Oracle General Ledger FAQ

Oracle General Ledger

Information in this document applies to any platform.
Executable:GLLEZL - Journal Import
Executable:GLLEZLSRS - Executable to allow submission of Journal Import through the Standard Request Submission
Executable:GLLDEL - Delete Journal Import Source

1. What is Group ID used for?

The Group ID distinguishes data to import within a particular source, i.e. Oracle Receivables, Payables or other subledgers / legacy systems.
Since minipack 11i.GL.D (or with Patch: 1455528) the Journal Import Submission form can select "All Group Ids" from a particular source.

The same does not happen for Standard Report Submission for Journal Import , where a specific group_id (or null group_id) must be specified.

When a subledger does not populate the group_id (null) then it may occur that different batches from the same source are merged by the first Journal Import process meeting the criteria.
If the Journal Import is automatically submitted by the subledger, and several users are transferring to GL at the same time, then some of the processes may get the 'No Data Found' error, because the expected lines were already imported by the first process. This does not happen if the group_id is used.

2. Can Reversals be automatically generated?

Journal Import does not automatically create reversing journal entries.

If the reversal flag and reversal period were populated in the GL_INTERFACE table, then the reversal must be generated after Journal Import is run.

In 11i the Autoreversal procedure can be setup to create reversing Journals automatically once an imported journal is created.

3. How is the Effective Date derived?

Journal Import will store the value for the DEFAULT_EFFECTIVE_DATE in GL_JE_HEADERS picked from one of the accounting dates in GL_INTERFACE lines.
It will be the first line that appears on the journal under that header.
This is decided by the values in the code combination and is arbitrary from a financial point of view although treated consistently for each journal header in a batch.

All the journal headers within a batch may not have the same default effective date when imported in SUMMARY mode but all the lines will match the header for that journal.
If you wish the lines to have different effective dates then do not use the Create Summary Journals option.

Exceptions:
If you use Average Daily Balances (ADB) this behaviour is different.
If you have the new profile option: GL Journal Import: Separate Journals by Accounting Date, journal import will only group together journal lines that have the same date, while lines with different effective dates will be put under different journal headers even if they belong to the same period.
This is available on 11.5.10 family pack 11i.FIN_PF.E.

4. How is the GL Batch Name derived?

The batch name uses the first 50 characters from REFERENCE1 in GL_INTERFACE (if populated) followed by:
 - Source
 - Request ID
 - Actual Flag
 - Group ID
In Consolidation journals, the profile option GL Consolidation: Preserve Journal Batching set to Yes will preserve up to 50 characters of the original batch name plus batch ID in the source set of books to the target set of books.

5. How is the Period determined?

Journal Import selects the period corresponding to the ACCOUNTING_DATE populated in GL_INTERFACE.

Then the imported lines are grouped by period and the Journal Entry is created with the ACCOUNTING_DATE of the last calendar day of the period.

Prior to 11i.GL.F the contents of the PERIOD_NAME column in the GL_INTERFACE table is ignored, therefore it is not possible to import for adjusting periods.
After 11i.GL.F the behavior has changed to allow Journal Import to import data into adjustment periods, for that purpose the PERIOD_NAME is used in combination with the ACCOUNTING_DATE.

Journal Import groups lines with the same Period into the same journal, even if the lines have different Accounting Dates, for all sets of books except:
- the set of books is an Average Daily Balances set of books
- the profile option GL Journal Import: Separate Journals by Accounting Date is set to YES

In these cases it would put lines with different Accounting Dates into separate journals.

6. How to import journals for Adjusting Periods?

Before 11i.GL.F it is not possible to import journals directly for adjusting periods. The selected period is the regular period corresponding to the effective date calculated.

The workaround for this is to import for a regular period and, before posting, use Change Period function on the Enter Journals form.

Since 11i.GL.F the behavior has changed to allow Journal Import to import data into adjustment periods and also to import data that is to be reversed into adjustment periods.
For budgets the PERIOD_NAME column in the GL_INTERFACE table will now be able to hold both adjustment and non-adjustment periods.
For actual and encumbrance data the period that the data will be imported to will now be controlled by a combination of the ACCOUNTING_DATE and the PERIOD_NAME:
- if a valid period name is specified and that period contains the accounting date then that period is used;
- otherwise the non-adjusting period that contains the accounting date is used
The REFERENCE8 column in the GL_INTERFACE table will now be able to hold both adjusting and non-adjusting reversal periods or reversal date for Average Balance data.

7. Subledger transactions were transferred but are missing in GL

The transfer from the subledger could be successful, but the journals may have errored out in Journal Import, leaving the transactions in GL_INTERFACE table.

Check the Journal Import Execution report for any possible validation errors and the Journal Import log file for execution errors.
In that case the journals would not be seen neither in the Posting form nor the Enter Journals form, but would be available on the Journal Import Correct form.

You can also check the contents of the GL_INTERFACE table by running the simple SQL in Note:77684.1.
If the transactions are in GL_INTERFACE then you need to correct them and re-run Journal Import . See Note:1056801.6 for more information.

If the journals are still not found, verify that the responsibility you are using does not have security rules that would prevent you from viewing the data.

See also Note:330821.1 Journal Import Troubleshooting Guide

8. Create Summary Journals: what is the advantage of using it?

Importing journals using this run option selected will summarize all transactions for the same period, account and currency, into one debit/credit journal line.

This will make your reports more manageable in size, but you lose the one to one mapping of your detail transactions to the summary journal lines created by Journal Import.
You can still maintain a mapping of how Journal Import summarizes your detail transactions from your feeder systems into journal lines, if the Journal Source definition has the Import Journal References option checked.

9. Can Descriptive Flexfield be Imported?

Yes. Descriptive Flexfields can be imported with or without validation.
The Descriptive Flexfields that can be imported via Journal Import are the ones that map to the reference fields of the GL_JE_LINES table.

There are 3 options for Descriptive Flexfields (DFF) import:
- No: DFF information will be ignored by GL.
- With Validation: Journal Import generates journals only if DFF are valid.
- Without Validation: the DFF information is imported into GL as it is, without any validation.

See Note:1062015.6 and Note:115983.1 for more information.

10. Rollback Segment: can this be modified?

There is no option available for Journal Import to choose the Rollback Segment.
There is a setup option available for the Number Of Lines to Process at Once that affects Journal Import.

Navigation: Setup > System >Controls.

11. Can Journal Import be Automated or included in a request set?

The Journal Import Program (GLLEZLSRS) is a new functionality included in 11.5.10 which allows the submission of journal import from the standard report submission screen like any normal concurrent process.
Therefore it can also be scheduled or included in a Report Set.
However it is currently limited to specific or NULL group_ids, the 'All Group IDs' option does not exist. See Note:277891.1 and Note:371189.1 for more information.

It is also possible to use the CONCSUB utility to submit a Journal Import from outside of the application and create batch jobs to automatically run the Journal Import. However this process needs to receive, as a parameter, the value of the GL_INTERFACE_CONTROL.INTERFACE_RUN_ID column.

For more information on CONCSUB see the Oracle Applications System Administrator's Guide.
See also Note:1079972.6, Note:198041.1 for more information .

12. How to improve Performance?

There may be different causes for a bad performance in Journal Import process.

If you have a general poor performance in Journal Import then please follow the recommendations from Note:198437.1 How to Improve Journal Import Performance and Performance of Other GL Programs in 11i

If the performance problem only occurs for high volume batches then review Note:294959.1 GLLEZL: Problems Importing Very Large Journal Batches

Specific patches effecting Journal Import Performance:
Patch:1455528: Multi-Table Journal Import
Patch:2608405: GLLEZL SIGNAL 11 When a GROUP_ID has a huge number of lines in GL_INTERFACE
Patch:2717598: The records with the STATUS 'PROCESSED' in GL_INTERFACE remain forever...
Patch:3087842: The records with the STATUS 'PROCESSED' in GL_INTERFACE remain
Patch:3535059: APPSPERF:GL: GLLEZL not using BIND variables

13. Where to check for the Error Messages (Status codes)?

The Journal Import automatically generates the Journal Execution Report with information about the created journals.
If validation errors are detected then the exception lines with the respective error codes are also listed. The final section of the report is a complete list of validation error codes and their meanings.
See Note:1056801.6 for a list of these errors.

If Patch: 2162483: Enhancement to provide Warning Statuses for Journal Import, is installed then Journal Import will end in a warning status in the following cases:
- When no data matching the specified criteria is found in the GL_INTERFACE table.
- When data is not imported successfully.
- When data is imported with a warning.

Some unexpected execution errors may also occur. Those are shown in the log file and the process is terminated in error.

14. Can lines be deleted from GL_INTERFACE?

Yes, lines from GL_INTERFACE can be deleted.
However, this procedure is not recommended, as data originating in the subledger / feeder system may be lost or no longer retrievable.
The Correct Journal Import Data form should be used to correct Journal Import errors. You should also refer back to the subledgers where the data originated.
This form can only be used to delete batches with lines that have already been processed and rejected in error. If no Group ID is selected only lines with GROUP_ID as NULL will be deleted.

15. How to check the contents of the GL_INTERFACE table?

Run the sql statement below for a summary of the GL_INTERFACE contents.
It will give an idea of the batches waiting to be imported.

select
 set_of_books_id, user_je_source_name, actual_flag, group_id,
 period_name, status, request_id, sum(nvl(accounted_dr,0)),
 sum(nvl(accounted_cr,0)), count(*)
from gl_interface
group by set_of_books_id, user_je_source_name,
 actual_flag, group_id, period_name, status, request_id

See Note:77684.1 for more information

16. How to correct Validation Errors in the GL_INTERFACE table?

Validation errors usually mean that the data populated in the interface table is incorrect, for instance an undefined period, or that General Ledger is not ready to receive those journals, for instance the receiving period is not Open.

See Note:1056801.6 for a list of these errors.

The corrective actions to fix the errors may depend on the error code and on the source of the transactions.

The Correct Journal Import Data form can be used to manually correct the lines with a status error in GL_INTERFACE table. However this does not fix the data in the subledger / feeder system.

See Note:330821.1 Journal Import Troubleshooting Guide, for more information

17. What are the primary GL tables updated by Journal Import?

The primary GL tables populated during Journal Import are:

- GL_JE_BATCHES
- GL_JE_HEADERS
- GL_JE_LINES
- GL_IMPORT_REFERENCES (link to source transactions)
- GL_INTERFACE_HISTORY (optional)
- GL_BC_PACKETS (budgetary control)

18. Are Cross-Validation or Security Rules validated?

Journal Import does not check for Security Rules. It is the feeder system that must validate the account code combinations populated in GL_INTERFACE table.

You can also populate the accounting segments directly into the gl_interface table and let Journal Import populate the code_combination_id. If dynamic insertion is enabled, and this is a new combination, then the import program will check for cross validation rule violations.