Oracle Fixed Assets Interview Questions in R12_1

1. What are the different ways of adding assets in FA?

Ans) You can use one of the following processes to enter new assets:

QuickAdditions

Use the QuickAdditions process to quickly enter ordinary assets when you must enter them manually. You can enter minimal information in the QuickAdditions window, and the remaining asset information defaults from the asset category, book, and the date placed in service.

Detail Additions

Use the Detail Additions process to manually add complex assets which the QuickAdditions process does not handle:

• Assets that have a salvage value
• Assets with more than one assignment
• Assets with more than one source line
• Assets to which the category default depreciation rules do not apply
• Subcomponent assets
• Leased assets and leasehold improvements

Mass Additions

Use the Mass Additions process to add assets automatically from an external source. Create assets from one or more invoice distribution lines in Oracle Payables, CIP asset lines in Oracle Projects, asset information from another assets system, or information from any other feeder system using the interface. You must prepare the mass additions to become assets before you post them to Oracle Assets. 

2. How do we depreciate Assets in Oracle Applications? 

Ans) Run the depreciation program independently for each of your depreciation books. The depreciation program calculates depreciation expense and adjustments, and updates the accumulated depreciation and year-to-date depreciation.

To run depreciation:

1. Open the Run Depreciation window.

2. Choose the Book for which you want to run depreciation.

3. Choose Run to submit concurrent requests to run the calculate gains and losses, depreciation, and reporting programs.

Attention: You cannot enter transactions for the book while depreciation is running.

Oracle Assets automatically runs the Journal Entry Reserve Ledger report when you run the depreciation program for a corporate book, and the Tax Reserve Ledger report for a tax book, so you can review the depreciation calculated.

4. Review the log files and report after the request completes. 

3. What is the significance of asset books in FA? Types? 

Ans) You can define corporate, tax, and budget depreciation books. You must set up your depreciation books before you can add assets to them. You can set up multiple corporate books that create journal entries for different ledger, or to the same ledger. In either case, you must both run depreciation and create journal entries for each depreciation book. For each corporate book, you can set up multiple tax and budget books that are associated with it.

Prerequisites

·         Specify system controls. See: Specifying System Controls.

·         Define your calendars. See: Specifying Dates for Calendar Periods.

·         Set up your Account segment values and combinations. See: Defining Accounts.

·         Set up your journal entry formats. See: Defining Journal Sources and Defining Journal Categories.

To define a depreciation book:

1.                  Open the Book Controls window.

2.                  Enter the name of the book you want to define.

 The book name cannot contain any special characters.

 Suggestion: The name you enter appears in List of Values windows which allow no more than 15 spaces. You may want to limit the                               book name to 15 characters.

3.                  Enter a brief, unique description of the book.

4.                  Choose a Corporate, Tax, or Budget book class.

5.                  Enter calendar information for your book.

6.                  Enter accounting rules for your book.

7.                  Enter natural accounts for your book.

8.                  Enter tax rules for your book.

9.                  Save your work.

4. What is meant by retire asset? How do we retire assets in Oracle applications?

Ans) Retire an asset when it is no longer in service. For example, retire an asset that was stolen, lost, or damaged, or that you sold or returned.

Full and Partial Retirements by Units or Cost

You can retire an entire asset or you can partially retire an asset.

·         When you retire an asset by units, Oracle Assets automatically calculates the fraction of the cost retired

·         When you retire an asset by cost, the units remain unchanged and the cost retired is spread evenly among all assignment lines

Restrictions

You cannot retire assets by units in your tax books; you can only perform partial and full cost retirements in a tax book. Also, you can only perform full retirements on CIP assets; you cannot retire them by units, or retire them partially by cost.
If you perform multiple partial retirements on an asset within a period, you must run the calculate gains and losses program between transactions.
Gain/Loss = Proceeds of Sale - Cost of Removal - Net Book Value Retired + Revaluation Reserve Retired
If you partially retire a units of production asset, you must manually adjust the capacity to reflect the portion retired.

Full Retirement for a Group of Assets (Mass Retirement)

Use the Mass Retirements window to retire a group of assets at one time. You specify selection criteria, including asset category, asset key, location, depreciation expense account segments, employee, asset number range, and date placed in service range, to select the assets you want to retire. You can also elect to automatically retire subcomponents along with the parent asset.
When you define a mass retirement, you can choose to immediately submit the concurrent request to retire the selected assets, or you can save the mass retirement definition for future submission. You can change the details of any mass retirement before you submit the concurrent request.
When you submit a mass retirement, Oracle Assets automatically runs the Mass Retirements Report and the Mass Retirements Exception Report. You can review these reports, perform a mass reinstatement, or adjust an individual retirement transaction if necessary.
If you wish to simultaneously run this program in more than one process to reduce processing time, Oracle Assets can be set up to run this program in parallel. For more information on setting up parallel processing and the FA: Number of Parallel Requests profile option.

Exceptions

Oracle Assets does not retire the following types of assets, even if they are selected as part of a mass retirements transaction:

·         Assets with transactions dated after the retirement date you enter

·         Assets that are multiply distributed and one or more values do not meet the mass retirement selection criteria

·         For reinstatements, assets retired during a prior fiscal year

Independence Across Depreciation Books

You can retire an asset or a group of assets from any depreciation book without affecting other books. To retire an asset from all books, retire it from each book separately, or set up Mass Copy to copy retirements to the other books in the Book Controls window.

Retirement and Reinstatement Statuses

Each retirement transaction has a status. A new retirement receives the status PENDING. After you run depreciation or calculate gains and losses, the status changes to PROCESSED.
When you reinstate a PENDING retirement, Oracle Assets deletes the retirement transaction and the asset is immediately reinstated. If you reinstate a PROCESSED retirement, Oracle Assets changes the status to REINSTATE, and you must rerun the Calculate Gains and Losses program or run depreciation to process the reinstatement.
When you perform a mass retirement, Oracle Assets creates PENDING retirement transactions. If you submit a mass reinstatement before running the Calculate Gains and Losses program, Oracle Assets immediately reinstates these assets. If you submit a mass reinstatement to reinstate PROCESSED retirements, you must rerun the Calculate Gains and Losses program or run depreciation to process the reinstatements.

ITC Recapture

If you retire an asset for which you took an investment tax credit (ITC) and the ITC recapture applies, Oracle Assets automatically calculates it.

Correct Retirement Errors

You can undo asset retirement transactions, and Oracle Assets creates all the necessary journal entries for your general ledger to catch up any missed depreciation expense. You can reinstate an individual or mass retirement transaction. For multiple partial retirements, You can reinstate only most recent or processed retirement. You cannot reinstate an asset retired in a previous fiscal year. You can only reinstate assets retired in the current fiscal year.

Retirement Conventions

Oracle Assets lets you use a different prorate convention when you retire an asset than when you added it. The retirement convention in the Retirements window and the Mass Retirements window defaults from the retirement convention you set up in the Asset Categories window. You can change the retirement convention for an individual asset in the Retirements window before running the Calculate Gains and Losses program.

Per Diem Retirements

If you set up a book to divide depreciation by days and to use both a daily prorate convention and a daily prorate calendar, and if you retire an asset in that book in the current period, Oracle Assets takes depreciation expense for the number of days up to, but not including, the date of retirement. If you perform a prior period retirement, Oracle Assets backs out the depreciation expense through the date of retirement. If you reinstate the asset, Oracle Assets catches up depreciation expense through the end of the current period.

Retirement Transactions

For prior-period retirement dates:

You can retire retroactively only in the current fiscal year, and only after the most recent transaction date.

Proceeds of Sale and Cost of Removal

You can enter proceeds of sale and cost of removal amounts when you perform a retirement or mass retirement. For a mass retirement, you enter the total proceeds of sale and/or the total cost of removal amounts, and Oracle Assets prorates the total amounts over the assets being retired according to each asset's current cost.
Oracle Assets uses the following formula to prorate the proceeds of sale amount across the assets you select:
Proceeds of Sale (per asset) = Current cost of asset/Total current cost of all selected assets X Proceeds of Sale
Oracle Assets uses the following formula to prorate the cost of removal amount across the assets you select:
Cost of removal (per asset) = Current cost of asset/Total current cost of all selected assets X Cost of Removal

5. What are the various Journal Entries generated through fixed assets?

Ans)

 Addition Journal

Current and Prior Period Addition

You purchase and place the asset into service in Year 1, Quarter 1.
Payables System

Account Description	Debit	Credit
Asset Clearing	4,000.00
Accounts Payable Liability		4,000.00

Oracle Assets - CURRENT PERIOD ADDITION

Account Description	Debit	Credit
Asset Cost	4,000.00
Depreciation Expense	250.00
Asset Clearing		4,000.00
Accumulated Depreciaiton		250.00

You place an asset in service in Year 1, Quarter 1, but you do not enter it into Oracle Assets until Year 2, Quarter 2. Your payables system creates the same journal entries to asset clearing and accounts payable liability as for a current period addition.
Oracle Assets - PRIOR PERIOD ADDITION

Account Description	Debit	Credit
Asset Cost	4,000.00
Depreciation Expense	250.00
Depreciation Expense (Adjustment)	1,250.00
Asset Clearing		4,000.00
Accumulated Depreciaiton		1,500.00

Merge Mass Additions

When you merge two mass additions, Oracle Assets adds the asset cost of the mass addition that you are merging to the asset account of the mass addition you are merging into. Oracle Assets records the merge when you perform the transaction. Oracle Assets does not change the asset clearing account journal entries it creates for each line, so each of the appropriate clearing accounts clears separately.
As an audit trail after the merge, the original cost of the invoice line remains on each line. When you create an asset from the merged line, the asset cost is the total merged cost.
Oracle Assets creates journal entries for the asset cost account for the mass addition into which the others were merged. Oracle Assets creates journal entries for each asset clearing account. For example, you merge mass addition #1 into mass addition #2, so Oracle Assets creates the following journal entries:

Account Description	Debit	Credit
Asset Cost (mass addition #2 asset cost account)	4,000.00
Depreciation Expense	1,500.00
Asset Clearing (mass addition #1 accounts payable clearing account)		3,000.00
Asset Clearing (mass addition #2 accounts payable clearing account)		1,000.00
Accumulated Depreciaiton		1,500.00

Construction-In-Process (CIP) Addition

You add a CIP asset. (CIP assets do not depreciate)
Oracle Assets

Account Description	Debit	Credit
CIP Cost	4,000.00
CIP Clearing		4,000.00

Deleted Mass Additions

Oracle Assets creates no journal entries for deleted mass additions and does not clear the asset clearing accounts credited by accounts payable. You clear the accounts by either reversing the invoice in your payables system, or creating manual journal entries in your general ledger.

Capitalization

When you capitalize CIP assets, Oracle Assets creates journal entries that transfer the cost from the CIP cost account to the asset cost account. The clearing account has already been cleared.

Account Description	Debit	Credit
Asset Cost	4,000.00
Depreciation Expense	250.00
CIP Cost		4,000.00
Accumulated Depreciation		250.00

Asset Type Adjustments

If you change the asset type from capitalized to CIP, Oracle Assets creates journal entries to debit the CIP cost account and credit the asset clearing account. Oracle Assets does not create capitalization or reverse capitalization journal entries for CIP reverse transactions.
Oracle Assets - CHANGE TYPE FROM CAPITALIZED TO CIP (CURRENT PERIOD)

Account Description	Debit	Credit
CIP Cost	4,000.00
Asset Clearing		4,000.00

Retirement Journals

Current Period Retirements

Example: You place an asset in service in Year 1, Quarter 1. The asset cost is $4,000, the life is 4 years, and you are using straight-line depreciation. In Year 3, Quarter 3, you sell the asset for $2,000. The cost to remove the asset is $500. The asset uses a retirement convention and depreciation method which take depreciation in the period of retirement. You retire revaluation reserve in this book.

Account Description	Debit	Credit
Accounts Receivable	2,000.00
Proceeds of Sales Clearing		2,000.00

Account Description	Debit	Credit
Cost of Removal Clearing	500.00
Accounts Payable		500.00

Account Description	Debit	Credit
Accumulated Depreciation	2,500.00
Proceeds of Sale Clearing	2,000.00
Cost of Removal Gain	500.00
Revaluation Reserve	600.00
Net Book Value Retired Gain	1,500.00
Asset Cost		4,000.00
Proceeds of Sale Gain		2,000.00
Cost of Removal Clearing		500.00
Revaluation Reserve Retired Gain		600.00

If you enter the same account for each gain and loss account, Oracle Assets creates a single journal entry for the net gain or loss as shown in the following table:
Book Controls window:

Accounts	Gain	Loss
Proceeds of Sale	1000	1000
Cost of Removal	1000	1000
Net Book Value Retired	1000	1000
Revaluation Reserve Retired	1000	1000

Account Description	Debit	Credit
Accumulated Depreciation	2,500.00
Proceeds of Sale Clearing	2,000.00
Revaluation Reserve	600.00
Asset Cost		4,000.00
Cost of Removal Clearing		500.00
Gain/Loss		600.00

Prior Period Retirement

Example: You place an asset in service in Year 1, Quarter 1. The asset cost is $4,000, the life is 4 years, and you are using straight-line depreciation. In Year 3, Quarter 3, you discover that the asset was sold in Year 3, Quarter 1, for $2,000. The removal cost was $500. The asset uses a retirement convention and depreciation method which allow you to take depreciation in the period of retirement.

Account Description	Debit	Credit
Accounts Receivable	2,000.00
Proceeds of Sale Clearing		2,000.00

Account Description	Debit	Credit
Cost of Removal Clearing	500.00
Accounts Payable		500.00

Account Description	Debit	Credit
Accumulated Depreciation	2,500.00
Proceeds of Sale Clearing	2,000.00
Cost of Removal Loss	500.00
Net Book Value Retired Loss	1,750.00
Proceeds of Sale Loss		2,000.00
Cost of Removal Clearing		500.00
Asset Cost		4,000.00
Depreciation Expense		250.00

Current Period Reinstatement

Example: You discover that you retired the wrong asset. Oracle Assets creates journal entries for the reinstatement to debit asset cost, credit accumulated depreciation, and reverse the gain or loss you recognized for the retirement. Oracle Assets reverses the journal entries for proceeds of sale, cost of removal, net book value retired, and revaluation reserve retired. Oracle Assets also reverses the journal entries you made to clear the proceeds of sale and cost of removal.
Oracle Assets also creates journal entries to recover the depreciation not charged to the asset and for the current period depreciation expense.

Account Description	Debit	Credit
Asset Cost	4,000.00
Cost of Removal Clearing	500.00
Gain / Loss	600.00
Depreciation Expense	250.00
Accumulated Depreciation		2,750.00
Proceeds of Sale Clearing		2,000.00
Revaluation Reserve		600.00

Prior Period Reinstatement

Example: You place an asset in service in Year 1, Quarter 1. The asset cost is $4,000, the life is 4 years, and you are using straight-line depreciation. In Year 2, Quarter 1, you retire the asset. In Year 2, Quarter 4, you realize that you retired the wrong asset so you reinstate it.

Account Description	Debit	Credit
Asset Cost	4,000.00
Cost of Removal Clearing	500.00
Proceeds of Sale Loss	2,000.00
Depreciation Expense	250.00
Depreciation Expense (adjustment)	500.00
Net Book Value Retired Loss		2,750.00
Cost of Removal Loss		500.00
Proceeds of Sale Clearing		2,000.00
Accumulated Depreciation		2,000.00

Journal Entries for Depreciation:
When you run depreciation, Oracle Assets creates journal entries for your accumulated depreciation accounts and your depreciation expense accounts. Oracle Assets creates journal entries for your bonus reserve accounts and your bonus depreciation accounts, if any. Oracle Assets creates separate journal entries for current period depreciation expense and for adjustments to depreciation expense for prior period transactions and changes to financial information.
Oracle Assets creates the following journal entries for a current period depreciation charge of $200 and a bonus charge of $50:

Account Description	Debit	Credit
Depreciation Expense	200.00
Bonus Expense	50.00
Accumulated Depreciation		200.00
Bonus Reserve		50.00

Journal Entries for Revaluation:

The following examples illustrate the effect on your assets and your accounts when you specify different revaluation rules.

Revalue Accumulated Depreciation

Example 1: You place an asset in service in Year 1, Quarter 1. The asset cost is $10,000, the life is 5 years, and you are using straight-line depreciation.
In Year 2, Quarter 1 you revalue the asset using a revaluation rate of 5%. Then in Year 4, Quarter 1 you revalue the asset again using a revaluation rate of -10%.
Revaluation Rules:

·         Revalue Accumulated Depreciation = Yes

·         Amortize Revaluation Reserve = No

·         Retire Revaluation Reserve = No

Oracle Assets bases the new depreciation expense on the revalued remaining net book value.
In Year 5, Quarter 4, at the end of the asset's life, you retire the asset with no proceeds of sale or cost of removal.
The effects of the revaluations are illustrated in the following table:

Period (Yr, Qtr.)	Asset Cost	Deprn. Expense	Accum. Deprn.	Reval. Reserve
Yr1,Q1	10,000.00	500.00	500.00	0.00
Yr1,Q2	10,000.00	500.00	1,000.00	0.00
Yr1,Q3	10,000.00	500.00	1,500.00	0.00
Yr1,Q4	10,000.00	500.00	2,000.00	0.00
Reval. 1 5%	10,500.00	0.00	*2,100.00	**400.00
Yr2,Q1	10,500.00	525.00	2,625.00	400.00
Yr2,Q2	10,500.00	525.00	3,150.00	400.00
Yr2,Q3	10,500.00	525.00	3,675.00	400.00
Yr2,Q4	10,500.00	525.00	4,200.00	400.00
Yr3,Q1	10,500.00	525.00	4,725.00	400.00
Yr3,Q2	10,500.00	525.00	5,250.00	400.00
Yr3,Q3	10,500.00	525.00	5,775.00	400.00
Yr3,Q4	10,500.00	525.00	6,300.00	400.00
Reval. 2 -10%	9,450.00	0.00	*5,670.00	**-20.00
Yr4,Q1	9,450.00	472.50	6,142.50	-20.00
Yr4,Q2	9,450.00	472.50	6,615.00	-20.00
Yr4,Q3	9,450.00	472.50	7,087.50	-20.00
Yr4,Q4	9,450.00	472.50	7,560.00	-20.00
Yr5,Q1	9,450.00	472.50	8,032.50	-20.00
Yr5,Q2	9,450.00	472.50	8,505.00	-20.00
Yr5,Q3	9,450.00	472.50	8,977.50	-20.00
Yr5,Q4	9,450.00	472.50	9,450.00	-20.00
Retire	0.00	0.00	0.00	-20.00