Do You Use Oracle E-Business Suite Products Involved in Accounting Period Closes?

We understand that closing the periods in your system at the end of an accounting period enables your company to make the right business decisions. We also know this requires prior preparation, good procedures, and quality data.

To help you meet that need, Oracle E-Business Suite’s proactive support team developed the Period Close Advisor to help your organization conduct a smooth period close for its Oracle E-Business Suite 12 products. The Period Close Advisor is composed of logical steps you can follow, aligned by the business requirement flow. It will help with an orderly close of the product sub-ledgers before posting to the General Ledger. It combines recommendations and industry best practices with tips from subject matter experts for troubleshooting. You will find patches needed and references to assist you during each phase.

Get to know the E-Business Suite Period Close Advisor

The Period Close Advisor does more than help the users of Oracle E-Business Suite products close their period. You can use it before and throughout the period to stay on track. Proactively it assists you as you set up your company’s period close process. During the period, it helps evaluate your system’s readiness for initiating the period close procedures and prepare the system for a smooth period close experience. The Period Close Advisor gets you to answers when you have questions and gives you the latest news from us on Oracle E-Business Suite’s period close. The Period Close Advisor is the right place to start.

How to Use the E-Business Suite Period Close

The Period Close Advisor graphically guides you through your period close. The tabs show you the products (also called applications or sub-ledgers) covered, and the product order required for the processing to handle any dependencies between the products. Users of all the products it covers can benefit from the information it contains.

Structure of the Period Close Advisor

Clicking on a tab gives you the details for that particular step in the process. This includes an overview, showing how the products fit into the overall period close process, and step-by-step information on each phase needed to complete the period close for the tab. You will also find multimedia training and related resources you can access if you need more information.

Once you click on any of the phases, you see guidance for that phase. This can include:

• Tips from the subject-matter experts—here are examples from a Cash Management specialist:
• “For organizations with high transaction volumes bank statements should be loaded and reconciled on a daily basis.”
• “The automatic reconciliation process can be set up to create miscellaneous transactions automatically.”
• References to useful Knowledge Base documents:
• Information Centers for the products and features
• FAQs on functionality
• Known Issues and patches with both the errors and their solutions
• How-to documents that explain in detail how to use a feature or complete a process
• White papers that give overview of a feature, list setup required to use the feature, etc.
• Links to diagnosticsthat help debug issues you may find in a process
• Additional information and alerts about a process or reports that can help you prevent issues from surfacing

This excerpt from the “Process Transaction” phase for the Receivables product lists documents you’ll find helpful.

How to Get Started with the Period Close Advisor

The Period Close Advisor is a great resource that can be used both as a proactive tool (while setting up your period end procedures) and as the first document to refer to when you encounter an issue during the period close procedures!

As mentioned earlier, the order of the product tabs in the Period Close Advisor gives you the recommended order of closing. The first thing to do is to ensure that you are following the prescribed order for closing the period, if you are using more than one sub-ledger.

Next, review the information shared in the Evaluate and Prepare and Process Transactions phases. Make sure that you are following the recommended best practices; you have applied the recommended patches, etc.

The Reconcile phase gives you the recommended steps to follow for reconciling a sub-ledger with the General Ledger. Ensure that your reconciliation procedure aligns with those steps.

At any stage during the period close processing, if you encounter an issue, you can revisit the Period Close Advisor. Choose the product you have an issue with and then select the phase you are in. You will be able to review information that can help you find a solution to the issue you are facing.

Stay Informed

Oracle updates the Period Close Advisor as we learn of new issues and information. Bookmark the Oracle E-Business Suite Period Close Advisor [ID 335.1] and keep coming back to it for the latest information on period close