{"id":4228,"date":"2025-06-25T12:15:54","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T06:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.infosys.com\/infosys-cobalt\/?p=4228"},"modified":"2025-06-25T12:15:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T06:45:54","slug":"enhancing-oracle-projects-with-apex-workbench-for-application-for-payments-and-complex-billing-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.infosys.com\/infosys-cobalt\/cloud-applications\/oracle\/oracle-ebs\/enhancing-oracle-projects-with-apex-workbench-for-application-for-payments-and-complex-billing-process.html","title":{"rendered":"Enhancing Oracle Projects with APEX Workbench for Application for Payments and complex billing process"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is AFP?<\/h2>\n

\u201cApplication for payment (AFP)\u201d is a process of requesting customer for payment for the work completed on a project. This is popular in the UK in the construction industry or large projects-based execution contracts.<\/p>\n

It involves various stages as mentioned below with\u00a0 each stage requiring specific accounting:<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Application \u00a0-Project implementation company putting a request for payment detailing the work done.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Certification – Customer acknowledging the work done.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Invoicing – Final tax invoice sent to customer.<\/p>\n

Business Challenges<\/h2>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Multiple billing and revenue recognition methods : <\/strong>As complexity and variation increases in billing and revenue methods, it becomes challenging to manage them. Ensuring correct setups, processes, and accounting becomes challenging if there is no centralized platform to coordinate the billing activity.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Application for Payment :\u00a0 <\/strong>AFP is a widespread method for billing in construction industry and it is not supported by Oracle EBS. Application for Payment process involves revisions, retention, and cumulative amount calculations for accounting entries to be posted to the Ledger. It is very effort-intensive if tried to manage outside the ERP.<\/p>\n

Requirements<\/h2>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Support for various \u201cbilling types\u201d that dictate how invoices and revenue are generated.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Enable Application for Payment process with revisions, retention, and cumulative amount calculations.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Provide flexibility to use a mix of invoice (Standalone and Consolidated Billing) and revenue (cost-based and event-based, Revenue over Time and Point-in-Time revenue) generation methods.<\/p>\n

Our Solution<\/h2>\n

Solution involved creating a front-end layer using APEX Workbench that is seamlessly integrated with Oracle eBS through Oracle DB.<\/p>\n

Apex was implemented on the same oracle database (as against a different database and then accessing data via dblinks), which is the recommended approach to avoid database sync, performance, and connectivity issues.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It offers :<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Support for Application for Payment process<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Easy and intuitive management of billing types<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Minimizing user errors through controls, messages, and field restrictions<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Excel-based upload of data<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Solution Highlights<\/h2>\n

1. Billing Types administration<\/h3>\n

Billing types are sets of rules that determine.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Whether Application for Payment process is followed or not<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When and how much revenue generation happens.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When and how much invoicing happens.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Other constraints like one-to-one relationship between Contract and Project, and maintenance of milestones.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

2. Contract Creation<\/h3>\n

A single screen guides user through all the steps so they do not miss any steps and enter all mandatorily required information.<\/p>\n

Multiple revisions are possible for baselining incrementally changing data.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

3. One-stop Contracts data<\/h3>\n

All the data related to Contracts is maintained on a single screen.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Customer information<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stakeholders (\u201cKey Members\u201d<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Linked projects.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Contract lines<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Milestones and payment schedules<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Documents<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Revisions<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Currency<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Budgets<\/p>\n

Contract lines and budgets can be uploaded via Excel upload functionality. It also allows drag and drop of files directly from the desktop.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

4. Application for Payment information<\/h3>\n

A complete record of all applications till date including:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stage amounts<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Revisions<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Standalone and cumulative amounts<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Valuation and payment dates<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Status (Applied, Certified, Fully Paid etc)<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Projects and Tasks linkage<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Retention calculations<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Documentation<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

5. Reports repository<\/h3>\n

Easy-to-use custom reports available at a single place.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Translating Apex Transactions to Oracle<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

Above approach provides an end-to-end solution for the Contracts and Projects flow with seamless integration between APEX workbench and Oracle.<\/p>\n

This functioned as a structured, single source of truth for all billing types and billing-related processes with a smooth flow across all projects. This has been a one of the key solution differentiators for the overall Oracle eBS implementation at our client which marked a difference from the legacy system of an old ERP plus various bolt-Ons. The result is a happy user group with a friendly user interface that also simplifies their day in a life by streamlining the process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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