GNM_RCS_Chart_of_Accounts_Purchasing_TS

• 1. Introduction

     1. Purpose

The document GNM_RCS_Chart_of_Accounts_FS.docx is the functional specification that describes what business functions RCS supports in relation to coding of financial transaction. The Chart of Accounts itself is defined in the Finance spreadsheet found at http://spike/content/513.

This document is one of a set of technical specifications that provide details of how those functions are implemented in RCS.

• 1. Scope

This document focusses on the Chart of Accounts as it is implemented in RCS for purchasing i.e. accounts payable. A separate document deals with all how the Chart of Accounts is implemented in SLM for accounts receivable.

This document is intended as a high-level technical document outlining how the relevant business functions are implemented in terms of software modules.

Importantly, this document does not aim to provide the level of detail that would be required in a programming specification in areas such as program structure, detailed business rules, data integrity, validation, locking considerations, data security, and calls to/from other software modules, performance considerations, and so forth.

For details of program logic and coding, the reader should refer to the program files themselves.

• 1. Chart of Accounts definition

A housekeeping screen is used to maintain the Chart of Accounts data in RCS.

The screen is accessed from this menu option: Housekeeping → Chart of Accounts → Chart of Accounts…

This menu option opens screen rcs_csva_010_pc.fmb.

When the screen opens the user sees a tab that shows the hierarchy of chart of accounts codes relating the first of the 8 code segment that make up a valid code combination.

The screen has been designed to mirror the structure of the spread-sheet that the Finance department maintains which is the master copy of GNM’s chart of accounts. The highlighting of the different levels of the hierarchies is similar to that the spread-sheet and the tabs are positioned along the bottom of the canvas (unusually) to match the feel of a spread-sheet. The values and meanings are copied from the spread-sheet.

However the right hand side of the canvas has a series of checkboxes that control where the code may be used within RCS i.e. which types of payments it applies to:

• • Commissions

  • Staff commissions

  • Spiked commissions

  • Contracts

  • Expense and other payments

  • Credit Notes

  • Sales Royalties

  • Syndication contracts

NB The last item on the list relates to accounts receivable, but as chart of accounts implementation was in place before the syndication contracts software was developed this chart was used. (The chart of accounts that was implemented for syndication is far more simplistic, but appropriate for that purpose.)

The next 7 tabs have the chart data for the remaining 7 segments: being so similar these tabs are not repeated here. The last (9th) tab is where the user can define the 8 segments, and the names given to each get used throughout the system.

The short name show above is used on the tabs in other screens – see next section of this document for an example.

• 1. User permissions

Each user login is granted access to the Chart of Accounts codes that they are allowed to use when entering new payments. This is done in the Users screen.

The screen is accessed from this menu option: Housekeeping → Users…

Or via the menu option: Housekeeping → Active users…

This menu option opens screen rcs_user_010_pc.fmb.

Being a housekeeping screen this screen is only available to users with RCS administrator privileges.

For each active user listed on the left hand side codes may be assigned on the right hand side. An 8-tab canvas is available and codes (including their hierarchy) are assigned. In each tab (segment) one code may be defined as the default for each of the following expenditure types:

• • Staff commissions

  • Commissions

  • Contracts

  • Expenses and other payments

  • Royalties

  • Syndication contracts (an income not an expenditure)

If only one code is assigned to a user for a given segment then that code will be the default code for all their expenditure types.

Again the highlighting of the data is based on the hierarchy of codes assigned.

The “Copy” button allows the RCS administrator to copy the code assignments of another user to the highlighted user, saving a considerable amount of setup time.

• 1. Allocating Chart of Accounts to payments

Every item of expenditure must have a code in each of the 8 segments of the Chart of Accounts before it can be paid. This is a pre-requisite of the payment instruction being sent to Oracle AR.

The 8 segments are shown in the top right hand corner of this screen, and a similar layout exists for all other payment types.

On entry of a new payment (commission in this case) the codes would be defaulted where possible. The user can the overtype them or choose from a List of Values to set each code appropriately.

• 1. Product spending/matching rules

The Product spending/Matching rules screen focusses on the Product segment of the chart of accounts, and enables greater control of how the product codes may be used.

This screen is accessed from this menu option: Housekeeping → Chart of Accounts → Product spend/matching rules…

This menu option opens screen rcs_csva_010_pc.fmb running in a different mode, controlled by the MODE parameter value passed in.

• 1. Cost centre rules

The Cost Centre tab has a checkbox “Match commissions to content?”

that indicates whether commissions under this cost centre must be matched in order to be fulfilled:

.

• 1. Product rules

There are 2 options relating to how the product codes can be used in RCS:

• 1. Spend against this code?

  2. Determines whether the code can be used to record spend i.e. it has a budget;

  3. Published product?

  4. Indicates whether the product exists as a published product i.e. NOT a product that exists purely for budgeting and forecasting purposes; and

Additionally codes can be enabled or disabled in both the Cost centre and Product tab.

• 1. Cost centre aliases

The Cost centre aliases screen is used to record aliases for the cost centre segment of the Chart of Accounts for use elsewhere in the system.

This screen is accessed from this menu option: Housekeeping → Chart of Accounts → Cost centre aliases…

This menu option opens screen rcs_csva_010_pc.fmb running in a different mode, controlled by the MODE parameter value passed in.

By default each alias is the same as the Meaning, but the user can overwrite this with the value required.

End of Document