Migrating to Oracle Advanced

Collections: An Overview for

Oracle Receivables Users
An Oracle White Paper
Winter 2007

Part One A Better Collections Management Paradigm

MIGRATING TO ADVANCED COLLECTIONS: EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW

Oracle Advanced Collections, an Oracle E-Business Suite product

recognized as the leading enterprise-wide collections management
solution, replaces the Collections Workbench in Oracle Receivables in
Release 12.0. Current Receivables customers, implementation teams,
Oracle partners, and prospective Oracle customers need to understand
the benefit, impact, and migration steps necessary to migrate an
Receivables-based collections operation to one using Advanced
Collections.
MANAGING COLLECTIONS IN TODAYS WORLD

Collections and receivables management organizations are under

pressure to collect more while reducing their cost to collect. Oracle
Advanced Collections provides the tools needed to efficiently manage
collections processes in todays complex economies, growing businesses,
and increased globalization.
Collections managers and collections organizations are challenged with a
number of business and operational problems that Advanced Collections
solves:
Providing collections agents with accurate and complete data about transactions
and delinquent customers. This has often been impeded because of data
synchronization flows run between disparate corporate systems or
batch processes done during off hours. It may also be caused by
outdated and inaccurate information about the customer such as
old addresses, contact information, phone or fax numbers.

Identifying delinquent transactions accurately, consistently and timely. The

longer an invoice is unpaid, the less likely payment will be made.
Collectors often dont know which customers are delinquent until
aging reports are run. Because they have no way of prioritizing their
work, they frequently focus on individual invoices or more
cooperative customers while ignoring customers with large
balances.

Identifying customers who have high dollar service contracts or who have large
payments coming up and have habitually paid late. If these customers can
be notified before the next payment is due, corporate cash flow is
less likely to be negatively impacted.

Knowing which accounts need attention and which dont. Inexperienced

collectors often neglect the accounts that are most likely to pay,
thus impacting collections goals. Unresolved issues such as broken
promises to pay or disputes often slip through the cracks.

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Managing different customer segments differently. Regional regulations,

customers in stressed or volatile industries, or new customers may
need different treatment plans.

Ensuring that best-collection practices are consistently applied within collections

teams to provide uniform treatment of similar customers.

Reducing the hours per day collectors spend performing manual, time-consuming
tasks that take them away from interacting with customers to get
payment.

MOVING TO ADVANCED COLLECTIONS

..the consistent achievement of

exceptional results is indicative of
a new process or paradigm, and
that is exactly what collection
software provides. Collection
software is not simply a tool,
among possibly many others, to
help collectors do better. Rather,
collection software provides an
entirely new approach to collecting
a portfolio of receivables within
a unified process.

The Collections Workbench in Receivables was originally intended for

AR clerks who occasionally performed collections activities. These clerks
also performed the account management, cash application, transaction
management and other accounting related activities in a receivables
department. Over time, as more manual functionality was added to the
Collections Workbench in the form of new windows, navigation became
more complex, and usability decreased.
Oracle Advanced Collections leverages both transactional and customer
data. It applies customer relationship management concepts to
receivables management processes. It also automates collections
processes that had been previously manual and streamlines user flows. It
seamlessly integrates with other E-Business Suite applications. Since its
initial release in 2001, industry analysts and early adopters of Oracle
Advanced Collections have recognized it as the next-generation
collections management enterprise-wide solution.
Key Features

David Schmidt, Paystream

Advisors, Inc. Receivables and
Collections: Buyer Guide

If you migrate from the Receivables Collections Workbench to

Advanced Collections you can:
Leverage real-time transactional and customer data

Execute proven collections best practices

Use configurable scoring, strategies, dunning plans

Treat different customers differently

Proactively manage collections issues

Automatically identify delinquent/pre-delinquent customers

Push only actionable, prioritized work to collectors

Use Call Center enabled tools for multi-channel customer contact

Streamline collections process

Navigate more easily through collections screens

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Automate correspondence notification

Track payments, promises, incomplete work, interactions

automatically streamlining interactions between various team
members

KEY CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS TO UNDERSTAND

Automation Improves
Collections Efficiency
7

Hours/day

Advanced Collections supports a number of innovative processes and

concepts that are different from traditional collections practices. Its
important to understand these concepts and to know how Advanced
Collections uses them. For additional information on Advanced
Collections refer to the Implementation Guide and User Guide available
on Metalink.

Transaction

In Receivables, an invoice, debit memo, credit memo, chargeback, or bill

receivable. Receivables maintains transaction tables which Advanced
Collections accesses. Invoices can include one or more payment
schedules.

3
2
1
0

Manual
Research/Prep
Customer Contact

Automated
Follow Up

Delinquency

In Advanced Collections, it is a transaction that is overdue. The criteria

used to determine which transactions are delinquent are configurable.
The seeded delinquency configuration uses a payment schedule for
which the dispute amount is less than the total amount overdue and the
due date is prior to the current date to determine delinquency.
Delinquencies are identified from invoices, chargebacks and debit
memos. Advanced Collections identifies delinquencies by running a
delinquency status determination concurrent program and maintains
this information in delinquency tables.
User Role/Responsibility

These terms describe the functional person who normally uses part or all
of the applications.
Receivables Clerk - The person using the Collections Workbench in

Receivables. This person performs receivables related activities (such

as cash application, receipts, and transactions management) along
with occasional collections activities with customers.
Collections Agent - The person using Advanced Collections to work

with and resolve customer non-payments. The collections agents

primary job is to contact a customer regarding a collections issue in a
collections organization.
Collections Manager - The person who is generally a functional

manager or supervisor in a collections organization. This person uses

Advanced Collections HTML screens to review and manually assign

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work when agents are temporarily away (vacations or illness). They

also use HTML manager screens to view data regarding later-stage
delinquency situations that require their review for further action.
Collections Administrator - The person uses the Advanced

Collections implementation and setup module to set collections

scoring, dunning and strategy parameters system profiles, schedule
concurrent programs, and configure system lookups.
Collectors Work Queue
Solutions that provide decision
support for collections analysis and
strategies, proactively manage and
track customer interactions, enlist
the support of the sales and
service organizations in
collections, and provide portfolio
performance measurements,
ultimately to improve days sales
outstanding (DSO) and customer
value through more effective
relationships
John VanDecker, Meta
Group/Gartner Group, Leveraging
Revenue and Receivables
Management

Collectors Work Queue provides a high-level list of all actionable work

assigned to or owned by a collections agent. This work is automatically
pushed to the agent as part of the automated collections management
flow provided by Oracle Advanced Collections
Operational Data Level

Oracle Advanced Collections supports four data levels and displays most
information at all four levels. The data levels controls numerous features
in Advanced Collections including visibility to nodes on collectors work
queue, strategies (or dunning), and default displays. Most collections
organizations operate and do business with their customers at one of
these data levels most of the time. Ability to drill down or roll up from
data level to another is provided in Advanced Collections. These data
levels are:
Also called Organization. Displays
cumulative data and balances to the user.
Customer (TCA Party)

- Receivables creates accounts for

parties when an order is generated. Accounts can have one or more
Bill To addresses.
Account (Receivables Customer)

Bill To Location Site

The address in an account to which a specific

group of transactions are associated, generally for billing purposes.
Not always the same as ship to.
In terms of operational data level, this is a specific
delinquent transaction. Other operational data levels include one or
more transactions. Or the collections organization may collect from
individual transactions.

Transaction

Scoring Engines and Scoring Components

Scoring engines consist of one or more scoring components and they can
be configured to provide a score at the customer, account, and bill to
level. Advanced Collections uses configurable scoring engines for two
purposes: to determine whether a transaction is delinquent and to
determine the business value or collections score - of customers.

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Collections scores are similar to a customers credit score but they

generally guide how aggressively the customer is treated during collection
activities.
Payment

Oracle Advanced Collections supports the ability for collectors to take

payment from customers through either credit card or bank Electronic
Fund Transfers. Payments may also come from the lockbox process in
Receivables or self-service payments from customers using Oracle
iReceivables.
Promise to Pay

Oracle Advanced Collections supports the ability for a collector to take a

customers promise to pay in the future for one or more transactions.
Promise information is maintained by Collections and used to reconcile
promises against actual payments. If the payment is not made a broken
promise is created and posted to the agents Work Queue.
Segments

A way to group customers based on any database criteria including

geography, delinquency amount/range, payment schedule due dates,
company size, sales revenue to collecting organization, industry or
virtually anything else. These segments are then applied to Strategies
(optional) or Scoring Engines (required) in order to apply the most
appropriate strategy and scoring engine to a particular set of customers.
Segments are used by scoring engines to facilitate the processing of the
score calculation. Segmentation provides the means to create sub-sets of
the entire customer database. This allows for different scoring engines
and strategies to be used for different groups of customers.
Collections Method

Deploying organizations may choose from two collections methods

supported by Advanced Collections: dunning plans and collections
strategies:
Dunning Plan - The traditional method used to notify a delinquent

customer about an unpaid balance. Advanced Collections provides

the ability to send dunning letters via fax, email or printed letter.
Additionally, Collections can use the customers collections score and
the oldest aged invoice to determine the content and delivery method
of the dunning notice. If payment is not made within a specified
period of time, Advanced Collections can automatically assign a
dunning callback to a collector who will see that action on their
Task node in the Collector Work Queue.
Collections Strategy - Compared to Dunning Plans, this collections
method supports more complex means to contact and manage
customers about their receivables situation. Collections strategies

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consist of one or more work items, which are actions performed by

either the system (send a reminder letter) or the collector (call this
customer). Work items are timed to be executed serially. Strategies
are based on collections scores so different strategies can be used for
customers with good or bad value scores. Collections strategies
can also be used to alert pre-delinquent customers about a pending
payment. Unless a deploying organization has no need to do
anything more complex than simple dunning, the best practice
recommendation is to use collections strategies. This allows for
flexibility as the organization changes in the future.
IMPACT ON RECEIVABLES USERS: COMPARATIVE CHART

Lets take a look at what Oracle Advanced Collections offers for Oracle
Receivables users. This section compares previous functionality in
Receivables with what is now provided by Advanced Collections.
NOTE: You can click on links in this chart to see a screen shot of the
described feature in an Appendix. Click on the section name in the
Appendix to return back to this chart.
Functional Comparison Chart

Receivables 11i

Advanced Collections r12

Navigation Details and Comments

Navigator Menu:
Customer Calls
Customer Account
Account Overview
Aging
Correspondence
Account Details
Transaction Overview
Scheduler
Work Prioritization:
Customer Search
Call Scheduler
Aging Reports

Navigator Menu:
Collector Work Queue
Collections
Statements
Search
Reports

Login as Collections Agent > Collections Navigator

Menu. Search: controls numerous features in
Collections including visibility to nodes on collectors
work queue, strategies (or dunning), and default
displays
Receivables Reports can be added to the Collections
menu

Work Prioritization
Collector Work Queue

Login as Collections Agent > Collectors Work Queue

Select Navigator Menu > selected record from list
will automatically appear on Collections header

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Receivables 11i

Advanced Collections r12

Single Screen Navigation

Single Screen Navigation:
N/A
Collections header with tabs below:
Multiple screens need to be opened Profile with Metrics
History
Account
Transaction
Aging
Notes
Tasks

Operational Data Level:

Account
Bill To Site
Transaction
Scoring:
N/A

Segments:
N/A

Operational Data Level:

Customer (Party)
Account
Bill To Site
Transaction
Scoring:
Set up during implementation and
managed by the system. Used in
Dunning Plans and Strategies

Segments:
Set up during implementation
Default segment is all customers
Dunning Plans:
Dunning Plans:
-Set up during implementation
-Generated as report
-Preconfigured Dunning letters are
-Sample Letters included
available via XML Publisher tool
-Dunning History displayed in
- Optional dunning callbacks can be
Correspondence
-Ability to add Finance Charges to assigned to agents
- Receivables Dunning history is
dunning letters
-Ability to manually exclude or
displayed on Correspondence History
include in dunning activity
table
- Ability to resend Collections
dunning is provided
- Ability to include or exclude
customer, account or bill in dunning
activity
- Ability to Resend Receivables
dunning letters will be accomplished
by using Receivables modified
Dunning process which will print only
historical dunning notices.
Statements:
Statements:
- Statements accessible from
Ability to generate and reprint
Navigator menu
Statements
-Receivables will continue to support
Statements

Navigation Details and Comments

Collections Main Screen contains a header and tabs.
Additional optional tabs are displayed when
Advanced Collections is licensed to deploying
organization:
Strategy
Lifecycle (for later stage collections management)
Custom Tab 1
Custom Tab 2
Case Management (for Lease Collections)
Contracts (for Lease Collections) not currently
accessible
Loans (for Loans Collections)
On the Collections main header screen, collections
agents can select the data level that sets the View of
the data displayed. Users can change the View to
drill down or rollup customers data.
Customer collections score is displayed on the
Collections header.
Account collections score is displayed on the
Account tab
Additional segments can be configured when
Advanced Collections is licensed to deploying
organization.
Manager login as Collections Administrator
Select Setup Checklist > Collections Method >
Dunning Plans -Add details including dunning
correspondence templates and delivery method

Collectors logs in as Collections Agent > History tab

> Correspondence to see dunning history > Resend
Dunning button to resend
Dunning callbacks are automatically posted to
Collector Work Queue

Login as Collections Agent > Navigator menu >

Statements
For Statement history: Collectors logs in as
Collections Agent > History tab > All history to see
statements

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Receivables 11i

Advanced Collections r12

Collector field:
Collector field:
Customers are manually assigned a -New concurrent program
automatically creates Collector
collector in Customer form
resource in Resource Manager.
Multi Org Access:
Multi Org Access:
- Ability to see across operating units
- Ability to see across operating
- Controlled by User Security Profile
units
settings
- Controlled by User Security
Profile settings
Transaction Details
Transaction Details
- Ability to see summary and detail - Ability to view details for specific
for specific transactions on various transactions
- Ability to submit disputes
screens

Payment Processing

Payment Processing
- Ability to take customer credit card
and Bank EFT payment for one or
more transactions
- Payment note
- Automatic payment authorization via
Oracle Payments module
- Payment record automatically saved
on History tab
Promises to Pay and
Promises to Pay and
Promise Reconciliation:
Promise Reconciliation:
-Promise to Pay for single or multiple
- Two fields (amount and date)
plus two forecasting fields used to transactions
- Promise note
manually track likelihood of
- Automated Promise Reconciliation
collecting on the promise
process matches promises to
payments.
- Broken Promises automatically
created and posted to Collector Work
Queue for follow up
- Promise record automatically saved
on History tab
Credit Management integration: Credit Management integration:
- Profile tab displays Credit Rating,
-Fields in Receivables display:
Credit Limit, Credit Status
Account Status, Credit Rating,
Tolerance, Collectable, Risk Code, -Account tab displays Status,
Tolerance, Risk Code
Review Cycle, Credit and Order
Limits
Credit Hold:
Credit Hold:
- Collector can turn on /off credit hold
-Ability to place an Account on
Credit Hold or remove them from - Enabled through IEX: Enable Credit
Hold profile
Credit Hold
-Status is displayed in Customer
Profile screen
Calls/Interactions:
Calls/Interactions:
Customer Receivables call history is
- Customer call history is
displayed
displayed

Navigation Details and Comments

Log in as Collections Agent
Collector name is displayed in Profile tab
From Collections header > Operating Unit field

From Transaction tab > Transaction Details button

Collector will able to navigate to Receivables
Transaction Workbench from the Navigator menu.
Not all details are displayed on the transaction details
page.
From Collections Header, payments can be taken
from Transaction tab, Aging tab, Account tab by
clicking on the Payment Processing button

Log in as Collections Agent

From Collections Header, promises to pay for one or
more transactions can be taken from Transaction tab,
Aging tab, Account tab by clicking on the Payment
Processing button where Promise or Mass Promise
tab is accessible

From Collections header > Profile tab to see Credit

Risk and Credit Status or Account tab to see
Tolerance

From Collections header, with customer name and

contact name displayed > Actions from toolbar >
select Credit hold or Credit release
Status is displayed on Profile tab
From Collections header, click on History > AR Calls

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Receivables 11i

Advanced Collections r12

Collection Work Queue

- New calls can be created manually in
Tasks tab and will be viewable in
Collector Work Queue
Cash Application:
Cash Application:
Screens being moved to Receipts Collectors will have access to receipt
workbench
Workbench
Presented Bills:
Presented Bills:
Use Bill Presentment Architecture Use Bill Presentment Architecture
Collections Reports:
Collections Reports:
Reports
Receivables reports can be added to
Collections Navigator
Notes/Comments:
Notes/Comments:
Comments/notes fields, related to -New notes can be created in
Collections notes fields throughout
specific transaction
- New notes are automatically related
to party, account, bill to, transaction
and other object types specific to the
activity
Scheduler:
- Calls manually scheduled by
collector

Concurrent programs:

Concurrent programs:
Advanced Collections uses a number
of concurrent programs to automate
collections processes. See next
section for flows

Navigation Details and Comments

From Collections header, click on Task tab to create
new call

From Collections header > Navigate to > Receipt

Workbench
From Collections header > Transactions tab > right
click and select View Invoice to launch BPA
From Navigator > Reports > select from list

Notes are visible throughout Collections on various

screens
Notes tab displays all notes relating to the customer
and customer activities
Collections will display Receivables notes,
comments, and special instructions throughout the
application where logically applicable
Login as Collections Forms Administrator > Submit
Request
See Preconfigured Elements Section for list

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FUNCTIONAL BUSINESS PROCESSES AND FLOWS

The following section contains three flows that show the agent, manager
and system process flows available in Advanced Collections. These
provide a road map on how collections work flows through the
application.
Figure 1 Collections Agent Flow

Login

Strategy Work Items,

Broken Promises,
Dunning Callbacks.
Tasks,
Delinquent Customers

Collector
Work Queue
Nodes

Select Work

Header:
Customer
Contact,
Summary Data

Profile Tab:
Credit, Payments,
Promises, Metrics

Update Customer Data

View Customer Data

Prioritize Work

Collections Agent Flow

History Tab:
All, Adjustment,
Correspondence,
Dispute, Interaction,
Payment, Promise

Automatic manager
notification if no action taken
by action

Account Tab:

Transaction Tab:

Aging Tab:

Account Details, link to

Customer Standard,
Payment Processing

Summary, Details/
Dispute, Adjustments,
Payment Processing

Summary / Aged
Transactions,
Payment Processing

Take Payment;
EFT
Credit Card

Submit Adjustment

Record a note or
automatically insert an
Interaction

Update and close

record

Submit Dispute

Strategy Tab:

Notes Tab:

Tasks Tab:

Assigned/Statusing

All Notes

Previous, New

Take Promise to
Pay

Collector Work
Queue Nodes

Table 1 Collections Agent Process

Process
Prioritize
Work

Step
Login

Description
Provides secure access to Advanced Collections
and based on configuration can restrict the data the
collector can access

Comment

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Process

View
Customer Data

Update
Customer Data

Step
Use
Collectors
Work Queue
Use UWQ
Nodes

Description
Provides collectors with a configured list of
customers the collector should focus their
collection activities on
UWQ provides information in logical groupings,
this information can be sorted and exported to
Excel spreadsheets if required
Select Work The collector will select a customer based on the
prioritized work provided within the UWQ and
drill directly into Advanced Collections with the
customer information pre-populated
Once a customer is selected, the collector can
review and take action. Actions include payment,
promise, dispute, send correspondence, disposition
a transaction, etc.
The update customer data processes allow the
collector to track and manage all collection
activities for a customer. Actions submitted by a
collector can launch automated processes that
eliminate the need for manual intervention while
adhering to a companys collection policies.
Update and The collector can add additional documentation on
Close Record a customer by manually entering notes or
automatically recording interactions activities.
Upon closing the customer record, the system
automatically refers back to the UWQ to get the
collectors next work activity

Comment
No more paper reports

Pre-identified customers at
your finger tips, one click
No more retyping

One form to review and take

the appropriate action for a
customer
Automatically push
approvals to the appropriate
persons

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Figure 2 Collections Manager Flow

(Collections Manager
Responsibility)

Login

Review Assigned Strategy

Work Items, Review
Assigned Broken Promises

Ownership Tab

Reassign Work

Yes

Collections
Agent

No

End

(responsibility of
Collections
Administrator)

Manage Delinquencies

Collector
Assignment

Collector Work
Assignment

Collections Manager Flow

Find Current Collector,

Assign New/Backup
Collector, Set Start Date

Collector
Reassignment

Notification
from Agent UI

Later Stage
Collections
(Bankruptcy,
Litigation,
Repossession,

Collections
Agent

Delinquent
Customers
Summary

Bankruptcies

Litigations

Repossessions

Lease Write
Offs

Report to
Credit Bureau,
Third Party
Assignment

Table 2 Collections Manager Process

Process
Collector
Work
Assignment

Collector
Assignment
Manage
Delinquencies

Step
Login

Description
Provides secure access Advanced Collections

Use
Ownership
Tab
Reassign
collectors

Manager tool to review and move assigned work

items, promise activity and customers to assist in
load balancing
User friendly tool to locate and assign back up
collector for short term assignments due to
vacation or a leave of absence
Specialists view into customers in later-stage of
the collections lifecycle with status of bankrupt,
litigation, repossession, Lease write-off or
reported to credit bureau. Provides at a glance a
way to better understand issues your customers are
having

Review
Delinquent
Customer
Summary

Comment

Triage view into customers

following a critical care
path

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Figure 3 - Collections System Flow

Update
Customer
Data

Collections System Processes

Score, Strategy or
Dunning

Payment

Dispute

Payment
Processing:
Create, Get,
Cancel
Authorization

Credit Memo
Workflow Request

Adjustment

Lockbox process
updates based on
payments received

APIs

Customer/
Receivables
Data

Payment
Authorization
approved

Take a promise

N
Message

Concurrent Programs and Workflows

AR: Refresh
Summary
Table

Approved?

Up to five scoring engines can be

scheduled at one time.
Delinquency Status Determination
must be run to determine overall
delinquency.
OPTIONAL:
IEX: Purge /
Score History
Table

IEX:
Scoring
Engine
Harness

N
Rejection
Notification

Compares promise against

payments received. If
payment not received by
promise date, promise
broken and promise task in
UWQ
IEX: Promise
Reconciliation

IEX: Strategy
Management
IEX: Create
Dunning and
Broken
Promise Call
Backs

If using Dunning, IEX Strategy

Management would not be run

Workflow
Backgroup
Process

Advanced
Collections
Data

Send
Dunnings for
Delinquent
customers

Table 3 Collections System Process

Process
Update Customer
Data

Step

Run
Scoring,
Strategies,
or Dunning
Plans

Description
Advanced Collections seeded standard
processes
Advanced Collections provides preconfigured
scoring engines, strategies and dunning
components and the supporting programs to
insure customers receive the appropriate
communications. The preconfigured data
elements (scores, strategies and work items,
and correspondence templates) can be utilized
by the implementation team or they may
configure new data elements based on the
customers business requirements.

Comment

Automates the process of

scoring and applying work
items based on the
customers score

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Process

Step
Process
adjustments

Description
The system utilizes the Receivable approval
limits to insure policy is followed and
processes the adjustments

Process
payments

Payment system is called using the standard

API allowing for real-time collections

Process
disputes

Collectors can process disputes, which launch

the Receivables Credit memo Workflow
insuring appropriate approval hierarchy is
followed.
Provides the tool to document and follow-up
on promises made by customers. Collectors
can be automatically notified of promises that
are not met
Advanced Collections uses all the standard
APIs provided by Receivables and other
applications to automate processes
Advanced Collections utilizes concurrent
programs and workflow to process work
requests through the system in an automated
manner. These programs would need to be
scheduled by the implementation team to run
based on business requirements. Timely and
accurate information depends on the
concurrent programs being processed at
regular intervals.

Take a
promise

APIs

Concurrent Programs
and Workflow

Comment
No more transferring
phone calls for simple
adjustments that collectors
are approved for
No more, check is the
mail response. Take the
payment while the
customer is on the phone

No tickler files, collectible

work is pushed to the
collector

Scheduled jobs insure

accurate and timely data is
available for collectors.

COLLECTOR AND MANAGER REPORTS

Advanced Collections users need summary and detail level reports to

support and assess the effectiveness of their collections activities.
Advanced Collections provides a number of reports for collections
agents and collections managers.
From the Navigator Menu, users can access the following reports from
Advanced Collections:

Campaign Outcome Summary Report

Collector Outcome Detail Report

Payment Collector Summary Report

Payment Collector Detail Report

Payment Campaign Summary Report

Payment Campaign Detail Report

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Campaign Schedule or Collector Promise Reconciliation Report

Summary

Campaign Schedule or Collector Promise Reconciliation Report

Detail

Additionally, users can access a number of Receivables reports that have

been used by collections personnel. These reports can be added to the
collections agent responsibility and be accessible from the Collections
menu:

Account Status Report

Adjustment Register

Aging Reports (6 reports)

Applied Receipts Register

Automatic Receipt Batch Management Report

Automatic Receipt Awaiting Confirmation

Bad Debt Provision Report

Billing History

Billing and Receipt History

Collections Effectiveness Indicators

Credit Hold Report

Customer Credit Snapshot

Disputed Invoice Report

Invoice Print New Invoices

Past Due Invoice Report

Publish Actual Receipt

Publish Receipt Forecast

Receipt Analysis - Days Late

Receipt Register

Receipt Awaiting Bank Clearance Report

Receipts Awaiting Remittance Report

Remittance Batch Management Report

Transaction Awaiting Consolidation

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Part Two Migrating to Advanced Collections

PRE-IMPLEMENTATION CHECKLIST

As noted in the Functional Comparison Chart in Part One of this white

paper, Advanced Collections uses a number of other E-Business Suite
products to provide functionality for some features. Please see the
Advanced Collections implementation guide for the optional required
application setup steps.
USING ADVANCED COLLECTIONS IMPLEMENTATION CHECKLIST

Functional and technical managers responsible for setting up and

implementing Advanced Collections start the process by navigating to
the Collections Checklist, an setup tool designed to ease implementation
and provide a single place to record and manage operational setup
decisions.
Advanced Collections Checklist

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Advanced Collections Questionnaire Page

The Checklist guides the manager through a Questionnaire that asks a

few key questions about the intended use of Advanced Collections. The
managers responses to these questions automatically set system profiles
and settings for Advanced Collections.

Advanced Collections Task Page

The Questionnaire also enables or disables a set of Task Pages on which

the manager provides additional detailed information that set additional
settings for Advanced Collections.

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The benefit of using the Collections Checklist is that it allows functional

experts to do an out of the box set up of Advanced Collections
independent of corporate IT staff.
Since some system profiles used by Advanced Collections come from
other E-business Suite modules, managers will need to use the standard
Forms Profile screen to set these profiles. See Advanced Collections
Implementation Guide for a list of non-Collections profiles
EASY SETUP STEPS FOR MIGRATING FROM RECEIVABLES

For deploying organizations that have decided not to license Advanced

Collections, here are the setup tasks you need to do:
Task

Description

Complete Setup Questionnaire and

Tasks

For example, determine operational

data level, setup Dunning Plan

Configure Dunning Letters (optional)

You can use the preconfigured

dunning letters or optionally create
new ones

Install XML Publisher ( if sending

dunning letters)

Refer to XML documentation

Run convert script to display

Receivables Scheduled Calls in
Collections History tab (optional)

See below for additional details

Evaluate Menu access and

Responsibilities

Determine how users will access

Collections functionality and reports

Schedule concurrent processes

Refer to Advanced Collections User

Guide for detailed information

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"The promise of collection

automation software is a
dramatic improvement in
receivables performance.
Indeed, for most companies, the
results of automating
collections are dramatic. They
are enjoying a 10 to 20 percent
reduction in days sales
outstanding (DSO), a 25
percent reduction in past due
receivables, and a 15 to 25
percent reduction in bad debt
reserves. These metrics mean
productivity gains, without
increasing staff, that translate
into better cash flow."
David Schmidt, Paystream
Advisors, Inc. Receivables and
Collections: Buyer Guide

Implementing Advanced Collections is facilitated by the use of a number

of preconfigured elements that deploying organizations can use during
their planning and testing phases. Additionally they can also be used (or
easily amended) for use in production systems. If new elements are
required to match specific corporate processes, they can be added during
implementation. Detailed information on these preconfigured elements
is provided in the Implementation Guide for Advanced Collections.
Correspondence Templates and Queries.

Advanced Collections uses XML technology to generate and deliver all

customer correspondence. Included in the product are the following
templates and queries that can be used at all operational data levels:

Payment Confirmation Letter

Dispute Confirmation Letter

Promise Confirmation Letter

Adjustment Confirmation Letter

Payment Reversal Confirmation Letter

Consolidated Invoice Confirmation Letter

Invoice Letter

Pre-delinquent Letter

Soft Dunning Letter 1

Soft Dunning Letter 2

Moderate Dunning Letter 1

Moderate Dunning Letter 2

Hard Dunning Letter 1

Hard Dunning Letter 2

Hard Dunning Letter 3

Metrics Formulas

The following formulas are used in the Profile tab of Advanced

Collections.

Weighted Average Days Paid (WAP)

Weighted Average Days Late

Weighted Average Terms

Average Days Late

Conventional Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)

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True DSO

Collection Effectiveness Index (CEI)

NSF History Amount

NSF History Count

Deductions Amount

Deductions Count

Sales

Credit Limit

High Credit YTD

Scoring Engines

Advanced Collections includes preconfigured scoring engines.

Delinquency Status Determination

Customer Scoring

Account Scoring

Bill To Scoring

Case Scoring (used with Lease Management)

Strategy Templates and Work Items

Advanced Collections provides preconfigured strategy templates and

preconfigured work item templates for deploying organizations using
Collections Strategy as its collections method. Deploying organizations
that have licensed Advanced Collections use strategies and their
associated Work Items. Dunning Plans do not use templates.

Pre-delinquent Strategy

Soft Collections Strategy

Moderate Collections Strategy

Hard Collections Strategy

Catch-all Collections Strategy

Litigation Strategy

Repossession Strategy

Write-off Strategy (for use with Leasing)

Bankruptcy Strategy

Preconfigured work items are also included:

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Pre-delinquency Courtesy Letter

Pre-delinquency Courtesy Call

Soft Dunning Letter 1

Soft Dunning Letter 2

Soft Collections Call 1

Soft Collections Call 2

Moderate Dunning Letter 1

Moderate Dunning Letter 2

Moderate Collections Call 1

Moderate Collections Call 2

Hard Dunning Letter 1

Hard Collections Call 1

Hard Collections Call 2

Final Demand Letter

Review Customer

Customer Site Visit

Review Pending Bankruptcy

Review Pending Repossession

Review Pending Litigation

Review Pending Write off (for use with Leasing)

MIGRATION CONSIDERATIONS

Since most of the historical data generated in Oracle Receivables is now

accessible in Oracle Advanced Collections, there is no need for deploying
customers to migrate data.
Most flexfields are also accessible from Advanced Collections. However
following analysis of known customer usage, not all fields are displayed.
If these fields need to be displayed, deploying organizations will need to
determine where and how.

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APPENDIX 1 ADVANCED COLLECTIONS SCREEN SHOTS

NOTE: You can click on any link in the Functional Comparison Chart to see a
screen shot of the described feature in this Appendix. Click on the section
name below each screenshot here to return to the Functional Comparison chart.
Collections Navigator Menu

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Navigator Menu, Single Screen

Navigation

Collections Main Screen

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Single Screen Navigation

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Collectors Work Queue

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Collectors Work Queue

Profile Tab with Metrics

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section Single Screen Navigation

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History Tab

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Single Screen Navigation

Correspondence History

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Dunning Plans

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Account Tab

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Single Screen Navigation

Transactions Tab

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Single Screen Navigation

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Navigate to Transaction Workbench

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Transaction Workbench

Aging Tab

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Single Screen Navigation

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Tasks Tab

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Single Screen Navigation

Notes Tab

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Single Screen Navigation

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Transaction Details Screen

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Transaction Details

Payment and Promise to Pay Processing

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Payment and Promise Processing

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Actions list Credit Hold

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Actions Menu

Collections Setup Dunning Plans

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Dunning Plans

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View Invoice (using Bill Presentment Architecture)

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - View Invoice

The following tabs are available if you license Advanced Collections:
Strategy Tab

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Single Screen Navigation

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Lifecycle Tab

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Single Screen Navigation

Custom 1 and Customer 2 Tabs

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Single Screen Navigation

The following tabs are available if you license Advanced Collections and either
Oracle Loans or Oracle Lease Management:

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Contracts

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Single Screen Navigation

Case Management Tab

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Single Screen Navigation

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Loans Tab

Return to Functional Comparison Chart Section - Single Screen Navigation

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APPENDIX B RESOURCES

Product documentation is available from OracleMetaLink. This includes:

Oracle Advanced Collections Implementation Guide
Oracle Advanced Collections User Guide
Oracle Receivables Implementation Guide
Oracle Receivables Reference Guide
Oracle Receivables User Guide
Oracle University provides product training in many formats including
instructor-led classes, customer site training, and online courseware.
Product TOIs are available at time of product release. These provide
functional and technical information for internal users, customers and
partner organizations.
Oracle Advanced Collections
Oracle Receivables
Additionally, internal readers of this whitepaper can refer to
Product Portals
Advanced Collections
Receivables
OracleMetaLink Forum Boards (account required)
Advanced Collections
Receivables
Sales and Consulting sites
Business Flows and Business Flow Accelerators
Global Customers References

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APPENDIX C COLLECTIONS FEATURES FOR ORACLE

RECEIVABLES AND ORACLE ADVANCED COLLECTIONS

A limited version of Oracle Advanced Collections functionality is available in

Oracle Receivables and replaces the Receivables Collections Workbench.
Receivables users who have not purchased a license for Advanced Collections are
not authorized to use the full feature set of this product.
Use the following lists to identify the collections features available for Receivables
and for Advanced Collections.
Collections Features for Oracle Receivables

CollectorsWorkQueue
Searchtool
Collectionsheaderandtabs
o Profilewithpreconfiguredmetrics
o History
o Account
o Transaction
o Aging
o Notes
o Tasks
AssigncollectorsusingtheARCollectorfield
Viewcollectionsinformationbycustomer,account,billto,or
delinquencydatalevels
Processpayments
Createpromises
Enterdisputesandadjustments
ViewinvoicesusingOracleBillPresentmentArchitecture
RunReceivablesandCollectionsreports
Preconfigureddelinquencycreationengine
Preconfiguredcustomerscoringengine
Configurabledunningtoolincludingdunningcorrespondenceand
callbacks
Note: YouperformalldunningactivitiesinOracle
AdvancedCollections.However,OracleReceivables
providesyouwiththeDunningLetterReprintHistorical
ReceivablesOnlyprogramsothatyoucanreprinthistorical
DaysOverduedunninglettersthatweresenttoyour
customersinapreviousreleaseofReceivables.Usethis
programtoconductcollectionsresearchforaspecific
customer.See:ReprintingHistoricalDunningLetters,Oracle
ReceivablesUserGuide.

Correspondence for disputes, adjustments, reversals, invoices,

promises, and payments

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Oracle Advanced Collections Features

OracleAdvancedCollectionsprovidesthefunctionalitylistedaboveplusthe
followingfeatures:
Configurablescoring
Configurablestrategiesandworkitems
Configurablesegments(databaseviewsforusewithscoringand
strategies)
CreatecollectionsterritoriesusingTerritoryManager
Workreassignment
AdditionalAdvancedCollectionstabs:
o Strategy
o Lifecycle
o Custom1
o Custom2
Tabsavailablewithadditionallicensing:
o IfyouuseOracleLoansLoans
o IfyouuseOracleLeaseManagementCaseManagement
o IfyouuseOracleContractsContracts

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Migrating to Oracle Advanced Collections: An Overview for Oracle Receivables Customers

01 2007
Authors: Tina Cook, Carol King

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