Bill Presentment Architecture 315815802.doc Effective Mm/dd/yy Page 1 of 35 Rev 1

Bill Presentment Architecture
Overview
Copyright Oracle, 2007. All rights reserved.

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document is necessary and that it reflects actual practice.

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Objectives

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Bill Presentment Architecture Overview
Bill Presentment Architecture Overview

Bill Presentment Architecture (BPA) provides template-based configuration of bills for online
presentation and printing, including content selection, layout design, drilldown and grouping
capability, and billing template assignment. In identifying other sources of data, the physically
presented bill is no longer limited to information contained within Receivables. By separating
bill presentment from transaction accounting, BPA allows for more understandable and
comprehensive bills, increasing the likelihood and timeliness of bill payment.

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BPA Framework
BPA Framework
After indicating data sources, you then design billing templates, choosing the layout and
content to determine how you want billing data to appear in an online or printed bill, and
assign the templates to customers or customer categories. You can print bills individually or in
batch from your billing templates created within BPA or uploaded from external sources.
Your customers can view summarized billing information and drill down using hyperlinks to
detailed billing information and other related details necessary to understand and pay the bill.

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BPA Process Flow
BPA Process Flow

Design layout and select content for a bill.
Include information on bills that is not stored in Receivables.
Create hyperlinks that enable access to related billing information.
Display summary and child lines.
Provide online drilldown to invoice line details.
Assign bill formats to specific customers or user-defined customer categories.
Print transactions.
Preview billing templates using real-time data.
You accomplish these tasks by first configuring the BPA architecture, and then defining
templates and assignment rules.

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Creating Templates
Creating Templates
Using the desktop icons, you can easily create or modify templates graphically. Content areas
can be split into as many areas as needed to create the desired layout. Content areas can be
moved, duplicated, formatted, updated, and deleted.
When you create or customize templates, you design the layout and contents of a primary bill
page and, if needed, a details page. The primary bill page has three content areas:
Header: This area includes information typically seen at the top of an invoice, such as the
company logo, invoice number, date, customer name, bill-to address, ship-to address, and
terms.
Lines and Tax: This area contains the billing items, and optionally the tax lines, for all
transactions included in the bill. This section typically includes the item number, item
description, quantities, and cost amounts.
Footer: This area includes information typically available at the bottom of an invoice, such as
the total for the bill, aging, additional notes to the customer, and other messages.
You can create a details page for a template if your supplementary data source has a registered
details page view. The details page contains supporting billing information from your
supplementary data source such as Oracle Service Contracts.

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Note: After creating your billing template, you can preview and print it using actual customer
data.

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Defining Assignment Rules
Defining Assignment Rules

When a user selects a bill to view or print, BPA applies the online or printed rules, in the order
you specify, to determine which template to use.
For example, you can define a rule to use a template to display bills that are more than
$10,000. Then, define a second rule to use a different template to display bills that are $10,000
or less.
You can assign different templates to be used for online bills and printed bills. You can also
specify a different rule order for online and printed bills.

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Data Retrieval

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Registering Data Sources
Registering Data Sources

Bill Presentment Super User, Vision Operations (USA)
(N) Bill Management > Configuration > Data Sources
To make content items and hyperlinks available for your template designers to include in a
template, you must register and enable the supplementary data source where the content items
reside.
Oracle Receivables is already registered in BPA and enabled for use. It is the primary data
source. All other data sources are supplementary data sources. Other Oracle applications, such
as Oracle Order Management and Oracle Service Contracts, are registered in BPA, but you
must first enable them for use.
If you want to use an application or other source that is not seeded in BPA as a source of
content items, then you must register and enable the source as a data source. You can register
any application that interfaces billing transactions to Receivables. Applications that can be
registered include Oracle applications, third party applications, and legacy systems.
If you want a template to include a details page, then you must register a supplementary data
source and register a details page view to provide content items.

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Enabling Data Sources
Enabling Data Sources

To change the status of a data source, select a data source from the list of registered data
sources. From the list of values, select Mark as Enabled and click Go. After a data source is
enabled, you can view its details, but you cannot make any changes.
Note: Oracle Receivables is always enabled. Oracle Order Management, Oracle Projects, and
Oracle Service Contracts must be enabled before you can use them as supplementary data
sources.
You can disable a data source at any time, with the exception of Receivables. You cannot
disable Receivables as a data source because it provides the basic transaction line billing
information for Bill Presentment Architecture. You can update a data source, synchronize
flexfields, and delete a data source (if its status is disabled). You can also view disabled data
sources.
Warning: Do not disable a data source while creating or updating a template, or while
assigning templates to rules.

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Viewing Data Sources
Viewing Data Sources

When viewing a data source, you can sort its associated views by clicking on a column
heading. You can also drill down to view the details of the associated views, including the
database view name and the content items for the view.

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Creating Database Views
Creating Database Views

After registering new data sources, you must complete your BPA configuration by creating any
specific database views required, and then registering those views as data source views in BPA.
This lets you access additional billing information from the new data sources.
Some database views from Oracle Receivables and seeded applications, such as Oracle Service
Contracts and Oracle Order Management, are seeded as data source views in BPA.
You can create other database views for these applications to provide any additional data
required, but you must then register them as data source views in BPA.
There is no restriction on the number of views which can be created. However, lines, tax, and
the detail pages display area can have only one view.

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Registering Data Source Views
Registering Data Source Views

Before you can register a view, the status of the data source must be disabled.
To register a data source view, first select a display area for the view and then select a database
view.
Note: BPA supports registration of one Lines and Tax data source view, one Details Page data
source view, and multiple Header and Footer data source views.
Select the content items to be available for creating templates
Selecting a View
To register a data source view for a data source, identify the display area for the view and click
Register.
Search for the database view that you want to use as a source for content items. For each view,
enter a description and display name for the view. Create a display name that easily identifies
the source of the content items that can be selected from the view. Later, the template designer
will select content items based on the view display name.
Selecting Parameters
You can set parameters to retrieve specific values when a bill is displayed at run time.

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Viewing Data Source Views
Viewing Data Source Views

You first open the View Data Source page by selecting a data source name.
You then select the view display name to open the View page. This page lists all items
available in a view. Items are shown as:
Used in templates: Item is checked and the check box is disabled.
Available for use in templates: Item is checked and check box is active.
Not available: Item is not checked.
You can also access the View page by clicking the Views icon.
See: Configuring Hyperlinks, Oracle Bill Presentment Architecture User Guide for information
about configuring hyperlinks to associate with content items in a template.

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Template Management
Template Management
(N) Bill Management > Template Management
You use Template Management to create, update, and manage templates to present bills online
and for printing.
Using the icon tools, you can graphically:
Modify templates (duplicate and update)
Create templates
Create custom content items
Format text and layout
Preview templates using existing customer transactions
Upload external templates
Delete templates

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Modifying Templates
Modifying Templates
If you do not want to build an entirely new template, then you can copy an existing template
and modify it to suit your requirements. Select the Duplicate icon next to the template you
want to copy and enter a new template name and description.
After duplicating an existing template, you can select a different supplementary data source. In
the new template, content items from the old supplementary data source are removed. For
example, if you copy an Oracle Service Contracts (OKS) template and change the
supplementary data source to Oracle Order Management, the content items specific to OKS are
deleted from the new template.
If you are duplicating a Balance Forward template, you cannot change the primary and
supplementary data source. You can, however, choose either the summary or detail format.
If you duplicate an existing template and change the transaction class to chargeback, deposit, or
guarantee, content items specific to a supplementary data source are removed. Templates for
these transaction classes do not use supplementary data sources.
If you change the tax format in a duplicated template, any content items related to original tax
format are deleted. For example, if you change the tax format from Custom to Oracle
Receivables Tax Printing Option, the content items specific to the Custom format are removed.

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Creating a New Template
Creating a New Template

(N) Bill Management > Template Management > Templates
If you select Oracle Receivables as the primary source of billing data for your template, then
you can select the transaction class.
You can select a supplementary data source only for templates with a transaction class of
invoice, credit memo, or debit memo. If you want to create a details page, then you must select
a supplementary data source with a registered details view. The available content items for the
details page are drawn from the supplementary data source application.
If you select Oracle Receivables Balance Forward as the primary data source, or when you
upload an external balance forward bill, transaction classes and tax formats cannot be
specified. In addition, the supplementary data source is set to None. You can select either
Summary or Detail Format.
Details Page Design
The Details page is available for invoices or for balance forward billing templates. You can
include a details page if you specified a supplementary data source with a registered details
page view or for balance forward billing templates with summary format.

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Uploading External Templates
Uploading External Templates

(N) Bill Management > Template Management > External Templates
You can upload external files to be used as billing templates for printed bills instead of creating
a new template.
External templates can be any PDF or RTF file.
You can upload multiple language versions of the file as needed for a single template. After
uploading the file, you must map each field name in the template to a content item from a data
source view in BPA.
You cannot create grouping or drilldown or a details page for a billing template created from an
external file.

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Assigning Templates
Assigning Templates
(N) Bill Management > Template Assignment
Attribute: A list of values of content items based on selections made in the Header and Footer
display areas from the primary or supplementary data sources.
Condition: A matching state, such as equals, is greater than, is less than, equal to,
Starts with, and Contains.
Value: A user-defined value that occurs on your transactions for the content item selected as
the attribute. You can select a value from the list of values, or enter a value. When you select a
bill to view online or print, BPA reviews the rules in the order you specify until it finds a
match, and then uses the template associated with the rule to format the bill.
BPA supports assignment of billing templates to different customers or customer categories
based on user-defined criteria.

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Defining Template Rules
Defining Template Rules

(N) Bill Management > Template Assignment > Assignment Rules
In the example in this slide, for ABC Company:
If the Bill To City value on the transaction is Seattle, then you want to use Template
ABC1.
If the Bill To City is any city other than Seattle, then you want to use Template ABC2.
To do this, you can define one rule called ABC-Seattle, as shown in the upper table, and assign
it to Template ABC1.
Note: When you order the rules, list the ABC-Seattle rule before the ABC rule.
Default Rules
If no user-defined rule matches attributes and content item values, BPA applies one of the two
default template rules based on your primary data source selection:

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Default Transaction Rule: This default template rule applies if you selected Oracle
Receivables as your primary data source. BPA uses the default template to present the
bill. This is true for transactions for all supplementary data sources.
Default Balance Forward Rule: This default template rule applies if you selected
Oracle Receivables Balance Forward as your primary data source. BPA applies this rule
and assigns either the Default Balance Forward Summary Template or Default Balance
Forward Detail Template, depending on the choice of Format.
Note: If BPA does not find a match in any of the rules for a transaction with a supplementary
data source other than None, then it reviews the rules associated with the supplementary data
source None until a match is found.
You cannot update the default template rules. If you want to change the templates assigned to a
default template rule, then create a new default rule with no attributes and order it before the
seeded default rule.

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Creating a New Assignment Rule
Creating a New Assignment Rule

You can create as many rules as you need to assign templates to transactions. Each rule can be
composed of one or more attribute matching criteria. You can specify that a bill must match at
least one attribute criteria, or must match all criteria, in order to be displayed by the template
associated with the rule.
You can create a rule for any enabled data source. You must select a supplementary data
source, or select None.
Note: If you are adding the first rule for a data source, the Rule Order section will not be
displayed.
Note: Use the Display Format attribute to include the bill type specification, Summary or
Detail, in a new BPA assignment rule.

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Selecting Attribute Matching Criteria
Selecting Attribute Matching Criteria

You select an attribute from the Add Attribute list of values and click Go. BPA filters the list of
available conditions for the selected attribute.
You then select the condition for the rule, and add the attribute values for the rule.
Depending on the type of attribute used in the rule, you can either select a value, search for a
value, or enter a value. For attributes with numerical or date values, such as Billing Date or
Outstanding Balance, you must enter a value.

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Selecting Conditions for Rules
Selecting Conditions for Rules

The matching conditions available are:
Equals
Greater than
Greater than or equal to
Less than
Less than or equal to
Starts with
Contains

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Assigning a Template to a Rule
Assigning a Template to a Rule

When you assign a template to a rule, you enter a range of transaction dates. The bill creation
date corresponds to the date when the transaction was created in Receivables.
A bill creation date must be January 1, 1970 or later.
Bill creation dates cannot overlap within a rule. For example, if you assign two templates,
Template A and Template B, to a rule, then the bill creation dates for Template A cannot
overlap the bill creation dates for Template B.
The Bill Creation From date must be on or before the Bill Creation To date.
Note: To assign a template to a rule, you must first click Add Another Row.

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Reordering Rules
Reordering Rules
If no match is found for a particular supplementary data source, the rules for the supplementary
data source None are checked until a match is found. The Default Transaction Rule applies if
no other matches are found.
To reorder rules, select the Reorder button available on the Assignment Rules page. You use the
shuttleboxes for online bills and printed bills to change rule order. If an external template is
assigned to a rule, then the rule appears only in the Print Bill Available Rules shuttlebox.
Viewing Online Bills
Internal users and external customers can view bills online using Oracle Receivables, Oracle
iReceivables, Oracle Advanced Collections, or other calling applications. When a user selects a
transaction number, the assignment engine in BPA determines which template to use to display
the bill.
When viewing a bill, all the features and functionality of BPAs Interactive Preview (such as
drilldown to transaction details) or iReceivables (such as creating a dispute, printing bills, or
making a payment) are available to the user.

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Viewing Attachments
An attachment document can be an image or data file, a hyperlink, or text. To include an
attachment, add the Attachment content item to a template. This content item is available only
for the Oracle Receivables Invoice Header data source view. Add this content item to the
header or footer of a template.

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Print Management
Print Management
(N) Bill Management > Print Management > Submit Print Request
When you create a template, you assign a page setup that determines the page size, margins,
and font used for the printed transaction. When the BPA Transaction Print Program or BPA
Balance Forward Print Program runs, it launches one or more child programs depending on the
number of transactions to print. Based on your responsibility, you can submit a print request of
transactions across the operating units that you have access to. The child program generates
one PDF file for each group of transactions and stores it as the output file of the concurrent
program.
The Job Size concurrent program lets the user define the number of transaction to print per
child program. The default value is 500.

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Bill Presentment All Request Group

The Bill Presentment All request group is associated with responsibilities for BPA and contains
three concurrent programs:
BPA Transaction Print Program
BPA Balance Forward Print Program
Generate Stylesheet for BPA Templates

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Printing Attachments
Printing Attachments
BPA lets you attach PDF documents to online bills. You can add, update, and delete
attachments, as well as print attachments along with the printing of bills.
AR: BPA Attachment Update Enabled: Set the AR: BPA Attachment Update Enabled
profile option to Yes to let users view, add, update, and delete attachments that are part of
online bills. If this profile option is set to No, then users can only view attachments.
AR: BPA Print Attachment Category: Specify a document category in the AR: BPA
Print Attachment Category profile option to print attachments while printing a bill. You
do not need to add the attachment content item to a template in order to print an
attachment. When a bill prints, any associated attachments in the specified document
category print automatically. This applies to both templates created in BPA and external
templates. Attachments must be in PDF.
See: Print Management, Oracle Bill Presentment Architecture User Guide for more
information.

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Creating and Updating Page Setups
Creating and Updating Page Setups

When you create a template in Template Management, you assign a page setup to format
transactions printed using that template. Seeded page setups include A4, Legal, and Letter. You
can modify seeded page setups.

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Summary

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Bill Presentment Architecture

Copyright Oracle, 2007. All rights reserved.