Oracle Cloud GL cheat sheet

The General Ledger is the central repository of accounting data; all subledger journals and manual journals post to it and it owns the chart of accounts, calendar, and currency definitions.

Four required key flexfield components: Chart of Accounts (Accounting Flexfield), Calendar, Currency, and Journal (or Subledger Accounting) structure; each ledger combines one COA, one calendar, and one currency.

Ledger types: Primary Ledger (one per legal entity, required), Secondary Ledger (additional accounting basis, same COA/calendar/currency optional), Reporting Currency Ledger (translated balances for reporting only), and Consolidation Ledger.

Legal entity is a separate registration with its own tax and reporting obligations; a primary ledger is attached to one or more legal entities, and each legal entity may have only one primary ledger.

Accounting configuration is created once per chart of accounts and calendar combination; ledgers sharing that combination inherit the same accounting rules and period status.

Subledger Accounting (SLA) derives journal entries from business events using journal line rules and account rules; GL receives the resulting transfer journals, not the raw transactions.

Balances are stored in GL_BALANCES by ledger, period, account combination, and currency; translated and entered balances are maintained separately.

Business units group transaction processing for a ledger, while the ledger determines the accounting; a single ledger can serve multiple business units.

Journal sources and categories drive posting, reversal, and approval behavior; the source identifies origin (e.g., Payables, Manual) and the category classifies the entry for reporting.

Chart of Accounts structure: define value sets (validation type, format, security) for each segment, then create the key flexfield structure and segments; the combination must be enabled before use.

Segment qualifiers control behavior: Natural Account (asset, liability, equity, revenue, expense), Balancing (required for intercompany balancing), Cost Center, and Intercompany flags.

Account combination validation: Dynamic Inserts allowed creates combinations on the fly; if disabled, combinations must be pre-created via the spreadsheet or interface before journals post.

Value set validation types: Independent, Dependent, Table, and Special; dependent value sets require a pair of segments where the second's values depend on the first.

Security: data access sets restrict a user to specific ledgers and, optionally, specific balancing segment values or management segment values.

Ledger options include retained earnings account, cumulative translation adjustment account, rounding account, journal approval, and suspense account for unbalanced entries.

Period statuses (Open, Closed, Permanently Closed, Never Opened, Future Enterable) are set per ledger and accounting period; closing one period does not automatically close subledger periods.

Conversion rates are defined by rate type (Spot, Corporate, User) with daily, period-end, and historical rates; GL uses these for revaluation and translation.

Journal approval can be enabled per ledger; approval rules route journals to approvers, and unapproved journals cannot be posted until approved.

Journal entry lifecycle: Create (Entered) → Post (Posted) → optionally Reverse; only Posted journals affect balances, and posting validates the period is Open and the combination is valid.

Reversal methods: Change Sign (debit/credit swapped), Switch Debit/Credit (same accounts, signs flipped), and No Reversal; reversal can be scheduled for a future or prior period.

Journal entry batch must balance by currency before posting; unbalanced entries can post to a suspense account only if suspense posting is enabled in ledger options.

Recurring journals use a template with a schedule (e.g., every period for N periods); the generated journals are separate entries linked to the template.

Allocations distribute amounts across cost centers or segments using a basis (e.g., headcount, revenue) and target accounts; results post as generated journals.

Period close sequence: close subledgers (Payables, Receivables, Assets) → transfer and post subledger journals → run revaluation and translation → post adjusting journals → close the GL period.

Revaluation restates foreign-currency balances to a new rate and posts unrealized gain/loss to a designated account; translation converts entire ledger balances to a reporting currency using period-end, average, and historical rates.

Consolidation combines multiple ledgers into a parent ledger; intercompany eliminations and minority interest are handled through consolidation rules and balancing.

Period close checklist tasks can be sequenced and assigned; a task must be completed before dependent tasks can start, and closing the period is blocked until required tasks finish.

Allocation components: a Pool (source of amounts, defined by account ranges and amount type), a Basis (driver such as statistical balances or constant), and Targets (destination accounts with offset).

Allocation methods: Full Allocation distributes the entire pool, Incremental distributes only new amounts since the last run, and Spread evenly divides across targets.

Allocation basis types include Proportional (by basis amounts), Evenly, and Prorate; the basis can reference statistical (non-monetary) account balances.

Allocation run produces a generated journal batch; the offset account balances the entry, and results can be reviewed before posting.

Financial Reporting Studio: reports are built from rows (accounts), columns (periods, amounts, calculations), and a point of view (ledger, currency, scenario); each report is published to a report set or dashboard.

Smart View provides Excel-based ad hoc queries and analysis against GL balances; it uses the same data model as Financial Reporting but supports live pivot analysis.

Account Groups define sets of accounts for reporting and allocation; they can be defined by parent values or by explicit ranges and are reused across reports.

Sunburst and account hierarchy drill-down in Financial Reporting allows navigation from summary balances to underlying journal lines when the security and drill-through configuration permit.

Currency reporting: translated balances use the reporting currency ledger; entered balances remain in the ledger currency, and reports must specify which currency and amount type (PTD, QTD, YTD) to display.