Managing Accounts Receivables With Oracle AR

The accounts receivable module deals with all transactions related to the University’s receipt of money from donors, commercial customers and staff members. It also tracks income from various sources like sales and fundraising.

Any additive Abelian group is a module over the ring of integers, and a vector space over a field is a generalization of such a module. The notion of modules is closely related to the notion of categories.

Overview of Oracle AR

The Oracle AR module is a part of the Financial accounts receivable application in the Oracle eBusiness Suite. It is end-user focused and enables delegates to work with the module by setting up customer accounts, raising invoices, credit notes and applying cash together with making inquiries and running standard reports.

The AR_PAYMENT_SCHEDULES and RA_CUSTOMER_TRX_ALL tables store customer balance information at the transaction level. Each accounting distribution record in these tables is based on the primary key, receivable_application_id. The class column identifies the transaction type for the record and determines which columns Receivables updates for each transaction. The cash_receipt_id and customer_trx_line_id columns link the record to its payment schedule in the AR_PAYMENT_SCHEDULES table or to its receipt in the RA_CUSTOMER_TRX_ALL table.

These insights enable a user to quickly identify outstanding items by selecting a specific customer. The overdue amount field displays the original invoice amount. The date for aging field enables a user to set the aging period for an invoice and report.

The user can also select a specific payment to display the details of the payments on an Invoice Summary screen. In addition, the user can activate the statement numbering functionality and use the aging screen to track unallocated amounts from payments that have been applied to an invoice or credit memo. This is particularly useful when using the AME solution from Emagia to accelerate the order-to-cash process.

Functionality of Oracle AR

The eBusiness Suite AR module has a number of features to help manage the accounts receivable function. For example, it supports invoice and credit memo management, dunning and cash application. In addition, the module can support multiple payment terms and can provide a variety of reporting options.

It also provides a dashboard of overdue invoices. This insight displays a list of overdue invoices by ar module customer, including the original invoice amount and the remaining balance. You can also drill down to see details of individual overdue invoices by clicking on the customer name.

Aside from the dashboard, Oracle AR also offers a range of insight views and reports. For instance, the AR overdue invoices insight shows a list of overdue invoices for each customer. This insight helps you manage overdue accounts with the help of a reminder system.

Other insight views include the aging analysis report and the cash management reports. The aging analysis report is a graphical display that allows you to analyze account receivable and payment activity by customer, location, payment method and more. The cash management reports are designed to help you manage your treasury functions in the context of the entire order-to-cash process.

Oracle AR Installation

During an Oracle AR installation, you complete tasks to configure your system. The tasks vary depending on your site and product-specific requirements. For example, you may need to increase the database size depending on the number of products and additional features you install. You also need to set up an Oracle Inventory warehouse if you use the item tracking feature in Oracle AR.

If you choose the express install option, Rapid Install sets up a fully configured single-user system and creates a fresh database or Vision Demo database. You supply a few basic parameters, such as the database type and name and the top-level install directory. The rest of the directories and mount points are supplied by Rapid Install using default values.

To use the Item Tracking feature in Receivables, you must set the OM: Item Flexfield Structure profile option at the site level to the system-wide System Item Flexfield structure and set the AR: Item Flexfield Mode profile option to your preferred method of entry for this flexfield within Receivables. See the Implementation Guide for more information.

You define application rule sets to control how Receivables reduces the amount due on open debit items when you apply payments with the Applications window or Post QuickCash. The ar module default rule set is Line First – Tax After.

You can define units of measure classes to organize groups of units of measurement that have similar characteristics, such as volume and length. This enables you to enter and update groups of units of measurement with one master unit of measurement. You can also specify transmission formats to import receipts into your system from lockbox bank files.

Oracle AR Training

The Oracle 11i eBusiness Suite is one of the most flexible and robust packages available. It includes a number of products that can be used in a variety of ways to suit business needs, including Purchasing, Accounts Payable, Inventory, Fixed Assets and Order Management. This intensive AR training provides an overview of each of these functional areas and shows how to customize AR business processes and reporting.

The course is designed to provide delegates with practical experience of working with the Oracle R12 accounts receivable module. It is end user focused and covers all the day to day activities such as setting up customer accounts, raising invoices and credit notes and applying cash together with making inquiries and running standard reports.

This course is suitable for personnel in Finance and Accounts Receivable departments, either end users or their supervisors as well as management and financial accountants and first line support staff. It is also appropriate for customers that have already implemented the Oracle R12 FMS – GL, AP, CM and FA modules but require additional training in the Oracle AR module.

This on-line version of the Oracle 101 course is a pre-requisite for system access to any other Oracle Financial applications courses (excluding the Procurement Card and Expense Reports). Successful completion of this class and passing the certification quiz will satisfy all prerequisite requirements.