Deep Drive _ Customer Interface in AR _ Oracle Apps Epicenter

OracleApps Epicenter

Odyssey of an OracleApps Consultant

Home

About The Epicenter

Resources

SEARCH

Contact

Powered Search

Get Updates!

Subscribe to the OracleAppsHub to receive notifications when there are new posts:

Categories

11i

AOL

API Integration

Asset

Basic Accounting

Beginner

Beyond Apps

Blogroll

Cash Management

Centrestage

Conversion

Depot Repair

EBS Suite

EDI

Emerging Technologies

Finance

Functional

Fusion

Fusion Application

General Interest

HRMS

Implementations

Integration

InterCompany

JumpStart

Methodology/Process

Misc

News

OPM

Deep Drive : Customer Interface in AR | OracleApps Epicenter http://www.oracleappshub.com/accounts-receivable/deep-drive-customer-...

1 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

Oracle Application

Oracle Diagnostics

Oracle E-Business Tax

Oracle General Ledger

Oracle Legal Entity Configurator

Oracle Manufacturing

Oracle Order Management

Oracle Payable

Oracle Payment Module

Oracle Pricing

Oracle Product

Oracle Purchasing

Oracle Receivable

Oracle TCA

Oracle Treasury

Personalizations

R12

Release12

Report Manager

SEPA

Subledger Accounting

Technical

Tool

Uncategorized

Web ADI

XBRL

XML Publisher

Archives

April 2011

March 2011

February 2011

January 2011

December 2010

November 2010

September 2010

August 2010

June 2010

September 2009

May 2009

April 2009

March 2009

February 2009

January 2009

December 2008

November 2008

October 2008

September 2008

August 2008

July 2008

June 2008

May 2008

April 2008

March 2008

February 2008

January 2008

December 2007


2 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

November 2007

October 2007

September 2007

August 2007

July 2007

June 2007

May 2007

April 2007

March 2007

February 2007

January 2007

December 2006

October 2006

August 2006

Links

Metalink

Oracle

Oracle Integration Repository

Disclaimer

Disclaimer

Meta:

RSS

Comments RSS

Valid XHTML

eMail

Ad

Search

Powered Search

Recent Posts

Oracle’s Imaging Solution for Invoice Processing Automation (A/P, T&E)

Oracle Enterprise Repository (OER)

EBusiness Suite : Oracle Channel Revenue Management

Understanding Fusion MiddleWare ( FMW) products: What Everyone Needs to Know

Oracle’s Co-Existence Strategy

Blogroll


3 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

David Haimes

Floyd Teter

Steven Chan

Tim Dexter

Trioragroup Blog

Total Page View

User Onlines

41 Users

Deep Drive : Customer Interface in AR

Posted on November 8th, 2007 by Sanjit Anand | Print This Post | Email This Post

Have you joined Hub Community Network Forums of OracleaApps professionals? Don't wait. Do it today

Lot of people requested some more information for customer import. So I decided to clubbed together, so here to go:

Lets start with Customer ..why it is important in your business.

As per encyclopedia the customer is defined as:

"A customer is someone who makes use of or receives the products or services of an individual or organization." Its means it

is one who become a entity in your business world, irrespective of your line of business. If you are manufacturer the

customer is one to whom you provide the product and get the money or services for which your get paid.

Time to time the customer definition has been changed and now in today economy it can be redefined as:

A customer..may include users, consumers, demanders, commanders, and requestors. Any person or entity who interacts

directly or indirectly with any business system, thus it can be a client within internal departments, a supplier from the

procurement process, an employee, or someone who is ringing up the cash register.

What information is important to keep in Business?

Typical information required for any customer is address, contact, bank , profile,class. Oracle standard form does have more

than 8 tabs which hold most of the information. A typical flow of customer setup in Oracle is as;


4 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

Fig: Standard Setup process for customer

Fig : Entity Model for Customer Setup

What is Customer Interface ?

Customer Interface is a oracle seeded tool that is used to import and validate current or historical customer information from

other systems into Receivables. Once customer information is imported into the system, you can use Customer Interface to

import additional data for that customer (such as additional contacts or addresses) and to update existing information. This is

yet another options to enter Customer information other than manually update and enter new information using the

Customer windows.

Customer Interface and Customer in pre 11i and 11i

If you are coming from some old version, if have been noticed few things has been changed:


5 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

Customer tables have changed, to move customer in TCA model, it means

The HZ tables

The role of Parties

Note:Added in order to track prospective customers Due to CRM integration and adds â€œbenefitâ€ of

having all customer â€œgroupsâ€ stored in one location.

11i tables used by Customer Interface

Pre 11i versions used only 12 tables

11i version uses 23+ tables

Only 4 of those tables remain the same

Main Customer tables have changed

Revised look and feel to Customer screen, too

The Change

Here is significant changes has been noticed from pre 11i and r11i version.

FIND screen

in 11i Find window automatically appears while calling customer screen.

most important , the Match Results window now is included in 11i, and it represnt multiple lines due to Parties and Accounts:


6 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

Customer screen


7 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

Customer Tables

Previous Tables that have changed

RA_CUSTOMERS

RA_ADDRESSES

RA_SITE_USES

RA_PHONES

RA_CONTACTS

AR_CUSTOMER_PROFILES

RA_CUSTOMER_RELATIONSHIPS

AR_CUSTOMER_PROFILE_AMOUNTS

Tables that remain the same

RA_CUST_RECEIPT_METHODS

AP_BANK_BRANCHES

AP_BANK_ACCOUNTS

AP_BANK_ACCOUNT_USES

TCA model - how its drived

RA_CUSTOMERS, previously the main customer table is now a view.This become view which consists of data in

HZ_CUST_ACCOUNTS and HZ_PARTIES tables.

New Customer Tables - also known as HZ Tables

The new HZ Customer Tables have tables for Customer Accounts and Parties

Customer Table Vs HZ Tables

Here is summarize information for both for them:


8 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

Send Big Files By

Email

Send Large Files

Instantly. Join Over

17 Million Users! Try

it FreeYouSendIt.com/Send-Big-Files-Email

Cloud Computing

Training

Free webinars and

online tutorials Learn

to manage Cloud

Applicationswiki.Kaavo.com

Derivatives Models

Verify the Accuracy of

Your Numbers

Industry Standard

Modelswww.fincad.com

ATCA / MicroTCA

Systems

Largest selection of

chassis & more.

Custom solutions.www.elma.com/us

1192+ of Oracle

Openings

Exp: 0 to 13 Yrs.Sal:

25k to 95k PM Apply

Now & get Multiple

InterviewsTimesJobs.com/Oracle_Developer


9 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

Considering Customer as Parties

HZ_PARTIES stores information about organizations, groups, and people.

If a party becomes a customer then the information for the customer is stored in the HZ_CUST_ACCOUNTS table.

A Party record in the Parties table can have multiple customer account records in the Customer Accounts table.

One row is created in HZ_PARTIES for every customer record that is imported through the Customer Interface.

CRM uses the customer module making it a requirement for all customers to have a party id and customer id.

Customer Interface : The Flow:

The following diagram shows how customer information is imported into the customer tables.


10 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

11i Customer Interface Vs Oracle Base table

Here is summarize information for interface Vs base table. Once Customer Import get completed successfully , the data

moved to these tables:

Please take a note, the bank model has been changed in r12, this will have till 11.5.10.2. If you are looking for R12 , refer to

trm guide.

Where to start for Customer Interface


11 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

1.The first steps would be your is preparing Receivables setup activity

Be sure to set up new data in Receivables that the Customer Interface should import. For example:

AutoCash Rule Sets

AutoInvoice Grouping Rules

Collectors

Customer Addresses

Customer Bank Information

Customer Exemptions

Customer Profile Classes

Demand Classes

Dunning Letter Sets

Freight Carriers

Payment Methods

Payment Terms

Statement Cycles

Tax Codes

Be sure to also set up Lookups in Receivables that the Customer Interface should import. These are the lookups:

Countries

Site Use Codes

Credit Ratings

Risk Codes

Account Statuses

Communication Types

Customer Classes

2. Next is to map the Interface Tables

RA_CUSTOMER_INTERFACE_ALL

ORIG_SYSTEM_CUSTOMER_REF

CUSTOMER_NAME

CUSTOMER_STATUS

INSERT_UPDATE_FLAG

CUSTOMER_NUMBER

ORIG_SYSTEM_ADDRESS_REF

PRIMARY_SITE_USE_FLAG

SITE_USE_CODE

ADDRESS1

COUNTRY

LOCATION

RA_CUSTOMER_PROFILES_INT_ALL

CUSTOMER_PROFILE_CLASS_NAME


INSERT_UPDATE_FLAG

CREDIT_HOLD


RA_CONTACT_PHONES_INT_ALL


ORIG_SYSTEM_TELEPHONE_REF

TELEPHONE

TELEPHONE_TYPE

INSERT_UPDATE_FLAG


ORIG_SYSTEM_CONTACT_REF

CONTACT_LAST_NAME

RA_BANKS_INTERFACE


PRIMARY_FLAG


12 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

START_DATE

BANK_ACCOUNT_NAME

BANK_ACCOUNT_CURRENCY_CODE

BANK_ACCOUNT_NUM

BANK_BRANCH_NAME


RA_CUST_PAY_METHOD_INTERFACE


START_DATE

PAYMENT_METHOD_NAME

PRIMARY_FLAG


3. RUN the Import Program

Run Import after AR Customer Interface tables have been populated

Program will validate the data in the interface table before creating records in Receivables

Run the Customer Interface process through the Submit Request window

But, a separate navigational path is also provided

Interfaces -> Customer

Check output file for errors

Make corrections and repeat import process

Not Surprise , if you get these....Common Errors..very common

a3: Bill_To_Orig_Address_Ref is not a valid bill-to address

Verify the Bill-To address reference is valid. Keep in mind that when using the bill-to reference with a ship-to

address record... the bill-to must already exist in Receivables.

Note: Ran into this issue. Try running bill-to records through the interface first and ship-to records as second

batch - this will resolve the error. Do not Interface with both in the same batch.

a1:Customer record for insert must have validated profile record defined

New customers and each Bill-To record must have a customer level profile in the

RA_CUSTOMER_PROFILES_INT_ALL table.

a8: Conflicting profile classes specified for this customer/site

Profile classes for customer and bill-to must be the same. Sites cannot have a profile class different from the

customer.


13 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

J1: Site_USE_CODE is not updateable.

J3: LOCATION is not updateable.

J2: PRIMARY_SITE_USE_FLAG is not updateable.

Keep in mind that site_use_code, primary_use_flag, and location may not be updateable through the Customer

Interface

A3: Customer reference for insert is already defined.

A5: Customer Number already assigned to a different customer.

Customer reference and Customer number are values that must be unique. Verify the customer reference or

customer number does not already exist for another customer.

Tips and Technique

1. Check out some of the Profile Options hitting Customer Import

HZ: Generate Party Number

This the profile option can be updated at Site, Application, Responsibility and User levels.This profile option

determines whether party number should be auto-generated. If value is 'No',means party number must be passed

in by the user else if 'Yes' or if the value is not set, party number will be auto-generated.

HZ: Generate Party Site Number

same as above for party site number set at all leval.

HZ: Internal Party

This profile option is used as a part of CRM setup. This must be set if CRM is installed. It is used for data

migration purpose.

HZ: Generate Contact Number

This profile option determines whether contact number should be auto-generated.If the value is 'No', contact

number must be passed in by the user. If the value is 'Yes' or if the value is not set, contact number will be

auto-generated.

2. Automatic sequence number for customer number

Many times AR department is not like oracle seeded number which start by default 1000.Options are there:

From R11 and 11i, you cannot change the sequence via the forms and therefore any change that you make to the sequence

would have to be

through SQLPlus and that would not be supported.

To set the sequence number

Step 1. In the Application Developer responsibility,

Menu: Application=>Database=>Sequence

Step 2. Query on sequence RA_CUSTOMERS_NUM_S

This will bring up the sequence for the customer numbers and you can enter the number that you

want it to start from.

To set automatic numbering for customer after setting the sequence:

Step 1. Menu:=>System=>System Options

Step 2. Region - Invoicing and Customers

Step 3. Check the box for Automatic Customer Numbering.

3. When doing Migration from other system, adviced to use TRIM Function

When loading interface tables remove all trailing spaces from import data.

Example: LTRIM(RTRIM(customer_name))

4.If importing large number of customers, run in smaller batches instead of all at once.

Oracle benchmark is about 10,000 records per batch is ideal, it is suggested to keep the batch size small.

5.When rolling out in Multi-Org , then you must populate the org_IDs in the interface tables and run the customer


14 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

interface for each organization set-up responsiblity.

Posted in Functional, Oracle Receivable, Technical | 50 Comments » Email This Post | Print This Post

Have you joined OracleappsHub CommunityNetwork Forums ? Don't wait. Do it today

50 Responses

Prativa Says:

November 8th, 2007 at 12:57 pm

Hi Anand, Thanks a lot for these nice articles. Please keep it up. God Bless you in every aspects.

Could you please put more article in AR process, transactions, receipts, recognition, and period close.I am a technical

consultant. I have worked less in AR. I would like learn more.

1.

Paul Guillen Says:

November 28th, 2007 at 11:56 am

Hi Anand;

Thank you for all your articles, very helpful in understanding the process.

Qustion for you?

DO you or will you have some info on the AR changes in new release 12.

Thank you in advance

2.

Srinath Says:

December 5th, 2007 at 9:32 pm

Hi

Anand Nice article about customer interface

Thanks a lot for the information

3.

Chandu Says:

December 8th, 2007 at 1:22 am

Hi Anand,

its very nice to see people helping others and your work is really commendable…bcause for the starters in AR like me

the info given is immensely helpful..especially the error part…keep it up….

Thanks You.

4.

Mark Valentine Says:

January 12th, 2008 at 2:11 am

Hi,

I need some thing in Customer Conversion details. How we can do a conversion program in apps…

5.

Sanjit Anand Says:


your step should be:

1. try to understand what is the source of data.Understand the data and attribute first, then try to map with interface

table as discussed in this post.

6.


15 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

2.If source is in Oracle, use db link, else in case of other system, you need to write a loader program .

3. Write a pre-validation program which will validate the data from staging and insert into interface table.

4. run the customer import seeded program.If any expection , review log and re-import the step 4.

This is the standrad way to do conversion. If you are new to oracle apps adviced to use Customer import else API’s are

are too good to use.

In case if you are looking any specfic information, let me know, will share.

Prasad Says:

January 15th, 2008 at 10:10 pm

Hi,

this is a nice article. Thanks.

I am trying to import Customers

and i get

Q2 Error : Validation failed for the key location flexfield structure.

I am not able to figure out what i need to do for this.

any help would be highly appreciated .

thanks

7.

Sanjit Anand Says:


hey Prasad,

The Customer import normally throws such kind of error when you are not passing country field.

Make sure the field in the country you are passing and must exist in the FND_TERRITORIES table

If Address Validation is set to ‘No validation’ and you pass a value that does not exist in AR_LOCATION_VALUES,

Customer Interface inserts this value

into AR_LOCATION_VALUES.

Validation – The county must exist in FND_TERRITORIES.

8.

Prasad Says:


Hi Anand,

Thanks for the Quick Response.

I guess i didnt pass anything in the County Field and since i am testing it I do not want the address to be validated.

So my Questions are :

1) I was assuming only Address1 , City , State, Country are mandatory fields ( and not county as you mentioned)

2) How do i set the “Address Validation” to “No Validation”

3) And if i set the Address Validation to No , what fields should Can/ Should I Pass

Thanks again Anand. I appreciate the help you are providing. Oracle Apps is such an Ocean that you always feel

somebody needs to be there to guide you all the time.

thanks again

9.

Sanjit Anand Says:


for 1: do a quick cehck on

SELECT territory_code

FROM fnd_territories_vl

WHERE territory_code =

10.


16 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

For 2:Check the value in AR System Options ??

Navigate to AR go to system options.

In case if you are still stuck, share your insert script, then will figure out where it goes wrong.

Prasad Says:


Thanks Anand.

I have been waiting to get a response from you.

I hardcoded all the values and tried. it still doesnt work

getting frustrated…..

11.

Prasad Says:


I’ll send you the code i am using.

Thanks again anand.

12.

Haq Says:

January 22nd, 2008 at 1:36 am

Hi Anand,

Its very nice to have such article…..

I have few doubts…

As I am a technical consultant… I want to know something about functional flow.. also now am n customer/invoice

conversion

so,

1) where I want to start ( incase of functional)

2) for customer/invoice conversion, where I want to start technical as well as functional aspects…

3)do u have any documents related to that, if so please send it to me

Thanks in advance….

2)where

13.

Sanjit Anand Says:

January 22nd, 2008 at 2:26 am

I would advice you to refer TRM and user guide, which is freely avaiable on internet from Oracle site, in case if you

are still looking any specfic information or document just let me know.

Oracle University has different courses, they are also benifical. You can check to there site for details and fee.

14.

Pauline Says:


Hi Anand

Great article.

I was going through it and found:-

“A Party record in the Parties table can have multiple customer account records in the Customer Accounts table.”

15.


17 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

Had a question on this.

Does it means that standard oracle allows multiple CUST_ACCOUNT_ID to 1 PARTY_ID?

If yes, usually for what kind of situation?

Appreciate your advise. Thanks in advance.

Pauline

Sanjit Anand Says:


Thanks Pauline ,

Yes, we can.

Donot get confused with these terms:

Let me recap these two words:

â€œPartyâ€ is an entity in the Trading Community Model that can enter into business relationships. A party is a real

person, organization, branch,subsidiary, legal entity, holding company, etc. The attributes of a party are universal. In

other words, they are independent of your selling (or ultimately buying) relationship with the party.

â€œAccountâ€ refers to the details of the deploying companyâ€™s selling relationship with a particular customer.

Account â€“ the attributes of the selling relationship between the company deploying Oracle Applications and a party.

Account attributes do not describe a

party; they only exist when a selling relationship is present between the deploying company and the party.

More over you should note that: An account is created for a party not for a party site. The selling relationship is not

with a location but with the party that is using that location.

An Account cannot be created without a Party.

Account Site â€“ a party site that is used within the context of an account; e.g., for billing or shipping purposes.

You need to have 2 tables:

1) HZ_CUST_ACCOUNTS

The HZ_CUST_ACCOUNTS table stores information about customer relationships established with a party. When a

party becomes a customer, information about the customer account is stored in this table. Since a party can have

multiple customer accounts, this table may contain several records for a single party. For example, an individual person

may establish a personal account, a family account, and a professional account for a consulting practice. Note that the

focus of this table is a business relationship and how transactions are conducted in the relationship. The primary key

for this table is CUST_ACCOUNT_ID.

A single PARTY_ID is stored on this table to designate the customer account owner.

Each customer account may have only one owner (although other parties may be associated to the customer account

via the HZ_CUST_ACCOUNT_ROLES table).

2)HZ_CUST_ACCT_RELATE_ALL

HZ_CUST_ACCT_RELATE_ALL stores information about relationships between customer accounts. A flag allows

you to indicate whether a relationship is reciprocal. Note that columns also exist to reflect if the account relationship

exist to enable shipping or billing to other accounts.

16.


18 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

In real business world, these are approch normally we take:

1.Party Centric Approach : where each custmer is traeted as Party.

2.Site Centric Approach

Here are the screen snapshots how it looks:

1.Party Centric Approach


19 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

I have done setup for three account, account#1,#2,#3

2.Site Centric Approach


20 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

This can be best understood as customer Number 10009831-10009832-10009834


21 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

select party_id, party_number,party_name from hz_parties where party_name=’PAULINE’

Means we have 4 party created

Case 1: 3 party as 3 customer name with 3 different account

Case 2: 1 party as 1 Customer name with 3 site , each site pointing to one account.

Case 2, is more popular in industry. Typical Healthcare , uses case 2.


22 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

select * from HZ_CUST_ACCOUNTS where party_id in (select party_id from hz_parties where

party_name=’PAULINE’)

I have already sent you a mail, in case if more information , let me know.

Hope this helps.

sanjit

Anshul Says:

February 29th, 2008 at 1:53 pm

Hi Anand,

This is an excellent article you have provided. Good work man!!

Hey can you please provide some information on the API’s used to import customers?

Regards,

Anshul

17.

Harsh Says:

April 8th, 2008 at 12:08 pm

Hi Anand,

The above article is really very useful. Similarly do you have the complete flow of the AR and AP till GL including

table level updates and API’s used?

Regards,

Harsh

18.

kavya, Says:


Hi Anand,

Article is really good to understand the customer interface,I have one quick question…which table is used to store the

interface errors

19.

Darshini Says:


hi Anand,

Article is really good to understand the customer interface.

I have one quick question regarding errors…which table is used to store the interface errors

20.


23 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

Thanks,

Darshini

Sanjit Anand Says:

April 15th, 2008 at 7:12 am

there is no error for customer interface. The best way is run the customer import, and if you get reported error in log ,

refer back to documentation and fix this.

i hope you must have error list and there possible resolutions.

21.

Hi Anand, Says:

April 25th, 2008 at 11:26 am

During Customer conversion is there a way to populate payment terms for customer at the site level.In other words,is

there any field in the interface tables to load the ‘Payment terms’ at the site level in addition to, the profile level?

Thanks inadvance

22.

Darshini Says:


Hi,

Is there anyway to assign ‘Payment Terms’ to Customer at site level using interface table.(Is there any Column in

interface table to load Payment Terms for the customer not at profile class level but at the site level)

Thanks in advance!

23.

Sanjit Anand Says:


Darshini,

you need to populate ra_customer_profiles_int_all.standard_term_name.

Now , you need to populate these two columns for tag this payment term.

1) orig_system_address_ref column

This is one of mandatory column.

2)Orig_system_customer_ref

If you provide this value , of site then payment term is tag at site leval

Hope this helps

24.

Hi Anand, Says:

April 28th, 2008 at 7:14 am

Hi Anand,

Thanks for the help …but this populates the payment terms at the profile calss of the customer at site level. But I am

trying to populate at

Navigation:

Customer>Address> business purpose > bill_to>Details > ‘Payment terms’

is there any other field in interface table to populate this field.

I greatly appreciate your help.

25.

Darshini Says:


26.


24 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

Hi Anand,

there is no way to load the payment terms using interface,its know by oracle and they have an enhance request created

for this.

customer conversion and loading the customers as ‘Person’ is it possible to create the same party(person,sam peter) as

the contact of himself(sam peter) .

I am able to load data according to above scenario using custom script and ‘Customer Interface’ but when we tried

create the contact as same person using forms it errors and doesn’t let us save the data. Its strange some times it lets us

create the contact even from forms too…its not stable?

Do you have any thoughts on this?

Main concern is can we create same person (‘SAM PETER’) as the contact at the customer level (‘SAM PETER’)..is

this allowable in oracle?

Thanks!

sanjit Says:

April 30th, 2008 at 10:36 pm

Darshini

I am relly sorry that could not reply on time as running out of tight schedule in project.

Coming to first part;

Payment term , you need to understand this is drive how term is picked and thus incorporting customer aging. The

reason, your working capital is trigger with the term(no of days..agreed to pay) for which a particular customer is

picked. More over Ship_to or bill_to have different purpsoes and I did not find any sense to keep payment term at

purpose leval , which never have any usage.

More over during Billing customer is drived by two leval

- customer leval

- site leval

or

- Location level

there there you can manage payment term at at above mention options, and if oracle is overrides by these hirecery.

I have a hospital based customer where the requirement was very same , but when you model customer model and

customer billing , we reliazed that can n’t be a valid case,therefore we capture the payment term at site cum location

leval.

27.


25 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

Coming to your last part, We can …do …

I have senarios from one of heathcare based cleint and will elaborate how this is modeled.

Lets say,The customer is register as Dr X defined as party as person as well as Customer in Oracle.

And as contact point same as X

This is very similar to your case.

LETS RECAP THE BASIC

party erson or organization that enters business relationships with another party

…..For example, Darshini and Vision Corporation are respectively parties of the person and organization party types

Contact :Individual person or organization that communicates on behalf of an organization or person.

……For example, Darshini, a purchasing manager, would be a contact for Vision Corporation.

if you lookat the model for this section

An individual person or organization that communicates on behalf of an organization or another person.

â€¢ Organization contact: Describes the position held by the contact for a party or party site,not the specific person

who fills the position

â€¢ Contact roles: Defines the roles performed by the contact within an organization

â€¢ Relationships: Information about a relationship between two parties.

â€¢ Party: Entity that can join in business relationships

The more important for you to pull and manage best by orig_system_ref…column.

Darshini Says:

May 1st, 2008 at 4:04 am

Hi Anand,

Thanks for the good explanation.

We are looking for the payment term at business purpose for ‘Consolidated billing ‘ for which this field is required.

28.


26 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

and regarding second.So we can create same person as the contact/relationship as ‘contact’ and has contact with

himself..it is permissible?

Thanks!

SB Says:

May 4th, 2008 at 8:21 pm

Hi Sanjit,

Excellent article. I have a couple of questions. We intend to convert some legacy data into Oracle 11i into the TCA

model.

1) Do we need to decide on a specific model before we convert? like you mentioned the site centric and party centric

approach earlier.

In case we have to how is one different from the other and how would that change the conversion strategy?

2) If we use the standard Customer interface and convert will that be in the TCA model? What is the difference

between using the standard interface versus the TCA API’s.

3)If we import using the Standard Interface can we convert later to the TCA model??

To many questions… am a bit confused at this moment.

Thanks in Advance..

SB

29.

Sanjit Anand Says:

May 4th, 2008 at 9:03 pm

1) Do we need to decide on a specific model before we convert? like you mentioned the site centric and party

centric approach earlier.

In case we have to how is one different from the other and how would that change the conversion strategy?

>>>Yes, you have to decide based out of your billing revenue model, what is best way to manage your customer. If

you are not using other CRM products, your focus should be only on Billing part and you have to look a particular

customer same as party.

The model varies from industry to industry , like Telecom, healthcare, and banking. The more customer centric

business like (Telecom, healtcare ) they prefer to go site /location centric. Once you decided which model should be ,

they it’s a simple matter to tag location and site with particular customer/party.Accounts will be drived by site or

location leval. Technically, few columns like orig_system_ref_id,orig_system_%%

2) If we use the standard Customer interface and convert will that be in the TCA model? What is the difference

between using the standard interface versus the TCA API’s.

>>> Customer Import and TCA API’s does not make any difference while converting customer from other system.

The customer import is very easy to use , thus people tried to use. as API will have lot many capabilities, but its

requires bit longer time for development efforts.

3)If we import using the Standard Interface can we convert later to the TCA model??

>>>> Donot confuse with TCA model, TCA is just a model, the way in which you can manage your customer. There

are underline API’s , which iteslf a subset of underline API’s by customer Import. There is no difference at all.

Yes, TCA, will empower you to extend customer in some other area like CDH(data hub), D &B and other CRM &

sales Model.

Donot get confused with these two things

let me recap

Customer Import – The way to create customer by oracle OIT based API’s

TCA API’S – The way to create custmor data by Oracle API’S without OIT(Oracle Open Interface Table)

TCA - The architure provided by Oracle to manage business entity like Customer, bank, Supplier, student.

30.


27 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

My advice, if you are dealing with Technical things , come out with a genralize picture of a particular customer, then

only you can 2 options to go either customer import or TCA API’s

If Functional , then try to see the customer from billing point and others aspect like statement of account, bill to, ship

to, dunning kind of view

Still, have any query let me know, will try to help you out in understanding.

SB Says:

May 6th, 2008 at 12:07 pm

Thanks a lot for your response Sanjit.

Few more queries…

1) you said once we decide the model “Technically, few columns like orig_system_ref_id,orig_system_%%”

Can you be more specific whats different between both. Or maybe you can provide a example on how both models are

setup from the application side and provide sample records and how the interface load would vary.

I am more interested in the technical part.

Thanks a ton.. i know this takes lot of effort and time. realy appreciate your time and desire to share.

Thanks

31.

Sanjit Anand Says:

May 6th, 2008 at 4:25 pm

SB,

Technically its not so tough to understand.

can u understand comment #16, which clearly understood tow approach. Once its understood, i will provide provide

input which additional column you should be more specfic.

32.

Kumar Says:

May 15th, 2008 at 8:15 am

Sanjit, can we make a customer with only ship_to and no bill_to, i have a requirement to create customer with only

ship_to in R12. Let me know as I am able to create customer from front end with only ship_to address as site level.

but when i pass the customer from interface table it fails.

Thanks in advance,

33.

Ramanan Iyer Says:

May 17th, 2008 at 12:28 am

These are the error message , sharing for the rest of people who seek some information.

These are the message codes and their meaning:

A1 –> The customer reference for update does not exist in RA_CUSTOMERS

A2 –> The address reference for update does not exist in RA_ADDRESSES

A3 –> Customer reference for insert is already defined in RA_CUSTOMERS

A4 –> Site use for this address reference already exists in the database

A5 –> Customer Number already assigned to a different customer

B1 –> ORIG_SYSTEM_ADDRESS_REF is mandatory when specifying an address

B2 –> ADDRESS1 is mandatory when specifying an address

34.


28 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

B3 –> COUNTRY is mandatory when specifying an address

B4 –> SITE_USE_CODE is mandatory when inserting an address

B5 –> PRIMARY_SITE_USE_FLAG is mandatory when inserting an address

B6 –> CUSTOMER_CLASS_CODE is not defined in AR_LOOKUPS

B7 –> CUSTOMER_PROFILE_CLASS_NAME has an invalid value

B8 –> STATE is not defined in AR_LOCATION_VALUES

B9 –> COUNTRY is not defined in fnd_territories

B0 –> SITE_USE_CODE is not defined in AR_LOOKUPS

C1 –> This customer reference has two different customer names defined

C2 –> This customer reference has two different customer numbers defined

C3 –> This customer reference has two different parent customer references

C5 –> Customer reference has two different customer class codes defined

C6 –> This customer reference has two identical primary site uses defined

D1 –> Address reference has two different ADDRESS1 values




D5 –> Address reference has two different cities

D6 –> Address reference has two different postal codes

D7 –> Address reference has two different states

D8 –> Address reference has two different provinces

D9 –> Address reference has two different counties

D0 –> Address reference has two different countries

E1 –> Address reference has two identical site use codes

E2 –> Address reference has two different customers

F1 –> ORIG_SYSTEM_TELEPHONE_REF mandatory for telephone information

F2 –> TELEPHONE is mandatory when specifying telephone information

F3 –> TELEPHONE_TYPE is mandatory when specifying telephone information

F4 –> TELEPHONE_TYPE is not defined in AR_LOOKUPS

F5 –> Telephone reference for insert is already defined in RA_PHONES

F6 –> Telephone reference for update does not exist in RA_PHONES


29 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

G1 –> ORIG_SYSTEM_CONTACT_REF mandatory for contact information

G2 –> LAST_NAME is mandatory when specifying a contact

G3 –> CONTACT_TITLE is not defined in AR_LOOKUPS

G4 –> Contact reference for insert is already defined in RA_CONTACTS

G5 –> Contact reference for update is not defined in RA_CONTACTS

G6 –> The address reference specified is not defined for this customer

G7 –> CONTACT_JOB_TITLE must be defined in AR_LOOKUPS

H1 –> Contact reference has two different first names

H2 –> Contact reference has two different last names

H3 –> Contact reference has two different titles

H4 –> Contact reference has two different job titles

H5 –> Contact reference has two different customers

H6 –> Contact reference has two different addresses

I1 –> Telephone reference has two different phone numbers

I2 –> Telephone reference has multiple extensions

I3 –> Telephone reference has two different types

I4 –> Telephone reference has two different area codes

I6 –> Telephone reference has two different customers

I7 –> Telephone reference has two different addresses

J1 –> SITE_USE_CODE is not updateable

J2 –> PRIMARY_SITE_USE_FLAG is not updateable

J3 –> LOCATION is not updateable

J4 –> CUSTOMER_TYPE is not defined in AR_LOOKUPS

J5 –> PRIMARY_SITE_USE_FLAG has an invalid value

J6 –> CUSTOMER_NUMBER must be null when auto-numbering is set to “Yes”

J7 –> CUSTOMER_NUMBER is mandatory when auto-numbering is set to “No”

J8 –> INSERT_UPDATE_FLAG has an invalid value

J9 –> CUSTOMER_STATUS must have a value of ‘A’ or ‘I’

K1 –> Concurrent request failed

K3 –> This customer reference has two different customer types defined

L1 –> COLLECTOR_NAME is mandatory when no profile class specified


30 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

L2 –> TOLERANCE is mandatory when no profile class specified

L3 –> DISCOUNT_TERMS is mandatory when no profile class specified

L4 –> DUNNING_LETTERS is mandatory when no profile class specified

L5 –> INTEREST_CHARGES is mandatory when no profile class specified

L6 –> STATEMENTS is mandatory when no profile class specified

L7 –> CREDIT_BALANCE_STATEMENTS mandatory when no profile class specified

L9 –> DUNNING_LETTER_SET_NAME is mandatory when DUNNING_LETTERS is “Yes”

L0 –> CHARGE_ON_FINANCE_CHARGE_FLAG mandatory when INTEREST_CHARGES is “Yes”

M1 –> INTEREST_PERIOD_DAYS is mandatory when INTEREST_CHARGES is “Yes”

M3 –> COLLECTOR_NAME has an invalid value

M4 –> CREDIT_CHECKING has an invalid value

M5 –> TOLERANCE has an invalid value

M6 –> DISCOUNT_TERMS has an invalid value

M7 –> DUNNING_LETTERS has an invalid value

M8 –> INTEREST_CHARGES has an invalid value

M9 –> STATEMENTS has an invalid value

M0 –> CREDIT_BALANCE_STATEMENTS has an invalid value

N1 –> CREDIT_HOLD has an invalid value

N2 –> CREDIT_RATING has an invalid value

N3 –> RISK_CODE has an invalid value

N4 –> STANDARD_TERM_NAME which contains the payment terms has an invalid value

N5 –> OVERRIDE_TERMS has an invalid value

N6 –> DUNNING_LETTER_SET_NAME has an invalid value

N7 –> STATEMENT_CYCLE_NAME has an invalid value

N8 –> ACCOUNT_STATUS has an invalid value

N9 –> PERCENT_COLLECTABLE has an invalid value

N0 –> AUTOCASH_HIERARCHY_NAME which contains the AutoCash rule has

an invalid value

O1 –> STATEMENT_CYCLE_NAME is mandatory when STATEMENTS is “Yes”

O2 –> LOCATION must be null when auto-numbering is set to “Yes”

O3 –> LOCATION is mandatory when auto-numbering is set to “No”

O4 –> CREDIT_CHECKING is mandatory when profile class is null


31 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

O5 –> CHARGE_ON_FINANCE_CHARGE_FLAG must be null if INTEREST_CHARGES is No

O6 –> INTEREST_PERIOD_DAYS must be null if INTEREST_CHARGES is “No”

O7 –> INTEREST_PERIOD_DAYS must be greater than zero

P1 –> Postal Code is not in the defined range of system options

Q1 –> A new location was created for a value in an address segment field

Q2 –> Validation failed for the key location flexfield structure

R1 –> CUST_SHIP_VIA_CODE is not defined in ORG_FREIGHT

R2 –> CUSTOMER_CATEGORY_CODE is not defined in AR_LOOKUPS

R3 –> CUSTOMER_CATEGORY_CODE is not enabled in AR_LOOKUPS

R4 –> CUST_TAX_CODE is not defined in AR_VAT_TAX

R5 –> CUST_TAX_REFERENCE cannot be null when CUST_TAX_CODE is ‘EXEMPT’

R6 –> SITE_USE_TAX_CODE is not defined in AR_VAT_TAX

R7 –> SITE_USE_TAX_REFERENCE is required when SITE_USE_TAX_CODE is ‘EXEMPT’

R8 –> Invalid demand class code.

R9 –> SITE_SHIP_VIA_CODE not defined in ORG_FREIGHT

S1 –> The customer reference specified is invalid

S2 –> The address reference specified is invalid

S3 –> The address reference specified is not valid for this customer

S4 –> Payment Method is not defined in AR_RECEIPT_METHODS

S5 –> A bank account does not exist for the specified customer

S6 –> The end date specified cannot be before the start date

S7 –> The address specified must have an active BILL_TO site defined

T1 –> Customer payment method already active between the dates specified

T2 –> Customer site payment method already active between the dates specified

T3 –> Customer already has a primary payment method for specified dates

T4 –> Customer site has a primary payment method on the dates specified

T5 –> This customer payment method is already active in this date range

T6 –> Multiple primary payment methods defined

V2 –> The bank account specified must be of type ‘EXTERNAL’

V3 –> Customer bank account is already active between the dates specified

V4 –> Customer site bank account already active between these dates


32 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

V5 –> This customer already has primary bank account for specified dates

V6 –> Customer site can have only 1 primary bank account for the dates

specified

V7 –> Duplicate rows exist in Interface table for this Customer Bank and

date run

V8 –> Duplicate primary customer banks defined within the interface table

W1 –> BANK_NAME is mandatory when creating a new bank account

W2 –> BANK_BRANCH_NAME is mandatory when creating a new bank account

W3 –> BANK_ACCOUNT_CURRENCY_CODE is mandatory creating a new bank account

W4 –> BANK_ACCOUNT_CURRENCY_CODE is not defined in FND_CURRENCIES

W5 –> Bank number already exists.

W6 –> Duplicate bank number in interface table.

W7 –> Primary flag should be ‘Y’ or ‘N’.

W8 –> Duplicate bank and branch name in interface table.

W9 –> Duplicate Location

W0 –> Bank and branch name already exists.

X1 –> AUTO_REC_INCL_DISPUTED_FLAG mandatory when profile class is null

X2 –> TAX_PRINTING_OPTION is mandatory when no profile class specified

X3 –> GROUPING_RULE_NAME is mandatory when no profile class is specified

X4 –> CHARGE_ON_FINANCE_CHARGES_FLAG has an invalid value

X5 –> GROUPING_RULE_NAME has an invalid value

X6 –> CURRENCY_CODE has an invalid value

X7 –> CREDIT_BALANCE_STATEMENTS is mandatory when STATEMENTS is “Yes”

X8 –> CREDIT_BALANCE_STATEMENTS must be “No” when STATEMENTS is “No”

X9 –> STATEMENT_CYCLE_NAME must be null when STATEMENTS is “No”

X0 –> OVERRIDE_TERMS is mandatory when no profile class is specified

Y1 –> PARTY_NUMBER must be null when auto-numbering is set

Y2 –> PARTY_NUMBER is mandatory when auto-numbering is set to “No”

Y3 –> Party Number already assigned to a different party.

Y4 –> This party reference has two different party numbers defined in

RA_CUSTOMERS_INTERFACE.

Y5 –> PERSON_FLAG has an invalid value

Y6 –> Party Site Number already assigned to a different address


33 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

Y7 –> Address reference has two different party site numbers defined in

RA_CUSTOMERS_INTERFACE.

Y8 –> PARTY_SITE_NUMBER must be null when auto-numbering is set

Y9 –> PARTY_SITE_NUMBER is mandatory when auto-numbering is set to “No”

Z1 –> CREDIT_BALANCE_STATEMENTS must be null when STATEMENTS is null

Z2 –> STATEMENT_CYCLE_NAME must be null when STATEMENTS is null

Z3 –> CHARGE_ON_FINANCE_CHARGE_FLAG must be null when INTEREST_CHARGES is null

Z4 –> INTEREST_PERIOD_DAYS must be null when INTEREST_CHARGES is null

Z5 –> DISCOUNT_GRACE_DAYS must be null when DISCOUNT_TERMS is null

Z6 –> DISCOUNT_GRACE_DAYS must positive

Z7 –> DISCOUNT_GRACE_DAYS must be null when DISCOUNT_TERMS is “No”

Z8 –> DUNNING_LETTER_SET_NAME must be null when DUNNING_LETTERS is “No”

Z9 –> DUNNING_LETTER_SET_NAME must be null when DUNNING_LETTERS is null

Z0 –> CURRENCY_CODE is mandatory when a profile amount value is populated

a1 –> Customer record for insert must have validated profile record defined

a2 –> TAX_PRINTING_OPTION has an invalid value

a3 –> The customer profile for this customer reference already exists

a4 –> The customer profile class for update does not exist

a7 –> Duplicate record within the interface table

a8 –> Conflicting profile classes specified for this customer/site

b1 –> Both TRX_CREDIT_LIMIT and OVERALL_CREDIT_LIMIT must be populated

b2 –> TRX_CREDIT_LIMIT may not be greater than the OVERALL_CREDIT_LIMIT

b3 –> DUNNING_LETTER_SET_NAME must have a unique value

b4 –> COLLECTOR_NAME must have a unique value

b5 –> STANDARD_TERM_NAME must have a unique value

b6 –> STATEMENT_CYCLE_NAME must have a unique value

b7 –> BANK_ACCOUNT_NUM is mandatory when creating a new bank account

b8 –> AUTO_REC_INCL_DISPUTE_FLAG has an invalid value

b9 –> PAYMENT_GRACE_DAYS must be a positive value

e2 –> Bill_to_orig_address_ref should only be defined for Ship-to Addresses

e3 –> Bill_to_orig_address_ref is not a valid bill-to address

f1 –> You may have only one active Dunning site use for each customer


34 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

f2 –> For each customer, you may only have one active “Statements” type

f3 –> For each customer, you may only have one active Legal site

f4 –> Clearing Days must be greater than or equal to zero

f5 –> Address language is not installed

f6 –> Address reference has different languages

f7 –> Duplicate telephone reference in table RA_CONTACT_PHONES_INTERFACE

f8 –> A bank and branch with this bank number and branch number already exists

f9 –> Customer Prospect Code must be either CUSTOMER or PROSPECT

g1 –> This customer reference has two different customer prospect codes

u5 –> Contact reference has two different e-mail addresses

w2 –> CREDIT_CLASSIFICATION must have a valid value

w3 –> You cannot update the PARTY_TYPE using Customer Interface.

Please do not specify a value for PARTY_TYPE when the

INSERT_UPDATE_FLAG is set to U.

w4 –> When you create a PERSON party_type, you must provide

PERSON_FIRST_NAME or PERSON_LAST_NAME.

y0 –> CONTACT_JOB_TITLE is not defined

y1 –> PHONE_COUNTRY_CODE is not defined in HZ_PHONE_COUNTRY_CODES

y2 –> This customer is already assigned to a different party

y3 –> This customer is already assigned to a different party

y4 –> LOCKBOX_MATCHING_OPTION must have a valid value

y6 –> TELEPHONE_TYPE cannot be updated from telex to any other type or any

other type to telex.

y7 –> You cannot update this address. A printed, posted, or applied

transaction with an associated tax line exists for this address

y8 –> ADDRESS_CATEGORY_CODE does not exist. Please enter a valid adress

category code or define a new one using the Receivables Lookups

window.

y9 –> ADDRESS_CATEGORY_CODE is not enabled. Please enable this address

category by updating the Enabled flag in the Receivables Lookups window.

Sanjit Anand Says:

May 17th, 2008 at 12:31 am

Thanks Ramanan for sharing this info.

sanjit

35.

Tataji Says:

May 20th, 2008 at 5:02 am

36.


35 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

Hi Anand,

Thank u very much this documnet really helped me a lot….

Dilip Says:

July 9th, 2008 at 9:19 am

Hi,

All Provided Information is very good and helpful in understanding the customer Architecture.

Kindly provide if the similar kind of information usuing API’s.

37.

ilyas Says:

July 13th, 2008 at 7:09 am

Hello Sanjit, Great article – nicely written, and informative. Thank you.

Question – For Customer conversion (R12) how does one decide between using the Open Interface Tables or the HZ

APIs? Is it a matter of data fields supported by the two APIs (Open Interface has fewer that the HZ APIs), or some

other consideration(s)?

38.

ilyas Says:

July 13th, 2008 at 7:23 am

Followup to my question.

Just noticed my question was previously asked by ‘SB’ and you’ve answered it. Thanks

39.

Dealing with “Addressee” on Customer Master | OracleApps Epicenter Says:

October 22nd, 2008 at 7:50 am

[...] Deep Drive : Customer Interface in AR [...]

40.

Trading Community Architecture (TCA) 101 | OracleApps Epicenter Says:

October 23rd, 2008 at 7:42 am

[...] TCA – Customer : Here are Technical details for 11i/R12 customer in TCA. You can also refer old post for

customer model. [...]

41.

Customer Interface Vs TCA API | OracleApps Epicenter Says:

October 28th, 2008 at 12:19 am

[...] Customer Interface aka RACUST is a concurrent program that is responsible for the import and update of AR

customer information from open interface tables to AR Customer tables. Check out the details here. [...]

42.

Steve Says:

December 22nd, 2008 at 11:34 am

The Customer already exists in an organization. I can extract it using SQL and then I want to insert it into another

operating unit using the interface. It tells me it has a duplicate customer number but that is what i want. Can you help

please?

43.

Pat Johnson Says:

April 23rd, 2009 at 4:14 am

Our Customer Interface completes with an error.

The logfile says “<<racmar: mark records for processing.

failed on a commit in main.” and the output has Exception Records in RA_CONTACT_PHONES_INTERFACE

When viewing the records – all looks OK.

44.


36 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

Have you any idea why there is an error?

Chandra Says:

June 2nd, 2009 at 5:53 am

Hi Anand,

I have seen your article. It was really nice.

I am doing customer address loading . I am trying throuhg interface program. In the interface table i have inserted

mandatory columns and tried. but I am getting the below error messages.

APP-11028: Location “STATE COUNTY CITY CA US Redlands” does not

exist. Create a new location using the Tax Location and Rates f

orm.

The Postal Code is not in the defined range of system option

even though I am not using th3e postal code.

Could you please advice me or it is really appriciated if you send me the code which you have.

Thanks in advance

Chandra

45.

Oracle Training Says:

June 11th, 2009 at 7:53 am

Thank you for useful article on Oracle customer interface tables.

46.

Vikash Says:

August 31st, 2009 at 6:31 am

Hi anand,

I need to import customers with 3 multiple orgs.Have created for only 1 BU,but i cant update the respective customer.

dont no if im doing it wrong..

Are there specific steps in migrating customer’s data to multiple orgs

47.

Kavitha Says:

November 10th, 2010 at 1:58 am

Hi,

I am getting the error_code as w8 when in contact phones interface table for interface_status column.

I checked in metalink but there is no description for the error code=’w8′.There is explanation for ‘W8′ but not for ‘w8′

I am using R12 version.

Request to help me out in this.

Regards,

kavitha

48.

charly @ Paris Says:


Many thanks for this excellent article. A chance that people like you want to share their knowledge !

49.

Ernest.... Says:

February 1st, 2011 at 11:19 am

50.


37 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

HI!!… i need to create four customer´s acconts, but i can t́ find the way to do this with

RA_CUSTOMERS_INTERFACE_ALL interface, is that posible or should i use apis?

Leave a Comment

Name

Mail (will not be published)

Website

Please note: Comment moderation is enabled and may delay your comment. There is no need to resubmit your comment.

All content present on this website is property of OracleappsHub.com and subject to international copyright laws.

© 2006-2011 Copyright OracleApps Epicenter.All Rights reserved.


38 of 38 4/19/2011 4:48 PM

Deep Drive _ Customer Interface in AR _ Oracle Apps Epicenter

Documents

Transcript of Deep Drive _ Customer Interface in AR _ Oracle Apps Epicenter