Project segment in GL… mood swing
I wrote an article a while ago on the subject of whether a project segment should be in the GL or not. This always attracts some robust debate whenever it appears on various Oracle Projects forum.
Time for an update on this subject I think:
I am very much still with the majority on the validity a project segment in the GL. My opening position is always that a project segment is not required in the GL. However if there is a business justification, and it must to be a compelling justification, then a project segment can be included in the GL COA.
Some examples of false business justifications for me are:
- “It makes reconciliation between GL and OP easier”: This is not the case and is a common misconception. It actually increases the risk of reconciliation differences between the two applications.
- “It makes project reporting easier / better”: Again a common misconception. It actually creates problems in reporting, as data is effectively denormalised between the two applications, begging the question – which one is correct / master?
There are however certain business justifications, for example:
- Where there is a genuine and justified need for project balance sheet reporting, which is pretty much impossible in OP. I would still challenge the need for this, unless you are dealing with very large projects which are like businesses in their own right.
- Associated with the project balance sheet reporting requirement is an environment where projects own assets or have their own bank accounts.
The middle ground is that a segment in the GL COA can be used for large projects to also have a Project code in the GL, whereas most projects would just have a default projects segment code in GL of say 000000.
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