Update 21A

Revision History

This document will continue to evolve as existing sections change and new information is added. All updates appear in the following table:

Date	Product	Feature	Notes
02 JUL 2021	Cross-Product Procurement Enhancements	Integrate and Extend Procurement Using REST Services	Updated document. Revised feature description.
10 MAR 2021	Complex Work Procurement	Create Purchase Orders with Retainage Terms	Updated document. Revised Steps to Enable.
10 MAR 2021	Purchasing	Search for Purchase Orders Using Requisition Attributes	Updated document. Revised Steps to Enable and Key Resources.
02 MAR 2021	Purchasing	Other Purchasing Changes in This Update	Updated document. Added an entry and revised an existing entry.
18 FEB 2021	Sourcing	Display Negotiation Messages That Are Relevant to the Recipient	Updated document. Revised Role Information.
18 FEB 2021	Sourcing	Submit Prebids Before Auction Opens	Updated document. Revised Role Information.
11 FEB 2021	Self Service Procurement	Other Self Service Procurement Changes in This Update	Updated document. Added section.
11 FEB 2021	Self Service Procurement	Use Task Number to Identify Project Tasks When Importing Requisitions	Updated document. Added a backported feature.
29 JAN 2021	Sourcing	Use a Requirements Only Supplier Response Spreadsheet	Updated document. Revised Role Information.
07 JAN 2021	Purchasing	Allow Delivery on Purchase Orders That Are Pending Supplier Acknowledgment	Updated document. Revised Tips and Considerations.
21 DEC 2020	Purchasing	Populate Trading Partner Item Details Automatically from the Item Master Definition While Creating Purchase Orders	Updated document. Revised Tips and Considerations.
18 DEC 2020			Created initial document.

Overview

This guide outlines the information you need to know about new or improved functionality in this update, and describes any tasks you might need to perform for the update. Each section includes a brief description of the feature, the steps you need to take to enable or begin using the feature, any tips or considerations that you should keep in mind, and the resources available to help you.

SECURITY AND NEW FEATURES

The Role section of each feature identifies the security privilege and job role required to use the feature. If feature setup is required, then the Application Implementation Consultant job role is required to perform the setup, unless otherwise indicated. (If a feature doesn't include a Role section, then no security changes are required to use the feature.)

If you have created job roles, then you can use this information to add new privileges to those roles as needed. For details about how to compare your configured job roles to predefined job roles and add security artifacts to your configured job roles, see the Security Console and Roles and Role Assignments chapters in the Oracle SCM Cloud: Securing SCM guide on the Oracle Help Center.

GIVE US FEEDBACK

We welcome your comments and suggestions to improve the content. Please send us your feedback at oracle_fusion_applications_help_ww_grp@oracle.com.

Optional Uptake of New Features (Opt In)

Oracle Cloud Applications delivers new updates every quarter. This means every three months you'll receive new functionality to help you efficiently and effectively manage your business. Some features are delivered Enabled meaning they are immediately available to end users. Other features are delivered Disabled meaning you have to take action to make available. Features delivered Disabled can be activated for end users by stepping through the following instructions using the following privileges:

• Review Applications Offering (ASM_REVIEW_APPLICATIONS_OFFERINGS_PRIV)
• Configure Oracle Fusion Applications Offering (ASM_CONFIGURE_OFFERING_PRIV)

Here’s how you opt in to new features:

1. Click Navigator > My Enterprise > New Features.
2. On the Features Overview page, select your offering to review new features specific to it. Or, you can leave the default selection All Enabled Offerings to review new features for all offerings.
3. On the New Features tab, review the new features and check the opt-in status of the feature in the Enabled column. If a feature has already been enabled, you will see a check mark. Otherwise, you will see an icon to enable the feature.
4. Click the icon in the Enabled column and complete the steps to enable the feature.

In some cases, you might want to opt in to a feature that's not listed in the New Features work area. Here's how to opt in:

1. Click Navigator > My Enterprise > Offerings.
2. On the Offerings page, select your offering, and then click Opt In Features.
3. On the Opt In page, click the Edit Features (pencil) icon for the offering, or for the functional area that includes your feature.
4. On the Edit Features page, complete the steps to enable the feature.

For more information and detailed instructions on opting in to new features for your offering, see Offering Configuration.

Opt In Expiration

Occasionally, features delivered Disabled via Opt In may be enabled automatically in a future update. This is known as an Opt In Expiration. If your cloud service has any Opt In Expirations, you will see a related tab in this document. Click on that tab to see when the feature was originally delivered Disabled, and when the Opt In will expire, potentially automatically enabling the feature. You can also click here to see features with Opt In Expirations across all Oracle Cloud Applications.

Feature Summary

Complex Work Procurement

Complex Work Procurement is an end-to-end integrated solution across the Oracle Procurement Cloud, Oracle Financials Cloud, and Oracle Supply Chain Management Cloud applications. This solution is designed to model procurement of complex contracts in industries such as construction, consulting, and professional services. Complex work contracts tend to have high dollar values and long lead times, and are governed by complex payment terms. You can use Complex Work Procurement to manage various aspects of the acquisition processes involved in procuring complex work.

In this update, the Complex Work Procurement solution is comprised of 3 features. The first two features are part of the Oracle Procurement Cloud applications, and the last one is part of the Oracle Financials Cloud applications:

• Create Purchase Orders with Retainage Terms
• Negotiate Retainage for Services
• Creation and Management of Supplier Invoices with Retainage

Negotiate Retainage for Services

Retainage is a practice of withholding funds from payment until the contractor completes an agreed upon portion of the work or fulfills contractual obligations.

With this feature, you can add retainage terms in an RFQ and allow suppliers to negotiate on these terms. The terms include retainage rate and maximum retainage amount. Retainage rate is the percentage of the payment that will be withheld before releasing payments to the contractor. Maximum retainage amount is the maximum amount that can be withheld.

You can also specify retainage terms when adding lines with the spreadsheet or through the REST web services. When suppliers are responding to negotiable retainage terms they can specify retainage terms when responding by spreadsheets - both, full spreadsheet with requirements and lines, and the Lines only flat file spreadsheet.

You can also compare the retainage terms proposed by suppliers side by side during award analysis. When a complex work purchase order is generated after award, the negotiated values of the Retainage Rate and Maximum Retainage Amount from the awarded supplier's response are passed on to the purchase order.

Allow Suppliers to Negotiate on Retainage Terms

Add Retainage Terms for Each Line

Specify Retainage Terms Using the Response Spreadsheet

Minimize risk by communicating retainage requirements to potential suppliers in advance during negotiations for complex work projects.  Consider suppliers' proposed retainage terms during award analysis to make the best award decision for your project. The agreed on retainage terms are passed on to downstream transactions to ensure compliance.

Steps to Enable

Oracle Sourcing supports the use of different Purchasing document styles to control which aspects of a negotiation are available to buyers. You can select a Purchasing document style when creating negotiations using the Outcome field.

To create a retainage enabled RFQ, you must use a Purchasing Document style that supports retainage. Use the Manage Document Styles Task under the Procurement Offering to enable retainage for existing or newly created user-defined document styles.

Tips And Considerations

Retainage terms are carried over when you create an amendment or a new round.

Role Information

To use this feature, one of the following roles is required:

• Job Role Name and Code:
  • Category Manager (ORA_PON_CATEGORY_MANAGER)
  • Sourcing Project Collaborator (ORA_PON_SOURCING_PROJECT_COLLABORATOR)

Create Purchase Orders with Retainage Terms

Create purchase orders with retainage terms by specifying retainage rates and maximum retainage amounts on the purchase order lines. If needed, you can set up different retainage rates by schedule for the same purchase order line. Invoices matched to such purchase orders will automatically withhold an amount as per the specified rate. The maximum retainage amount sets the limit up to which you can withhold retainage from matched invoices.

You can import purchase orders with retainage terms using the purchase order file based data import (FBDI) or the Draft Purchase Orders REST API.

You can now create retainage-related contract terms for purchase orders using these new contract variables:

• Retainage Rate system variable - represents the common retainage rate across purchase order schedules.
• Multiple Retainage Rates system variable - indicates multiple values exist for retainage rate across purchase order schedules.
• Maximum Retainage Amount system variable - represents the maximum retainage amount for single-line purchase orders.

Enter Retainage Terms at Purchase Order Line

Enter Different Retainage Rates for Purchase Order Schedules

Enter Maximum Retainage Amount and Retainage Rate on FBDI Purchase Order Import Template

Procurement Contracts System Variables

Using this feature, you can perform these tasks:

• Create purchase orders with negotiated retainage terms from awarded bids in Oracle Sourcing Cloud.
• Communicate purchase orders with retainage terms via email or electronic messaging.
• Configure BI publisher templates to include the retainage terms.
• Monitor retainage balances on your purchase orders from the Purchase Order Life cycle and Schedule Life cycle pages.
• Analyze retainage-enabled purchase orders using the OTBI Purchasing Real time subject area.

Order Life Cycle

OTBI Procurement - Purchasing Real Time Analysis

Steps to Enable

1. In the Procurement Offering, navigate to the Manage Document Styles task.
2. Create a new document style or update an existing user-defined document style.
3. Set Retainage Enabled to Yes.

NOTE: After enabling the retainage terms on the document style, you need to expose the Retainage Rate column using the View > Columns menu on the Lines and Schedules tab, and expose the Maximum Retainage Amount column from the View > Columns menu on the Lines tab. If you don't see the the Retainage Rate or the Maximum Retainage Amount columns as expected, then use the Page Composer (Settings and Actions menu > Edit Pages) to render them using this EL expression.

       #{bindings.IsRetainageAllowedByStyle.inputValue}

You need to add this EL expression in the Show Component property of each column in the appropriate tab.

Tips And Considerations

• Use the Manage Document Styles task under the Procurement Offering to enable retainage for existing or newly created user-defined document styles.
• You can't enable retainage terms for seeded document styles: Standard Style, Consignment Purchases Style, Configure to Order Style, and Outside Processing Style.

Role Information

You have a couple of options for giving people access to set up and use this feature, depending on whether you're assigning them predefined job roles or your own configured job roles.

To set up this feature, here's what you need:

• Users who are assigned this predefined job role are automatically able to set up this feature:
  • Procurement Application Administrator (ORA_PO_PROCUREMENT_APPLICATION_ADMIN_JOB)

• Users who are assigned configured job roles that contain these privileges are able to set up this feature:
  • Manage Purchasing Document Style (PO_MANAGE_PURCHASING_DOCUMENT_STYLE_PRIV)

To use this feature, here's what you need:

• Users who are assigned this predefined job role are automatically able to access this feature:
  • Buyer (ORA_PO_BUYER_JOB)

• Users who are assigned configured job roles that contain this privilege are able to access this feature:
  • Create Purchase Order (PO_CREATE_PURCHASE_ORDER_PRIV)
  • Change Purchase Order (PO_CHANGE_PURCHASE_ORDER_PRIV)

Creation and Management of Supplier Invoices with Retainage Payment Terms

Create and manage supplier invoices matched to purchase orders with retainage payment terms. Hold back retainage on purchase orders matched invoices and only release the retained amount once the contract is completed.

SUPPLIER INVOICES MATCHED TO PURCHASE ORDERS HAVING RETAINAGE PAYMENT TERMS

Create and manage supplier invoices matched to purchase orders with retainage payment terms. You can now match a Payables invoice to a purchase order which has a retainage rate specified on the purchase order schedule. When you create an invoice line by matching to a purchase order schedule that has a retainage rate, Payables automatically calculates the retainage amount and creates a retainage distribution. Application also ensures that the retainage amount computed is not greater than the maximum retainage amount specified on the purchase order line. This retainage amount withheld is reduced from the amount that is payable to the supplier.

The following updates were made to the Create Invoice page for supplier invoices matched to purchase order schedules with retainage payment terms:

• Matching Window – You can see the retainage rate specified on the purchase order schedule

• Totals Region – You can see the total retainage deducted on the invoice

• Invoice Lines – You can see the details of retainage on the invoice line and also the retainage that is remaining to be released.

RETAINAGE RELEASE INVOICES

There is a new invoice type of retainage release which can be used to release the retained amount previously withheld. Retainage release invoices can be created either through the create Payables invoice user interface or suppliers can also request for retainage amount withheld from the supplier portal user interface.

User can create retainage release invoice by using the following 2 matching windows:

• Retainage Release by PO Schedule – Using this interface, user can query for the purchase order schedule and release the withheld amount at schedule level.

• Retainage Release by Invoices – Using this interface, user can query for all the invoices that withheld the retainage amount for a purchase order schedule and release the withheld amount based on the individual invoices.

Following are the changes done on the create invoice user interface for retainage release invoice flow:

• New invoice type of retainage release

• Retainage Release by Schedule – You can release the retained/withheld amount at the Purchase order schedule level.

• Retainage Release by invoices - You can release the retained/withheld amount at the individual invoice level.

• Invoice Lines - You can see the details of retained invoice number and the retained invoice line that was released as part of this retainage release invoice

Business Benefits:

1. Enables companies to record invoices for purchase orders with retainage payment terms.
2. Allows for release of the retainage amount after satisfactory completion of work and approval from the appropriate personnel.
3. Provides ability to configure custom reports using Oracle Transaction Business Intelligence with detailed information about retained amounts and corresponding release amounts.

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Tips And Considerations

• The Net of Retainage option is displayed in Show More mode. Enable this option to enter the total amount sent by the supplier when the supplier invoice amount is net of retainage.

• Transaction taxes and invoice time withholding taxes are calculated on the net of retainage amount. When the retainage release invoice is created, the balance of transaction taxes and invoice time withholding taxes are calculated. Payment time withholding is calculated on the payment amount. Since the payment amount is net of retainage, the withholding calculated on the standard invoice is also net of retainage. The balance withholding will be deducted when the retainage release invoice is paid.

• You can configure approval rules based on the retainage attributes like 'Net of Retainage', 'Retainage' and new invoice type of 'Retainage Release'.

• You can use the custom BIP approval notification model to customize the approval notification to display the retainage details of the invoice.

• Retainage attributes like retainage, retainage amount remaining, and retainage invoice are exposed in Payables Invoices Real Time subject area and can be used for configuring custom OTBI reports.

• The approval status of retainage release invoices is always set to 'Required', regardless of the Invoice Options approval setup. Approval rules need to be configured to send the retainage release invoices to the appropriate approver.

• Release Amount Net of Tax." You use this field to enter the difference between the total retained amount that you expect to release minus the tax amount specified on the retainage release invoice. Payables allows you to release to the extent of the release amount net of tax in the matching window of the Retainage Release by Schedule or Retainage Release by Invoice for every match cycle.

Role Information

No additional roles are required to work on this feature.

Cross-Product Procurement Enhancements

Integrate and Extend Procurement Using REST Services

In this update, Oracle Procurement Cloud delivers new and modified REST APIs to enable and simplify integration with external systems.

The new REST API introduced in this update is:

• Catalog Category Hierarchy Nodes

The following REST APIs are enhanced:

• Purchase Requisitions
  • Use the new summaryAttributes child resource in conjunction with an appropriate finder to get aggregated information from across the lines for a requisition.
  • POST and PATCH are supported for a charge account on requisition distributions.
  • New custom actions are available:
    • deriveChargeAccount (at lines) – You can derive charge account at the line level
    • updateAllLines (at header) – You can mass edit a requisition and update all lines with this action
    • calculateTax (at lines) – You can compute tax amounts at the line level
  • Change in behavior for master items: You can now pass a valid item ID item or number and the REST process will derive other related attributes (category, price, description) from the master item configuration in the Product Information Management work area.

• Draft Purchase Orders
  • GET, POST, and PATCH are supported for master contract and destination charge account.
  • GET and POST are supported for sold-to legal entity, bill-to business unit, maximum retainage amount, and retainage rate.
  • GET is supported for manufacturer and manufacturer part number.
  • When creating a PO for a master item using POST, the supplier part number, manufacturer, and manufacturer part number are retrieved from the trading partner relationship defined in the Product Information Management work area.
  • GET, POST, PATCH, and DELETE are supported for attachments.
  • PATCH can be used to create a change order on an approved purchase order. The attributes that can be modified include: master contract, requires signature, price, quantity, delivery and ship dates, PO charge account, destination charge account, projects, and descriptive flexfields.
  • PATCH can be used to cancel lines and schedules on an approved purchase order.
  • Use the cancelChangeOrder custom action to cancel pending change orders.    

• Purchase Orders
  • GET is supported for attachments, master contract, sold-to legal entity, bill-to business unit, destination charge account, maximum retainage amount, retainage rate, retainage amount, retainage released amount, manufacturer, and manufacturer part number.
  • Use the cancel custom action to cancel purchase orders.  

• Purchase Order Schedules
  • GET is supported for retainage rate, retainage amount, and retainage released amount.

• Supplier Negotiations
  • GET, POST, PATCH, and DELETE are supported for external cost factors.
  • GET, POST, and PATCH are supported for retainage rate, maximum retainage amount, and the response rule that allows suppliers to negotiate retainage.

• Supplier Qualification Questions
  • Question Plain Text attribute is available for use with components that don’t support rich text, such as the Oracle Visual Builder Add-in for Excel.

You can use these new and modified REST services to simplify integrations and support standards-based interoperability with your other applications and external systems.

Steps to Enable

Review the REST service definition in the REST API guides, available from the Oracle Help Center > your apps service area of interest > REST API. If you're new to Oracle's REST services you may want to begin with the Quick Start section.

Key Resources

• Refer to the REST API for Oracle Procurement Cloud documentation, available on the Oracle Help Center.

Role Information

• Refer to the Job Roles and Privileges section in the REST API for Oracle Procurement Cloud documentation, available on the Oracle Help Center.

Link to Procurement Application Pages Using Deep Links

In this update, Oracle Procurement Cloud delivers new deep links that provide easy navigation directly to application pages without using the menu structure. You can use these links in a variety of ways, such as in business intelligence reports and third-party application pages.

New deep links introduced in this update are:

• Manage Negotiations
• View Negotiation as a Supplier
• View Active Negotiations as a Supplier
• View Supplier from Purchase Orders Work Area
• Manage Assessments
• View Assessment
• Manage Qualifications
• View Qualification

When you add deep links to reports or third-party application pages, users can simply click those links to go directly to the application pages they need to use, without any additional clicks or navigation. When a user clicks a deep link, that user's security assignment is honored; that is, users can access application pages only if they're assigned a job role that allows them access.

Steps to Enable

You can find all of the available deep links in the Deep Links work area. Some deep links, such as those assigned the NONE action, are typically ready to use as is. Other deep links, such as those assigned the VIEW action, require you to edit the link details before you can add the deep link to a report or third-party application page. Refer to the documentation listed in the Key Resources section for details and instructions.

Key Resources

For details about how to work with deep links, refer to these books on the Oracle Help Center:

• Oracle Procurement Cloud: Implementing Procurement
• Oracle Applications Cloud: Configuring and Extending Applications

Role Information

You have a couple of options for giving people access to the Deep Links work area, depending on whether you're assigning them predefined job roles or your own configured job roles.

Users who are assigned any of these predefined job roles are automatically able to access the Deep Links work area:

• Application Developer (FND_APPLICATION_DEVELOPER_JOB)
• Application Implementation Administrator (ORA_ASM_APPLICATION_IMPLEMENTATION_ABSTRACT)
• Application Implementation Consultant (ORA_ASM_APPLICATION_IMPLEMENTATION_CONSULTANT_JOB)
• Procurement Application Administrator (ORA_PO_PROCUREMENT_APPLICATION_ADMIN_JOB)
• Supply Chain Application Administrator (ORA_RCS_SUPPLY_CHAIN_APPLICATION_ADMINISTRATOR_JOB)

Users who are assigned configured job roles that contain this privilege are able to access the Deep Links work area:

• View Administration Link (FND_VIEW_ADMIN_LINK_PRIV)

If you're using deep links specifically for reports, here are the privileges you need:

• For Business Intelligence Publisher:
  • BI Author Role (BIAuthor)
  • BI Consumer Role (BIConsumer)
  • BI Administrator (BIAdministrator)

• For Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence (OTBI):
  • BI Author Role (BIAuthor)
  • BI Consumer Role (BIConsumer)

Approvals and Notifications

This section provides details about shared features that are related to approvals and notifications.

The Configure Commenting Options for Approval and Rejection feature was released in 20B, but was not included in the Oracle Procurement Cloud What's New document at that time. It's included here to raise your awareness of this capability. This feature's description is also available in Oracle Common Technologies and User Experience: What's New in Update 20B.

The Optimization of Workflow Rule Evaluation feature applies only if you're configuring rules in the BPM Worklist.  If you're using the Manage Approvals UI page in Oracle Procurement Cloud, this feature doesn't apply, because missing parent/child joins are automatically added. This feature is also available in Oracle Common Technologies and User Experience: What's New in Update 21A.

Configure Commenting Options for Approval and Rejection

Configure commenting options for approving and rejecting workflow tasks. You can configure comments as mandatory or optional; you can also restrict approvers from entering comments. You can use this feature to adhere to regulatory compliance requirements that mandate auditing of comments.

Your configuration options are:

• Required: A field for comments appears in the approval dialog box. An error message appears if the approver doesn’t enter comments.
• Not Allowed: The comments section doesn’t appear for the approver.
• Optional: The comments section appears, and the approver can optionally enter comments.

This setup doesn't currently apply to notifications and task details that you can configure using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.

Steps to Enable

1. In the Setup and Maintenance work area, go to the Manage Task Configurations task or another approval setup task in the Application Extensions functional area or another functional area.
2. In BPM Worklist, on the Task Configuration tab, select the workflow task.
3. Click the Edit task icon in the Tasks to be configured toolbar.
4. Open the Configuration subtab.
5. In the Approval Pre-conditions section, for the Approve and Reject lists, select an option to determine if comments are required, optional, or not allowed when users approve or reject.
6. Click the Commit task icon in the Tasks to be configured toolbar when you're ready to roll out your changes.

Comments Options for Approving and Rejecting Tasks

Role Information

To configure this feature, you need a role that lets you perform administrative tasks in BPM Worklist.

Optimization of Workflow Rule Evaluation

When using BPM Worklist to configure rules, optimize the rule evaluation when parent and child attributes are used within the same rule in a workflow and avoid the performance issues during evaluation process. This is done by identifying and correcting missing parent child joins in BPM Worklist.

Here's an example of how this feature works for invoices, but the feature can apply to workflow tasks for other business objects also:

An organization’s approval policy mandates that the Finance department must approve all invoices matched to a purchase order that have a capital expenditure in excess of 5000 dollars.  Capital expenditures are charged to a specific account.  To meet this requirement, the workflow administrator needs to configure a rule to evaluate invoices that meets the following conditions:

• Invoice amount more than 5000 
• Invoice line is matched to purchase order
• Invoice distribution account for the related lines reference the capital expenditure account.

This rule is configured in basic mode with parent (Invoice Line) and child (Invoice Line Distributions) attributes in the same rule without additional condition, in order to establish the relationship between parent and child attributes.

Rule Configured Using Parent and Child Attributes in the Same Rule

When the rule is validated, BPM checks whether a join condition exists between the parent and child attributes to establish the relationship. If a relationship does not exist, then the business rule validation displays the message that the rule configuration ended in an inefficient rule evaluation. Click the message link to add the missing join condition to establish the relationship between the parent and child attributes.

Business Rule Validation Message

Click the message link to open the Rule Recommendation page. The page displays two radio buttons with these options.

Option 1: Optimize rule definition by adding 'contains' condition automatically between parent and child facts.

If you select this option, the system adds the additional join condition automatically between the parent and child facts to establish the relationship between parent and child, as shown in this screenshot.

Join Condition Added to Establish Relation Between Parent and Child Facts

Option 2: Edit rule in basic mode to optimize rule definition by adding join condition between parent and child facts. Alternatively, change rule to advanced mode and optimize rule definition.

If you select this option, the page displays the problematic rule and condition for you to either add the join condition manually or change the rule to Advanced mode.

Validation Message At Condition Level

Once the join condition is added manually to establish the relationship between parent and child facts, the rule is validated and saved.

Rule Saved Successfully Without Any Warning Message

This feature ensures that workflow rules that use parent and child attributes within the same rule are configured in a manner that optimizes the rules evaluation process and avoids the performance issues during rules evaluation.

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Role Information

Any role that provides access to the Task Configuration tab in BPM Worklist.

Purchasing

Allow Delivery on Purchase Orders That Are Pending Supplier Acknowledgment

Set orders that require acknowledgment to the Open status after approvals and signature so that you can process advance shipment notices, receipts, and invoices immediately. Your suppliers can acknowledge the latest revision in Supplier Portal or send acknowledgment electronically. 

These screen captures illustrate the feature. 

Require Acknowledgment for the Purchase Order

Acknowledge Action Opens Acknowledge Popup

Track Purchase Orders Pending Acknowledgment in New Infolet

Watch a Demo

Using this feature, you can process shipment, delivery, and billing for your purchase orders without waiting for a formal acknowledgment response from your suppliers.

Steps to Enable

Use the Opt In UI to enable this feature. For instructions, refer to the Optional Uptake of New Features section of this document.

Offering: Procurement

Tips And Considerations

• This feature applies to purchase orders only.

• After you opt in to the feature, your suppliers need to acknowledge any existing purchase orders or change orders in the Pending Supplier Acknowledgement status before the orders become implemented.

• The Required Acknowledgment field, after opt in, has only Yes and No values. This is the change for the already implemented orders:
  • Yes - for Required Acknowledgment set to Document or Document and Schedule. 
  • No - for Required Acknowledgment set to None.

• Your suppliers can acknowledge and record the Supplier Order and Acknowledgment Note for the latest revision as long as no formal acknowledgment has already been recorded. This note can be found in the document history of the latest revision.
  • To make schedule-level changes or rejections, your suppliers can create a change order to change or cancel the schedules.
  • To reject the entire order, your suppliers can cancel the document.
  • As a buyer, you can also acknowledge on behalf of your suppliers. 

• Orders that require acknowledgment created after opt in cannot be acknowledged using the Acknowledge Schedules from Spreadsheet task. Acknowledge the order in the Purchasing work area, or in the Supplier Portal.

• The Orders Pending Acknowledgment infolet shows the count of purchase orders that are pending acknowledgment and overdue.
  • Initial orders are tracked as pending acknowledgment if no formal acknowledgment, advance shipment notice, receipt, or invoice is processed for the orders.
  • Orders with subsequent revisions are tracked as pending acknowledgment if no formal acknowledgment has been received for the latest revision.

Key Resources

• Watch the Allow Delivery on Purchase Orders that are Pending Supplier Acknowledgment Demo

Role Information

You have a couple of options for giving people access to set up and use this feature, depending on whether you're assigning them predefined job roles or your own configured job roles.

Users who are assigned these predefined job roles are automatically able to access this feature:

• Buyer (ORA_PO_BUYER_JOB)
• Supplier Customer Service Representative (ORA_POS_SUPPLIER_CUSTOMER_SERVICE_REPRESENTATIVE_JOB)
• Supplier Sales Representative (ORA_POS_SUPPLIER_SALES_REPRESENTATIVE_JOB)

Users who are assigned configured job roles that contain these privileges are able to access this feature:

• Create Purchase Order (PO_CREATE_PURCHASE_ORDER_PRIV)
• Change Purchase Order (PO_CHANGE_PURCHASE_ORDER_PRIV)
• Acknowledge Purchase Order (PO_ACKNOWLEDGE_PURCHASE_ORDER_PRIV)

Communicate Purchase Orders to Multiple Email Recipients

Add multiple email recipients when communicating purchase orders to suppliers. Use commas to separate multiple email addresses when creating purchase orders using the UI, file-based data import (FBDI), or Draft Purchase Order REST resource.

In the UI, you can enter multiple email recipients in these pages:

• Edit Order
• Edit Change Order
• Communicate action from Manage Orders
• Communicate action from View Revision History
• Communicate action from View Order
• Cancel Document (Order)

In FBDI, you can enter multiple email recipients when creating a new purchase order.

For Rest services, you can enter multiple email recipients when creating a new purchase order and canceling a purchase order.

You can now notify internal stakeholders and additional supplier contacts on the email that's sent when a new purchase order or change order is dispatched.

This screen capture illustrates the feature.

Communicate Purchase Orders to Multiple Email Recipients

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Role Information

You have a couple of options for giving people access to set up and use this feature, depending on whether you're assigning them predefined job roles or your own configured job roles.

Users who are assigned this predefined job role are automatically able to access this feature:

• Buyer (ORA_PO_BUYER_JOB)

Users who are assigned configured job roles that contain this privilege are able to access this feature:

• Create Purchase Order (PO_CREATE_PURCHASE_ORDER_PRIV)
• Change Purchase Order (PO_CHANGE_PURCHASE_ORDER_PRIV)

Identify Purchasing Documents That Failed Validation Checks

When purchasing documents fail validation checks, the documents either remain in the Incomplete or Rejected status depending on whether the validation errors occurred before or after approval. Using this feature, you can use visual aids to identify purchasing documents that failed validation checks. These visual aids are available for purchase orders and purchase agreements on UI pages such as Manage Orders, Manage Agreements, View Purchase Order, Edit Purchase Order, View Agreement, and Edit Agreement.

To see the validation errors' details, click the visual aid or inspect the FYI notification that you get when documents fail validation checks. The Document History page now captures additional information when documents fail validation checks.

In addition to quickly identifying documents with validation errors, you can see additional details when documents are stuck in the Pending Approval status due to incorrect approval configuration or temporary server glitches. When you click the document status, now you get diagnostic messages that lists the corrective actions required to resolve the issue.

These screen captures illustrate the feature.

Visual Aid on the Manage Purchase Orders Page

Validation Error Details on Clicking the Alert Icon on the View Purchase Order Page

Additional Information on the Document History Page When PO Is Rejected  

Diagnostic Message when PO Is Stuck in the Pending Approval Status

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Role Information

You have a couple of options for giving people access to set up and use this feature, depending on whether you're assigning them predefined job roles or your own configured job roles.

Users who are assigned this predefined job role are automatically able to use this feature:

• Buyer (ORA_PO_BUYER_JOB)

Users who are assigned configured job roles that contain these privileges are able to access this feature:

• Search Purchase Order (PO_SEARCH_PURCHASE_ORDER_PRIV) 
• Search Purchase Agreement (PO_SEARCH_PURCHASE_AGREEMENT_PRIV) 
• View Purchase Order (PO_VIEW_PURCHASE_ORDER_PRIV) 
• View Purchase Agreement (PO_VIEW_PURCHASE_AGREEMENT_PRIV)

Populate Trading Partner Item Details Automatically from the Item Master Definition While Creating Purchase Orders

Populate trading partner item details such as manufacturer, manufacturer part number, and supplier part number automatically from the item master definition while placing orders for master items. You no longer need to maintain the same information on blanket purchase agreements if you already maintain it as part of the item master definition.

Trading partner item details, including the manufacturer and manufacturer part number, are now also captured when a purchase order is created for an item requested from a punchout site.

The attribute value is derived irrespective of how the purchase order is created, whether in the UI, or using a REST service, or using the FBDI process.

You can now readily view the manufacturer's information when viewing the purchase order without further drill down into the item details.

The derived trading partner information on the purchase order can be easily included in the outbound purchase order communication to the supplier, whether it’s via email or electronic B2B messaging. These are critical information that the supplier often uses to identify the ordered products.

Derive Supplier Item, Manufacturer and Manufacturer Part Number from Master Item Definition on Purchase Order Line

Trading Partner Items Associated with a Master Item

View Purchase Order

In addition to capturing manufacturer information on the purchase order, you can now search for current and past orders using the manufacturer and manufacturer part numbers as search keywords.

Manufacturer and Manufacturer Part Number Global Search

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Tips And Considerations

MANUFACTURER AND MANUFACTURER PART NUMBER 

• The manufacturer and manufacturer part number on purchase order line is derived in this order:

1. Source blanket purchase agreement line
2. Requisition line for a punchout item
3. Master item

• You can’t edit the derived manufacturer and manufacturer part numbers on the purchase order lines.

• These conditions must be satisfied to derive the manufacturer and manufacturer part number fields from the master item definition:
  • The trading partner type for the item master should be a manufacturer.
  • The trading partner item status should be active or null.
  • The manufacturer part status should be active or null.
  • The manufacturer item relationship start date should be effective while creating a purchase order.
  • The relationship status should not be obsolete.
  • There should be only one relationship that meets the above conditions for the master item.

SUPPLIER ITEM 

• The supplier item on the purchase order line is derived in this order:

1. Requisition line being fulfilled
2. Source blanket purchase agreement line
3. Applicable approved supplier list (ASL) entry
4. Master item

• These conditions must be satisfied to derive the supplier part number from the master item definition:
  • The trading partner type for the item master should be a supplier.
  • The trading partner name should match the supplier on the purchase order.
  • The trading partner item status should be active or null.
  • The supplier item relationship start date should be effective while creating a purchase order.
  • The relationship status should not be obsolete.
  • There should be only one relationship that meets these conditions for the master item.

Role Information

You have a couple of options for giving people access to use this feature, depending on whether you're assigning them predefined job roles or your own configured job roles.

To use this feature, here's what you need:

• Users who are assigned this predefined job role are automatically able to access this feature:
  • Buyer (ORA_PO_BUYER_JOB)

• Users who are assigned configured job roles that contain this privilege are able to access this feature:
  • Create Purchase Order (PO_CREATE_PURCHASE_ORDER_PRIV)
  • Change Purchase Order (PO_CHANGE_PURCHASE_ORDER_PRIV)

Specify a Sold-to Legal Entity While Creating Purchase Orders

Specify any legal entity assigned to the ledger of the requisitioning BU as the sold-to LE while creating purchase orders without configuring new supply chain orchestration flows. Before update 21A, in the absence of a supporting supply chain orchestration flow, you could only choose between the default LE of the requisitioning BU and the LE to which the destination organization belongs.

With this feature, you no longer need to create additional business units for purchasing from a different sold-to LE.

To use this feature, you must set the Multiple Legal Entities on Order attribute to Allow or Warning on the Configure Requisitioning Business Process page.

This screen capture illustrates the feature.

Select Any LE Assigned to the Ledger of the Requisitioning BU as the Sold-To LE for the PO

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Tips And Considerations

• You can use this feature while creating purchase orders online, using REST services, or FBDI.

• When the Multiple Legal Entities on Order attribute is set to Error, the application defaults the sold-to LE on the purchase order from the inventory organization associated with the ship-to location. If the location isn't associated with an inventory organization, then the application uses the default deliver-to organization defined for the requisitioning BU.

Role Information

Users who are assigned configured job roles that contain this privilege are able to access this feature:

• Override Purchase Order Sold To Legal Entity (PO_OVERRIDE_PO_SOLD_TO_LEGAL_ENTITY_PRIV)

This privilege isn't assigned to any predefined job role.

Search for Purchase Orders Using Requisition Attributes

Using the Enhanced Global Search framework, you can now search for purchase orders using various requisition attributes such as requisition number, requisition description, and requester email. You can also search for purchase orders and purchase agreements using the buyer email.

With this feature, you can quickly identify purchase orders using the requisition description, without needing to drill down into the purchase orders for retrieving the details.

This screen capture illustrates the feature.

Search PO Using Buyer Email and Requisition Description

Steps to Enable

You need to configure the search extension framework for global search to use this feature. For more details on configuring the search extension framework, see Enable Search Extension Framework.

Tips And Considerations

You can also search for purchase orders using item attributes such as manufacturer, manufacturer part number, and supplier item. For more details, refer to the Populate Trading Partner Item Details Automatically from the Item Master Definition While Creating Purchase Orders feature, available in the Oracle Procurement Cloud What’s New, update 21A.

Key Resources

• For more details on configuring the Search Extension Framework, see Enable Search Extension Framework.

Role Information

You have a couple of options for giving people access to this feature, depending on whether you're assigning them predefined job roles or your own configured job roles.

Users who are assigned this predefined job role are automatically able to use this feature:

• Buyer (ORA_PO_BUYER_JOB)

Users who are assigned configured job roles that contain these privileges are able to access this feature:

• Search Purchase Order (PO_SEARCH_PURCHASE_ORDER_PRIV)
• Search Purchase Agreement (PO_SEARCH_PURCHASE_AGREEMENT_PRIV)

Carry Forward Open Purchase Orders for Budgetary Controlled Non-Sponsored Projects

Use the Carry Forward Open Purchase Orders process to move purchase orders associated with budgetary controlled non-sponsored projects from one budget year to another. The process automatically updates the budget date to the corresponding budget year for these purchase orders.

Budget year-end processing has been simplified for purchase orders that impact non-sponsored project control budgets.  A non-sponsored project control budget is a project control budget without an award.  The Carry Forward Open Purchase Order process will automatically move these purchase orders to the new budget year.  Run the process in draft mode to review which purchase orders will be carried forward automatically and choose to let the system process them or manually update the purchase orders that need additional attention.

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Tips And Considerations

• Purchase orders that impact sponsored project control budgets will not be processed automatically.  A sponsored project control budget is a project control budget with an award.

• There is no impact on burden amounts as the expenditure item date isn’t changed. The Carry Forward Open Purchase Orders process updates only the purchase order budget date. When the expenditure item date also needs to be updated, the purchase order should be reviewed and updated manually.

• Project control budget changes are centralized in Project Portfolio Management. Budget adjustments created automatically for chart of accounts based control budgets will not be done automatically for projects control budgets.

• If a budget adjustment is required for a project, use the following report information to update the budget balance for the project control budget by creating and baselining a new project budget version in Project Portfolio Management:·        
  • Not Attempted Budget Entries Details layout of the Carry Forward Purchase Order

Key Resources

• Managing Budgetary Control Carry Forward support note 2705986.1

Role Information

Budget Manager role is needed to run the Carry Forward Open Purchase Order process.

Route Purchase Orders for Approval Based on Any Segment of the Charge Account

Route purchase orders for approval based on any segment or combination of segments of the charge account. This extends the ability to drive purchase order approval routing based on segment labels such as the primary balancing segment, cost center, natural account value, and management segment by allowing you to route approvals based on segments not associated with any of these labels.

For example, suppose your chart of accounts (COA) consists of 5 segments, separated by hyphens. You want to drive purchase order approval routing based on the 4th COA segment, such that all purchase orders containing distributions with the 4th segment of the PO Charge Account ranging between 2000 and 2999 are routed to a specific approver. You can use a condition with the pattern (.*)-(.*)-(.*)-2[0-9][0-9][0-9]-(.*)  to check the value of the 4th segment of the Charge Account, as illustrated in this screen capture from the Manage Purchasing Document Approvals task:

Approval Rule Condition Matching a Segment of the Charge Account

Additionally, before this update you could only use the primary balancing segment, natural account, cost center, and management segment of the charge account to write approval rules. You can now write approval rules based on the intercompany segment of the charge account as well. This screen capture illustrates the feature.

Approval Rule Condition Matching the Intercompany Segment of the Charge Account

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Role Information

You have a couple of options for giving people access to the Manage Purchasing Document Approvals task, depending on whether you're assigning them predefined job roles or your own configured job roles.

Users who are assigned any of these predefined job roles are automatically able to access the Manage Purchasing Document Approvals task:

• Application Implementation Consultant (ORA_ASM_APPLICATION_IMPLEMENTATION_CONSULTANT_JOB)
• Financial Supply Chain Manufacturing Application Administrator (ORA_FUN_FIN_SCM_MFG_APPLICATION_ADMINISTRATOR_JOB)
• Procurement Application Administrator (ORA_PO_PROCUREMENT_APPLICATION_ADMIN_JOB)

Users who are assigned configured job roles that contain this privilege are able to access the Manage Purchasing Document Approvals task:

• Manage Approval Task (POR_MANAGE_APPROVAL_TASK_PRIV)

Other Purchasing Changes in This Update

This section includes details about additional changes in this update that can change the way Oracle Purchasing Cloud works.

PO Amount Approval Attributes Are Now Calculated Using Currency Precision

The following approval attributes are now calculated using currency precision instead of extended precision. This ensures that comparisons involving these attributes return correct results.

• Document Line Ordered Amount
• Document Schedule Ordered Amount
• Functional Schedule Ordered Amount
• Document Distribution Ordered Amount
• Functional Distribution Ordered Amount
• Document Distribution Total Amount
• Functional Distribution Total Amount

If you don’t want the new behavior, you can opt out by defining this profile option:

• Profile Name: CUST_PO_OPT_OUT_CURRENCY_PRECISION
• Level: Site
• Value: Y

Bug reference: 31736372

Reduction of Ordered Quantity or Amount below Shipped Totals is Now Prevented

When a change order on a purchase order is submitted for approval, the application now validates that the ordered quantity and amount aren’t reduced below the total quantity and amount already shipped by the supplier against the purchase order schedule.

Bug reference: 31743544

Purchase Order Changes That Can Impact Receipt Accounting or Budgetary Control Are Now Prevented

When a change order on a purchase order is submitted for approval, the application now checks if there is any unaccounted receiving or delivery activity against the purchase order. If so, it prevents you from making changes that can impact the receipt’s accounting or funds reservation, such as updates to match option or PO charge account.

Bug reference: 30400042

Tax Is no Longer Calculated During Purchase Order Duplication

When a purchase order is duplicated, the application no longer calculates tax as part of the duplication. Instead, tax is calculated when you edit and save the document. This change has been introduced to improve the performance of the duplicate action for large documents.

Bug reference: 31737874

Lines on the View Blanket Purchase Agreement Page Can Now be Filtered by Item

You can now filter lines on the View Blanket Purchase Agreement page using query by example (QBE) on the Item column. Previously, QBE was only supported on the Edit Blanket Purchase Agreement page.

Bug reference: 31693390

PO Distributions Accounts Are Now Rebuilt When Project Attributes Are Updated

The purchase order distribution accounts are now rebuilt upon saving when any of the project cost collection attributes is updated.

Bug reference: 31961956

Self Service Procurement

Use Task Number to Identify Project Tasks When Importing Requisitions

Use the Task Number field to identify a specific project task when importing requisitions using the file-based data import template.

In the FBDI template for a purchase requisition, you can load the task number using the existing POR_REQ_DISTS_INTERFACE_ALL sheet. If both task name and task number are provided in the template, then task number takes precedence.

NOTE: This feature was also made available in a monthly update of 20D.

The Task Number field helps you identify the specific project task when the task name isn't unique.

Steps to Enable

Download and review the latest requisition import template available in the File-Based Data Import for Oracle Procurement Cloud guide.

Other Self Service Procurement Changes in This Update

This section includes details about additional changes in this update that can change the way Oracle Self Service Procurement Cloud works.

Improved Search Based on Keyword Relevance Score

The relevance score of the shopping search now includes the occurrence of the search keyword across all the searchable attributes of a catalog item, such as Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA), Punchout Item, Master Items, and Smart Forms. The more times a search keyword exists across the searchable attributes for a catalog item, the higher the relevance, which means the catalog item is returned higher in the search results.

Before this change, the same relevance score was assigned to all the search results, regardless of how many times the search keyword matched across searchable attributes. The search results weren't displayed in the order expected.

If you don’t want this new behavior, you can opt out by setting this profile option:

• Profile Code: ORA_POR_OPTIMIZE_SEARCH_RELEVANCE
• Level: Site
• Value: No

Use the Manage Administrator Profile Values task in the Setup and Maintenance work area to set the profile value.

Bug reference: 31970332

Capture Manufacturer and Manufacturer Part Number while creating requisitions

You can capture the Manufacturer Name and Manufacturer Part Number in the Add Requisition Line, Create Noncatalog Request, Smart Form, and Edit Requisition Line pages while creating requisitions.

To capture the Manufacturer Name and Manufacturer Part Number, you must use Page Composer to expose these attributes below the Supplier Item attribute.

Manufacturer and Manufacturer Part Number Fields on Create Noncatalog Request Page

Before this change, the Manufacturer Name and Part Number details were copied over to the requisition line from an agreement or smart form. You couldn’t enter these attributes while creating requisitions.

Bug reference: 31521812

Sourcing

Submit Prebids Before Auction Opens

Category Managers often require suppliers to disclose their bids before a negotiation opens. Suppliers can now submit their prebids when the negotiation (Auction or RFQ) is in preview status. Category Managers review prebids and find supplier's threshold prices before the negotiation goes live. They can then make necessary adjustments to the negotiation by creating an amendment even before the negotiation opens. This helps avoid disruptions during the live auction when competitive bidding is in progress. No competitive information such as rank or best response price is revealed to the suppliers when they prepare and submit prebids. Category Managers also have the ability to pause or resume the negotiation, monitor prebids, lock out suppliers who don't submit a prebid, and disqualify prebids. When suppliers submit a prebid, it’s recorded in the supplier activity log. Once the negotiation switches from preview to active status, the prebid becomes the supplier's first bid.

Schedule Preview When Creating Negotiation

Suppliers Submit Prebid Before Negotiation Opens

With prebids, you can ensure that suppliers understand the requirements, ask clarifying questions, and communicate to Category Manager the intent to participate, all before the negotiation opens. It makes the negotiation (RFQ or Auction) process more streamlined because the Category Manager has addressed supplier questions during the prebid phase. The prebid process also ensures that suppliers are entering their initial starting position for the negotiation before any competitive information is revealed.

Steps to Enable

Enable prebid in a negotiation style using the Manage Negotiation Styles setup task.

Enable Prebid in Negotiation Style

Tips And Considerations

When creating a negotiation, you must schedule a preview phase to allow suppliers to view the negotiation before it opens, and submit prebids.

Role Information

To use this feature, these roles are required:

• Job Role Name and Code:
  • Category Manager (ORA_PON_CATEGORY_MANAGER_JOB)       
  • Sourcing Project Collaborator (ORA_PON_SOURCING_PROJECT_COLLABORATOR)

Use a Requirements Only Supplier Response Spreadsheet

Many companies conduct complex negotiations with a large number of negotiation lines, and requirements. Suppliers need to respond to these negotiations efficiently which can be challenging when using the full response template of requirements and lines. For such negotiations, suppliers prefer using the 'lines only' flat file format spreadsheet. Now suppliers have the same option to focus only on requirement responses to make work more manageable.

This feature allows supplier bidders to separately respond to requirements using a spreadsheet. Now Category managers have an option to send two separate files to suppliers for collecting responses. One for lines only, and another for requirements. They can then create surrogate responses on behalf of the supplier.

Export Requirements Only Spreadsheet

Requirements Only Response Spreadsheet

Suppliers can respond efficiently to high-volume negotiations using a spreadsheet that exports requirements only. This spreadsheet doesn't contain lines, so suppliers can upload it faster for a large number of requirements.

Steps to Enable

Enable the Requirements only option on a negotiation style:

1. In the Setup and Maintenance work area, go to the Manage Negotiation Styles task:

• Offering: Procurement
• Functional area: Sourcing
• Task: Manage Negotiation Styles

2. On the Manage Negotiation Styles page, select and edit one of your existing negotiation styles, or create a new negotiation style. (You can't edit a predefined negotiation style.)
3. In the Controls section, under the Responses group, select the Response by Spreadsheet check box.
4. Check the Requirements only check box to enable the requirements only response template in negotiations.

Edit Negotiation Style Page, Controls Section, Responses Group

Tips And Considerations

In negotiation styles with Lines only response spreadsheet enabled, it is strongly recommended to also enable Requirements only.

Role Information

The following roles can use this feature:

1. Category Manager (ORA_PON_CATEGORY_MANAGER_JOB)       
2. Sourcing Project Collaborator (ORA_PON_SOURCING_PROJECT_COLLABORATOR_ABSTRACT)
3. Supplier Bidder (ORA_PON_SUPPLIER_BIDDER_ABSTRACT)

Display Negotiation Messages That Are Relevant to the Recipient

When you sign in to Oracle Sourcing Cloud, the Negotiations home page dashboard provides a quick overview of your sourcing activities and tasks. The Messages infolet shows all the messages in ongoing negotiations in the procurement business unit which you have access to. However, if you are not participating in the negotiation as an owner or a team member, you may see additional messages that you did not directly receive.

Now you will see only the messages sent to you for the negotiations that you are participating in.

Negotiations Landing Page

With this feature, you can see messages on the dashboard only for the negotiations you own or are a team member. This will make it easier to track and respond to messages received efficiently.

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Tips And Considerations

The count of messages you see on the Negotiations landing page dashboard are from negotiations where,

• You are a negotiation owner, or,
• You are a collaboration team member, or,
• You are a procurement agent with Full or View only access to other agents' documents and you are also included as a recipient in the message thread.

You can always search for other negotiations in the procurement business unit which you have access to as a procurement agent, and see the online messages. If you send a message to any participant in this message thread, you will also receive the broadcasted messages sent to all participants.

Role Information

To use this feature, one of the following roles is required:

• Job Role Name and Code:
  • Category Manager (ORA_PON_CATEGORY_MANAGER_JOB)
  • Sourcing Project Collaborator (ORA_PON_SOURCING_PROJECT_COLLABORATOR)

Other Sourcing Changes In This Update

This section includes details about additional changes in this update that can change the way Oracle Sourcing Cloud works.

Withdraw Award Completion When Supplier’s Spend Promotion Request is Not Successful

When you award a prospective supplier, then a spend authorization request is initiated automatically during award completion. Until all such requests are processed, the negotiation remains in the Award Completion in Progress status. If the spend authorization process is not successful due to unexpected application errors, the award remains incomplete, and you can’t create purchasing documents. When this occurs, you can withdraw award completion and resubmit it from the Analyze Negotiation screen.

Bug reference: 31098102

Replace Price Tiers When Importing Response Spreadsheets

Category managers can ask for price breaks or quantity-based price tiers in negotiations. Suppliers must respond by entering prices for these tiers, and also have the option to modify, replace, or delete the proposed tiers.

Through update 20D, when suppliers import a response spreadsheet, any modified price tiers are added as new tiers. There's no mechanism to delete or replace price tiers, so suppliers can make those changes online only. When the negotiation includes a large number of lines, it's a tedious process to delete the tiers defined by the category manager for every line.

As of update 21A, the price breaks or price tiers in the response spreadsheet will replace the tiers previously added to the response online.

Bug Reference: 31758850

Supplier Model

Make Attachments Mandatory During Supplier Registration

During the onboarding of a new supplier, there are documents required such as a W9, to complete the process and have the supplier ready to transact. If the documents are not provided, the onboarding process slows, requiring additional manual follow up. You can now enforce the collection of these documents in supplier self-service registration by providing clear instructions on the documents that are required and making it mandatory for the registering supplier to provide them. With the required documents included in the registration, the time for the approval process and onboarding of the supplier will be shortened with less manual intervention. A supplier will be available sooner for users who need that supplier's goods or services.

This screen capture illustrates the feature:

Require Attachments in Supplier Self-Service Registration

Steps to Enable

To enable this feature, perform these steps:

1. Login as a Procurement Application Administrator and navigate to the Setup and Maintenance work area.
2. In the Setup and Maintenance work area, use the Configure Supplier Registration and Profile Change Request task (Offering: Procurement, Functional Area: Suppliers, Task: Configure Supplier Registration and Profile Change Request).
3. Under the Supplier Registration tab in the Require Attachments section, choose the business relationship for which supplier attachments are to be required. The options are Prospective, Spend Authorized, and Both.  By default, no option is selected.
4. Click Save and Close.

Tips And Considerations

• This feature is applicable only to supplier self-service registration.

• When the feature is enabled, the required indicator (*) is displayed next to the Attachments field together with an instruction text. You can configure the instruction text to specify what type of attachments are required.

• Steps to configure instruction text:

1. Login as an Application Administrator.
2. Navigate to Sandboxes under Configuration menu.Create and enter a sandbox with the tool User Interface Text enabled.
3. Navigate to User Interface Text page under Configuration menu.Find and replace the text Attach the required documents with the desired text.
4. Verify the changes and publish the sandbox.

• An error message is displayed when the user clicks Register without providing at least one attachment.

Supplier Qualification Management

Other Supplier Qualification Management Changes In This Update

This section includes details about additional changes in this update that can change the way Oracle Supplier Qualification Management Cloud works.

Performance Improvements to Supplier Qualification Management Pages

To address performance issues, an option has been added to control whether search results are automatically displayed when you first navigate to the Supplier Qualification Management pages. If you are experiencing performance issues when viewing these pages, you can set the profile option ORA_POQ_NO_AUTO_QUERY to Y to stop the automatic execution of the default search. You can then tailor the search criteria and manually execute the search. By default, this profile option is set to N, which preserves the existing behavior to automatically execute the default search. In the Setup and Maintenance work area, use the Manage Administrator Profile Values task to set the profile option.

The profile option controls the search results automatic display on these pages:

• Manage Questions, Manage Qualification Areas, Manage Qualification Models, Manage Rule Sets in the Supplier Qualification and Setup and Maintenance work areas
• Manage Initiatives, Manage Qualifications, Manage Assessments in the Supplier Qualification work area
• Manage Questionnaires in the Supplier Qualification and Supplier Portal work areas

Bug reference: 31974726

Procurement Contracts

Assign Numbers Automatically for Imported Contracts

When you import contracts using Import Management from the Tools work area, the application automatically generates the contract number if automatic numbering is enabled for the associated contracts.

When you import contracts using the contract type column with the contract numbering method set as Automatic, you can leave the contract number column blank in the CSV file for the application to generate the contract numbers automatically. You can also enter the contract number manually when you don't want the application to assign the contract numbering automatically.

When the contract type has the contract numbering method set as Manual, you can't leave the contract number blank. When the contract number is left blank, the application generates an error.

When using the import process, this feature lets you easily assign numbering for your contracts.

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Key Resources

• See the "Import Your Data" chapter in the Understanding Import and Export Management guide.

View Amount in Contract Version History

In addition to other information, you can use the Versions pane in the History tab to view the contract amount or the agreed amount. Additionally, you can export the tabular data of the contract lines in the Lines tab and the invoices in the Financial Summary tab to Microsoft Excel.

AMOUNTS IN THE HISTORY TAB 

You can view the contract amount for nonagreement contracts.

Nonagreement Type of Contract

You can view the committed amount for the sell intent types of agreements.

Agreement with Sell Intent

You can view the agreed amount for the buy intent types of agreements.

Agreement with Buy Intent

EXPORT TO EXCEL IN THE LINES AND FINANCIAL SUMMARY TAB

You can export the line details to Microsoft Excel.

Export to Excel Option for Lines

You can export the invoice details to Microsoft Excel.

Export to Excel Option for Invoices

This feature lets you access a more meaningful contract version history.

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Key Resources

• See the "Approve and Accept Customer Contracts" and "Create Customer Contracts" chapters in the Using Customer Contracts guide.