There is a considerable confusion amongst R11/12 Customers about available Accounting Standards with the E-Business Suite. I have been a Oracle Consultant for many years, and whilst the uptake of E-Business in India, Australia were based on this ERP product being an all-enabling Accounting Software, but Customers have raised several complains about the product not meeting quality standards, as per the required IFRS based standards that should be available when using this product.
I have spoken to Oracle Sales Consultants about this as well, and they have described that this product is mainly sold as a “Container” for Ledger entries and it is -not- really an Accounting Software that includes IFRS based standards. However, personally, I have noticed that several techno-functional questions in customer queries that intersect with Accounting Standards, are answered in Best Practices by Oracle Consultants and in associated forums. This creates the onus of having included IFRS based Standards in this ERP System. However, whilst using, the ERP system misses several critical points that are administered in such standards.
Therefore, currently, there seems to be an unresolved Product Direction for E-Business, where Customers are expecting it to have the infrastructural ability to meet IFRS standards. Customers are expecting that the E-Business suite is IFRS compatible and there would be no violation of accounting standards, either by intention or by accident, whilst using the product at a production site.
Simple things like Depreciation, Asset Valuations and Foreign Exchange transactions, that are regularly used by Customers, are assumed to be IFRS compatible. However, E-Business suite does not seem to have any stated validation that it indeed is compatible, making the product a high-risk product for regularly audited accounting systems, as per regulative requirements in jurisdictions such as India and Australia.
Personally, I sincerely feel that there would be a better uptake of E-Business if some basic infrastructure is well-built into the product, and an assurance be provided by Oracle that it meets certain such requirements to get the customer on the right footing for any further customization that maybe required. Also, to expect that the Customer would themselves implement IFRS Standards using a Customization project, is indeed a big ask, and often impossible for the Customer to take out working with the inherent complexities of the E-Business technology. Here, Oracle hand holding in terms of basic meetings of IFRS Standards is crucial.
I hope this post helps provide a clearer direction for our much beloved E-Business Suite, which otherwise seems to be dropped from the Customer shopping basket. If the customer has to implement IFRS when already buying E-Business, then why pay that huge amount of money to buy this product at all?
Would be thankful if considered for Future Product development.
Thank you.
Regards,
Syamantak Saha MEng ASA (CPAA)