Oracle Advanced Pricing Key Functionalities

The key functionalities of Oracle Advanced Pricing include the following:

· Defining and assigning rules for pricing products.

· Applying different types of discounts and surcharges to pricing.

· Creating a price list for different pricing criteria.

· Creating formulas to calculate pricing.

· Creating conversion rates for the usage of multiple currencies.

· Integration with different EBS modules for optimized pricing

· Supporting TCA party hierarchy for price list.

· Using Oracle Advanced Pricing, with the efficient use of qualifiers, modifiers, and formulas, we can efficiently manage all business scenarios.

· Targeting the specific item definition with the help of the pricing attribute.

· Making our own rules using the qualifier. For example, if today is Saturday then there will be 15 percent discount on the product.

· Multi-level responsibility available, such as pricing administrator, manager, and pricing user.

Oracle Advanced Pricing Process

The Oracle Advanced Pricing process normally initiates when a price for an item is created in the price list; the price for the item is called by the application. The qualifier and pricing attribute are used to select the eligible price or modifier. The price or the modified price adjustment, in the form of discount or surcharge, will be applied and final price is obtained. This final price is then applied against the item on the requested application.

Price list

The price list is the list of prices for different items and products. Each price list can have one or more price lines for an item. It contains the qualifier and pricing attributes. The prices of items in a price list can be constant values that can be picked up at the time of ordering. These prices can also be derived using formulas and percentages.

Qualifier

Qualifiers are rules that control who will be priced. Qualifiers contain the qualifier context and qualifier attribute that creates a logical grouping and explains who is eligible for these prices. Qualifier attributes can be order type, source type, order category, customer PO, and so on. In qualifiers we have operators that can create a condition such as equal to, between, not equal to, and so on.

Modifiers

Modifiers allow us to adjust the prices. Using a modifier, we can either increase or decrease the current price list for price adjustment surcharges, promotions, and discounts that are available to us these values are from list. Type code with a system access level.

Formulas

In Oracle Advanced Pricing, formulas are used to price items. These formulas actually contain the arithmetic and mathematical expressions used by the pricing process. Using these formulas, arithmetic equations provide us with the final price of items. If a formula is associated with any price list then we cannot use the constant and absolute values for that particular item.

Integration of Oracle Advanced Pricing with other modules

Oracle Advanced Pricing is fully integrated with other Oracle E-Business Suite modules. The following are the modules that are integrated with Oracle Advanced Pricing:

·         Oracle Purchasing

·         Oracle Order Management

·         Oracle Service Contract

·         Oracle Sales Contract

·         Oracle iStore

·         Oracle Transportation

Pricing concept of Oracle Advanced Pricing

There are four major concepts of pricing, that should be understood in order to achieve the proper pricing. This gives us an understanding of the limitations and flexibilities of the product, and how certain business scenarios should be catered to when using Oracle Advanced Pricing.

Pricing rules

Pricing rules show us who is eligible and to whom this price will be applied. Using this pricing rule, we can get the final price of the item including discounts and surcharges. Mostly, the pricing rules we create are according to the customers in Oracle Advanced Pricing. We can also create a pricing rule for a group of customers. Using the pricing rules, discounts and surcharges are also catered for. We can create numerous modifiers to which we can give different types of sales promotions, discounts, and surcharges.

Pricing action

Pricing action refers to the function that is performed in response to the request from the application. It consists of pricing that is applied to the transaction to be processed. Pricing actions can be the selection of the price list and further use of the formula and modifier, from which accurate and conditional pricing will take place against the business scenarios. The adjustment in the price according to discounts, offers, or additional surcharges applied on the price will take place using the modifiers.

Pricing control

Pricing control is another very important part of the pricing process. At the pricing control level, the controls on the pricing actions are determined and applied. Pricing control gives the control to validate and verify events, against which pricing action takes place. A common pricing control is the validity date. If an offer contains a discount, which is available for the product within a specific date range, pricing control will take care of that.

Price Extensibility

Oracle Advanced Pricing facilitates us with extensibility features so that we can properly map our business scenarios in Oracle. Price extensibility empowers us with various features such as APIs and attribute mapping.

Setting up Oracle Advanced Pricing

The steps required to set up Oracle Advanced Pricing are shown in the following figure:

Profile options

In order to set up Oracle Advanced Pricing, there are many profile options that are required to enable the product to work properly. An important profile is QP: Multi Currency Installed. When this profile is enabled we can use a price list in multiple currency rather than online in functional currency.

QP: Multi Currency Usage, which elaborates the application that calls the pricelist, can also have multiple currencies available in it.

To set up the profile options, navigate to System Administration | Profile | System.

We can also use other profile options such as "allow duplicate modifiers", "size of bulk import", and so on. There are many other profile options that are available in the system in order to give a better solution for our business scenarios.

Price Transaction Entity (PTE)

PTE stands for Price Transaction Entity. PTE is the required setup for Oracle Advanced Pricing. However, there is a default available for order fulfillment, logistics, procurement, and so on. PTE is the combination of a request type and source system. To query the PTE, navigate to Setup | Attribute Management | Price Transaction Entity.

If we select Order Fulfillment PTE in the Source System, there are default codes such as AMS, QP, OKS, and so on; against them we have Request Types that detail the header and line structure.

In the same manner, we have Functional Areas for Source System. For example, in the previous screenshot, the Advanced Pricing functional areas are highlighted along with the Category Set associated with them.

Qualifier

As we have already defined, qualifiers are the set of rules and conditions that actually help us analyze the eligibility of the price list that should be applied, and the modifier to be selected. We can select a different qualifier context such as order, customer, and so on. The qualifier attribute is dependent on the qualifier context. Therefore, we will be only offered relevant information. To create a qualifier for a specific product context and product attribute, we need to navigate to Price List | Price List Setup.

Now we will query the price at which we need to apply the qualifier. We will navigate to the Qualifiers tab and select the Qualifier Context and Qualifier Attribute as per our requirement. We can select Customer, Territories, and other values at the qualifier context.

Pricing, product, and qualifier attributes

To define the attributes, we need to navigate to Setup | Attribute Management | Context & Attribute

In Context & Attribute, we can create context for the qualifier, product, and price. They should have a unique code and description to distinguish them from the other contexts. Each context has its attributes. These attributes can be altered but if they are attached to a price list or modifier, they cannot be altered or deleted.

Unit of Measure (UOM)

Unit of Measure (UOM) is a shared application setup. If Oracle Inventory is already set up, we do not need to perform this setup again. UOMs are used in Oracle Advanced Pricing for the calculation and pricing unit. Navigate to Setup | Unit of Measure | Unit of Measure Classes.

Advanced Pricing lookups

Like other modules, Oracle Advanced Pricing also uses lookup codes. We can use and create these lookup codes as per our business needs and requirements. To create a lookup, navigate to Setup | Lookups.

For example, here we can create a modifier list type, which we can use to create the price adjustments and amendments.

Oracle Advanced Pricing in sales order entry process

Oracle Advanced Pricing intervenes in the sales order entry process. At the time of order booking, the price for the item is required. At the time of booking the order, the list price of the item is picked by order entry from Advanced Pricing. When the order entry calls the price, the pricing engine calculates the price according to the pricing setup of the qualifier and modifier, and gives the final price of the item for the booking order, as in the following screenshot. We can see the unit selling price of 1 quantity that has been picked from the predefined pricelist.

Summary

In this article, we have seen the functionality of Oracle Advanced Pricing and why it is used. We have also seen how to set up the Oracle Advanced Pricing, and have learnt the different terminologies, capabilities, and limitations of the product. Moreover, we have seen how to use Qualifiers, Attributes, Contexts, UOMs, lookups, and PTE, and how they work. We have also seen how an item is priced for sales orders from a predefined price list.