6.2 Payment Process Profiles, Formats, Payment Systems and Transmission

The published objective is Manage Payment Process Profiles. Oracle calls the payment process profile (PPP) the blueprint for disbursement processing. It links setups, controls usage, decides formatting, printing and transmission, controls how payments and payment files are created, and automates reports.

Setups a profile depends on

Formats can also have validations. These are predefined or user-defined rules that run on documents payable, payments or payment files, before the file is sent.

Usage rules: when a profile applies

A profile's Usage Rules tab can be set to All or Specify for:

• payment methods;
• disbursement bank accounts;
• business units;
• currencies.

For example, restrict a currency when the format accepts only that currency.

When you submit a payment process request (PPR) with a profile, any document whose attributes conflict with the profile's usage rules fails validation. With no profile on the PPR, Payments looks for the profile whose rules match each document. If none match, or more than one could match, a user must choose one on the Assign Payment Process Attributes page. Oracle's advice: keep usage rules no broader than necessary, for example one profile for business unit X and another for Y, so the profile can be picked automatically.

Header settings

The printed profile and the payment document (check stock on the bank account, section 2.3) must use the same format.

The tabs that build payments and files

Payment tab: documents into payments

Document grouping rules say which attributes must match for documents payable to share one payment. If a rule is enabled for an attribute, documents with different values go into separate payments. Examples include due date, settlement priority and delivery channel. Document limits, such as Maximum Documents per Payment, cap how many invoices go in one payment.

Some separation happens whatever the rules say. A single payment always has one payee, one payment currency and one disbursement bank account, so documents that differ in any of these are always paid separately.

Payment File tab: payments into files

• Payment grouping rules decide which attributes split payments into separate files.
• Batch booking: one debit entry for a group rather than for each credit.
• Overrides: the file carries the service level and delivery channel you choose instead of those from the supplier setup. Without an override, a file can contain several combinations.
• Payment limits: the maximum number of payments in a file.
• Payment sorting: the order of payments in the file and in the payment file register.
• Bank instructions: text included in every file from this profile.
• Periodic sequences: sequential numbering of files for the bank.

Grouping tab (ISO 20022)

ISO profiles group transactions within a file the way the ISO standard requires. Oracle's example selects payment date, disbursement bank account, service level and delivery channel. Oracle provides ISO 20022 payment formats in two versions: SEPA for European payments and CGI (Common Global Implementation) for the rest. It also documents upgrading ISO 20022 templates to the 2019 version.

Reporting tab

You can generate three reports automatically:

• Payment file register: details of the payments in a file, for your records.
• Positive pay: a list of issued checks sent to the bank to stop fraudulent checks. It can be transmitted automatically.
• Separate remittance advice: sent to suppliers listing the invoices paid, for example by email. It can be submitted automatically when payments are confirmed, and you can choose a condition such as All payments.

Worked setup: an ISO 20022 electronic profile

Oracle's electronic payments walkthrough:

1. Create a profile with the ISO20022 Common Global Implementation Format and processing type Electronic. Set the confirmation point to When the payment file is transmitted.
2. Usage Rules: All for payment methods, bank accounts, business units and currencies, or narrower as needed.
3. Payment System: ISO20022 Payment System. Select Automatically transmit payment file after formatting and assign a transmission configuration to the CGI payment system account.
4. Payment: group documents by due date, settlement priority and delivery channel.
5. Payment File: set service level and delivery channel overrides as needed.
6. Grouping: payment date, disbursement bank account, service level, delivery channel.
7. Reporting: payment file register with document detail, and separate remittance advice by email when payments are confirmed.