®

Accounting Flexfield Setup and Usage

Document Version: 1.0

Date: September, 2000

Authors: Teja Satoskar, Lisa Marukuni

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 1

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

HOW TO CREATE AN ACCOUNTING FLEXFIELD STRUCTURE.................................................. 3

STEP 1- VALUE SETS.................................................................................................................................... 3
STEP 2- CREATING ACCOUNTING FLEXFIELD STRUCTURE ............................................................................ 5
STEP 3- CREATE SEGMENTS ......................................................................................................................... 6
STEP 4 - ADD SEGMENT VALUES ................................................................................................................. 8
STEP 5- FREEZE FLEXFIELD STRUCTURE.................................................................................................... 11
STEP 6 - COMPILE FLEXFIELD STRUCTURE ................................................................................................ 11
STEP 7- ATTACH ACCOUNTING STRUCTURE TO A SET OF BOOKS ................................................................ 12
HOW TO CHANGE SEGMENT VALUES IN EXISTING VALUE SETS .......................................... 13
STEP 1- UNFREEZE FLEXFIELD DEFINITION ................................................................................................ 13
STEP 2- MODIFY SEGMENT VALUES ON THE SEGMENT VALUE FORM .......................................................... 14
STEP 3- FREEZE FLEXFIELD DEFINITION ..................................................................................................... 14
STEP 4- COMPILE FLEXFIELD STRUCTURE .................................................................................................. 14
HOW TO CREATE A NEW CODE COMBINATION .......................................................................... 14
MANUALLY ................................................................................................................................................ 15
AUTOMATICALLY....................................................................................................................................... 15
DO AND DON’TS WHEN CREATING ACCOUNTING FLEXFIELD STRUCTURES ................... 18
DEFINING YOUR ACCOUNT STRUCTURE ..................................................................................................... 18
CHANGING THE FLEXFIELD DEFINITION ...................................................................................................... 20

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 2

 Accounting Flexfield
Setup and Usage
This paper will provide detailed steps for creating value sets, segments and accounting
flexfield structures. It will also provide steps on how to add new values to existing
segments and how to create code combinations.

How to create an Accounting Flexfield Structure

Steps:

1. Create value sets

2. Create new accounting flexfield structure
3. Create segments
4. Add Segment Values
5. Freeze Flexfield Structure
6. Compile Flexfield Structure
7. Attach accounting flexfield structure to a set of books

Note: Steps 1 through 4 MUST be performed in that order.

Step 1- Value Sets

Responsibility: General Ledger Super User

Navigation: Setup/Financials/Flexfields/Validation/Sets

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 3

Value Set Name - Enter a unique name.

Security Available - Check this if you want to use security rules. This can be changed at
anytime.

Enable Longlist - Check this if your value set should provide the Longlist feature, where a
user must enter a partial segment value before the list of values retrieves all available
values.

Format Type - You MUST specify a format type of Char. If you want to use numbers,
choose Char and allow alphanumerics. The Accounting Flexfield does not support format
types other than Char.

Right-justify Zero-fill Numbers - Check this. If not checked, then this could cause
problems with data entry later.

Validation Type - This must be Independent, Table, or Dependent-type value sets. Do not
use value sets with a validation type of None, Pair, or Special for the Accounting
Flexfield.

If you are using a Table-validated value set:

n Do not specify a hidden ID column.
n You should not use a WHERE clause and/or ORDER BY clause.

Note: You should create all the value sets for the accounting flexfield structure prior to
performing step 2. However, you should not define any values for your value sets until
the structure has been defined.

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 4

Step 2- Creating Accounting Flexfield structure

Responsibility: General Ledger Super User

Navigation: Setup/Financials/Flexfields/Key/Segments

Application: Oracle General Ledger

Flexfield Title: Accounting Flexfield

Structure Title - enter the title for your new accounting flexfield structure.

Segment Separator - select the separator from the list of values. After setting this do not
change it. It may cause inconsistencies.

Enabled - Check this flag to enable your accounting flexfield structure.

Notice this is where you enable the following:

- Cross Validation Rules with ‘Cross-Validate Segments’
- Dynamic Insertion with ‘Allow Dynamic Inserts’

Note: If you want to create code combinations automatically, check ‘Allow Dynamic
Inserts’; however, make sure you create cross validation rules to prevent incorrect
combinations from being created.

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 5

Step 3- Create segments

Click the Segments button on the Key Flexfield Segments form.

You can define up to 30 segments for your account structure. You must define at least 2
segments, one for the balancing segment and one for the natural account segment (the two
required flexfield qualifiers). Please not that some Oracle subledgers require a third
qualifier, that being the cost center.

Enter all your segments in order.

Number - The Accounting Flexfield requires consecutive segment numbers beginning

with 1 (such as 1, 2, 3, …). Gaps in numbering like 10,20,30 ….. could cause errors
when compiling.

Name - Enter a unique name for the segment. The name should begin with a letter and
use only letters, numbers, spaces or underscores. Do not use SQL reserved words.

Column - Do not use any columns other than those named SEGMENT1 through
SEGMENT30.

All segments must have the enabled and displayed checkboxes checked.

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 6

Assign your flexfield qualifiers. With the cursor on the segment you are going to
designate as your balancing segment, click on the Flexfield Qualifiers button. Check the
Enabled checkbox on the Balancing Segment line. Do the same for the natural account
segment. With the cursor on the segment you are going to designate as your natural
account segment, click on the Flexfield Qualifiers button. Check the Enabled checkbox
on the Natural Account line. Cost Center and Intercompany Segment are optional.

Be sure you create these segments and qualifiers carefully. You are not allowed to change
them once they are defined. Changing them is unsupported and data inconsistency and
corruption will occur.

Click on the Open button for each of the segments to create the segment and associated
information.

Suggestion: If you have spare segments (for future use), enable and display them. In the
value sets for the spare segments, define only one segment value, which will be the
default value. On the Segments form, set the Default Type to Constant and Default
Value to the value created in the segment values form (FNDFFMSV). This would
typically be zeros.

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 7

Step 4 - Add Segment Values

Responsibility: General Ledger Super User

Navigation: Setup/Financials/Flexfields/Key/Values

Enter the following parameters:

Application: Oracle General Ledger

Title: Accounting Flexfield
Structure: The name of the structure created in Step 2.
Segment: Defined in Step 3.
Click on Find button.

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 8

Enter segment values for each segment you created.

After entering the value, you cannot change it. However, you can uncheck the ‘Enable’
button. Alternatively, you can put an end date (To) on the value.

Note: If you disable a segment, the existing code combinations are not automatically
disabled. To disable existing code combinations query the code combinations on the GL
Accounts form and uncheck the Enabled box or end date the code combination. .

Note: Make sure you tab through to the segment qualifiers box even if you want to use
the default qualifiers.

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 9

Below is the standard segment qualifier box for all segments except the natural segment.

Below is the standard segment qualifier box for the natural account segment.

Make sure you set the account type correctly. If not, you will experience problems in the
first period of a new year with your retained earnings account. The account type
determines whether an accounts’ ending balance closes into retained earnings or becomes
a beginning balance in the new year.

Note: If you discover that your account type is set incorrectly and you have already posted
or already created code combinations, then reference your Oracle General Ledger User’s
Guide for the process to correct misclassified accounts ( see Metalink note 1050920.6;
General Ledger User’s Guide 10SC page 5-38; General Ledger User’s Guide version 11
page 6-138 for detailed steps).

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 10

Step 5- Freeze Flexfield Structure

Responsibility: General Ledger Super User

Navigation: Setup/Financials/Flexfields/Key/Segments

Check Freeze Flexfield Definition.

Save changes.

Step 6 - Compile Flexfield Structure

Click on Compile button to compile flexfield.

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 11

Step 7- Attach accounting structure to a set of books

Responsibility: General Ledger Super User

Navigation: Setup/Financials/Books/Define

Chart of Accounts - Enter the name of your accounting flexfield structure.

Accounts (if this is the first time you have used this chart of accounts, then you must have
Dynamic Insertion enabled for the accounting flexfield structure when you enter these
accounts):
n Retained Earnings - Enter the retained earnings account that you wish to use for this
set of books.
n Suspense - If you’ve checked Allow Suspense Posting, you will need to enter this
account.
n Intercompany - If you’ve check Balance Intercompany Journals, you will need to enter
this account.

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 12

How to Change Segment Values in Existing Value Sets

Please review the steps above in how to create an accounting flexfield structure.

1. Unfreeze flexfield definition

2. Update segment values on the segment value form
3. Freeze flexfield definition
4. Compile flexfield structure

Step 1- Unfreeze Flexfield Definition

Responsibility: General Ledger Super User

Navigation: Setup/Financials/Flexfields/Key/Segments

Uncheck Freeze Flexfield Definition.

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 13

Step 2- Modify segment values on the segment value form

Follow the steps described in Step 4 - Add Segment Values to navigate to the Segment Values
form. Query the values. Make the necessary changes. Note: you cannot change the
segment value itself. You can change the description, enabled flag, etc.

If you cannot make changes after you unchecked ‘Freeze Flexfield Definition’, then there
are other flexfield structures using the value set, which are still frozen. Note 1015950.6
contains scripts to find the flexfields that use the value set.

Step 3- Freeze flexfield definition

This step is identical to Step 5 from How to create an Accounting Flexfield Structure
(see above).

Step 4- Compile flexfield structure

This step is identical to Step 6 from How to create an Accounting Flexfield Structure
(see above).

How to create a new code combination

There are two ways to create code combinations. 1) Manually or 2) Automatically (with
Dynamic Insertion enabled)

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 14

Manually

Responsibility: General Ledger Super User

Navigation: Setup/Financial/Accounts/Combinations

Enter the Account, and set the Allow Posting and Allow Budgeting flag. Optionally enter
From and To dates.

Automatically

1. Check Allow Dynamic Inserts on the Key Flexfield Segments form.

2. Optionally define Cross Validation Rules.
3. Compile the Flexfield Structure.

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 15

Step 1 - Check Allow Dynamic Inserts on the Key Flexfield Segments form.

Responsibility: General Ledger Super User

Navigation: Setup/Financials/Flexfields/Key/Segments

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 16

Step 2 - Optionally define Cross Validation Rules.

Responsibility: General Ledger Super User

Navigation: Setup/Financials/Flexfields/Key/Rules

Step 3 - Compile the Flexfield Structure.

This step is identical to Step 6 from How to create an Accounting Flexfield Structure
(see above)

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 17

Do and Don’ts when Creating Accounting Flexfield Structures

Defining your Account Structure

The Accounting Flexfield has several special requirements and limitations for its
definition. Follow these recommendations carefully, since an incorrectly-defined
Accounting Flexfield will adversely affect your chart of accounts, and application
features:

1. Define your Accounting Flexfield value sets using the Define Value Set form.

• You must specify a format type of Char for the segment value format type. If
you want to use numbers, choose Char and allow alphanumerics. The
Accounting Flexfield does not support format types other than Char.

• We recommend that you set Right-justify Zero-fill Numbers to Yes for value
sets you use with the Accounting Flexfield.

• Value sets for the Accounting Flexfield must be independent, table, or

dependent-type value sets. Do not use value sets with a validation type of
None, Pair, or Special for the Accounting Flexfield.

• We recommend that you allow parent values for segments in your Accounting
Flexfield. Parent values are used to create summary accounts and to increase
the productivity of Oracle Applications.

2. Set the Allow Dynamic Inserts option. If you want to allow adding new accounts
automatically as you enter them in transactions, including when you define a set of
books, set this option set to Yes. To require users to define all accounts manually, set
this option to No.

3. Define your Accounting Flexfield segments. You can define up to 30 segments for
your account structure. You must define at least two segments for your account
structure, one for the balancing segment and one for the natural account segment (the
two required flexfield qualifiers).

• When specifying the column you want to use for your Accounting Flexfield
segment, do not use any columns other than those named SEGMENT1
through SEGMENT30.

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 18

 • You must enter a value set in the Value Set field for each segment of the
Accounting Flexfield. Value sets for the Accounting Flexfield must be
independent, table, or dependent-type value sets. Do not use value sets with a
validation type of None for the Accounting Flexfield.

• You must check the Required check box for each segment.

• You must check the Display check box for each segment.

• The segment you use as a balancing segment must be an independent segment

(it cannot use a dependent value set).

4. Define your flexfield qualifiers for your Accounting Flexfield. Oracle Applications
uses flexfield qualifiers to identify certain segments in your Accounting Flexfield.
You specify your flexfield qualifier values in the Qualifiers zone of the Define Key
Flexfield Segments form.

• You should never change the flexfield qualifier once it has been saved. This
may cause major inconsistencies with the existing data.

1. Define the natural account segment. A natural account segment contains values
representing account types, such as cash, accounts receivable, product revenue and
salary expense. Check the Natural Account checkbox to indicate the segment you are
defining is your natural account segment. You define only one natural account
segment in your account.

2. Define the balancing segment. Oracle Applications uses your balancing segment to
ensure that all journals balance for each value of your balancing segment. Oracle
Applications also use your balancing segment to ensure that entries that impact more
than one balancing segment use the appropriate intercompany or interfund accounting

• Indicate whether the segment you are defining is a balancing segment. You
can define only one balancing segment for an account. The segment you use as
a balancing segment must be an independent segment (it cannot use a
dependent value set).

1. Define the Cost Center segment. Cost centers indicate functional areas of your
organization, such as Accounting, Facilities, Shipping, and so on. Check the Cost
Center checkbox to indicate the segment you are defining is a Cost Center segment.

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 19

2. Define your Accounting Flexfield segment values. Be sure to enter parent, rollup
group and level information, and hierarchy details, if appropriate, for your segment
values. Be sure you do not assign overlapping ranges of child values to the same
parent value. You use rollup groups to create summary accounts.

• Decide your segment hierarchy before you create parent and child segment
values. You cannot change a child value to a parent at a later time and vice
versa.

Changing the flexfield definition

Changing your flexfield definition once you have used it to acquire data can cause serious
inconsistencies with the existing data.

In general, once you have setup and begun to use a flexfield, you should never change
anything about its structure or its value sets (other than defining, enabling, and disabling
values, shorthand aliases, and cross-validation and security rules). You need to make
sure not to invalidate your existing flexfield data. Before you make such a change, you
should back up all of your existing data, including Oracle Application Object Library
data, before attempting any value set changes.

Oracle Applications prevents you from inadvertently invalidating your flexfield value set
data by preventing you from deleting an existing value set under some conditions. If you
define and save a value set, and then, immediately re-query it, you can delete the value
set. However, you cannot delete the value set if you have:
1. assigned it to a key or descriptive flexfield segment.
2. assigned one or more values to it (even if it is not assigned to a segment)
3. assigned a security rule to it (through the segment to which your value set is attached).
4. assigned it to a FlexBuilder parameter.

Changing between Independent and Table Value set:

You can make these changes as long as you ensure that the new value set contains every
single value that the old value set contained. If you are missing any values that had been
in the original value set, you will get error messages upon querying up old code
combinations whose values are now missing. You can make the following changes:
1. Independent to Table
2. Table to Independent

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 20

Changes you should never make:

You should never make these types of changes because you will corrupt your existing
flexfield combinations data:
1. Independent to Dependent
2. Dependent to Independent
3. None to Dependent
4. Dependent to Table
5. Table to Dependent

Please remember to back up all of your existing data, including Oracle Application
Object Library data, before attempting any value set changes.

References
Oracle Application Flexfield Release 11 student Guide (Oracle Education)
Oracle Applications Felxfields Guide Version 11

Accounting Flexfield: Setup and Usage Page 21