In R12 Budgetary Control is part of the validation of SLA for those products that use SLA.  For non-SLA products (eg GL) then the validation is the same as in previous releases.

The Budgetary Control (BC) flag on the ledger is the highest level flag to check to see if BC is enabled.  However setting this alone does NOT execute the budgetary control validation.  SLA must create the accounting first and then call BC validation.   The SLAM assigned to the ledger must have BC enabled JLDs.  SLA must be called in BC mode, this executes only BC enabled JLDs and BC validation.

To some nothing, to others everything…

Why? Org or organization is a common business term that is used slightly differently in each company, another word that that can have many meanings, but lets stick to org.

Checking the dictionaries online, first of all it can be an adjective or a noun, hmmm. Noun: a) the act of organizing or of being organized b) an administrative and functional structure (as a business or a political party); also : the personnel of such a structure — taken from Merriam Webster!

Why do orgs matter in ERP software? we need “buckets” to put stuff. Setups (rules) and Transactions (data) have to belong to something. Since org is a fairly generic term, our “buckets” are called orgs

Now comes the hard part, software designers need to determine which processes run where and with what rules, how do we do this when each customer’s definition of org can be different.  Well we kinda cheat – cheat by making assumptions on what we believe is most likely for the customers we are designing for. Why is this necessary? mainly for performance and integrity of data. 

An example is Accounting data, since all roads lead to GL, the GL must be the queen of all rules in which data flows to it, ie GL is the centre of the universe (another topic for later, how many centers of the universes exist?) You may think this seems ok, however the transaction data and setups which is used to create accounting data may need to have some limitations as well so it will not create “invalid” data for GL.

Since this is software and we can pretty much do anything, the dilemma is when to validate the data/rules going to the center of the universe? At the earliest point (ie you are subject to rules on any data/setups you enter that has any affect on the queen! The queen’s favorite color is blue, you can only buy blue clothing, but there is another kingdom which says blue is outlawed) OR at the latest point possible (ie you have walked 1000Km to visit the queen and the queen’s guards tells you, entry to the city is only possible if you are wearing black since its Monday)

So what do we do? we check at the last gate, a bit looser in the front end but it depends on the flow. What does that mean to the customer? They need to understand which rules and data partition is best for their org, based on the functionality attached to the “artificial” org in the software.

I like FND_LOG because he listens when you tell him to and remembers everything verbatim that is told to him.  But like most friends there are quirks that are fustrating at times.  I tell FND_LOG tell me the “error messages” in “AP”… so he does, but takes the words literally when I meant anything that is vaguely error like and from AP or anyone else who interacts with AP, like etax, PO, SLA or PSA, but unfortunately FND_LOG cannot read my mind.

I guess its my fault for not being more precise but I’m going to whine a bit anyways.  The whining has to do with who FND_LOG is listening to … each person is using different words (slang, dialect, accent) to say the same thing.  Error can be ERR, err, warning, msg, message or status.   I find speaking to FND_LOG more often helps as you get use to how each person communicates.

FND_LOG can be my BF, but not BFF, as hopefully one day I won’t have to talk to FND_LOG at all!

So finally made it to the blogging world, this blog will mainly talk about R12 Oracle Financials Architecture, but some of the broader ideas will be relevant for other releases as well.  The posts will be issues that keep coming up from customers and coworkers. 

I also hope that I will have guest bloggers, those who don’t want the “burden” of their own blog but want to post ideas/issues once in awhile. 

Welcome!