Navigation:  NavBar > Navigator  > Allocations > Define and Perform Allocations > Define Allocation Step

1. The Define Allocation Step search page displays.
2. Select the Add a New Value tab.
3. Enter SetID.
4. Enter Allocation Step.
5. Select Add.

6. The Type tab displays.
7. Enter Effective Date.
8. Enter Description.
9. Use the Allocation Type field to select a calculation option to determine the pool amounts that are going to the targets. Select from the following values:
   1. Allocate on Fixed Basis: Allocate on a fixed basis and percentage of pro rata allocation.
   2. Arithmetic Operation: Define allocation calculation as a mathematical operation between the pool and the basis.
   3. Copy: Copy pool amounts to target or offset with possible percentage changes.
   4. Prorata with Record Basis: Divide pool amount among targets based on the amounts that stored in the basis record.
   5. Spread Evenly: Divide pool amounts equally by specified basis fields to derive target amounts. For example, use this type to equally divide the pool into thirds among department IDs 0100, 0200, and 0300.
10. Select the Pool tab.

11. The Pool tab displays.
12. Use the Pool tab to define a pool record, selection criteria, and selection method for a pool. You can define the pool from ledger balances, a table, or a fixed amount.
13. Use the Pool Record Type field to select from the following values:
    1. Ledger Group: Select to specify a pool record for General Ledger and enter the ledger group name in the Pool Ledger field. The system determines the fiscal year and accounting period using the calendar that is defined for the ledger group on the Ledgers for A Unit - Definition page.  
    2. Any Table: Select to define a pool record for or from an application other than General Ledger and enter the table name. If you select Any Table as the pool record type, then the system determines the fiscal year and accounting period using the calendar that is defined on the TimeSpan page.
    3. Fixed Amount: Select to designate a specific pool amount. Then specify the fixed amount on the Amount Fields page.
14. Enter Pool Ledger.
15. Enter Time Span to specify a period relative to the current period, the fiscal year and accounting period to be used to retrieve pool records. Enter a single or multiple period TimeSpan to determine the accounting periods used for the pool. Relative TimeSpans, such as PER (current period activity), retrieve amounts relative to the as-of date you specify on the Allocation Request page - You are not required to specify a value in the Time Span field, but if you do, the system retrieves only the pool amounts for the specified fiscal year and accounting periods. If you leave this field blank, the system retrieves all the pool amounts for all fiscal years and accounting periods. If you specify Any Table for the pool record type and the pool record does not have both FISCAL_YEAR and ACCOUNTING_PERIOD fields, then you cannot specify a value here.   If you specify a multiple period timespan, then the system sums the pool amounts for all periods to get one single pool amount, regardless of the values entered in the Basis Time Span, Target Time Span, Basis Span Opt, and Target Span Opt fields. You cannot split pool amounts across periods to match basis or target periods.
16. Enter Pool factor to specify a percent value that refers to the pool amount in the ledger. Typically, the pool amount is based on amounts from your ledger; you can base it on any fixed amount.
17. Select one of the following from the Zero Pool Amount Option field to tell the system how to proceed when the amount of the pool record retrieved is zero.  Before the allocation process selects pool records, it groups them based on how the target and offset fields are specified. The process uses the Zero Pool Amount Option logic only if the total amounts of the group of pool records totals zero. If some individual pool amounts are zero but the total amount of the group of the pool records is not zero, then the system processes this group of pool records.
    1. Calc No Rows as Zero (calculate no rows as zero): If no pool rows are selected based on the timespan and selection criteria specified in the Pool fields, then the Allocation process processes these rows as zero pool amounts. For rows that exist in the database, the system processes these rows the same as Calculate This Pool. When you use this option, any selection criteria field that you use for the pool must be explicitly defined. For example, if on the Target/Offset pages one of the fields has a source defined as group by pool and basis, then this field also must be defined in the pool.
    2. Calculate This Pool: Proceed to calculate the amount when the pool is zero.
    3. Select Next Pool: Skip the zero amount pool record and select the next pool record for processing.
    4. Stop Processing: Issue an error message to indicate a zero amount pool record is selected and to stop the allocation step due to this error.
18. Use the Pool Fields grid to specify the field name that the Allocation process uses to select specific pool rows from the pool record.
19. Use the Field Name field to enter the field name that the Allocation process uses to select specific rows from the pool record. If the pool record type is a ledger group, then the pool record name is the ledger record name defined in the ledger template for the ledger group. The Field Name prompt table lists all fields that are in the pool record.  Select Field Name = "Account".
20. Use the Selected Detail Values option to activate the first Specify Values/Range of Values/Tree Nodes edit box so that you can list individual pool field values, such as specific departments or accounts.
21. Use the Selected Tree Nodes option to activate the tree information fields, where you specify a tree from which to select nodes.
22. Use the Set Control Value field to select trees that are not keyed by SetID. For example, some Project Costing trees are keyed by business unit. The system uses this value to identify which trees are available in the Tree Name field.
23. Enter Tree Name.
24. Level Name is optional. Use it to limit prompting to the selected level.
25. Use the Range of Values option to activate the Specify Values/Range of Values/Tree Nodes edit box, where you enter beginning and ending pool field values. If you leave the Value field blank, the system selects all pool field values that are less than or equal to the To field value. You cannot leave the To field blank because the blank value is always the smallest value. You can insert multiple ranges of values.
26. Use the Value field to specify allocation pool values for the Account field
27. You can add an additional pool field to include specific departments in this allocation by selecting the Add a New Row [+] icon.
28. Select the Basis tab.

29. The Basis tab displays.
30. Use the Basis tab to define the basis of the allocation, which is how to allocate the pool amount to the target. This selection depends on the type of allocation that you selected on the Type page.
31. In the Field Name field, select the basis field name that the Allocation process uses in selecting specific rows from the basis record. If you do not explicitly specify the BUSINESS_UNIT field value, the system uses the business unit that is specified on the Allocation Request page to select basis rows.
32. Use the Value field to specify values for specific accounts that you want to include in this allocation - Select the Value field.
33. Next, add a basis value for this allocation to include specific departments in this allocation step - select the Add a New Row [+] icon.
34. Select the Field Name list.
35. Select the Department list item.
36. Select the Value field.
37. Enter the desired information into the Details field.
38. Select the Target tab.

39. The Target tab displays.
40. Use the Target tab to define the destination for the allocation or the target record, which can be journal or any table, and target field values.
41. Enter Source = "Pool".
42. Use the Add a New Row [+] icon to create additional Field Values.
43. Select the Offset tab.

44. The Offset tab displays.
45. Use the Offset tab to define the offset entry that will balance the target. Offset entries usually reflect the clearing of pool amounts as they are transferred to targets. However, if the target record is not a balanced ledger, such as a budget ledger, then usually no offset exists.
46. Enter Source = "Pool".
47. Select the Add a New Row [+] icon to create additional Field Values.
48. Select the Output Options tab.

49. The Output Options tab displays.
50. Use the Output Options tab to define journal options if the target or offset record is Journals. You also can specify how allocated amounts should be converted to base currency amounts for InterUnit allocations between business units of different base currencies.  If the target or offset is a journal that is on the Allocations Target or Allocations Offset pages, you must define the journal options.
51. Use the Journal ID Mask field to specify a prefix for naming allocation journals. A 10- character alphanumeric ID identifies journals. The system automatically appends the prefix that you specify to the journal IDs - For example, if you specify the Journal ID Mask to be ALLOC, the allocation journal IDs might be ALLOC00001, ALLOC00002, and so on. Alternatively, the value NEXT causes the system to assign the next available journal ID number automatically - Reserve a unique mask value for allocations to ensure that no other process creates the same journal ID - Enter the desired information into the Journal ID Mask field. Enter a valid value e.g. "XX".
52. Use the Post Journal(s) option to post the journals. If you select this option, the system automatically selects the Edit Journal(s) and Budget Check Journal(s) options. You can deselect the Budget Check Journal(s) option if you want to run the Budget Processor later to update the commitment control ledgers.
53. Use the Edit Journal(s) option to edit the journals that the PeopleSoft Allocation process creates so that you do not have to edit them later in a separate process. Select this option when you want to edit journals without posting them - Typically, you select this option in a multiple-step allocation process, where the pool amount for the next step comes from the target of the previous step. If journals are not posted, then the ledger is not updated. The next multiple step then draws erroneous data from the ledger. If you select this option, the Allocation process calls the Journal Edit process (GL_JEDIT) first to edit the journals.
54. If the journals fail in the Journal Edit process, the system does not post them to the ledger and the Allocation process issues this error message: “Allocation step … is complete with journal created but not posted." - Journals can fail the Journal Edit process for many reasons, including invalid ChartFields, balancing by ChartField, or ChartField combination edit. After you determine the cause of the problem, you might have to change the allocation step definition to avoid it - Select the Edit Journal(s) option.
55. If Commitment Control is enabled, a Budget Check Journal(s) field appears adjacent to the Edit Journal(s) field. You can select it to budget check journals for the commitment control ledgers - This option is available only if you enable the commitment control option from Installation Options. If you select this option, the system automatically selects Edit Journal(s) and vice-versa. You must edit journals before you budget check them.  
56. Select the Round Options tab.

57. The Round Options tab displays.
58. Use the Round Options tab to define the method for rounding the allocation amount and distributing odd cents. This option is valid only for the Allocate on Fixed Basis, Prorata with Record Basis, and Spread Evenly allocation types.
59. Use the Round Options field to specify the method to use to round the allocation amount. Select from these values:
    1. Normal: The default value, this method rounds the allocated amount based on the decimal precision of the currency control value. For example, 104.495 rounds to 104.50 GBP.
    2. Round Down: This method rounds the allocated amount down to the nearest decimal based on the decimal precision of the currency control value. For example, 104.495 rounds to 104.49 GBP.
    3. Round Up: This method rounds the allocated amount up to the nearest decimal based on the decimal precision of the currency control value. For example, both 104.495 and 104.494 round to 104.50 GBP.
    4. Truncate: This method truncates the allocated amount after the decimal precision of the currency control value. For example, 104.495 and 104.494 truncate to 104.49 GBP.
60. Use the Distribute Odd Cents field to designate where to distribute odd cents. Because allocation processing is set-based rather than row-by-row to improve performance, this option is required for allocation types of prorata, spread evenly, and fixed basis.
61. For these allocation types, the process balances the target and offset amounts to the allocated pool amount. That is, the process attempts to allocate 100 percent of the pool amount to the target and offset amounts, sometimes resulting in odd cents.
62. Select the Batch Records tab.

63. The Batch Records tab displays.
64. Use the Batch Records page to specify the batch temporary tables used in the Allocation process.
65. Select the Amount Fields tab.

66. The Amount Fields tab displays.
67. Use the Amount Fields page to define the amount field mapping among the pool, basis, target, and offset records.
68. Select Save.

69. Process complete.