PeopleSoft General Ledger

ALLOCATIONS

Release: 7.51
Author: Holger Noreke
Version Date: 12/21/1998

Source Documentation

Test Dependencies
INTRODUCTION

Allocations are used to distribute monetary or statistical amounts across business units, departments, products, or
any other ChartField defined in PeopleSoft General Ledger. PeopleSoft allows you to define multiple allocation
steps for step-down allocations across your chart of accounts. This allows you to determine expenses by department
and then down to the individual project. You can choose between generating journals or updating the ledger table
directly.

Allocations Process Group

Step 1 Step 2

Select Pool Select Pool

Apply Basis Apply Basis

Update Target Update Target

Ledger Ledger

Update Offset Update Offset

Ledger Ledger

Each allocation step represents a discrete stage in the allocation process, meaning that the ledger balances are
updated or journals created at the end of the step.
DEFINING ALLOCATION TYPES

For each allocation type, an entry must be made in the system. Information must be entered identifying the effective
date, status and description of the allocation step, as well as any special calculations you may want to perform on
the pool and basis.

To get to the Allocation Type panel, follow the following menu path:

Next, select the menu path as shown in the following diagram.

You will then be prompted to enter the SetID and Process Step for the new Type. Click OK to accept.

You will then be presented with the following screen.

1. To the right of the Step field, enter a description of the Step

2. Enter the Effective Date
3. Select a Status
4. Choose the Allocation Type. The type determines the calculation options—how to divide the pool amounts.
PeopleSoft supports several types of allocation calculations; here is a list of options.

Allocation Type Description

Copy Copies the pool amounts to the target or offset with
some percentage changes.
Spread Evenly Divides pool amounts equally among the specified basis
 field.

Allocate on Fixed Basis Allocates on a fixed basis and percentage of Prorata

Prorata with Record Basis
Arithmetic Operation
allocation. This is based on the fixed allocation
percentage you specify in the % field in the Value/Node
scroll area on the Allocation Basis panel.
Divides the pool amount among the targets based on
amounts stored in the Basis record.
Defines the allocation calculation as a mathematical
operation between pool and basis. When you choose this
option, the Arithmetic Operation Type options become
active and you can specify if you wish to add, subtract
multiply or divide.

5. Select the Inter Business Unit Allocation check box if you are allocating among business units.

ALLOCATION TYPE EXAMPLES

Spread Evenly

The pool amount is divided evenly across the targets. For example, suppose total office supplies to all
administrative offices equally.

Pool $ 6,000
Basis DeptID 0200
DeptID 0210
DeptID 0220
Target Budgeted Office Supplies Expense by Admin. Dept. (Account 841000)
Offset None
Note: You would exclude an offset when the ledger you’re allocating to is not balanced.

Result:
Account DeptID Ledger Amt. Journal Amt.
841000 0200 2,000
841000 0210 2,000
841000 0220 2,000

Allocate on Fixed Basis

The allocation is based on the fixed allocation percentage you specify in the % field on the Allocation basis
panel. For example, to charge back the monthly rent expense of $20,000 for office space to the Training,
Sales, and Documentation departments, you would specify the % to be allocated to each department. This
allocation type is a special case of Prorata allocation, where the percentage of the prorate is fixed.

Pool $ 20,000
Basis Sales DeptID 0200 – 30%
Documentation DeptID 0650 – 40%
Training DeptID 0700 – 30%
Target Office Rental Expense by department (Account 640000)
 Offset Office Rental Expense

Result:
Account DeptID Ledger Amt. Journal Amt.
640000 20,000 -20,000
640000 0200 6,000
640000 0650 8,000
640000 0700 6,000

Prorata with Record Basis

The pool amount is divided among the targets, based upon the ledger amounts (monetary or statistical)
specified in the basis. For example, to allocate the cost of marketing seminars to all sales offices based on
the number of sales contracts submitted.

Pool $6,000 – Marketing Seminar Expense

Basis Number of contracts in each Sales department to the total number of contracts
Target Marketing Seminar Expense by Sales Dept. (Acct. 831000)
Offset Marketing Seminar Expense

Basis:
The number of contracts processed for each department is recorded in a Statistics Code called Con.
The number of contracts won is recorded at the same time the revenue for the sale is recorded in
Account 600000.

Account DeptID Product Statistics Ledger Amt. % to Total

Code
600000 0200 All Con 20 10%
600000 0210 All Con 120 60%
600000 0220 All Con 60 30%

Result:
Account DeptID Ledger Amt. Journal Amt.
831000 6,000 -6,000
831000 0200 600
831000 0210 3,600
831000 0220 1,800
Arithmetic Operations

This allocation calculation is defined as a mathematical operation between the pool and the basis, where you
can specify addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. For example, to charge back the annual rental
cost of a photocopier of $10,000 to Training, Sales, and Documentation departments according to a
statistics code for estimated (percentage) use, you would multiply the pool by the percent usage by
department to determine charge-back amounts.

Pool $10,000 – Equipment Rental Expense

Basis Sales DeptID 0200 – 30% usage
Documentation DeptID 0650 – 40% usage
Training DeptID 0700 – 30% usage
Target Equipment Rental Expense by Department (Acct. 839000)
Offset Equipment Rental Expense
Result:
Account DeptID Stat Code Ledger Amt. Journal Amt.
839000 10,000 -10,000
839000 0200 Use .30 3,000
839000 0650 Use .40 4,000
839000 0700 Use .30 3,000
DEFINING THE POOL

After allocation calculation options are specified, you can define the pool from your ledger balances, any table or
from a fixed amount you specify.

To get to the Allocation Pool panel, follow the following menu path:

Next, select the menu path as shown in the following diagram.

You will then be presented with the following screen.

1. Select Ledger Grp, Fixed Amount, or Table in the Pool Record Group. The options are:

Ledger Grp A ledger group may contain both statistical and monetary accounts. The Pool
ledger contains the amounts to be allocated
Table To define the pool record for PeopleSoft Projects, choose Table and an edit box
will appear for you to specify the table name
TimeSpan Single or multiple period TimeSpans determine the accounting periods used for
the Pool. Relative TimeSpans will retrieve amounts relative to the As of Date
specified on the Allocation Request panel. If TimeSpan is blank, the system
will add together all the pool amounts for all fiscal years and accounting periods
Zero Pool This option tells the system how to proceed when the value of the pool record is
zero
Calculate this pool Process the zero amount pool record to create target and
offset
Select Next pool Skip the zero amount pool record and select the next pool
record for processing
 Stop Processing Issue and error message to indicate a zero amount pool
record is selected and stop this allocation from being
processed
Fixed Amount/Factor To base a pool on a fixed sum, enter that amount on the Amount Fields panel.
You can also factor in a percentage to be applied to the pool and/or the basis.
To create a budget based upon last years amount + 10%, you would specify
110% as your pool factor.

2. For the Pool Fields, enter the Field Name that Allocations will use in selecting only certain pool rows from the
pool record. If you press F4 with your cursor is in the Field Name edit box (or if you use the drop down list),
you’ll get a prompt table of all the fields in the pool record. If your pool record is a Ledger Grp, your pool
record name is actually the Ledger record name defined in the Ledger Template for the Ledger Group.

3. Choose the appropriate option in How Specified. You can specify individual pool field values, use trees to
select ChartField values from specified levels and nodes, specify the range of field values, or choose a
combination of these three methods. We recommend that you use trees whenever possible to reduce future
maintenance should your ChartField values change.
4. Selected Tree Nodes activates the Tree Information fields for you to specify a tree from which to select nodes.
Select Detail to enter a range of detail values for a node, or Dynamic if you want the range of detail values
defined by a table in your database. Enter each Tree node—Level is optional. If the tree has levels, you can
limit prompting in this field to selected levels.
5. Range of Value activates both Value/Node/Range of Values edit boxes for you to enter the beginning and ending
pool field values. If you leave the left value, which is the "From" value, blank, the system will select all pool
field values less than or equal to the To value. You cannot leave the To value blank because the blank value is
always the smallest value. If you press F7 when your cursor is in a Value/Node/Range of Values edit box, you
can insert multiple ranges of values.
DEFINING THE BASIS

The Basis ledger contains the values that will be used to determine how the pool is to be allocated to the target
ledger.

To get to the Allocation Basis panel, follow the following menu path:

Next, select menu path as shown in the following diagram.

You will then be presented with the following screen.

1. Select Ledger Grp, Fixed Amount, or Table in the Pool Record Group. The options are:

Ledger Grp A ledger group may contain both statistical and monetary accounts. The Pool
ledger contains the amounts to be allocated
Table To define the pool record for PeopleSoft Projects, choose Table and an edit box
will appear for you to specify the table name
TimeSpan Single or multiple period TimeSpans determine the accounting periods used for
the Pool. Relative TimeSpans will retrieve amounts relative to the As of Date
specified on the Allocation Request panel. If TimeSpan is blank, the system
will add together all the pool amounts for all fiscal years and accounting periods
Zero Pool This option tells the system how to proceed when the value of the pool record is
zero
Calculate this pool Process the zero amount pool record to create target and
offset
Select Next pool Skip the zero amount pool record and select the next pool
record for processing

Stop Processing Issue and error message to indicate a zero amount pool
record is selected and stop this allocation from being
processed
 Fixed Amount/Factor To base a pool on a fixed sum, enter that amount on the Amount Fields panel.
You can also factor in a percentage to be applied to the pool and/or the basis.
To create a budget based upon last years amount + 10%, you would specify
110% as your pool factor.

2. For the Pool Fields, enter the Field Name that Allocations will use in selecting only certain pool rows from the
pool record. If you press F4 with your cursor is in the Field Name edit box (or if you use the drop down list),
you’ll get a prompt table of all the fields in the pool record. If your pool record is a Ledger Grp, your pool
record name is actually the Ledger record name defined in the Ledger Template for the Ledger Group.

3. Choose the appropriate option in How Specified. You can specify individual pool field values, use trees to
select ChartField values from specified levels and nodes, specify the range of field values, or choose a
combination of these three methods. We recommend that you use trees whenever possible to reduce future
maintenance should your ChartField values change.
4. Selected Tree Nodes activates the Tree Information fields for you to specify a tree from which to select nodes.
Select Detail to enter a range of detail values for a node, or Dynamic if you want the range of detail values
defined by a table in your database. Enter each Tree node—Level is optional. If the tree has levels, you can
limit prompting in this field to selected levels.
5. Range of Value activates both Value/Node/Range of Values edit boxes for you to enter the beginning and ending
pool field values. If you leave the left value, which is the "From" value, blank, the system will select all pool
field values less than or equal to the To value. You cannot leave the To value blank because the blank value is
always the smallest value. If you press F7 when your cursor is in a Value/Node/Range of Values edit box, you
can insert multiple ranges of values.
DEFINING THE TARGET

The level of detail of the target journal entry lines is determined by the values you enter in the Target ChartKeys
panel.

To get to the Allocation Target panel, follow the following menu path:

Next, select menu path as shown in the following diagram.

You will then be presented with the following screen.

1. Choose the Target Record—either Journals or any Table. For Journals, specify a ledger group name. The
system uses this definition to determine the journal line record name and other characteristics (such as calendar,
multibook, and base currency). If the target is any table, specify the record name in the edit box that appears.

2. Use the TimeSpan field to specify the output for a single or multiple accounting periods for the target.

3. If the Source is From Pool, From Basis, or Group by Pool and Basis, you can specify the Field Mapping if the
source field name in the pool or basis record is different from the field name in the target record. For example,
the PRODUCT field value of the target record is from the PROJECT field value of the pool record. If you
press F4 with your cursor in the Field Name edit box (or if you use the drop down list), you’ll see a prompt
table of all fields in the target record. If your target record is Journals, your target record name is actually the
Journal Line Record name defined in the Ledger Template for the Ledger Group
DEFINING THE OFFSET

Offset reflects the clearing of pool amounts as they are transferred to the targets. But if the target record is not a
balanced ledger, like budget ledgers, there is usually no offset.

Move to the Offset Tab in order to view the following screen.

JOURNAL OPTIONS
Move to the Journal Options panel to define Journal Options if the target or offset record is Journals, or to define the
Table Output Option if the target or offset record is Table. You can also specify how allocated amounts should be
converted to base currency amounts for InterUnit allocations between business units of different base currencies.

You will be presented with the following screen.

1. If your Target or Offset is a Journal, you must define the Journal Options. Specify the Journal ID Mask,
Source, and Reference. Unless you specify otherwise, the Journal Source defaults to ALO (Allocations).
2. Select Post Journal to Ledger if you want to post the journals created in Allocations so you don’t have to post
them later in a separate process. Typically, you would select this option in a multiple-step Allocation process
where the pool amount for the next step come from the previous step’s target. If journals are not posted, the
ledger will not be updated. The next multiple step will draw erroneous data from the ledger. If you select this
option, Allocations will call the Journal Edit program first to edit the journals. If for any reason the journals fail
in the Journal Edit process, the system will not post them to the ledger and the allocation process will issue an
error message “Allocation step … is complete with journal created but not posted.” Journals can fail Journal
Edit for many reasons, including invalid ChartFields, balancing by ChartField, or ChartField combination edit.
 After you determine the cause of the problem, you might have to change your allocation step definition to avoid
it.
3. For Allocation Reversal, you can set up a reversing entry for the current allocation by selecting the applicable
option. Depending on which option you choose, the system will date the reversing entry at the beginning or end
of your next accounting period. If you select to Post Journal to Ledger, the system creates and posts the
reversal entry. If you do not select to Post Journal to Ledger, Allocations will not create the reversal entry but it
will mark the allocation journals with the reversal code. When the allocation journals are posted later in a
separate process, the system will create the reversal entry.
4. For an InterUnit allocation, use the InterUnit Currency Conversion field to specify the currency conversion
exchange Rate Type if the allocation is within different business units having different base currencies. Choose
the Currency Effective Date.
BATCH RECORDS

Move to the Batch Records panel to specify the three batch records used in the Allocations process.

You will be presented with the following screen.

1. Specify the Calculation Log Record to create a calculations log for a complete audit trail or debugging. You
select the Create Calculation Log option on the Allocation Request panel. You can use a delivered calculation
log record, ALLOC_CALC_LOG, for all allocation steps that are processed against the Actuals ledger (not
the Budgets ledger, which might have different ChartFields than the Actuals ledger). If your allocation is not
processed against the Actuals ledger, you’ll need to create a customized Calculation Log Record.
2. Specify the Basis Working Record for any allocation types other than the Copy allocation type. See Defining
the Allocation Basis for more information. You can use a delivered default basis working table,
ALC_BSWK_TBL, for all allocation steps whose basis record is the Actuals ledger. If your basis record is not
the Actuals ledger, you’ll need to create a customized Basis Working Record.
3. Specify the Target/Offset Working Record. This record is required for every allocation step regardless of the
allocation type or target/offset record type. The system inserts Target and offset rows into the Target/Offset
Working Record first for summarization before it actually creates them for the target and offset record. You
can use a delivered default target/offset working table, ALC_TGWK_TBL, for all allocation steps that create
journal entries for the Actuals ledger for the target and offset. If your target and offset are not journal entries
for the Actuals ledger, you’ll need to create a customized Target/Offset Working Record.
AMOUNT FIELDS
Move to the Amount Fields panel to define the amount fields mapping between the pool, basis, target, and offset
records. In other words, you'll define which fields in the pool record store the pool amounts, which fields in the
basis record store the basis amounts, and where the system should put the calculated amounts in the target and offset
record.

You will be presented with the following screen.

1. For the Pool record, specify the Pool Amount and Pool Base Curr Amt.
2. If the pool is not a record but a Fixed Amount, enter that amount in Fixed Pool Amount.
3. For the Basis record, specify a Basis Amount.
4. For the Target record, specify the Target Amount and Target Base Curr Amt.
5. For the Offset record, specify the Offset Amount and the Offset Base Curr Amt.
6. For the Calculation Log, specify the corresponding Log fields that store the pool, basis, total basis, and
calculated target amounts.
7. If you specify the Pool Base Curr Amt, Allocations will assume the amounts are monetary and will use the
currency control fields defined for the Pool, Target, and Offset records to determine the currency codes. For
example, if you are allocating on monetary amounts for PeopleSoft, your Pool record is Ledger Group
ACTUALS and the Target record is Journals ACTUALS.
8. For Log Pool specify the amount field in the calculation log record that will be used to store the pool amount for
audit trail.
9. For Log Pool Base Curr specify the amount field in the calculation log record that will be used to store the pool
base currency amount for audit trail.
10. Log Basis. The amount field in the calculation log record that will be used to store the basis amount for audit
trail.
11. Log Basis Total. The amount field in the calculation log record that will be used to store the total basis amount
for audit trail. Dividing the value stored in Log Basis field by the value stored in Log Basis Total field will give
you the percentage of pool amount distributed to the target.
12. Log Target. The amount field in the calculation log record that will be used to store the calculated target
amount for audit trail.
13. Log Target Base Curr. The amount field in the calculation log record that will be used to store the calculated
target base currency amount for audit trail.
COPY/RENAME/DELETE ALLOCATION STEPS

Allocation Steps may be used in as many Allocation Groups as needed.

To modify a step slightly for use in another allocation, use the Copy feature.

To get to the Allocation Type panel, follow the following menu path:

Next, select the menu path as shown in the following diagram.

You will then be presented with the following screen.

By selecting the SetID, Process Step, and correct Action Code, you can Copy/Rename/Delete an Allocation Step.