joes
timesheet.
there is a Metalink Note with more detail on this:
MOS # 412562.1 - How Cost Collector Transfers Cost To Projects
The Cost Collector log may show no transactions to process so the view
'cst_pm_pending_txn_v' may be very helpful

To check the Cost Manager:


N > SetUp ~ Transactions ~ Interface Managers
the Cost Manager process should be active and on 5 minute resubmission.
It is sometimes necessary to stop the Cost Manager,
There is a specific MOS Note on this:
MOS 435487.1 - How To Stop the Flow of Incoming Events

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Material Transaction Process Flow


Inventory transaction
e.g. Material issue
creates
Pending Inventory Transaction

WTIE
WIP_TXN_INTERFACE_ERRORS
MMTT
MTL_material_transactions_temp

Error messages from the Cost


Collector are placed in WTIE,
join on Transaction_ID

Transaction Interface Manager


background process

MMT
MTL_material_transactions

Cost Manager updates


transaction with cost and adds
accounting

Cost Manager Process

MTA
MTL_TRANSACTION_ACCOUNT

What about?
Completion transactions?

SLA to GL and
Cost Collector to Projects

Acronym

Window

Table or Process or Action

Comments

Material transaction
(e.g. stock issue to WO)

MMTT

Pending Inventory
Transaction

MTL_material_transactions_temp
Inv Transaction Interface Mgr

MMT

Material Transactions

MTL_material_transactions
Cost Manager

MTA

Material Distributions

Cost Manager doesnt move


the transaction but populates
the related Distribution detail

MTL_transaction_accounts

Create Accounting (to GL)

And
Cost Collector to Projects

Notes
The MTL Material Transactions table includes:
- PM_COST_COLLECTED flag to show if Cost Collection has run successfully

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Appendix: Troubleshooting Inventory to Projects Flow


(Projects Perspective)
Run the Projects Exception Report:
From Projects standard Request Submission, select:
EXC: Transaction Exception Details by GL Period
Note that report refers to an originating table as a number, this number is a key to understanding
which process flow to review :
1 = Material Transactions
2 = WIP Transactions
The SQL on which this report is based (for Inventory and eAM errors) is found in the view
CST_PM_PENDING_TXN_V

Trouble-shoot backwards from Projects


First check the Transaction Interface
Either submit the Transaction Import and check the output / log
N > Expenditures ~ Transaction Import ~ Import Transactions
For transaction Sources: Inventory, Inventory Misc and Work In Process
Or query back stuck transactions in the interface:
N > Expenditures ~ Transaction Import~ Review Transactions
For transaction Sources: Inventory, Inventory Misc and Work In Process
And Transaction Status: Import Rejected
See also SQL later in this paper

Launch the Cost Collector and review outcomes


From Project Manufacturing
N > Control ~ Transfer Costs to Projects ~ Manufacturing Costs
Review the log
Note that once a transaction is marked as an error by the Cost Collector, it will not be
reprocessed until the processing flag is reset using SQL hence it is possible to not
see error messages if the Cost Collector process is rerun.
You will need to use SQL to
1. Delete WTIE records
2. Reset Cost collector flags
Refer to SQL at the end of this paper
And then rerun the cost collector (see path above)
At the Application level, to view transactions that have errored as a result of the Cost
Collection Process:
For Material Transactions:
From Project Manufacturing Responsibility:
N > Inquiry ~ Transaction Information ~ Material transactions
Ensure Transaction Date fields are cleared and select Error in the
Transferred to Project field, then click Find
For Resource Transactions
From Project Manufacturing Responsibility:

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N > Inquiry ~ Transaction Information ~ Resource transactions


Ensure Transaction Date fields are cleared and select Error in the
Transferred to Project field, then click Find

At the Application level, to view transactions that have errored as a result of the Cost
Manager Process:
For Material Transactions:
From Project Manufacturing Responsibility:
N > Inquiry ~ Transaction Information ~ Material transactions
Ensure Transaction Date fields are cleared and select Error in the Costed
field, then click Find
For Resource Transactions
From eAM Responsibility:
N > Work Order Transactions ~ Pending Resource Transactions
Ensure Transaction Date fields are cleared and select Error in the Process
Status field, then click Find
The Errors button in the Inquiry window provides detail about specific errors

MOS # 462657.1 makes the following 2 key points relevant for trouble-shooting Pending
Transactions:

If there are uncosted / pending transactions, check that the Cost Manager is active
Cost Manager (see screen shots below)

In an Implementation that uses Average Costing, a single error in either


wip_cost_txn_interface or mtl_material_transactions tables will cause the processing
of all transactions in that table to stop. Find the transaction preventing the Cost
Manager progressing, fix it and continue; there are screen shots in the next section
explaining how to do this.

Detail on Trouble-Shooting Techniques


To view Resource Transactions
In eAM
N > Work Order Transactions ~ View Resource Transactions
From Project Manufacturing
N > Inquiry Transaction Information ~ Resource Transactions
The Project Manufacturing form has a field that allows users to query for transactions that have
Cost Collector errors (see following screen shot)

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To find Material Transactions that have Cost Collection errors, use the Material Transactions Inquiry
form

Remove the Transaction Dates and select Error (or No) in the Transferred to Project field
(Note that the Costed field relates to the Cost Manager process not the Cost Collector process).

SQL for Trouble-Shooting


Views upon which the Exception report is based are:
Supplier Invoice related exceptions: from the view 'pa_ap_inv_exceptions_sum_v'
PO Receipts shown in the exception from the view 'pa_rcv_exceptions_det_v'
Uncosted transactions during the period it takes from 'pa_gl_uncost_except_sum_v'

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Any Costing exceptions: 'pa_cost_exceptions_det_v'


Inventory/Project Manufacturing Exception 'cst_pm_pending_txn_v'
View transactions stuck in Projects Transaction interface
select *
from PA_transaction_interface_all
where Transaction_source in ('Inventory', 'Inventory Misc', 'Work In Process');
-- or
select transaction_source , transaction_status_code , count(*)
from pa_transaction_interface_all
group by transaction_source, transaction_status_code;
To view error messages related to Cost Collector for WIP Transactions:
Select WTIE.Transaction_ID, WTIE.ERROR_MESSAGE, WTIE.LAST_UPDATE_DATE
from WIP_TXN_INTERFACE_ERRORS WTIE,
-- error message table
WIP_TRANSACTIONS WT
-- WIP transactions
WHERE WTIE.TRANSACTION_ID = WT.TRANSACTION_ID -- join tables
and Error_Column = 'PM_COST_COLLECTED'
-- Only Cost Collector errors
and WT.PM_COST_COLLECTED = 'E';
Given that this table stores error messages after the errors are cleared,
it may be worth using the date column to view only recent errors
OR clearing it regularly
To view error messages related to Cost Collector for MTL Transactions:
Select WTIE.Transaction_ID, WTIE.ERROR_MESSAGE, WTIE.LAST_UPDATE_DATE
from WIP_TXN_INTERFACE_ERRORS WTIE,
-- error message table
MTL_Material_TRANSACTIONS MTL
-- MTL transactions
WHERE WTIE.TRANSACTION_ID = MTL.TRANSACTION_ID -- join tables
and Error_Column = 'PM_COST_COLLECTED'
-- Only Cost Collector error
and MTL.PM_COST_COLLECTED = 'E';

To find transaction detail related to Cost Collector errors, simply run a script such as the following:
select * from mtl_material_transactions -- or WIP_TRANSACTIONS
where PM_COST_COLLECTED = 'E';

To find the Work Order related to an errored transaction, use the following SQL:
Select WO.wip_entity_name WO_Number, WO.description, WT.TRANSACTION_ID
from WIP_entities WO,
WIP_TRANSACTIONS WT
where WT.WIP_ENTITY_ID = WO.WIP_ENTITY_ID
and WT.TRANSACTION_ID = X; -- or whatever criteria
To reset the Cost Collector Flags so that the process can be called again on the same transactions
(e.g. after fixing a set up error). Refer to MOS # 422044.1 for Support instruction for this SQL.
-- Delete error messages for WIP Transactions
delete from WIP_TXN_INTERFACE_ERRORS WTIE
WHERE Error_Column = 'PM_COST_COLLECTED' and
WTIE.TRANSACTION_ID IN
(SELECT WT.TRANSACTION_ID
FROM WIP_TRANSACTIONS WT
WHERE PM_COST_COLLECTED = 'E');
-- Reset Flags
UPDATE WIP_TRANSACTIONS
SET LAST_UPDATE_DATE = SYSDATE,
LAST_UPDATED_BY = 26941,

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LAST_UPDATE_LOGIN = 26941,
-- optionally set user ID for audit purposes
PROGRAM_UPDATE_DATE = SYSDATE,
PM_COST_COLLECTED ='N',
-- Change flag from E to N
PM_COST_COLLECTOR_GROUP_ID =NULL -- Clear Group ID
WHERE PM_COST_COLLECTED = 'E'
and wt.organization_id = :Your organization;
-- only your Inventory org / OU
The equivalent MTL scripts are
-- Delete error messages
delete from WIP_TXN_INTERFACE_ERRORS WTIE
WHERE Error_Column = 'PM_COST_COLLECTED' and
WTIE.TRANSACTION_ID IN
(SELECT MTL.TRANSACTION_ID
FROM MTL_MATERIAL_TRANSACTIONS MTL
WHERE PM_COST_COLLECTED = 'E');
-- Reset Flags
update MTL_MATERIAL_TRANSACTIONS
set pm_cost_collected = 'N',
pm_cost_collector_group_id = NULL
where pm_cost_collected = 'E'
and organization_id = :Your organization;
Dont forget to Commit!
If the Cost Collector is not the problem then it may be the Cost Manager process; this script shows
relevant MTL errors
-- MTL transactions
SELECT transaction_id txn_id, organization_id org,
substr(error_code,1,30) errc,
substr(error_explanation,1,100) erre
FROM mtl_material_transactions
WHERE costed_flag = 'E';

-- WIP Transactions
select wcti.transaction_id, WCTI.TRANSACTION_DATE, WCTI.WIP_ENTITY_NAME WO,
WTIE.ERROR_MESSAGE, WTIE.ERROR_COLUMN
FROM WIP_COST_TXN_Interface WCTI,
WIP_TXN_INTERFACE_ERRORS WTIE
WHERE WTIE.TRANSACTION_ID = WCTI.TRANSACTION_ID
and WCTI.process_status = 3
and WCTI.Organization_ID = :Your organization;

-- An alternative script including completion transactions is:


select wtie.TRANSACTION_ID txn_id,
wtie.ERROR_MESSAGE msg,
wtie.ERROR_COLUMN col,
wcti.organization_id
from wip_txn_interface_errors wtie,
wip_cost_txn_interface wcti
where wcti.transaction_id = wtie.transaction_id
and (wcti.process_status = 3
OR
wcti.completion_transaction_id IN
(SELECT completion_transaction_id
FROM mtl_material_transactions

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WHERE costed_flag = 'E'))

The flags in these tables may be understood as follows:

WIP_COST_TXN_INTERFACE
process status (i.e. of the Cost Manager)
1, 'Pending',
2, 'Running',
3, 'Error',
4, 'Completed',
5, 'Warning'

WIP_TRANSACTIONS
cost_collected column may be either N or E
'N', 'Pending',
'E', 'Error',

(I.e. Cost Collector status)

MTL_MATERIAL_TRANSACTIONS
- costed column may be null or costed_flag = E (i.e. Cost Manager status)
and cost_collected IN (N, E)
(I.e. Cost Collector)
'N', 'Pending',
'E', 'Error',

Note that WTIE (WIP_TXN_INTERFACE_ERRORS) includes a column for the program that created
the error, by using the following it is possible to retrieve the program name:
select user_concurrent_program_name from FND_CONCURRENT_PROGRAMS_TL
where CONCURRENT_PROGRAM_ID = NNNN;
The Projects Exception Report gets its error text from function calls to
PA_EXCEPTION_REASONS_PUB.GET_EXCEPTION_TEXT
From looking at the underlying view (CST_PM_MATL_TXN_V) it would seem that if the value in
column PM_COST_COLLECTED = E, then the text says to look in the Cost Collector log. If however
the value in column PM_COST_COLLECTED = N, then the system reports an undefined error.

Additional Material that May be Useful


MOS # 865438.1 Extremely detailed document on resolving Costing errors
MOS # 422044.1 - for Support instruction on SQL to reset Cost Collector flags
MOS # 462657.1 Possible causes for pending transactions
MOS # 435487.1 - How to stop the Cost manager
MOS # 378348.1 - Data Collection Scripts for Cost Management CstCheck.sql and Err_txn.sql
includes useful SQL on which much of the above was based

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Appendix: Inventory Period End Process and Trouble-Shooting


Sample Inventory Close Process may need to be co-ordinated with Projects
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Review All Pending/Stuck Transactions


Resubmit Pending Transactions
Run Create Accounting (Draft)
Open Next Inventory Period
Resubmit Pending Transactions
Run Create Accounting and Transfer to GL
Close Current Inventory Period
Troubleshooting Inventory Close Process
ReRun Create Accounting and Transfer to GL until successful
Reconcile Inventory Control Account
Check for Unposted Journals

Compare this with Chapter 11 of the Cost Mgmnt users Guide and Oracle Metalink Whitepaper MOS
# 961285.1

Note that the Cost Management - SLA responsibility enables users to Create Accounting transactions
for:
Inventory ( Internal Orders/Issues/Miscellaneous/Deliver into Inventory)
Receiving (Deliver to Expense Destination & Receipt into Inspection/Clearing)
Work in Process (EAM Work Orders)
Create Accounting may be run the program in Draft or Final Mode.
When run in Draft the user can view potential accounting entries.
When run in Final the user can create and transfer accounting entries to the General Ledger.
Key points from Oracle Cost Management Users Guide (specifically in reference to eAM):

If Subledger Accounting (SLA) is enabled and SLA rules are customized, then the default
accounts may not be used.

The period close process permanently closes an open period. You can no longer charge
transactions to a closed period. Once you close a period, you cannot reopen it. As a
precaution, you can do a GL transfer without closing the period.
(i.e. run Create Accounting in Draft mode).

Notes to Month End Process Steps


1. Complete All Transactions for the Period Being Closed
Ensure that all issues, shipping, receipts, and adjustments have been entered and verify that no
hard copy records exist, or are awaiting data entry(e.g. packing slips in receiving).
2. Check Inventory and Work in Process Transaction Interfaces
Check the Interface Managers window to ensure that there are no unprocessed background or
concurrent programs.
The interface managers that need to be run are as follows:
* Cost Manager (mandatory)
* Material Transaction Manager (Optional, depending on INV profile option TPINV: Transaction
Processing Mode)
* Move Transaction Manager (for IWIP)

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3. Check and fix pending Transactions


Check and fix any rejected transactions from the Inventory Accounting Period Window: click on
the pending button to display pending transactions. This will display transactions under the
following statuses:
* Resolution Required: Displays the number of unprocessed material transactions, uncosted
material transactions, and pending IWIP costing transactions existing in this period. These must
be resolved before the period is closed.
* Resolution Recommended: Displays the number of pending receiving transactions, pending
material transactions, and pending shop floor move transactions existing in this period. Though
the accounting period can be closed, once it is closed these transactions cannot be processed in
that period.
Note: This process needs to be completed for each defined Inventory Organization.
In case of error, correct the error at the source, and then relaunch transactions using:
* INV / Transactions / Pending transactions
* INV/ Transactions / Transaction Open interface
* OM / Shipping / Interfaces
This check should be done during the month to avoid cumulative problems at month end before
closing.
All Pending Inventory transactions must be processed for the period. You will not be able to close
the Inventory Period without processing all Inventory and WIP transactions. When the Supply
team attempt to Close an Inventory Period they can view all Pending transactions at that point.
Commonly, some Inventory transactions will get stuck due to invalid Accounting Combinations.
When these invalid combinations are changed or where there is a need to temporarily relax the
Cross Validation Rule. The Cost Manager, which is scheduled to run every 5 minutes, needs to
be run manually to process these transactions.
Once there are no longer any Pending Transactions the Create Accounting Program for Cost
Management should be run to account/transfer and post to the General Ledger.
4. Transfer Summary or Detail Transactions
If Order Management is used, for the order-shipments which have been invoiced in AR, revenue
recognition has been processed in AR, and the accounting entries between Deferred COGS
account and COGS account must be generated in INVCST.
For this purpose you need to run these 2 concurrent programs:
* Collect Revenue Recognition information
* Generate COGS Recognition event
Run the Create Accounting-Cost Management program up to the period end date before closing
the period. Since a period, once closed, cannot be re-opened, running this process prior to
closing the period facilitates validating the interface transactions.
Any adjustments to the period can be made via new inventory transactions as required.
If the Create Accounting Program is run in Final Mode without transferring to GL then run the
Transfer Journal Entries to GL Cost Management which transfers the accounting to GL.
Attention: The Transfer Journal Entries to GL Cost Management Program transfers the
accounting details for all the inventory organizations within a Ledger.
Attention: If this step was by-passed, and the period was closed, a GL Transfer would
automatically be initiated. But no adjustments to that period can then be entered, since
transactions cannot be posted to a closed period, and a closed period cannot be re-opened.
View accounting, journal entries associated with transactions, and accounting events by
accessing the Sub ledger Accounting user interface from the View Transactions window and
various statuses (e.g.Final Accounted, Draft Accounted, Errored can be selected).
5. Open the Next Inventory Period

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Prior the first day of data entry, open the next inventory period using the Inventory Accounting
Periods window.
Attention: This process needs to be completed for each defined Inventory Organization.

Detail on Inventory Close Troubleshooting


Screen shots of most of the Application level steps follow this table
Process Step

What to do

Review All Pending / Stuck


Transactions

Run Period Close Pending Transactions Report


to check for
A. Unreceipted PO Information
B. Open Work Order sC. Uncosted Transactions

Resubmit Pending
Transactions

1. Resubmit from Pending Transactions form in eAM


- View Material Transactions
2. Resubmit from Pending Transactions form in Inventory
- View Pending Transactions

Run Accounting and


Transfer to GL

Create Accounting from Cost Management SLA

Open New Period

Open New Period

Resubmit Pending
Transactions

1. Resubmit from Pending Transactions form in EAM


- View Material Transactions
2. Resubmit from Pending Transactions form in Inventory
- View Pending Transactions

Run Accounting and


Transfer to GL

Create Accounting - Cost Management SLA

Close Inventory Period

Inventory Close

Run Accounting and


Transfer to GL

Create Accounting - Cost Management SLA

Reconcile Inventory
Control Account

Period Close Reconciliation report to GL

Check for Unposted


Journals

Post All Unposted Journals

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Identify Issues Preventing Inventory Close (Pending Transactions)


There are several ways to identify transactions that have got stuck (so-called Pending Transactions):
1. From the Period Close screen
2. Overview Report (Period Close Pending Transactions Report)
3. Review reports (for each transaction type see reports mentioned under 1 below)
4. Inquiry screens (for each transaction type)
Each of these is described briefly in the following pages.
Regardless of how the issues are identified, the objective is to:
- identify and resolve the underlying problems that have been found and then
- Resubmit the transactions.

1. Using the Period Close Screen to find Pending Transactions

From the Inventory Accounting Periods window, select Pending to go to the Pending Transactions
window. From this window, you can select the Open button to link to specific windows, reports, or
pages to view pending, errored, or uncosted transactions. The windows, reports, or pages that you
link to are determined by your cursor position when you select Open.
The following table describes details of the links to windows and reports:
Type of Transaction

Links to Windows/Reports/Pages

Unprocessed Material Interface


transactions

Inventory Transactions Open Interface window

Unprocessed Material transactions

Inventory Pending Transactions window

Uncosted Material transactions

View Material Transactions window

Pending Receiving transactions

Receiving Transactions window

Pending WIP Costing transactions

WIP Pending Resource Transactions window

Pending WIP Move transactions

WIP Pending Move Transactions window

Incomplete eAM work orders

EAM Work Orders Self-Service page

Pending Shipping transactions

Report for Pending Shipping transactions.

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2. Using the Period Close Pending Transactions Report to find issues


Run Period Close Pending Transactions Report (from Cost Mgmt SLA Responsibility)

If there are unprocessed transactions, then one of the following messages appears:
Pending receiving transactions for this period
When you use Purchasing, this message indicates you have unprocessed purchasing
transactions in the RCV_TRANSACTIONS_ INTERFACE table. These transactions include
purchase order receipts and returns for inventory. If this condition exists, you will receive a
warning but will be able to close the accounting period. These transactions are not in your
receiving value. However, after you close the period, these transactions cannot be processed
because they have a transaction date for a closed period.
Unprocessed material transactions exist for this period
This message indicates you have unprocessed material transactions in the
MTL_MATERIAL_TRANSACTIONS_TEMP table. You are unable to close the period with this
condition. Please see your system administrator. Inventory considers entries in this table as part
of the quantity movement. Closing the period in this situation is not allowed because the resultant
accounting entries would have a transaction date for a closed period, and never be picked up by
the period close or general ledger transfer process.
Pending material transactions for this period
This message indicates you have unprocessed material transactions in the
MTL_TRANSACTIONS_INTERFACE table. If this condition exists, you will receive a warning but
will be able to close the accounting period. These transactions are not in your inventory value.
However, after you close the period, these transactions cannot be processed because they have
a transaction date for a closed period.
Uncosted material transactions exist for this period
This message indicates you have material transactions in the MTL_MATERIAL_TRANSACTIONS
table with no accounting entries (Standard Costing) and no accounting entries and no costs
(Average Costing). You are unable to close the period with this condition. These transactions are
part of your inventory value. Closing the period in this situation is not allowed because the
resultant accounting entries would have a transaction date for a closed period, and never be
picked up by the period close or general ledger transfer process.
Pending move transactions for this period

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This message indicates you have unprocessed shop floor move transactions in the
WIP_MOVE_TXN_INTERFACE table. If this condition exists, you will receive a warning but will
be able to close the accounting period. These transactions are not in your work in process value.
However, after you close the period, these transactions cannot be processed because they have
a transaction date for a closed period.
Pending WIP costing transactions exist in this period
This message indicates you have unprocessed resource and overhead accounting transactions in
the WIP_COST_TXN_INTERFACE table. You are unable to close the period with this condition.
These transactions are in your work in process value, and awaiting further processing. Closing
the period in this situation is not allowed because the resulting accounting entries would have a
transaction date for a closed period, and never be picked up by the period close or general ledger
transfer process.
Note that there is a helpful MOS Note # 462657.1, explaining how to approach problem solving
for unprocessed resource and overhead accounting transactions in the
WIP_COST_TXN_INTERFACE table. The note applies to 11i but may be helpful in any case.

4. Using Inquiry Forms to Find and Resolve Pending Transactions


To find Material Transactions that have either not been costed or have errors, use the Material
Transactions Inquiry form

Remove the Transaction Dates and select Error (or No) in the Costed field
If the inquiry returns a row, there will only ever be 1 row as the cost manager for an organization stops
as soon as it finds the first transaction that errors.
To manually submit the transaction for costing:
click Tools ~ Select All
and then
click Tools ~ Submit All

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The error transaction will be re-processed the next time the Cost Manager runs (scheduled for every 5
minutes)
To find pending Resource transactions, use the Pending Transactions form and select Error in the
Process Flag field

Click Find to retrieve the errored transactions

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To resubmit:
Click Tools ~ Submit All
Save
You will see that this action resets the status to Pending and the next time the cost manager runs
these will be re-tried.

Resolving Pending Transactions If Cost Manager is Inactive


The most obvious reason for any Pending Transactions is that the Cost Manager (or other transaction
managers) are inactive. To check and resolve this:
Inventory Responsibility
N > -- SetUp -- Transactions -- Interface Managers
See if the Cost Manager is Inactive. If yes, then launch the Cost Manager .

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If it is inactive, highlight the manager and select Tools ~ Launch Manager


Once the Request completes, it will invoke Cost Workers to process the records.

Notes and References


1

The author wishes to express her gratitude to Wesfamers Resources Ltd for allowing her to share
their learning with the wider user community.
2
Don't Get Lost in the Labyrinth of Supplier Cost Flows into Projects by Dina Rotem & John Sasali,
presented at OAUG 2008 conference and available from the OAUG Conference paper database.
3
Refer also to Dinas blog entry on this http://www.projectp.com/weblog/tag/oracle-projectmanufacturing/
4
Oracle provide a reference manual on Cost Management, however if you are new to this area that
may not be a good starting point! Doug Volz (www.volzconsulting.com) is an excellent source of
helpful plain English material. There is also an excellent MOS Note 865438.1: How to resolve Costing
Errors & Problems for those struggling with pending transactions.
5
Understanding the transactional flow between Purchasing, Inventory and Work in Process and
Projects by Phil Miller and available from the OAUG Conference paper repository (refer specifically to
the PowerPoint presentation).
6
Refer to the Appendix for further detail on this topic
7
The author regrets that she has misplaced the source of this helpful diagram.
8
We logged an SR asking for the detail and Oracle provided us details of the views upon which the
Exception report is based however we had to read a lot of SQL before we decoded the meaning of
1 and 2...
9
To get a sense of this complexity, have a look at Dina Rotems excellent paper Don't Get Lost in
the Labyrinth of Supplier Cost Flows into Projects, referenced earlier and available through the OAUG
conference database.
10
Doug Volzs website is www.volzconsulting.com
11
This diagram is from an original presentation by Oracles Brian Devlin.

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