Please bookmark this page and check it regularly for
advisories and useful suggestions for using BEN Financials.
The most recent advisories and tips appear at the top. When a
problem has been resolved, RESOLVED and the date will appear
in the right hand column for five business days and then the item
will be removed from the list and placed into the
Advisories Archive.
| Posted Date |
Application |
Symptom/Tip |
Advisory/Detail |
| 03/05/13 |
BEN Balances/ BEN Pays |
Invoice Price Variance (IPV) |
With the recent BEN Financials upgrade, an Invoice Price Variance (IPV) [variance between the Invoice Unit Price and the PO Unit Price] is recorded differently when an invoice is matched.
Pre-upgrade: If there was variance between the Invoice Unit Price and the PO Unit Price, the invoice would be matched using the price variance. [Example: Purchase Order for 5 @ $100 and Invoice for 5 @ $110; Invoice Distribution 1 will reflect $550 (5 @ $110)]
Post-upgrade: If there is variance between the Invoice Unit Price and the PO Unit Price, a separate invoice distribution line is created. [Example: Purchase Order for 5 @ $100 and Invoice for 5 @ $110; Invoice Distribution 1 will reflect $500 (5 @ $100) and Invoice Distribution 2 (IPV) will reflect $50 (5 @ $10).]
NOTE: Purchase Orders which are setup incorrectly have the potential for a large and inaccurate IPV.
[Example: Service PO setup incorrectly for 1 @ $10,000 and Invoice for 10,000 @ $1]
Pre-upgrade: Invoice Distribution 1 will reflect $10,000 (10,000 @ $1)
Post-upgrade: Invoice Distribution 1 will reflect $100,000,000 (10,000 @ $10,000)
Invoice Distribution 2 (IPV) will reflect $(99,990,000) (10,000 @ -$9,999)
The 15X reports will only show the net effect; other reports like the 160.Account Analysis with Payables Detail [for example] and Account Inquiry will show the detail (Cost line and IPV).
|
| 12/19/12 |
BEN Buys |
Error received when trying to create a requisition |
With the recent BEN Financials upgrade, users have reported that when trying to create a requisition in BEN Buys, they receive the following error message:“Error Page – You have entered an unexpected error. Please contact the System Administrator for assistance.”
The problem is generally a result of not having a default ‘Deliver-To Location’ saved in the User Profile. In order to prevent this problem, follow the steps provided below to set a default ‘Deliver-To Location’.
- From the ‘Requisitioner’ responsibility, go to Requisitions Home Page
- Click on ‘User Preferences’ link in the top right corner of the page
- On the General Preferences page, click the ‘My Profile’ link
- Under the ‘Delivery’ section, enter a default location in the ‘Deliver-To Location’ field
- Click ‘Apply’
|
| 12/19/12 |
BEN Buys |
PO Numbers are not displayed when a requisition has been approved |
With the recent BEN Financials upgrade, one of the ‘Noted Differences’ is that ‘In-Process’ Purchase Order Numbers are not available in Requisitioner. The PO Number will only appear when the PO is finally approved (Status = Approved) by a PO Manager.
PO Managers that need to see purchase order numbers for these In-Process orders can follow the detailed instructions located on the BEN Knows website at: http://www.finance.upenn.edu/benknows/browse_topics/purchase_order_definitions/locate_using_requisition_number.shtml.
|
| 12/19/12 |
BEN Buys |
Error received when changing the ‘Requester’ during the requisition checkout process |
With the recent BEN Financials upgrade, end-users will receive the following message, “Error – Phone Number is required. Please enter area code, exchange and extension.” when the ‘Requester’ is changed in the Delivery section during the Requisition Checkout process.
To avoid this message, enter the University Contact Phone Number first, and then update the Requester as needed.
|
| 12/12/12 |
BEN Balances |
Using ‘Copy File’ program - Exporting a BEN Financials Report into Excel |
With the recent BEN Financials upgrade, the instructions for running the ‘Copy File’ program to export BEN Financials reports into Excel have changed. Updated instructions are provided below; they can also be found at: http://www.finance.upenn.edu/benknows/browse_topics/reporting_printing_definitions/exporting_BEN_Financials_excel.shtml
- After the report has completed, make note of the concurrent ID number
- Click on the Submit a New Request button - the Single Request radio button will be highlighted
- Click [OK] - the Submit Request window will open
- In the Name field, Click on the List of Values
- Select ‘Copy file’ - the parameters window will open
- In the 'Name of file to copy' field, type a ‘o’, the concurrent id number, .out in the following format: o12345678.out
- Click [OK] - this will return you to the Requests window
- Once the report request successfully completes, the user will receive an email from ‘Secure Share’ where the file is available to download to the user's workstation. The file name will be the name provided in the parameter at the time the Copy file request was submitted
|
| 7/12/12 |
BEN Financials |
JRE Auto-Update for BEN Financials Users |
A bulletin was distributed to all desktop administrators to advise them to immediately disable the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) ‘Auto-Update’ option for all Windows desktops that connect to BEN Financials. We strongly suggest you disable this Auto-Update immediately.
If the Auto-Update is enabled, the machine’s JRE version will soon be updated to JRE 7. JRE 7 is not yet certified for use with BEN Financials. Java 6 Update 33 (1.6.0_33) is currently the highest version of JRE that is supported. Further details on BEN Financials desktop requirements are located at: http://www.finance.upenn.edu/ben/benfin/desktop_req/requirements.shtml.
NOTE: JRE is not required for end-users that only have access to the Requisitioner responsibility or Shopper Role. JRE is also not required for Mac users.
If an end-user has any questions, contact your LSP. LSPs should contact the ISC Provider Desk at 215.573.4017 or prodesk@isc.upenn.edu if they have any questions.
|
| 3/5/12 |
BEN Financials |
Unable to export data in BEN Financials using Microsoft Windows 7/ Office 10 or Internet Explorer 8 |
End-users using Windows 7/ Office 10 or Internet Explorer version 8 are experiencing problems exporting data into Excel.
Follow these steps in order to export data within BEN Financials into Excel:
- Confirm you have the proper configurations in Excel to work with data exported from BEN Financials. Detailed instructions can be found on the BEN Financials Desktop Requirements page at: http://www.finance.upenn.edu/ben/benfin/desktop_req/config-excel.shtml
- Once the configurations have been made, go into BEN Financials and retrieve the data you want to export
- From the form in BEN (i.e. Invoice Details), select File> Export from the menu bar
- A ‘Progress’ pop-up box will appear displaying the status (%) of data exported
- Hold down the <Ctrl> key on your keyboard anytime during the data exporting process
- Once the exporting data status reaches 100%, a ‘File Download’ pop-up box will appear with a message, “Do you want to open or save this file?”
- To view the data in Excel, click ‘Open’
- To save the data to your computer, click ‘Save’
|
| 3/1/12 |
BEN Financials |
Saving Notes on an eForm |
The ‘Create Note’ section can be used to communicate between approvers and to record detailed information/ discrepancies on a form. If you do not save a note prior to clicking the “Disapprove’ or ‘Return to Previous’ buttons, you are not prompted to save the note. The information entered will be lost and the note will have to be reentered.
|
| 10/5/05 |
BEN Buys |
Combining of lines on PO |
UPDATED 2/09/12
When a requisition contains two or more lines with the exact item description, the PO will combine the quantities of the like lines into one line. This may result in the quantity of one item being inflated and the other item not being ordered at all.
This is standard Oracle functionality, to prevent lines from combining, make each item description unique by entering a “space”, a "period", a "dash" or “Item #1, Item #2, etc.” at the beginning of each item description.
|
| 11/15/11 |
BEN Pays/ MarkView |
Unable to view images for invoices with a creation date (GL Date) 7 years or older |
End-users will receive the following message when trying to view an image for an invoice with a creation date (GL Date) 7 years or older in BEN Financials.
“Could not retrieve image from: 'https://benimgprd02.isc-seo.upenn.edu: 4443/mvasdtm/markview/01704794.tif? application=WEBCLIENT&documentID=1339120&pageNumber=1&path=/data02/oms29/4/7/9/4/01704794.tif'.”
If the image is needed, end-users should contact BEN Admin at benadmin@lists.upenn.edu.
|
| 10/14/11 |
BEN Financials |
SUN JRE v1.6.0_24 or higher needed to access BEN Financials. JRE is NOT required for end-users that only have access to the Requisitioner responsibility or use the Shopper Role. Additionally, no change is necessary for MAC users since this change comes to the O/S directly with updates. |
As of October 14th, all BEN Financials users should have JRE v1.6.0_24 or higher (JRE version 1.7.x will not be supported) installed on their workstations.
Use this link to verify the version of JRE that is installed on the workstation, http://java.com/en/download/installed.jsp. The recommended practice to obtain a supported version of JRE is to download it from the BEN server. Simply remove the existing version from the user’s workstation and the user will then be prompted to download the JRE when logging into BEN Financials.
If you have any questions: End-users should contact their school/ center LSP http://www.upenn.edu/computing/view/support/ LSPs should contact the ISC Provider Desk at 215.898.4017 or prodesk@isc.upenn.edu
UPDATED 12/05/11 - An exploit has recently been released that takes advantage of a vulnerability that exists in many of the released versions of Java. Therefore, it is recommended that BEN users utilize SUN JRE version 1.6.0_29. To download version 1.6.0_29 please visit http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp. As a reminder, DO NOT upgrade to upgrade to Java 7, as it is not yet certified for BEN.
Further update details: The vulnerability exists in Oracle Java SE JDK and JRE 7 (1.7.0) and JRE 6 Update 27 (1.6.0_27) and earlier. ISC is planning to update the Java client package delivered by the BEN server as soon as possible so that it provides JRE 6 Update 29. Until that time, the BEN server will continue to deliver the vulnerable JRE 6 Update 24 to systems that connect and that do not yet have JRE installed. For this reason, please be sure to pre-install JRE 6 Update 29 on any systems that will be accessing BEN Financials for the first time over the next several days. We will send another message to this list to let you know when the server has been updated to deliver JRE 6 Update 29.
UPDATED 12/16/11 - The BEN Financials server has been updated and it now delivers JRE 6 Update 29 to workstations that connect to BEN and do not yet have JRE installed. Effective Monday, December 19, Java 6 Update 29 (1.6.0_29) will be the only version of JRE that will be supported for use with BEN Financials.
NOTE: JRE version 1.7 is not supported
|
| 9/9/11 |
BEN Buys |
Error message received when user attempts to view ‘Requisitions I Have Approved’ |
RESOLVED 9/12/2011
End-users reported they were not able to view details for requisitions they have approved and received an “ERROR PAGE” when performing the following steps:
From the Requisitions Home Page
- Under My Notifications, click on ‘Full List’
- Click on ‘Approvals’ tab
- From the drop down list select ‘Requisitions I Have Approved’
- When selecting a Requisition number or requisition description, “ERROR PAGE” is received with the following message details: You have encountered an unexpected error. Please contact your System Administrator for assistance.
|
| 5/18/11 |
BEN Financials |
‘Forgot Password’ function is not generating emails |
RESOLVED 9/23/2011
For detailed instructions on how to change your password using the BEN Self-Service Password Changer, click here
Currently, there is a problem with the BEN Financials “Forgot Password’ function. End-users who have forgotten their password can follow the instructions below as a temporary workaround to reset their password.
Workaround –
EFFECTIVE 5/18/11; use workaround until further notice
- Click on the ‘Forgot your password?’ link at: https://benfprod.isc-seo.upenn.edu/OA_HTML/AppsLocalLogin.jsp
- Send an email to benadmin@lists.upenn.edu stating you have submitted a request to reset your password
- Someone from BEN Admin will advise you when your request has been manually submitted
- End-user will receive an email from “Secure Share” containing the link to retrieve their temporary password
- End-user will enter the temporary password to access BEN Financials
If you have any questions, feel free to call BEN Helps at 215.746.4357
|
| 2/16/11 |
BEN Buys |
Error messages received when user attempts to use a Deliver-To (Ship-To) Location that has been deactivated |
A process has been put in place to clean-up any Deliver-To (Ship-To) Locations that have never been used and/or have not been used for some time.
Below are a few examples of messages end-users will receive when using a location that has been deactivated.
In Requisitioner:
User Preferences> My Profile
If an end-user tries to change their default Deliver-To Location to a location that has been deactivated, they will receive the following message:
• ERROR – Select a valid value
Requisitions Checkout Process
If an end-user changes/ updates a requisition and the Deliver-To Location on one or more lines has been deactivated, they will receive the following message:
• ERROR – Deliver-To Location is invalid
Receiving
When entering receipts for one or more PO Lines, an end-user will receive the following message after they select the ‘Submit’ button on the Receive Items - Review and Submit screen:
• ERROR – Receipts cannot be created for the selected items because of one of the following reasons:
- The deliver-to location specified on the associated order line is invalid.
In PO Manager:
Enter Receipts
When entering receipts for one or more PO Lines, an end-user will receive the following message if there is not a Location displayed on the form when attempting to save the receipt(s).
• FRM-40202: Field must be entered
NOTE: In each of these instances, the Deliver-To (Ship-To) Location is a required field. Enter an active/valid location and proceed through the process.
- To reactivate a Deliver-To (Ship-To) Location, send an email request to purchsup@exchange.upenn.edu. When providing the location, use the format as its displayed in BEN Financials (i.e. MED-CANCER 223)
- To add a new Deliver-To (Ship-To) Location, complete the request form that can be found at: http://www.purchasing.upenn.edu/forms/ship-to_loc.php
|
| 2/16/11 |
BEN Buys |
Creating requisitions using Firefox v.3.0.19 or higher |
An end-user currently using Firefox versions 3.0.19 or higher in BEN Buys may receive a blank screen during the requisition check-out process. The following behaviors have been reported recently.
On the “Checkout: Requisition Information” page:
- If an end-user hits the ‘Next’ button instead of ‘Edit Lines’ (if they are required to enter and/or edit Delivery, Account information or Attachments), the “Check Funds” message is received and once the user confirms the message, a blank page is displayed.
- If an end-user goes into ‘Edit Lines’, enters the account information and hits the Continue button instead of Check Funds, the “Check Funds” message is received and once the user confirms the message, a blank page is displayed.
Current Workaround – if a blank page is displayed, you can “Refresh/ Reload” the page or click on the back browser button.
|
| 2/16/11 |
BEN Pays |
Invoice information is cutoff when image is printed |
If invoice information is cutoff when an image is printed, check the following settings:
From MarkView:
- While viewing an image, click on the “Print” button
- From the Print setup page, verify the Image Size is “Letter- 8.5 width – 11 height”
If invoice information is cutoff when an image is printed, check the following settings:
From an Internet Browser:
- Select “File> Page Setup” from the menu options
- Verify ALL Margins are set to 0.25 (inches)
Try printing the image again. If you continue to experience problems, report the problem to BEN Helps by calling 215.746.4357.
|
| 1/13/05 |
BEN Financials |
Unable to export line detail information [by selecting File> Export from within BEN Financials] into an Excel spreadsheet |
UPDATED 02/10/11
If you continue to experience a problem exporting information from BEN Financials after completing the steps for “Configuring Excel” (which can be found on the BEN Financials Desktop Requirements page), refer to the following instructions to be sure your system has the correct Internet settings.
On the Internet Explorer browser
- SelectTools> Internet Options
- Click on the Security tab, then click the Custom Level button located at the bottom of the page
- Scroll down and make sure Automatic prompting for file downloads and File Download are Enabled
- Click OK
- If you receive the following Warning message, “Are you sure you want to change the security settings for this zone”, select Yes
- Click OK
|
| 12/7/10 |
BEN Balances |
In Journal Entry responsibilities, querying journal entries created with the Category = 16 G&C OV90 |
End-users will receive the following message, “FRM-40350: Query caused no records to be retrieved” when trying to query a posted or unposted journal entry created with the Category = 16 G&C OV90.
Once the journal is created & saved, 16 G&C is automatically added before each batch name which allows ORS to query these journals easier and approve them prior to posting.
When end-users query the journal, it is strongly recommended to use a wildcard (%) before and after the batch name to retrieve any results that match the search criteria entered.
NOTE: Wildcards (%) are not required when entering search criteria in the Journal Name field.
|
| 12/3/10 |
BEN Buys/ BEN Assets |
Tabs, Carriage Returns, Special Characters, etc. cannot be used in the ‘Description’ field when creating a Requisition for an Asset |
When creating a requisition for an asset (using object codes 1870, 1871, 1872, 1874 or 1877), refrain from tabbing, using carriage returns and/or special characters in the Description field(s) to avoid truncating fields on various Property Management reports. |
| 10/25/10 |
BEN Financials |
Users may experience the inability to reprint reports and inability to log back into an expired BEN Financials session. |
BEN Financials users are required to have the Sun Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed on their workstation. It was recently discovered that there are issues related to mismanaged cookie sessions and printing with the Sun JRE version 1.6.18 through 1.6.20. Common symptoms are the inability to reprint reports and inability to log back in to an expired BEN Financials session.
If you experience any of these problems please contact your LSP to check the version of Sun JRE that is installed on your workstation. If the version is greater than or equal to 1.6.18 the software should be removed. The next time the user logs into BEN Financials the server will push down the server version of JRE, currently 1.6.15.
Note: The Sun JRE software is NOT required for end users who only have access to the Requisitioner responsibility.
|
| 10/20/10 |
BEN Balances |
In Journal Entry responsibilities, viewing journal entries created with the Category = 07 G & C Adj and posted prior to Oct 4, 2010 |
When end-users view a journal entry with the Category and Journal Line Context = 07 G & C Adj, the content boxes (Original Batch ID & Original Trans Date) are no longer displayed. The only information displayed is, Context = 07 G & C ADJ
NOTE: If an end-user views a journal entry with Category = 07 G & C Adj and Journal Line Context box = 02 Adj Prev Tx, the content boxes (Original Batch Name & Original Trans Date) will be displayed.
|
| 7/20/10 |
BEN Balances |
In Journal Entry- G&C Cost Transfers responsibility, an error is received if an end-user bypasses the message to ‘update the journal line flexfield’ |
An end-user will experience the following behavior if the context flexfield information is not entered on the journal entry line(s):
In Journal Entry- G&C Cost Transfers responsibility:
- Complete the journal header
- On the journal lines, enter the account information
- Tab to the context flexfield at the end of the line
- If you click ‘Enter’, ‘OK’ or ‘Cancel’ button to close out of the context box, you will receive an error “Update the journal line flexfield”
- Click ‘OK’ to close the message pop-up box
- If you close out of the context box a second time, the error is received again. This time, you are not able to click the ‘OK’ button to close out of the message
- The screen is frozen and your work will be lost *Unlike receiving the double warning message when creating a journal entry that has a control total violation, the journal will not save any changes made*
- The end-user will have to cancel their current session in BEN and create the journal entry again.
NOTE: The context flexfield information must be entered for every transaction line, including the offsetting line(s)
|
| 6/10/10 |
BEN Balances |
Calendar error received in Journal Entry responsibilities |
An end-user will experience the following behavior when viewing results on a ‘reserved’ journal entry:
In Journal Entry responsibility:
- Create a Journal
- Reserve Funds
- Click on the ‘View Results’ button (which is enabled after the journal is reserved)
- Close the View Results form
- Close the Journals form (the Calendar will open)
- Close the Calendar
- At this point, the following note will appear: “CALENDAR USAGE ERROR: GLXJEENT navigated directly to Calendar (check First/Next/Previous Navigation Block properties)”
- Click “OK” button to close out of the pop-up message and return to the Enter Journals window
|
| 4/26/10 |
BEN Assets |
Querying a “retired” asset in Senior Asset Administrator |
If an end-user queries an asset in Senior Asset Administrator responsibility the day the asset has been “retired”, they will experience the following behavior:
In Senior Asset Administrator responsibility> Asset Workbench, query an Asset> click Retirements button> Ctrl F11. There will be a series of “FRM forms messages” received. To view the Retirements screen, click “OK” to close each message pop-up box.
NOTE: End-users will only experience this behavior when the “retired” status of an asset = Pending (the day an asset is retired and prior to daily jobs are run). |
| 8/17/09 |
BEN Buys |
Error message on approval notification for requisitions created with more than 35-40 lines/ distributions |
REVIEWED 1/29/2010
Users receive the following error message, “ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error ORA-06512: at "APPS.WF_NOTIFICATION", line 5086 ORA-06512: at line 5” on the requisition approval notification for requisitions created with more than 35-40 lines/ distributions.
PLEASE NOTE: The approver can take an action (approve, reject or forward) on the notification, but the requisition line and distribution information will not be displayed in the notification as a result of the error message.
Until the technical issue causing the problem is resolved, the current workaround is to click on the ‘Requisitions’ tab from the Requisitions Home Page or go into PO Manager> Inquiry> Requisitions to view line items which were placed on the requisition.
ORIGINALLY REPORTED 9/9/09 |
| 8/13/09 |
BEN Financials |
*NEW* Process to retrieve BEN Financials Extract files |
REVIEWED 1/29/2010
Effective 8/17/2009, BEN Financials users that run report extracts (i.e.155.ORG.Detail Extract, 160. ORG Account Analysis with Payables Detail, 500.Matching Holds Extract, Copy File etc.), will retrieve their extract files by using Secure Share Exchange Service. NOTE: End-users can no longer retrieve the extract files from their home directory on the BEN Financials FTP server (Findata).
Secure Share is a secure, web-based file exchange application that is available to all Penn faculty and Staff with a valid PennKey and PennKey password. It is available at: https://medley.isc-seo.upenn.edu/secureShare/jsp/fast.do
Once the report completes successfully, an email* will be sent to the end-user notifying them that the file is ready for retrieval on the Secure Share Exchange Service. The report can then be downloaded to the end-user’s workstation. *NOTE: An email will be generated only if you have an accurate email address in Penn’s online directory. If you do not have a valid email address, no email notification will be sent, but your file will be available on Secure Share once the report extract completes.
ORIGINALLY REPORTED 8/17/2009
|
| 8/3/09 |
BEN Pays/ BEN Buys |
Ability to "Finally Close" Cancelled POs |
REVIEWED 1/29/2010
Accounts Payable now has the ability to Finally Close Cancelled Purchase Orders. This option will help end-users clean-up any "cancelled" purchase order(s) that appear on their 900. Uninvoiced Receipts report. NOTE: By Finally Closing a “Cancelled” Purchase Order, the uninvoiced receipts will drop off the 900 report.
To send a "Final Close" request to Accounts Payable: Send an email to apsup@exchange.upenn.edu. The email should include the Purchase Order Number, Buyer’s Name, Supplier Name and Reason for requesting to final close the purchase order.
ORIGINALLY REPORTED 8/03/2009
|
| 5/18/09 |
BEN Buys |
Noted Difference- Editing Charge Account(s) in "Edit Lines" during requisition checkout process |
REVIEWED 1/29/2010
While editing charge accounts in Edit Lines – all requisition lines appear (under Selected Line), although only one line was selected to be edited. Before modifying an account for a particular line item, make sure the charge account being changed is associated with the line item in which you are editing.
ORIGINALLY REPORTED 5/18/2009
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