How to Get the Best Out of OTBI Reporting for Financials

Cloud – Tips and Techniques

ORACLE WHITE PAPER | MARCH 2017

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 Table of Contents

Purpose 3

Introduction 3

Frequently Asked Questions & Troubleshooting Tips 3

1. What are the common reasons that reports created from the
‘General Ledger – Balance Real Time’ subject area fail? 3

2. How do I report on GL journals and their related Subledger journals (SLA)? 8

3. Why does my report fail when I include attributes from GL Segments? 11

4. Why does my report take long when I add certain attributes? 11

5. Why are my amounts getting multiplied in my AP reports? 12

6. Why are amounts getting multiplied in reports when I include GL segments? 13

7. How do I create a report that shows AP invoices, corresponding payments,

holds and installments? 14

Miscellaneous Topics 18

Cross Subject Area Reports 18

BI Extension / Trees 18

Performance Tips 18

APPENDIX – Recommended Filters for Successful Reporting 19

Reference 20

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Purpose

The purpose of this White Paper is to share tips and techniques by answering frequently asked questions and make
OTBI report authoring more efficient. The document is aimed at any role in a customer or partner organization
chartered to develop OTBI reports in Oracle Financials Cloud.

Introduction

The following FAQ’s have been compiled based on commonly encountered issues reported by Oracle Financials
Cloud customers to the Oracle OTBI Product Development teams. They should not be seen by any means as
exhaustive nor do they serve as alternative to product documentation. This is a living document and is expected to
be updated with even more tips as more such feedback is received.

Frequently Asked Questions & Troubleshooting Tips

1. What are the common reasons that reports created from the ‘General Ledger – Balance Real Time’
subject area fail?
This subject area uses Essbase in the back end. To use this subject area, you need to:

(i) apply required filters at report runtime and

(ii) run ESS programs to import Fusion data extensions for OTBI

Users may encounter the following issues if they miss any one of the required steps above.

- Reports return internal errors (nQSerror).

- User cannot select any data from dashboard prompts or filters.

- Reports return no rows.

The reports fail or return incorrect results without required filters and columns. Please make sure those pre-
requisites are implemented in your report. For the list of the required filters and columns, please refer to the
following document, available in the My Oracle Support Knowledgebase:

Fusion Applications OTBI/Essbase : General Ledger - Balances Real Time fails to Query The Essbase Cube,
instead it queries the transactional database FSCM_OLTP (Doc ID 1965181.1)

Please find below, specific error scenario and solutions to overcome

(a) Reports Return Internal Errors (nQSerror)

This subject area has required filters “Time – (Fiscal Calendar) Name”, and “Ledger – Chart of Accounts”. For
example, when you do not apply one of the required filters “Time – (Fiscal Calendar) Name”, the report return an
error “You may be able to evaluate this query if you remove one of the following column references..”,

3 | TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR USING OTBI FINANCIALS REPORTING

 Error Message:

When you apply a filter for Fiscal Calendar Name:

4 | TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR USING OTBI FINANCIALS REPORTING

 Then, the report will complete successfully.

Please make sure you apply the required filters.

(b) Cannot Find Fiscal Calendar in Choice List

Fiscal Calendar Name has two sources - ADF & Essbase. The column “User Period Set name” and “Period Set
Name” are mapped to ADF and Essbase respectively. The choice list for Fiscal Calendar Name hits the ADF
objects. Your report may not return records if you use the choice list to specify the fiscal calendar filter. Currently
you need to type in Period Set Name for Balance Real Time as workaround.

In the following example, the report has a filter on period set name “Accounting”.

The report returns the following result, which is correct.

In the Choice List for (Fiscal Calendar) Name, you cannot find “Accounting”. Instead, you see “user” period set
name “AccountingMon1” for “Accounting”.

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 When you use “AccountingMon1” instead of “Accounting” as the filter, the report does not return any row. You
need to type in “Accounting” for the filter.

(c) Reports Return No Rows

Case 1: Missing Required Filters

Depending on your report definition, your report may complete successfully even when you do not
apply the required filters.

Report Output

However, in this case, the report does not use Essbase. Instead, it retrieves data from a relational database
source and may not return correct results. Please make sure you apply the required filters when using this
subject area.

Note: If you do not use Ledger Name as filter, then you must add it as a selected column. Otherwise the report
does not return data. The same applies to Accounting Period Name.

Case 2: Missing “Apps Local Currency Code” in Your Report

Suppose you report is missing “Apps Local Currency Code”.

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 Even with correct filters, the report returns no rows.

Add “Apps Local Currency Code” to the report.

Then it will return data.

Case 3: Did Not Run ESS Programs to Import Fusion Data Extensions

You need to run the following ESS programs for each cube to import Fusion Data Extensions. Please make sure
you have run them:
 Create Rules XML File for BI Extender Automation
 Import Oracle Fusion Data Extensions for Transactional Business Intelligence

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Case 4: Filter for Ragged Hierarchies

When using ragged hierarchies in General Ledger – Balances Real Time, filters on the code column (e.g. Account
Code) may result in no data returned.

You need to be aware of the following points:

 The code column (e.g. Account Code) returns the last level of the deepest hierarchy when your query
retrieves data from Essbase.

 Dimension only queries hit ADF sources not Essbase. The ADF has a flattened hierarchy where the last
level is repeated.

 Each GL segment has a default tree “All <GL Segment> Values” which has all the nodes added as children
for this tree.

In the following example, Account 52386 is a leaf node of the ragged hierarchy but when you apply filter “Account
Code is equal to / is in 52386”, the report does not return any data. This is because account 52386 is not at the last
level of the hierarchy and Account Code is null for the balance record.

On the other hand, if you run a dimension only query or do search in the filter for “Account Code”, you see all
nodes at different levels.

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This is because the query hits an ADF source instead of Essbase. If you select account 52386 from the choice list
in the filter for the balance report (not dimension only queries), it does not return any data as Account Code is null
for the balance row. The filter works only for the last level of the deepest hierarchy (e.g. 53431, 53432, and so on).
You can use the following methods:
1. Add “Level N Code” columns to the report. Apply filters on them.

The report returns the following data:

The filtering could be challenging unless you are familiar with the tree structure.

2. Create a new column returning leaf nodes and apply filters on it.

Add a new column to your report with the following formula which returns leaf nodes. You need to change
the expression based on the depth of your tree structure. The following example is for the case the last
level is 25.
CASE
WHEN "Natural Account Segment"."Account Code" IS NULL THEN
CASE
WHEN "Natural Account Segment"."Account Level 25 Code" IS NULL THEN
CASE
WHEN "Natural Account Segment"."Account Level 26 Code" IS NULL THEN
CASE
WHEN "Natural Account Segment"."Account Level 27 Code" IS NULL THEN
CASE
WHEN "Natural Account Segment"."Account Level 28 Code" IS NULL THEN
CASE
WHEN "Natural Account Segment"."Account Level 29 Code" IS NULL THEN
CASE
WHEN "Natural Account Segment"."Account Level 30 Code" IS NULL THEN
"Natural Account Segment"."Account Level 31 Code"

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 ELSE
"Natural Account Segment"."Account Level 30 Code"
END
ELSE
"Natural Account Segment"."Account Level 29 Code"
END
ELSE
"Natural Account Segment"."Account Level 28 Code"
END
ELSE
"Natural Account Segment"."Account Level 27 Code"
END
ELSE
"Natural Account Segment"."Account Level 26 Code"
END
ELSE
"Natural Account Segment"."Account Level 25 Code"
END
ELSE
"Natural Account Segment"."Account Code"
END

This attribute (“Leaf”) returns leaf nodes for ragged hierarchies.

By applying filters on “Leaf”,

You will see balances for the specified criteria irrespective of the node levels.

3. Use tree “All <Segment Name> Values” and apply filter on “Level 31 Code”.

Each segment has a default tree called “All <Segment Name> Values”. For this tree, the Level 31 Code
column returns all leaf nodes (again, you need to apply required filters to see them).

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 You just need to apply filters on Level 31 Code and Tree Filter.

2. How do I report on GL journals and their related Subledger journals (SLA)?

For given GL journals, you may want to view their corresponding SLA journals. The following steps describe the
details to implement drill from a GL journal line to corresponding SLA journal lines.

The attribute names may vary depending on your OTBI version.

Step 1: Create a new GL journal report for filtering.
Create a new report to retrieve “General Ledger to Subledger Link Identifier”. Add filters for “Journal Header
Identifier” and “Journal Line Num” with operator “Is prompted”.

GL Journal Filter Report Definition

Step 2: Create a Subledger Journal report to which you want to drill.

Go to subject area “Subledger Accounting – Journals Real Time”. Add a filter on “General Ledger to
Subledger Link Table (GL SLA Link Table)” (= XLAJEL) as in the following screen shot.

SLA Journal Report Definition

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 And then, create a filter based on the report “GL Journals Filter” created in Step 1.
Filter on General Ledger to Subledger Link Identifier

Step 3: Expose “Journal Header Identifier” and “Journal Line Number” in your GL journal report.
Modify your GL journal report to expose “Journal Header Identifier” and “Journal Line Number”.

GL Journal Report Definition

Step 4: Add Action Links to Amount Columns

4.1. Open “Column Properties” on amount columns.

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 4.2. For “Value”, select Primary Interaction “Action Links” and click the plus sign (“Add Action Links”).

4.3. Enter Link Text (e.g. “SLA Journals), click “+”, and then select “Navigate to BI Content”.

13 | TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR USING OTBI FINANCIALS REPORTING

 4.3. Select the target report “SLA Journals” you have created in step 2.

4.4. Click OK and save the report.

Report Run Time:

Run the GL journal report and click the amount column. Then, select the link text “SLA Journals”.

You will see the details of the corresponding SLA entries.

14 | TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR USING OTBI FINANCIALS REPORTING

3. Why does my report fail when I include attributes from GL Segments?

When you include GL segments (Balancing Segment, Natural Account, Cost Center, and so on), the report
fails with nQSError 15018.
[nQSError: 10058] A general error has occurred. [nQSError: 43113] Message
returned from OBIS. [nQSError: 43119] Query Failed: [nQSError: 15018]
Incorrectly defined logical table source (for fact table Fact - Fins -
Intercompany Transaction
Distribution) does not contain mapping for [Dim - Balancing Segment.Balancing
Segment Description].
In this case, please make sure you have run ESS program “Import Oracle Fusion Data Extensions for
Transactional Business Intelligence" to import flexfield related extensible data.

4. Why does my report take long when I add certain attributes?

» Report attributes are sourced from tables with different levels of granularity. Adding certain attributes brings
in a large table which affects the report performance. For example, in the following report, “Invoice
Accounting Date” under “Invoice Details – General Information” is sourced from invoice headers.

If you replace “Invoice Accounting Date” with “Accounting Date” under “Accounting – Accounting Date”, the
report could take longer. This is because this new column brings in additional tables for subledger journal
entries. If header information satisfies your requirement, in general, you better off not including attributes at
more granular level in your report for better performance.

5. Why are my amounts getting multiplied in my AP reports?

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 » When using filters on a report at a more detail level than the amounts and not including those filter
columns as attributes of the report the amounts may multiply. For example, assume you have an invoice
with (header) amount $1,384 and approvers made multiple actions on the invoice. When the report has a
filter on Approver like “Approver is equal to / is in Ted Brown; Mary Johnson”, then it returns invoice
amount $2,768 (= $1,384 * 2).

If you add the more detail attributes (Approval Action and Approver) to the report, the amount does not multiply,

16 | TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR USING OTBI FINANCIALS REPORTING

6. Why are my amounts getting multiplied in my reports when I include GL segments?

» When you define multiple tree versions for an attribute (e.g. Balancing Segments, Natural Account, and Cost
Center), you need to add a filter to your report to specify a unique tree version. Otherwise your amounts will be
multiplied.
[Edit Journal]

[General Ledger – Journals Real Time: No filter on Tree]

The report returns 400,000,000 instead of 100,000,000.

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 [General Ledger – Journals Real Time: Filter on Tree]

The report returns the correct debit amount after applying the tree filter.

When the issue still persists after applying the tree filter, you may have defined duplicate nodes for the tree
version. In this case, you need to either filter out one of the nodes in your report or fix the tree version to eliminate
the duplicate entries.

7. How do I create a report that shows AP invoices, corresponding payments, holds and installments?

» For given invoices, you may want to display payment information. The following steps describe the details to
implement the report.
Note: All cross subject area rules must be applied here. See the following document for the details:
 Fusion Applications OTBI: Guidelines for creating cross subject area analyses in Oracle
Transactional BI (OTBI) (Doc ID 1567672.1)

Step 1: Select subject area “Payables Invoices – Transactions Real Time”.

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 Step 2: Add subject area “Payables Payments – Disbursements Real Time”.

2.1. Click “Add / Remove Subject Areas”.

2.2. Select “Payables Payments – Disbursements Real Time” and click OK.

You will see the two subject areas.

2.3. Add subject area “Payables Invoices – Holds Real Time” and “Payables Invoices – Installments Real Time”.

Step 3: Add attributes to your report.

Example 1: Invoice, Payment, Hold, and Installment:

Subject Area Folder Column

Payables Invoices – Transactions Invoice Details – General Information Invoice Cancelled Date
Real Time

Invoice Date

Invoice Description

Invoice Created By

19 | TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR USING OTBI FINANCIALS REPORTING

 Invoice Creation Date

Invoice Number

Invoice Received Date

Invoice Type Code

Invoice Details – Reference Information Invoice Source Code

Pay Group

Payment Status Indicator

Business Unit Business Unit Name

Supplier Supplier

Supplier Number

Supplier Site Site

Invoice Details – Invoice Amounts Invoice Currency

Invoice Amount

Payables Payments – Payment Header Details - Payment Payment Date

Disbursements Real Time Information

Payment Status Code

Payment Header Details – Payment Payment Amount

Amounts

Payables Invoices – Holds Real Invoice Hold Details Hold Date

Time

Hold Name

Hold Reason

Release Reason

Hold Count

Payables Invoices – Installments Invoice Installment Details Installment Number

Real Time

Invoice Installment Amounts Gross Amount

Example 2: Invoice Lines, Distributions and Payments:

Subject Area Folder Column

Payables Invoices – Transactions Accounting – Accounting Date Accounting Date

Real Time

Invoice Details – General Information Invoice Date

Invoice Entered Date

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 Invoice Number

Invoice Type Code

Invoice Details – Invoice Amounts Invoice Amount in Ledger

Currency

Invoice Amount

Invoice Currency

Ledger Currency

Invoice Amount Paid

Distributions – Invoice Distribution Details Distribution Line Number

– General Information

Distributions – Invoice Distributions Distribution Amount

Invoice Lines – Invoice Line Amounts Applied Prepayments in Ledger

Currency

Included Tax Amount

Invoice Line Amount

Withheld Amount in Entered

Currency

Withheld Amount in Ledger

Currency

Invoice Lines – Invoice Line Details – Invoice Line Type Code

General Information

Invoice Line Number

Invoice Lines - Item Item Description

Business Unit Business Unit Name

Supplier Supplier

Supplier Number

Supplier Site Site

Payables Payments – Payment Header Details - Payment Payment Amount

Disbursements Real Time Amounts

Payment Header Details – Payment Payment Date

Information

Check Number

Payment Type

More FAQ's can be found in the OTBI Help Center accessible from Oracle Business Intelligence pages: Help ->
Help Contents -> OTBI Help.

21 | TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR USING OTBI FINANCIALS REPORTING

Miscellaneous Topics

Cross Subject Area Reports

Please refer to the following document:

 Fusion Applications OTBI: Guidelines for creating cross subject area analyses in Oracle Transactional BI
(OTBI) (Doc ID 1567672.1)

BI Extension / Trees
Please refer to the following document:

 Fusion Financials OTBI : Setting up General Ledger (GL) Accounting Segments (Key Flexfields KFFs) for
OTBI reporting (Doc ID 1980180.1)

Performance Tips
More often than not, end users need information to answer specific business questions that can be best met by
targeted queries. You should avoid creating reports that return large data sets. The following is a list of tips which
can be used as guidelines.
1. When large reports are needed, consider using Contextual Action Links to navigate to detailed reports
from the main summarized report.
2. Avoid table prompts on columns with huge data volumes (e.g. Bill-to Customer Name).
3. Include sufficient filters for reports that need to show hierarchical dimensions,
4. When using attributes at various levels (Header, Line, Distribution, Accounting), ensure that there is at
least one measure included in the report from each of the attributes at that level.
5. Use report filters that present summarized information. The following table shows the list of filters that
should be applied on reports created from respective subject areas:

22 | TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR USING OTBI FINANCIALS REPORTING

APPENDIX – Recommended Filters for Successful Reporting

Subject Area Presentation Columns (* Required Filter)

General Ledger – Balance Real Time » Time - (Fiscal Calendar) Name*

» Ledger - Chart of Accounts *

General Ledger – Journals Real Time » Ledger - Ledger Name

» Time - Accounting Period Name
» Natural Account Segment - Natural Account Segment

Subledger Accounting – Journals Real Time » Ledger - Ledger Name

» Journal Details – Header Period Name

Payables Invoices – Hold Real time » Time – Month

» Fiscal Calendar – Fiscal Period
» Business Unit – Business Unit Name
» Legal Entity – Legal Entity Name
» Supplier – Supplier Name
or
» Invoice Details – General Information – Invoice Date (if you need to report on all of
the Payables Invoices across all common dimensions.)

Payables Invoices – Installments Real Time Same as above.

Payables Invoices – Prepayment Applications Real Time Same as above.

Payables Invoices – Transactions Real Time Same as above.

Payables Invoices – Trial Balance Real Time Same as above.

Payables Invoices – Withholding Real Time Same as above.

Payables Payments – Disbursements Real Time » Time – Month

» Fiscal Calendar – Fiscal Period
» Business Unit – Business Unit Name
» Legal Entity – Legal Entity Name
» Supplier – Supplier Name

Payables Payments – Payment History Real Time Same as above.

Receivables – Adjustments Real Time » Time – Month

» Fiscal Calendar – Fiscal Period
» Business Unit – Business Unit Name
» Legal Entity – Legal Entity Name
» Bill-to Customer – Bill-to Customer Details – Bill-to Customer Name

Receivables – Bills Receivable Real Time » Time – Month

» Fiscal Calendar – Fiscal Period
» Business Unit – Business Unit Name
» Legal Entity – Legal Entity Name
» Drawee – Drawee Details – Drawee Name

Receivables – Credit Memo Applications Real Time » Time – Month

» Fiscal Calendar – Fiscal Period
» Business Unit – Business Unit Name
» Legal Entity – Legal Entity Name
» Bill-to Customer – Bill-to Customer Details – Bill-to Customer Name

Receivables – Credit Memo Requests Real Time Same as above.

Receivables – Customer Account Site Tax Profile Real Time » Time – Month

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 » Fiscal Calendar – Fiscal Period
» Business Unit – Business Unit Name
» Legal Entity – Legal Entity Name
» Customer – Customer Information – Customer Name

Receivables – Customer Real Time » Customer – Customer Information – Customer Name

Receivables – Customer Tax Profile Real Time » Customer – Customer Information – Customer Name

Receivables – Miscellaneous Receipts Real Time » Time – Month

» Fiscal Calendar – Fiscal Period
» Business Unit – Business Unit Name
» Legal Entity – Legal Entity Name
» Paying Customer –Paying Customer Details – Paying Customer Name

Receivables – Payment Schedules Real Time » Time – Month

» Fiscal Calendar – Fiscal Period
» Business Unit – Business Unit Name
» Legal Entity – Legal Entity Name
» Bill-to Customer – Bill-to Customer Details – Bill-to Customer Name

Receivables – Receipt Conversion Rate Adjustments Real Time » Time – Month

» Fiscal Calendar – Fiscal Period
» Business Unit – Business Unit Name
» Legal Entity – Legal Entity Name
» Paying Customer –Paying Customer Details – Paying Customer Name

Receivables – Receipts Details Real Time Same as above.

Receivables – Revenue Adjustments Real Time » Time – Month

» Fiscal Calendar – Fiscal Period
» Business Unit – Business Unit Name
» Legal Entity – Legal Entity Name
» Bill-to Customer – Bill-to Customer Details – Bill-to Customer Name

Receivables – Standard Receipts Application Details Real Time » Time – Month

» Fiscal Calendar – Fiscal Period
» Business Unit – Business Unit Name
» Legal Entity – Legal Entity Name
» Paying Customer –Paying Customer Details – Paying Customer Name

Receivables – Transactions Real Time » Time – Month

» Fiscal Calendar – Fiscal Period
» Business Unit – Business Unit Name
» Legal Entity – Legal Entity Name
» Bill-to Customer – Bill-to Customer Details – Bill-to Customer Name

Reference
 Fusion Applications OTBI: Guidelines for creating cross subject area analyses in Oracle Transactional BI
(OTBI) (Doc ID 1567672.1)

 Fusion Financials OTBI : Setting up General Ledger (GL) Accounting Segments (Key Flexfields KFFs) for
OTBI reporting (Doc ID 1980180.1)

 Fusion Applications OTBI/Essbase : General Ledger - Balances Real Time fails to Query The Essbase
Cube, instead it queries the transactional database FSCM_OLTP (Doc ID 1965181.1)

24 | TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR USING OTBI FINANCIALS REPORTING

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White Paper Tips and Techniques for Using OTBI Financials Reporting
March 2017
Author: OTBI Development Team