What's New

Update 24B

Revision History

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

Overview

HAVE AN IDEA?

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

DISCLAIMER

The information contained in this document may include statements about Oracle’s product development plans. Many factors can materially affect Oracle’s product development plans and the nature and timing of future product releases. Accordingly, this Information is provided to you solely for information only, is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described remains at the sole discretion of Oracle.

This information may not be incorporated into any contractual agreement with Oracle or its subsidiaries or affiliates. Oracle specifically disclaims any liability with respect to this information. Refer to the Legal Notices and Terms of Use for further information.

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 Configure Offerings.

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

Project Management

Project Management Common

Service Excellence Continuing Investments

In this update, improvements are available in the following areas:

BILLING AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT

• Work-in-Progress by Billing Status Analysis Using OTBI: Use measures in the Project Billing - Bill Transactions Real Time subject area in OTBI to more easily report unbilled amounts, also known as work in progress, or WIP, for new or updated bill transactions. In conjunction, a billing status attribute has also been introduced, providing a clearer picture of where WIP is within the billing life cycle, both within and across projects. For example, how much WIP is on hold, versus how much WIP is associated with a draft invoice, versus how much has been accepted in Receivables. To report WIP in real-time, and therefore take advantage of the new WIP measures and status attribute, opt in to the Bill Transaction Creation on Cost Import feature from update 23C. That feature was previously under controlled availability, but is now available to all customers from this release.

COST MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL

• Oracle Fusion Payroll Attributes in Labor Distribution Subject Areas: View and report on labor costs created from the Oracle Fusion Payroll transaction source using Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence, or OTBI. Use the following payroll attributes added to the Projects - Labor Distribution Cost Analysis Real Time subject area in the Labor Cost Distribution Details folder to create analyses as required for your business: 

  • Payroll Load Request ID
  • Document ID
  • Payroll ID
  • Payroll Name
  • Payroll Period Start Date
  • Payroll Period End Date
  • Payroll Effective Date
  • Payroll Relationship Identifier
  • Payroll Cost Action Type
  • Payroll Cost ID
  • Cost Allocation Key Flex ID
  • Payroll Cost Action ID
  • Payroll Run Action ID
  • Net Zero Adjustment 

• Reprocessed Cost Accounting Attribute for Labor Distribution: Use an additional accounting attribute, Payroll Cost Reprocessed, for project and non-project labor costs to identify costs generated from a redistribution of the original payroll cost to a new or existing labor schedule version. Use this attribute to credit the clearing account of the adjustment event for the payroll cost.

  • Based on Idea 673451 from the Project Management Idea Labs on Oracle Cloud Customer Connect

GRANT MANAGEMENT

• Removal of Opt-in Check for Control Burden for Internal Funding Sources: The opt-in check that selectively enables burdening for projects funded by internal funding sources is no longer available. The option to generate burden for internal funding sources assigned to a project is consistently visible. If you had previously selected the opt-in to set the burden option for the internal funding sources, the default value for the burden option is disabled or in other words will not generate burden. If you had previously not taken any action to opt in to set the burden option for the internal funding sources, then the default value for the burden option is based on the burden option setup for the project type. If the project type is enabled for burdening then the burden option for the internal funding source is set as enabled. If the project type is not enabled for burdening then the burden option for the internal funding source is set as disabled.

PLANNING, SCHEDULING, AND FORECASTING

• Enhancements to Change Order Approval Notifications and Implementation: Approval notifications for change orders are now actionable. Approve directly from emails or the Notifications worklist to streamline your workflow. Additionally, use Change Orders REST APIs to automatically implement budget adjustments. Note that these enhancements are available only if you opt into the Change Order Automation for Project Budget Adjustments feature delivered in update 24A.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND REPORTING

• Attach Files to Action Plans: You can now attach files directly to your program action plan.
  • This functionality enables you to:
    1. Embed files, such as documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and images, into action plan steps.
    2. Enhance clarity and context for team members by providing immediate access to critical resources.
    3. Centralize program documentation within the action plan, eliminating the need for external file storage and retrieval.
  • Here's how it works:
    1. Navigate to an action plan drawer and click the Attachments tab.
    2. Select the files you want to attach from your local file system, or drag and drop the file. Your attachments will be autosaved.

  • The attached file will be displayed alongside the action plan step, readily accessible to all authorized team members.

Attaching a File to a Program Action Plan

• Rename Your Custom Views: Rename your custom views to personalize your program analysis.
  • Create meaningful labels for your custom view, reflecting its specific purpose or focus area.
  • Tailor the program analysis view to individual needs and preferences.
  • Renaming your custom view is easy:
    1. Click the Edit Preferences button after creating a custom view in the Analysis Summary tab.
    2. Select Rename View and enter a new name for the view.
  • Based on Idea 658511 from the Project Management Idea Labs on Oracle Cloud Customer Connect.

Renaming a Custom View for Program Analysis

 RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

• Resource Nomination to Fulfill Requests for Weekly or Variable Hours Using a REST API: Nominate one or more resources to requests for weekly or variable hour schedules using the project resource request REST service. This can help streamline the allocation of resources to projects that use alternative scheduling methods.

Steps to Enable

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

Billing and Revenue Management

Apply Expiry and Reminder Settings in Contract Envelopes from DocuSign Account

If DocuSign is your e-signature provider, you have the option to default the expiry and notifications settings in the contract envelopes from the DocuSign account. If the Apply account level reminders and expiration settings check box is selected in the Manage Electronic Signature UI, the contract documents that are sent for signature will have the values defaulted. The check box is deselected by default.

DocuSign Account Setting

Contract Document Reminder and Expiration Settings

You don't need to enter the expiry and reminder settings for every contract document because the values are already defaulted from the DocuSign account.

Steps to Enable

Check the Apply account level reminders and expiration checkbox in the Manage Electronic Signature UI for the solution provider DocuSign to automatically default the account level reminder and expiry settings in the contract document.

Manage Electronic Signature for DocuSign

Bill and Cost Rate Override Maintenance Using a REST API

Rate overrides provide an intuitive, flexible mechanism to maintain bill and cost rates specific to bill plans, projects, or tasks, and often serve as a price list or rate card for professional services customers. Use this REST API to build integrated solutions to create and update rate overrides, such as during contract creation or amendment. End users will also be able to use this API through tools such as the Oracle Visual Builder add-in for Excel, improving back office efficiency.

This feature introduces the following two REST APIs:

1. Contract Project and Task Bill Rate Overrides: This REST resource can be used to create, view, update, or delete the bill rate overrides for a Contract. 

2. Project and Task Cost Rate Overrides: This REST resource can be used to create, view, update, or delete the cost rate overrides for a Project.

For example, to create a Cost Rate Override for a Task and Job combination, the sample payload would be:

{

"ProjectName" : "ERP Implementation Project",

"TaskName" : "Project Charter",

"JobName" : "Engineer",

"Rate" : 50,

"CurrencyCode" : "USD",

"FromDate" : "2024-01-01",

"ToDate" : "2024-12-31"

}

The rate override created with the REST API call above will be reflected in the Cost Rate Overrides UI as shown below:

Cost Rate Overrides on the Manage Financial Project Settings Page

Similarly, to create a Bill Rate Override for a Project and Task combination, the sample payload would be:

{

"ContractNumber" : "ERP Cloud Implementation Contract",

"BillPlanId" : 300100580156886,

"ProjectName" : "ERP Implementation",

"TaskName" : "Project Plan",

"PersonName" : "Charleston, Miller",

"Rate" : 180,

"CurrencyCode" : "USD",

"FromDate" : "2024-01-01",

"ToDate" : "2024-12-31"

}

The rate override created with the REST API call above will be reflected in the Project Task Rate Overrides UI as shown below:

Project Task Rate Overrides on the Bill Plan Page

The business benefits are:

• Project integration specialists or project application administrators can integrate these REST APIs into existing systems and gain real-time control over creating, updating, and deleting rate overrides.

• Customers can now reduce manual errors of entering project cost rate overrides or contract bill rate overrides by utilizing these REST APIs.

• Whenever bulk loading of rate overrides is required, this capability saves time and ensures accuracy over row-wise updates on the UI.

Steps to Enable

Review the REST service definition in the REST API guides to leverage (available from the Oracle Help Center > your apps service area of interest > APIs & Schema). If you are new to Oracle's REST services you may want to begin with the Quick Start section.

Tips And Considerations

• When creating a Contract Project and Task Bill rate override, do not pass the following combinations together in the payload as a rate cannot be defined for these combinations.
  • Person-Job
  • Job-Project Role

• When creating a Project and Task Cost rate override, do not pass the following combination together in the payload, as a rate cannot be defined for this combination.
  • Person-Job

Key Resources

• Based on Idea 866621 from Idea Labs on Oracle Customer Connect.
• REST API for Oracle Fusion Cloud Project Management guide available on the Oracle Help Center.

Access Requirements

To use this feature, you need these privileges:

• Privilege Name and Code:
  • Manage Contract Project and Task Bill Rate Overrides Service (PJF_CONTRACT_BILL_RATE_OVERRIDES_SERVICE_PRIV) to view, create, update, and delete the Contract Project and Task Bill Rate Override.
  • Manage Project and Task Cost Rate Overrides Service (PJF_PROJECT_TASK_COST_RATE_OVERRIDES_SERVICE_PRIV) to view, create, update, and delete the Project and Task Cost Rate Override.
  • Manage Contract Project and Task Bill Rate Overrides Using Service Data (PJF_MANAGE_PROJ_TASK_COST_RATE_OVERRIDE_SERVICE_DATA) to access the Project and task bill rate overrides for all contracts.
  • Manage Project and Task Cost Rate Overrides Using Service Data (PJF_MANAGE_CONTRACT_BILL_RATE_OVERRIDE_SERVICE_DATA) to access project and task cost rate overrides for all projects.

Users who need to access these REST APIs must be assigned roles with the appropriate data security policies. For example, if a Project Integration Specialist needs to utilize these REST services, the following data security privileges and conditions must be added to the role. This applies to both seeded and custom roles.

Roles with associated data security privileges and conditions

Create Supplier Contacts from Contract

You can now create supplier contacts in the Parties tab of the contract. The ability to create the contact while authoring a contract accelerates the contract creation process. The Create Contact button is enabled for supplier and other third-party roles of a procurement contract.

Create Supplier Contact

Contract managers don't need to rely on the supplier manager to create a supplier contact. Being able to create the contact within the contract UI enhances the efficiency of the contract authoring process and shortens the lead time for contract creation.

Steps to Enable

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

Milestone Billing and Revenue Recognition

Define milestones once and track them across the entire lifecycle, from contract definition, to work planning, and ultimately to billing. Contract administrators can create milestones and their respective bill amounts in milestone-based fixed price contracts. When the contract is approved, milestones defined on the contract automatically appear in the project plan. Project managers can then manage the milestones in their project plan. Project managers create detailed plans, track deliverables, and monitor progress for milestone completion. When the milestone is achieved, the project manager submits it for stakeholder approval. Upon approval, the application automatically enables the associated billing event for invoicing and revenue recognition. This feature helps project managers gain greater control during project planning and execution, and enables billing specialists and project accountants to streamline the invoicing and revenue recognition processes for milestone-based contracts.

This feature is part of a focused investment to automate and accelerate business flows for the professional services industry. Our goal is to deliver a seamless experience across project and resource planning, cost collection, invoicing, and reporting, strengthening operational controls and optimizing cash flow. Watch for additional capabilities in upcoming updates.

What is a Milestone?

A Milestone is a significant, single point-in-time event which…

• May represent a contractual obligation with a client
• May be used in project plans for scheduling purposes
• May have associated deliverables
• May be used in project plans for initiating invoicing and/or revenue recognition
• Can't incur costs directly
• Has a status which easily tracks the completion progress
• May require a review and approval before completion

NOTE: Prior to this feature, any financial task could be marked as a milestone. Going forward, only milestones at the lowest-level in the project plan with zero duration will be recognized as milestones. Moreover, for milestone billing and revenue recognition, only milestones that are billable will be considered.

Milestone Billing and Revenue Recognition High-Level Process Flow

The following example illustrates at a high level the solution offered by this feature:

• The contract administrator creates the contract and contract lines. In this example, the total value of the contract is $1,000,000.  As negotiated with the customer, billing is to be performed based on completion of each milestone, and the contract administrator enters the milestone details as below. Optionally, if milestones already exist in the associated project, they can be added to the contract line using the Add from Project Plan action. The Event Type chosen for a milestone determines whether the corresponding billing event is used for invoicing, revenue recognition, or both. The Eligible for invoicing and Recognize revenue indicators for the event type are available columns to display in the Milestones tab, but these are not shown in the below screenshot.

Milestones Tab on the Contract Line

• The contract administrator submits the contract for approval. Upon contract approval, the application automatically creates the milestones in the associated project plan, if they didn't already exist, and the corresponding billing events. With the Bill Transaction Creation on Billing Event Creation feature introduced in 23D, a bill transaction in On Hold status will also automatically be created upon creation of a milestone billing event, allowing you to perform real-time work-in-progress reporting for your milestones. You must opt into the Bill Transaction Creation on Cost Import 23C feature to use this functionality. Note that opting into this feature no longer requires a promotion code starting in release 24B.

View Milestones on the Project Plan Gantt Chart

View Milestones on the Manage Financial Project Plan Page

Billing Event Automatically Created for the Analysis Completion Milestone

• The project manager reviews these billing milestones and creates a detailed plan. The project manager can change the name, number, and parent of each billing milestone, provided that the changed parent is still within the hierarchy determined by the level of project association to the contract line. The project manager can also update the planned finish date of a billing milestone if milestone dates are not contractually controlled. The project manager can optionally plan deliverables to achieve a billing milestone.

Assign Deliverables to the Analysis Completion Milestone

• The project manager initiates milestone completion approval when a milestone is complete. Perform this action using the work plan or financial project plan.

On the Manage Financial Project Plan page, use the Change Milestone Status dialog window to update the milestone status and actual dates. On the Manage Project Plan page, specify the milestone actual dates directly in the Actual Start Date and Actual Finish Date columns and change the milestone status either by updating the actual dates or percent complete or Complete Milestone contextual action.

Initiate Milestone Completion Approval from the Manage Project Plan Page

Initiate Milestone Completion Approval from the Manage Financial Project Plan Page

• The approver reviews the milestone details and deliverables and approves the milestone completion.

Review Milestone Details and Approve from the Milestone Completion Approval Notification

• Upon milestone completion approval, the corresponding billing event is automatically enabled for invoicing or revenue recognition or both by removing the Milestone Incomplete hold statuses. In addition, the billing event's Completion Date is updated to the actual finish date of the milestone.

Milestone Incomplete Holds Removed on Billing Event Upon Milestone Completion Approval

Current Status of Milestones Displayed in the Milestones Tab on the Contract Line

• Project managers and project billing specialists can analyze the billing status of milestones using reports and dashboards in Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence. Report WIP in real-time using the new status attribute introduced in the Work-in-Progress by Billing Status Analysis Using OTBI feature also introduced in the 24B update.

Sample Milestone Billing Status Analysis Using the Project Billing - Bill Transactions Real Time Subject Area

The future enhancements planned for this feature are:

• Milestone maintenance using REST APIs
• Milestone maintenance using file-based data import
• Track and analyze the milestone lifecycle using Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence

The business benefits are:

• Increased productivity and efficiency through automation of milestone billing and revenue recognition processes.
• Better progress tracking and greater control through clear identification and definition of milestones across financial and project planning.
• Improved and predictable cash flow throughout the project lifecycle.
• Lower cost of ownership by removing the need for integrated milestone billing solutions.

Steps to Enable

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

Tips And Considerations

• A project plan milestone can be added to a contract line only if:
  • It's not already associated with a contract line.
  • It has a zero duration.
  • It's a billable milestone.
  • Its status is not Complete.

• Milestones can't be defined on an Intercompany contract.

• Milestone amounts can only be entered in contract currency.

• Event Types with the Allow Item option enabled can't be used for milestones.

• Project plan milestone and corresponding billing event maintenance is triggered automatically when a contract is submitted for approval and subsequently approved. As per the Contracts REST API documentation, do not pass the status attribute (StsCode) when patching a contract, as doing so will bypass contract approval.

• The Milestone Completion Approval workflow is initiated when requesting completion approval for all billable milestones, including those not associated with a contract line.

• The default approver for the Milestone Completion Approval workflow is the primary project manager. If the primary project manager submits the request for milestone completion approval, the milestone is automatically updated to the Complete status.

• Configure an auto-approval rule in the Milestone Completion Approval workflow if you don't require manual approvals for billable milestones.

• Use the Projects - Billing and Revenue Exceptions Real Time Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence subject area to report milestone or billing event creation exceptions across all contracts encountered during contract approval. These exceptions are identified by the Exception Process value of Maintain Project Plan Milestones and Events.

• After resolving the root causes for any exceptions raised, use the Maintain Project Plan Milestones and Events action in the Milestones tab on the contract line to re-initiate the maintenance of project plan milestones and events.

• You can also use this feature to perform deliverable-based billing by defining your deliverables as milestones.

• Review and replace your custom milestone billing integration solutions, if any, with this feature.

• You can define milestones for an award, however you can’t define them in the Grants Management work area in this release. After contract creation, define your award milestones using the Contract Management work area before submitting the contract for approval. Also, ensure that you review and update the milestone dates prior to adjusting the award dates, as updating the award dates does not automatically update any milestone dates.

• When canceling a draft contract, first delete any milestones that you’ve added from existing project plans if you want those milestones to be associated to a contract line on another contract.

• If you're using Microsoft Project integration with Project Financial Management, you can import a financial project with billing milestones into Microsoft Project. But, avoid updating and synchronizing these billing milestones updates from Microsoft Project to Project Financial Management because this integration has known issues and it is not currently fully supported.

Key Resources

• Related Help:
  • Based on Ideas 666306 and 628820 from the Project Management Idea Labs on Oracle Cloud Customer Connect.

Access Requirements

No new access requirements.

Work-in-Progress by Billing Status Analysis Using OTBI

Use measures in the Project Billing - Bill Transactions Real Time subject area in OTBI, enabling you to more easily report unbilled amounts, also known as work in progress, or WIP, for new or updated bill transactions. In conjunction, a billing status attribute has also been introduced, providing a clearer picture of where WIP is within the billing lifecycle, both within and across projects. For example, how much WIP is on hold, versus how much WIP is associated with a draft invoice, versus how much has been accepted in Receivables. To report WIP in real-time, and therefore take advantage of the new WIP measures and status attribute, opt into the Bill Transaction Creation on Cost Import feature from update 23C. That feature was previously under Controlled Availability, but has been made available to all customers from this release.

Billing Status

A new attribute which indicates where every bill transaction is within the billing lifecycle. Billing statuses use simple, unambiguous language and have universal applicability.

The attribute is located in the following presentation folder of the Project Billing - Bill Transactions Real Time subject area: Bill Transaction > Invoice Processing*.

The following table lists the different billing statuses of a bill transaction:

Amount to Bill

Three new measures which report the amount to bill, denominated in invoice, contract and transaction currencies, scaled by the contribution percentage of the contract. When a bill transaction reaches 'Billed' status (or 'Non-billable'), the amount to bill is updated to zero. For bill transactions in a 'Ready' status, the amount to bill reflects the amount that will be added to draft invoices when they are created by the Generate Invoice process.

Amounts in contract and invoice currency are derived from the transaction currency amount using the exchange rate setups on the contract and bill plan.

The new measures are located in the following presentation folders of the Project Billing - Bill Transactions Real Time subject area:

• Measures - Bill Transaction > Invoice Measures > Invoice Measures in Invoice Currency*
• Measures - Bill Transaction > Invoice Measures > Invoice Measures in Contract Currency*
• Measures - Bill Transaction > Invoice Measures > Invoice Measures in Transaction Currency*

* These attributes and measures may be moved to parent folders in a future release to improve discoverability. Such changes will be documented in the Service Excellence Continued Investments section of What's New readiness materials. In the meantime, any analyses created using these attributes and measures should continue to function without needing to be modified.

Example Dashboard

The following dashboard was built using the Project Billing - Bill Transactions Real Time subject area, leveraging the Bill Transaction Creation on Cost Import feature and the new billing status attribute and amount to bill measures described above. The sample dashboard will be made available in an upcoming post in the Project Management forum on Customer Connect.

The dashboard also showcases capabilities that will be added to a Redwood-themed Project Management user experience in a future release.

An example of a dashboard built using the Billing - Bill Transactions Real Time subject area in OTBI, showcasing the Amount to Bill measure and Billing Status attribute.

Key design features of the example dashboard:

• Radio buttons are used to switch the denomination of the unit price and amount to bill currency. This reduces the need to have multiple currency columns or view switchers.

• Deep links enable the user to contextually drill from the Transaction ID to the source project cost or billing event.

• The new billing status attribute has conditional formatting applied to highlight exceptions.

• A page prompt enables users to include/exclude transactions in specific statuses. For example, in the screenshot, transactions that are in a 'Billed' status have been excluded.

• Summary analyses on the right-hand side provide totals of bill transactions by:
  • Status, with a subtotal of all transactions that can be billed immediately (status is 'Ready' or 'In Progress')
  • Status and month, visualized using a heat matrix to highlight periods and statuses with the highest transaction count or amount to bill

The business benefits are:

• Reduce the complexity of building easy-to-use unbilled (WIP) reports

• Gain insight at a glance as to where every bill transaction is within the billing lifecycle.

• Easily distinguish between transactions which have been added to a draft invoice ('In Progress'), and those which have been accepted by Receivables ('Billed').
  • This directly addresses challenges experienced today when users attempt to identify billed transactions from the Manage Project Costs page.

• Bill transactions relating to project costs which have undergone a net-zero adjustment can now be reported with a status of 'Non-billable', thus removing any risk of overstating the amount to bill.

• Gain visibility into which transactions are pending deferred processing, ensuring that invoicing and reporting are up-to-date.

Steps to Enable

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

Tips And Considerations

• From this release, when the Bill Transaction Creation on Cost Import opt-in is enabled, partial billing will no longer be supported. The billing status of any transaction which exceeds a hard limit, in whole or in part, will be set to 'Insufficient Funds'.
  • The ability to bill a portion of a bill transaction will be replaced with a new, more intuitive feature in a future release, subject to customer demand.

• The Billing Status attribute and Amount to Bill measures will not be automatically populated for existing transactions. After enabling the Bill Transaction Creation on Cost Import opt-in, these new attributes and measures will only be populated for new or adjusted bill transactions.
  • As a workaround for unbilled transactions, you can force an update by making a trivial adjustment to the source project costs or billing events, as appropriate. Note that any adjustments of billed transactions may result in undesirable credit-rebills.

Key Resources

• This feature leverages the Bill Transaction and Exception Analysis Using Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence feature in 23B.

• This feature depends on the Bill Transaction Creation on Cost Import feature in 23C.
  • The above feature was enhanced in 23D to include Bill Transaction Creation on Billing Event Creation
  • The above feature was further enhanced in 24A to include Bill Transaction Synchronization on Billing Event Update or Delete (as reported in the Service Excellence Continuing Investments section of the 24A What's New).

Access Requirements

You'll need the Project Contract Bill Transaction Analysis Duty (FBI_PROJECT_CONTRACT_BILL_TRANSACTION_ANALYSIS_DUTY) privilege to access the Project Billing - Bill Transactions Real Time subject area in OTBI.

Data access can be secured using one of the predefined Data Security Policies (DSPs) on database resource PJB_BILL_TRXS, else a custom DSP can be created based on specific requirements.

Cost Management and Control

Project Cost Transactions for Persons with Inactive or Suspended HR Assignments

Import new person-related cost transactions, such as time cards and expense reports, regardless of the status of the person's HR assignment. Configure the project transaction source documents for which person assignment status validations are not executed. Previously, new transactions could be imported only if the person's associated HR assignment was active.

For example, a person's HR assignment can be suspended, yet the person is still eligible for payroll processing. If you're using Labor Distribution to distribute payroll costs to projects, then the payroll costs incurred for the person's suspended HR assignment would be rejected during processing, as the assignment is not active as of the project cost dates. With this feature, you can configure the Labor Distribution project transaction source document to allow these project costs.

The business benefits are:

• More accurate and complete accumulation of project costs, by allowing transactions which were previously not permitted.

• Save time otherwise spent analyzing and resolving cost processing exceptions due to person HR assignment status validations by preventing these exceptions from being raised.

Steps to Enable

In the Manage Project Transaction Sources setup page, enable the Allow transactions for inactive or suspended person assignments check box on the project transaction source documents for which you want to allow project cost transactions for persons with inactive or suspended HR assignments, as illustrated below.

Project Transaction Source Document Edit Page

Tips And Considerations

• Oracle Fusion Time and Labor doesn't transfer hours to Project Costing if they are reported on days after a person's termination date even if you allow transactions for inactive or suspended person assignments for the Oracle Fusion Time and Labor Time Card document.

• The Allow transactions for inactive or suspended person assignments document option takes precedence over the Allow Cost Transactions Until Certain Days After Person Termination (ORA_PJC_ALLOW_COSTS_UNTIL_DAYS_AFTER_PERS_TERM) administrator profile option, if you are using both.

• With this feature enabled, the status of a person's assignment is not validated. However Project Costing still requires an HR assignment as of the transaction date for a person-related project cost.

Key Resources

• Based on Ideas 632609 and 556216 from the Project Management Idea Labs on Oracle Cloud Customer Connect.

Access Requirements

No new access requirements.

Planning, Scheduling, and Forecasting

Project, Tasks, and Financial Plan Updates Using File-Based Data Import

Update existing project basic information, tasks, project budgets, award budgets, and project forecasts using File-Based Data Import, or FBDI. For example, extend task dates or resource assignments across multiple tasks at the same time and add new tasks and assignments for the project scope changes.

Import Projects

To update a project, enter the Project Name and the values to be updated in the corresponding columns. For example, to close completed projects in bulk, enter the project names in the Project Name column and Closed in the Project Status column. To update the Project Name, enter the project number in the Project Number column and the new project name in the Project Name column. Review the tips and considerations section for the complete list of fields that can updated using the Import Projects FBDI template.

Import Projects FBDI Template

Import Project Tasks

You can now modify task details or remove tasks using the Import Project Tasks FBDI template. For instance, you might want to extend task dates due to unforeseen circumstances. In such cases, enter Update as the processing mode and enter the project name, task name, and the new end date in the respective columns. To remove a task that’s no longer necessary, enter Delete as the processing mode and enter the project and task names.

Import Project Tasks FBDI Template

Import Project Budgets and Import Project Forecasts

You can now update a project budget or project forecast using the Import Project Budgets or Import Project Forecasts FBDI template. For example, to adjust the budget in anticipation of cost overruns, enter Update as the processing mode and enter the plan line details including the Plan Version Number and the new amounts in the respective columns. In the case of a forecast version, the amounts entered during update operations are considered as the Estimate at Completion (EAC) amounts.

Import Project Budgets FBDI Template

NOTE: Only periodic and line-level updates are supported in the Import Project Budgets and Import Project Forecasts FBDIs. You can’t perform version-level updates, such as modifying the version name.

The business benefit is effort reduction as mass changes can be made to projects, tasks, budgets, and forecasts during the course of the project.

Steps to Enable

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

Tips And Considerations

• Download the latest import template from the File-Based Data Import (FBDI) for Project Management guide and review it. To prepare and import data using the template, follow the instructions in the Instructions and CSV Generation tab within the template.

• For better management, use only one action (Create, Update, or Delete) in a single spreadsheet upload.

• You can update only the following set of attributes in the Projects worksheet of the Import Projects template using the FBDI process. Watch for additional related FBDI enhancements, including support for updating Costing attributes and Project Classification Codes in the upcoming release updates.
  • Project Name
  • Source Application Code
  • Source Application Reference
  • View-Only Project Plan Access Code
  • Organization
  • Project Description
  • Project Manager Email
  • Project Manager Number
  • Project Manager Name
  • Project Start Date
  • Project Finish Date
  • Project Status
  • Priority Code
  • Service Type Code
  • Work Type
  • Limit to Transaction Controls
  • Enable Budgetary Controls
  • Burden Schedule
  • Burden Schedule Fixed Date
  • KPI Notifications Enabled
  • KPI Notifications Enabled for Project Manager
  • Include Notes in KPI Notifications
  • Descriptive Flexfields

Key Resources

• Related Help:
  • Import Projects in the File-Based Data Import (FBDI) for Project Management guide
  • Import Project Tasks in the File-Based Data Import (FBDI) for Project Management guide
  • Import Project Budgets in the File-Based Data Import (FBDI) for Project Management guide
  • Import Project Forecasts in the File-Based Data Import (FBDI) for Project Management guide
  • Based on Ideas 597314, 676216, 489647, 634853, and 684997 from the Project Management Idea Labs on Oracle Cloud Customer Connect.

Access Requirements

To use this feature, you need these privileges:

• Run Import Projects Process (PJF_RUN_IMPORT_PROJECT_PROCESS_PRIV) privilege to update the project attributes using FBDI.

• Run Import Project Tasks Process (PJF_RUN_IMPORT_PROJECT_TASK_PROCESS_PRIV) privilege to update the project task attributes using FBDI.

• Run Import Project Budgets Process (PJO_RUN_IMPORT_PROJECT_BUDGET_PROCESS_PRIV) privilege to update the project budget or forecast attributes using FBDI.

The Project Integration Specialist job role (ORA_PJF_PROJECT_INTEGRATION_SPECIALIST_JOB) provides these privileges out of the box.

Grant Management

Project Search and Balances Reporting Enhancements in Award Overview

Search for award projects and use filters for streamlined project balances view and control budget balances view. Grant administrators and principal investigators can quickly locate specific award projects within the Award Overview page and can view both the summary and details of either the project balances or budgetary control balances.

If the award has more than five projects added, you can find the project card you are looking for using the Go to Project filter in the Award Overview page. 

Search for Projects in Award Overview

If the award is enabled for budgetary control, you can now view both the project balances and the control budget balances at the summary level in the project cards and also in the detail level using the Financial Details region in the bottom for the selected project.

View by Project Balances or Control Budget Balances in Award Overview

You can further find additional views in the Financial Details region such as

• Budget Line Planning level and Resources View for Project Balances.
• Project Control Budget Balances and Project and Top Resource Control Budget Balances for Control Budget Balances.

View Project Control Budget Balances and Top Resource Control Budget Balances in Award Overview

The business benefits are:

• Increased productivity by saving time in locating a project to view the financial details

• Improved decision making when viewing financial information of a project by seeing either budgetary control balances or project balances at the summary and details level

Steps to Enable

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

Tips And Considerations

• The budgetary control balances selection list is only visible for projects enabled for budgetary control.

• The budgetary control balances are only shown in award project currency. The project balances are shown in both award project currency and award project ledger currency.

Access Requirements

No new access requirements.

Resource Management

Efficiently Approve Requested Resources on Project Resource Requests

Select multiple project resource requests containing requested resources and confirm resources in a single action. The resource manager can approve resources for multiple requests as a group, significantly reducing the staffing effort required. For example, when the project manager and resource manager have already reached a mutually beneficial agreement on the requested resources. This time-saving approach enhances productivity and allows resource managers to focus on more strategic tasks, ultimately contributing to improved project execution and overall business performance.

Select Multiple Requests and Right-Click to Access the Menu

Review the Selected Requests and Requested Resources Before Approval

The business benefits are:

• Quicker collaboration between project managers and resource managers simplifies the confirmation process.
• Reduced staffing effort by enabling resource managers to approve resources for multiple requests simultaneously.
• More time for resource managers to focus on strategic and high-value activities.

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: Project Execution Management  No Longer Optional From: Update 24D

Tips And Considerations

• Opt-in to this feature from the Project Resource Management functional area under the Project Execution Management offering.

• When approving requested resources, overbooking checks are conducted and the resource manager will be presented with warnings or errors for resources that have schedule conflicts.

Key Resources

• Based on Idea 656513 from the Project Management Idea Labs on Oracle Cloud Customer Connect.

Access Requirements

No new access requirements.

Resource Replacement on Assignments by Resource Manager

The resource manager can select one or more assignments that require a new resource, choose the replacement resource, and confirm the replacement. With the ability to replace a resource on one or more projects, resource managers can adapt to changing project requirements during the project planning phase and maintain optimal team dynamics. This agility leads to improved project timelines and resource allocation efficiency, ultimately boosting overall project success rates and client satisfaction.

Resource Manager Replaces Resource on One or More Assignments

Resource Manager Replaces One or More Resources with a Replacement Resource on Project Resource Assignments

The business benefits are:

• Resource managers are empowered to adapt to evolving project needs during the planning phase. This adaptability is crucial in dynamic project environments where requirements may change, ensuring that the team remains well-suited for the project's demands.

• Resource managers optimize resource allocation. This efficiency ensures that resources are utilized effectively, reducing the likelihood of bottlenecks or under utilization.

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: Project Execution Management  No Longer Optional From: Update 24D

Tips And Considerations

• Opt-in to this feature from the Project Resource Management functional area under the Project Execution Management offering.

• When a resource manager replaces a resource, the assignment of the resource being replaced is canceled. A new assignment is created for the selected replacement resource. This replacement has the same schedule and role as the resource that is being replaced.

• Overbooking checks are done for the replacement resource.

Key Resources

• Based on Idea 627121 from the Project Management Idea Labs on Oracle Cloud Customer Connect.

Access Requirements

No new access requirements.

IMPORTANT Actions and Considerations

From time to time, Oracle replaces existing Cloud service features with new features or removes existing features. When a feature is replaced, the older version may be removed immediately or at a future time. As a best practice, you should use the newer version of a replaced feature as soon as the newer version is available.

List of Important Actions for Removed Features by Product

Remember to review all upcoming opt in changes in the Opt In Expiration section.

KNOWN ISSUES / MAINTENANCE PACK SPREADSHEETS

Oracle publishes a Known Issues document for every Update to make customers are aware of potential problems they could run into, and the document provides workarounds if they are available.

Oracle also publishes Maintenance Pack and Statutory Maintenance Pack documentation of bugs that are fixed in the monthly or statutory patching.

To review these documents, you must have access to My Oracle Support:

Oracle Fusion Cloud Project Management Known Issues and Maintenance Packs (Doc ID 1545504.1)

DEPRECATION OF OLDER DIGITAL ASSISTANT SKILL VERSIONS

The Digital Assistant and its skills continuously receive updates as they get smarter and provide enhanced conversational experiences. Check for updated versions every release in the Skill Store. Versions stop working when the underlying platform version becomes inactive, at the longest 2 years after release.

We recommend that you stay up to date and use the most current skills.