Accounting Flexfields concept usage and setup

This will give you the basic idea
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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.

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.
• 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.
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

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