To UBL-Comment: re future UBL release, maybe
version 2.1, new but readily composable document
type for UBL based on UN/CEFACT Accounting
Entry combined with UBL Order and Invoice
Requirement:
There are organisations with departments between
which internal trade is exercised (internal orders,
internal invoices) and some of organisations have
different financial / ERP systems in different
departments. Internal trade between departments
can be conducted by integrating such systems in
a message-oriented way such that it can be
facilitated using actual order and invoice messages
/documents. In addition to the usual order and
invoice components, these internal documents may
also be required to be accompanied by or combined
with accounting ledger information such as found in
an accounting entry.
Proposal
Having just been told that the latest UN/CEFACT Core
Component Library (CCL 09A) includes a fully
harmonised set of AccountingEntry BIEs, I would
propose, not knowing whether this is an acceptable
use of the CCL, that a new UBL document be readily
created which embeds, with 0..1 cardinality, the UBL
Order and the UBL Invoice as ASBIEs to the end of
the CCL AccountingEntry and/or AccountingEntryLine
ABIEs to provide for the above requirement.
Cost
I believe this would require minimal work besides the
usual overheads in creating a document type since the
CCL already includes the BIEs which only probably need
extending with the already existing Order and Invoice
ABIEs (say calling the qualifier 'Embedded' i.e.
EmbeddedOrder and EmbeddedInvoice). It would need
resubmission of the extension back to TBG17 perhaps.
The processes of internal trading would need to be added
as documentation to the UBL specification.
Benefit
I believe the benefit would be that diverse financial
software - trade-enabled ERPs or other financial systems
- would be able to 'talk to eachother' almost 'out-of-the-box'
reducing integration costs when implementing cross-
departmental internal trading or similar systems in an
organisation. Then there might also be knock-on
benefits to bring down the cost of external trading using
UBL because there would already perhaps be reusable
UBL invoice and order classes or the like in the finance
systems adaptable, perhaps, to external order and invoice
sending and receiving if appropriate.
Notes
Maybe need to also include UBL CreditNote and DebitNote.
Reference
http://www.unece.org/cefact/codesfortrade/unccl/CCL_index.htm---
Stephen D Green
Document Engineering Services Ltd