1. What is Enterprise Resource Planning ??
Lets take an example. Suppose you are running a small grocery shop named "Janata Grocery", so the
typical operation as a shop owner is you basically buy groceries from some big seller and stock it in
your shop. Now people come to your shop for day-to-day needs and buy stuff from your shop at a
slightly higher price than what you originally bought and stocked it in your shop.
Ocassionally you may not be carrying items or run out of stock that people ask for so you make a note
of it and promise the person to come back tomorrow and they will get their item. So far so good, now
lets name some entities before we proceed and things get complicated. The big seller from whom you
buy stock is called as Vendor, the people who come to your shop to buy things are known as
customers, the stock in your shop is known as inventory.
So far we have identified few entities that play an active role in your day-to-day operations. As time
goes by, your business expands and now you take orders over the phone and provide service to
deliver the items to your customers, so you hire people to help you out in maintaining the inventory,
do the delivery part and all the necessary stuff to keep the business running smoothly. The people you
hire are known as employees.
So in this small shop, you typically manage the bookkeeping activities by hand using a notepad or
something similar. Now imagine the same setup on a larger scale where you have more than 10,000
customers, have more than 1000 vendors, have more than 1000 employees and have a huge
warehouse to maintain your inventory. Do you think you can manage all that information using pen and
paper? Absolutely no way! Your business will come to a sudden stop sign.
To facilitate big businesses, companies like Oracle Corporation have created huge software known in
the category of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) as Oracle Applications. Now coming to think of it,
Oracle Apps is not one huge software, instead it is a collection of software known as modules that
are integrated and talk to each other.
Now what is meant by integrated? First let us identify the modules by entities. For e.g Purchasing and
Account Payables deal with the vendors since you typically purchase from vendors and eventually
have to pay the dues. Oracle Purchasing handles all the requisitions and purchase orders to the
vendors whereas Oracle Accounts Payables handles all the payments to the vendors.
Similarly Oracle Inventory deals with the items you maintain in stock, warehouse etc. Dealing with
customers is handled collectively with the help of Oracle Receivables and Oracle Order
Management. Order Management helps you collect all the information that your customer is ordering
over the phone or webstore etc whereas Receivables help you collect the money for the orders that
are delivered to the customers.
Now who maintains the paychecks, benefits of the 1000 employees? right! it is managed by
Oracle Human Resources. So you get the idea by now that for each logical function there is a
separate module that helps to execute and maintain that function.
So all the individual functions are being taken care but how do I know if I am making profit or
loss? That's where integration comes into play. There is another module known as Oracle
General Ledger. This module receives information from all the different transaction modules and
summarizes them in order to help you create profit and loss statements, reports for paying Taxes
etc.
Just to simplify the explanation, when you pay your employees that payment is reported back to
General Ledgers as cost i.e money going out, when you purchase inventory items the information is
transferred to GL as money going out, and so is the case when you pay your vendors. Similarly when
you receive items in your inventory it is transferred to GL as money coming in, when your customer
sends payment it is transfered to GL as money coming in. So all the different transaction modules
report to GL (General Ledger) as either "money going in" or "money going out", the net result will tell
you if you are making a profit or loss.
All the equipment, shops, warehouses, computers can be termed as Assets and they are managed by
Oracle Fixed Assets. Initially Oracle Applications started as bunch of modules and as time passed by

2. they added new modules for different and new functions growing out of the need for today's internet
world.
So if you come across a module that you are trying to learn and work on, first try to understand what
business need is it trying to fulfill and then try to understand what the immediate modules that it
interacts with. For e.g lets say you come across Oracle Cost Management module, you will learn that it
helps to maintain the costs of items in your inventory and the immediate modules that it interacts with
are Oracle Inventory (ofcourse), Oracle Bills of Material, Order Management and so on..
There is more to ERP than this layman explanation of a complex beast that does not justify a single bit
but I wished I had this knowledge when I was thrown into Oracle Applications right after I graduated
from college. Back then the only piece of software I had known to write was implementing binary trees,
infix, prefix, postfix notations in pascal and TSRs (Terminate and Stay resident) using assembly.
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Continuing with the simplicity and popularity of the above article, this article will try to explain the GL
basics in simple terms. It assumes you have basic accounting knowledge like debit, credits, expense,
accounts etc
What is General Ledger
Most people are familiar with their own bank statement, which shows an opening balance, transactions
that occurred throughout the period, and a closing balance. That statement is a snapshot of your
account at a particular point in time. A company keeps an account, like the records the bank keeps of
your bank account, for every organization or customer that the company does business with.
Balance Sheet
The balance sheet summarizes accounts and financial activities in three broad categories: assets,
which represent all the things that the company owns; liabilities, which show how much money the
company owes to others; and capital/retained earnings, which show the total cash invested in the
business by the owners or shareholders.
Income Statement
In addition, accounts are kept for all the revenues and expenses of the company. These accounts are
summarized in an income statement, also called a profit and loss statement, which represents the
performance of a company over time.
The first step in capturing your transactions is to set up your chart of accounts. Your chart of accounts
determines how your accounting information is collected, categorized, and stored for reporting
purposes. In Oracle Financials, all accounts are identified by a unique Accounting key Flexfield
combination, which is your chart of accounts structure. You assign each account the qualifier of asset,
liability, owner's equity, revenue, or expense.
Periods are identified by names such as FEB-2000 or WEEK1 2-98 and represent non-overlapping
consecutive date ranges. FEB-2000 would include the date ranges O1-FEB-2000 to 29-FEB-2000 and
would be followed by MAR-2000 starting on 01 -MAR-2000. You choose the names, following
whatever convention you devise, and you assign the date ranges. You can even set up a one-day
period for year-end adjustments that begins and ends on the same day.
Double-Entry Accounting
Double-entry accounting requires constant symmetry; total debits must equal total credits. Every
accounting transaction results in one or more debits and credits that always remain in balance. For
example, a $5000 purchase of office equipment would result in an increase to the asset account as
well as an increase to a liability account.
In Oracle Financials, the account number is referred to as the Accounting Flexfield, which is used
throughout all of Oracle Applications whenever a transaction is entered into the system. The
Accounting Flexfield consists of multiple segments, such as those for company, cost center, and
account. One full Accounting Flexfield is called a combination. Each journal entry line is tagged with an
Accounting Flexfield combination. For expense transactions, the AFF usually identifies who incurred
the cost (for example, which company or department) and what the cost was for (for example, travel
expense). If you want more detailed information, such as which region, cost center, and product

3. incurred the cost, you can design your AFF structure to include that information as well. Because total
debits must always equal total credits in every transaction, Oracle General Ledger requires that all
journals balance. If you try to enter an unbalanced journal, Oracle General Ledger will either reject the
transaction or force the transaction to balance by posting the difference to a suspense account.
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4. This is a useful alphabetical list covering most of the Oracle e-Business Suite products.
There must be quite a number of products still in research and development and some will never get to
see the light out of the development labs.
Oracle Product Codes
1. ABM - Activity Based Management 53. CUF - CRL Financials
2. AD - Applications DBA 54. CUG - Oracle Citizen Interaction Center
3. AHL - Oracle Advanced Service Online 55. CUI - Oracle Network Logistics Inventory
4. AHM - Oracle Hosting Manager 56. CUN - Oracle Network Logistics NATS
5. AK - Oracle Common Modules-AK 57. CUP - Oracle Network Logistics
6. ALR - Oracle Alert Purchasing
7. AMF - Oracle Fulfillment Services 58. CUS - CRL Supply Chain
8. AMS - Oracle Marketing 59. CZ - Oracle Configurator
9. AMV - Oracle MarketView 60. DDD - Oracle CADView-3D
10. AN - Oracle Sales Analysis 61. DOM - Oracle Document Management and
11. AP - Oracle Payables Collaboration
12. AR - Oracle Receivables 62. DT - Oracle DateTrack
13. AS - Oracle Sales 63. EAA - Oracle SEM Exchange
14. ASF - Oracle Field Sales 64. EAM - Oracle Enterprise Asset
15. ASG - Oracle CRM Gateway for Mobile Management
Services 65. EC - Oracle e-Commerce Gateway
16. ASL - Oracle Mobile Field Sales Laptop 66. ECX - Oracle XML Gateway
17. ASO - Oracle Order Capture 67. EDR - Oracle E Records
18. ASP - Oracle Field Sales/PalmTM Devices 68. EGO - Oracle Engineering Online
19. AST - TeleSales 69. ENG - Oracle Engineering
20. AU - Application Utilities 70. ENI - Oracle Engineering Intelligence
21. AX - Global Accounting Engine System
22. AZ - Application Implementation 71. EVM - Value Based Management
23. BEN - Oracle Advanced Benefits 72. FEM - Strategic Enterprise Management
24. BIC - Customer Intelligence 73. FF - Oracle Fast Formula
25. BIL - Sales Intelligence 74. FII - Financials Intelligence
26. BIM - Marketing Intelligence 75. FLM - Oracle Flow Manufacturing
27. BIS - Oracle Applications BIS 76. FND - Application Object Library
28. BIV - Oracle Service Intelligence 77. FPT - Oracle Banking Center
29. BIX - Call Center Intelligence 78. FRM - Oracle Report Manager
30. BNE - Oracle Web ADI 79. FTE - Oracle Transportation Hub
31. BOM - Oracle Bills of Material 80. FV - Oracle Federal Financials
32. BSC - Balanced Scorecard 81. GHR - Oracle Federal HR
33. CCT - Oracle Call Center and Telephony 82. GL - Oracle General Ledger
34. CE - Oracle Cash Management 83. GMA - Oracle Process Manufacturing
35. CHV - Oracle Supplier Scheduling Systems
36. CLN - Supply Chain Trading Connector for 84. GMD - Oracle Process Manufacturing
RosettaNet Product Development
37. CN - Oracle Sales Compensation 85. GME - Oracle Process Manufacturing
38. CRP - Oracle Capacity Process Execution
39. CS - Oracle Service 86. GMF - Oracle Process Manufacturing
40. CSC - Customer Care Financials
41. CSD - Depot Repair 87. GMI - Oracle Process Manufacturing
42. CSE - Oracle Enterprise Install Base Inventory
43. CSF - Field Service 88. GML - Oracle Process Manufacturing
44. CSI - Install Base Logistics
45. CSL - Oracle Field Service/Laptop 89. GMP - Oracle Process Manufacturing
46. CSM - Oracle Field Service Palm Process Planning
47. CSP - Oracle Spares Management 90. GMS - Oracle Grants Accounting
48. CSR - Oracle Scheduler 91. GR - Oracle Process Regulatory Mgmt
49. CSS - Support 92. HRI - Human Resources Intelligence
50. CST - Oracle Cost Management 93. HXC - Oracle Time and Labor
51. CUA - CRL Financials Assets 94. HXT - Oracle Time and Labor Rules
52. CUE - Oracle Billing Connect

5. 95. IBA - iMarketing 147. OKX - Oracle Contracts Integration
96. IBC - Oracle iContent 148. ONT - Oracle Order Management
97. IBE - iStore 149. OPI - Operations Intelligence
98. IBP - Bill Presentment & Payment 150. OTA - Oracle Training Administration
99. IBU - iSupport 151. OZF - Funds & Budgets
100. IBY - iPayment 152. OZP - Trade Planning
101. ICX - Oracle Self-Service Web Applications 153. OZS - Oracle iClaims
102. IEB - Oracle Interaction Blending 154. PA - Oracle Projects
103. IEC - Oracle Campaign Plus 155. PAY - Oracle Payroll
104. IEM - Oracle eMail Center 156. PER - Oracle Human Resources
105. IEO - Call Center Technology 157. PJI - Oracle Project Intelligence
106. IES - Scripting 158. PJM - Oracle Project Manufacturing
107. IEU - Oracle Universal Work Queue 159. PMI - Process Mfg Intelligence
108. IEX - Oracle Collections 160. PN - Oracle Property Manager
109. IGC - Commitment Administration 161. PO - Oracle Purchasing
110. IGF - Student Systems Fin Aid 162. POA - Purchasing Intelligence
111. IGI - Oracle International Public Sector 163. POM - Oracle Exchange
Financials 164. PON - Oracle Sourcing
112. IGS - Oracle Student Sytems 165. POS - Internet Supplier Portal
113. IGW - Oracle Grants Proposal 166. PQH - Oracle Public Sector HR
114. IMC - Oracle Customers Online 167. PQP - Oracle Public Sector Payroll
115. IMT - Oracle iMeeting 168. PRP - Oracle Proposals
116. INV - Oracle Inventory 169. PSA - Public Sector Applications
117. IPA - CRL Financials Projects 170. PSB - Oracle Public Sector Budgeting
118. IPD - Oracle Product Development 171. PSP - Oracle Labor Distribution
Exchange 172. PV - Partner Relationship Management
119. ISC - Supply Chain Intelligence 173. QA - Oracle Quality
120. ITG - Oracle Internet Procurement 174. QOT - Oracle Quoting
Enterprise Connector 175. QP - Oracle Pricing
121. JA - Asia/Pacific Localizations 176. QRM - Oracle Risk Management
122. JE - European Localizations 177. RG - Application Report Generator
123. JG - Regional Localizations 178. RHX - Oracle Advanced Planning
124. JL - Latin America Localizations Foundation
125. JTF - CRM Foundation 179. RLA - Oracle Release Management
126. JTM - Oracle CRM Mobile Foundation Integration Kit
127. JTS - Oracle CRM Self Service 180. RLM - Oracle Release Management
Administration 181. SHT - Applications Shared Technology
128. ME - Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul 182. SSP - Oracle SSP
129. MFG - Oracle Manufacturing 183. SYSADMIN - System Administration
130. MRP - Oracle Master Scheduling/MRP 184. VEA - Oracle Automotive
131. MSC - Oracle Advanced Supply Chain 185. VEH - Oracle Automotive Integration Kit
Planning 186. WIP - Oracle Work in Process
132. MSD - Oracle Demand Planning 187. WMS - Oracle Warehouse Management
133. MSO - Oracle Constraint Based System
Optimization 188. WPS - Oracle Manufacturing Scheduling
134. MSR - Oracle Risk Optimization 189. WSH - Oracle Shipping
135. MWA - Mobile Applications 190. WSM - Shop Floor Management
136. ODQ - Oracle Data Query 191. XDP - Oracle Provisioning
137. OE - Oracle Order Entry 192. XLA - Oracle Common Accounting
138. OFA - Oracle Assets Modules
139. OKB - Oracle Contracts for Subscriptions 193. XNB - Oracle eBusiness Billing
140. OKC - Oracle Contracts Core 194. XNC - Oracle Sales for Communications
141. OKE - Oracle Project Contracts 195. XNI - Oracle Install Base Intelligence
142. OKI - Oracle Contracts Intelligence 196. XNM - Marketing for Communications
143. OKL - Oracle Lease Management 197. XNP - Oracle Number Portability
144. OKO - Oracle Contracts for Sales 198. XNS - Oracle Service for Communications
145. OKR - Oracle Contracts for Rights 199. XTR - Oracle Treasury
146. OKS - Oracle Contracts Service Module 200. ZFA - Oracle Financial Analyzer

6. 201. ZSA - Oracle Sales Analyze

7. What happens when you login to Apps?
Firstly and surely there is a URL for oracle applications that is structured possibly in below
format, although it can vary from version of apps.
http://machinename:portnumber/OA_HTML/US/ICXINDEX.htm
http://machinename:portnumber /oa_servlets/AppsLogin
When you join an Oracle Apps development team for an employer, you will first be given URL
of the development environment.
In any Oracle Apps implementation project (assuming it has gone live), there are minimum of
three environments, each with different URL's and different database instances.
These are:-
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Development environment
Testing environment
Production environment
You will most probably, be given an url, username and password of the development
environment.
What happens when you login
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A. Your login gets authenticated against a table named fnd_user for your username and
password. The screen below is where username and password defined. This screen is called
user definition screen. Only system administrators have access to this screen.
B. As you can see above, this username xxpassi is attached to two responsibilities (this will be
discussed in details in latter training lesson). It is this assignment to the responsibility that
controls what a logged in person can do and can't do. In layman’s words, a responsibility is a
group of functions an user is authorized to perform.
C. When you successfully login you will see below screens.
This screen below will prompt you to change your password, to a value different than that
assigned by System Administrator.

8. Click on either of the above Responsibility Names, will initiate Oracle Apps( Note: You might be
prompted to install jinitiator…..just keep clicking OK…OK for all Jinitiator messages).
Effectively, what I mean to say is that you do not need to download jinitiator from anywhere;
Oracle will do this automatically (provided your DBA’s got this cofig’ed) for you during your first
logon attempt from the PC. Once your jInitiator gets installed

9. Hurray, we have logged into apps.
Some notes on advanced info :
Oracle internally uses a login named GUEST with a password “oracle”, Some people regard
this as a security threat, but it isn’t. Your DBA’s can change the “guest” password from its
default value after installation.
Oracle uses a DB User account named applsyspub to which it first connects during validation
of LOGIN. This user account has very restricted privileges and has access to below objects
(primarily for authentication purposes):-
FND_APPLICATION
FND_UNSUCCESSFUL_LOGINS
FND_SESSIONS
FND_PRODUCT_INSTALLATIONS
FND_PRODUCT_GROUPS
FND_MESSAGES
FND_LANGUAGES_TL
FND_APPLICATION_TL
FND_APPLICATION_VL
FND_LANGUAGES_VL
FND_SIGNON
FND_PUB_MESSAGE
FND_WEBFILEPUB
FND_DISCONNECTED
FND_MESSAGE
FND_SECURITY_PKG
FND_LOOKUPS