Written by Helene Abrams Sunday, August 10 2008
The major change in R12 is that there are no Sets of Books. Instead, there are subledgers that handle the transaction processing from other modules (AP, AR, FA, etc.). The Set of Books is replaced by the term Ledger. The column SET_OF_BOOKS_ID has been replaced with LEDGER_ID in all GL tables. The Subledger Accounting tables are in the XLA schema. The table GL.GL_Ledgers stores the information about the 4 C's: Currency, Chart of Accounts, Calendar, and [Accounting] Convention for each ledger. Subledger Accounting (SLA) uses a rules-based accounting engine that creates the GL accounting entries from transactions and events. Journal entries are created in the Subledger accounting and then transferred to the Oracle General Ledger.
Each subledger transaction that requires accounting is represented by complete and balanced subledger journal entry that is stored according to the common data model. The subledger accounting includes a posting engine that sums the contents of subledger tables and posts them to general ledger to provide a clear audit trail. The subledger accounting service is applicable to all products in R12 and succeeds other accounting engines including the Global Accounting Engine and Autoaccounting. Subledger accounting provides subledger tables and reports designed for compliance and accounting reconciliation that will replace "distribution" tables for these purposes. Distribution tables in Receivables, Assets, Project, and Procurement remain available and are deployed for other purposes.
The following entity diagram adapted from the Oracle Subledger Accounting Technical Reference Manual demonstrates the relationships between the transactions and the accounting ledgers.
All accounting is performed before the transfer to the General Ledger. The user defines rules and events to create the accounting entries. The subledgers post activity to the General Ledger through the Create Accounting process. The Distribution Link creates the accounting by applying accounting rules and loads the SLA and GL tables. Create Accounting can be done in Draft or Final mode. Create Accounting transfers the Final accounting journal entries to the GL from each process that calls it.
As a part of Subledger Accounting, new SLA tables XLA_AE_HEADERS, XLA_AE_LINES, and XLA_DISTRIBUTION_LINKS have been introduced. This means that an additional layer has been added at the subledger level. The Create Accounting process at the subledger level posts the data to the SLA tables.
The process looks like this:
The XLA.XLA_ HEADERS table stores subledger journal entries. There is a one-to-many relationship between accounting events and journal entry headers. The XLA_ LINES table stores subledger journal entry lines. There is a one-to-many relationship between subledger journal entry headers and subledger journal entry lines. XLA_DISTRIBUTION_LINKS stores the link between transactions and subledger journal entry lines. There is a one-to-many relationship between the subledger lines and distribution links. The transaction is stored in the XLA_DISTRIBUTION_LINKS table in the columns UNROUNDED_ENTERED_DR, UNROUNDED_ENTERED_CR, UNROUNDED_ACCOUNTED_CR, and UNROUNDED_ACCOUNTED_DR. XLA_DISTRIBUTION_LINKS also determines whether supplicate subledger journal lines are merged and whether the accounted amounts are calculated by the SLA or passed through.
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January Puzzle
A traveler gets lost on a deserted island and finds himself surrounded by a group of n cannibals.
Each cannibal wants to eat the traveler but, as each knows, there is a risk. A cannibal that attacks and eats the traveler would become tired and defenseless. After he eats, he would become an easy target for another cannibal (who would also become tired and defenseless after eating).
The cannibals are all hungry, but they cannot trust each other to cooperate. The cannibals happen to be well versed in game theory, so they will think before making a move.
Does the nearest cannibal, or any cannibal in the group, devour the lost traveler?
Solution
The short answer is the traveler’s fate depends on the parity of the group. If there is an odd number of canibals, the traveler will be eaten, but if there is an even number, the traveler will survive.
To prove this, we will consider small groups and use mathematical induction to explain the solution for larger groups.
Case n = 1: this is an obvious case. If there is one cannibal, the traveler will be eaten. It doesn’t matter that the cannibal will get tired because there are no other cannibals around as a threat.
Case n = 2: this is a more interesting case. Each cannibal wishes to each the traveler, but each knows he cannot. If either cannibal eats the traveler, then he will become defenseless and the other one will eat him. So each cannibal uses backwards induction to realize that the only strategy is to not eat the traveler. The hapless traveler finds a bit of luck, therefore, and actually survives.
Case n = 3: this is where the problem gets interesting. The best strategy is for the closest cannibal to make a move and eat the traveler. The cannibal will be defenseless after eating, but ultimately he will be safe. Why is that? The reasoning is due to induction: once the cannibal eats the traveler, the resulting situation has 2 unfed cannibals and the 1 defenseless cannibal. But as we just showed above, when there are 2 unfed cannibals, neither will make a move for fear of being eaten by the other! Thus the first cannibal to make a move will be safe as the remaining 2 cannibals block each other.
We can prove the higher cases using mathematical induction. If the number n is odd, then the closest cannibal can safely eat the traveler because the remaining number of unfed cannibals is even (and by induction, with an even number of unfed cannibals no one makes a move). If the number n is even, then no cannibal will eat the traveler, for if he did, the remaining number of cannibals would be odd, meaning he will get eaten by the induction hypothesis.
Success Tips for Oracle Project Management
- Create a standard for documentation at the beginning of your project, and hold team members accountable for completing documentation requirements as well as keeping them at and above the standards required.
- Before promulgating user documentation or training, it’s also a good idea to choose a representative from the among the business users base to review materials first.
- If you are not sure about the resources and budget required, obtain several estimates from people that have experience with the same size and scope of your project.
- Be explicit, before beginning the project, what internal resources are required for execution. This includes people, infrastructure, hardware, and software.
- Help the project champion understand the impact your project will have on the organization and how its successful completion will make him or her an internal hero or heroine for supporting it.
- Break up your project into smaller projects (try for projects that can be completed in 4-6 months, especially early on) to get success and demonstrate momentum.
- Make sure that your testing includes reports, upstream and downstream interfaces, customizations, enhancements, and workflows.
- Ensure that comprehensive transition reports and meetings between departing and incoming personnel are completed.
- Instead of spending time and resources implementing third-party reporting, consider consolidating multiple instances, moving to a global chart of accounts (CoA), and/or standardizing on a consistent calendar.
- Include governance, risk, and compliance management as part of the project plan.
- Finally, celebrate the successes. Too many projects focus on defects, failures, or small cost over-runs without looking at the big picture and what was accomplished.
The Analyst Corner
John Van Decker, Research VP of Gartner, states:
"A single chart of accounts allows consistency in financial reporting across the enterprise by standardizing on common metrics and reporting structures, reduces dependencies on a separate financial consolidation system, and significantly reduces the costs incurred with ongoing, complex conversions and translations."
