In a recent update, Oracle added the ability to customize the home screen that users see when they login to Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service (PBCS) and Enterprise Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service (EPBCS). This functionality has been around for about a year and can be used as an alternative to creating task lists. Instead of a user needing to click around to find the correct forms, you can show them the necessary ones as icons on their main PBCS home screen. These can be assigned to specific groups as well, so different groups only see tasks that are applicable to them.
How to set it up
The first thing to know about this screen is that it is called the Navigation Flow. So, to customize this, you will need to go to the Navigation Flow icon underneath Tools. You can also find the Navigation Flow option in the Menu on the top left of the screen.
In the Navigation Flow menu, you will see the default Navigation Flow along with any other ones that have been created in the environment. The Oracle PBCS Documentation does a fantastic job explaining how to create these and assign access to specific users. You can find the Oracle documentation on their website HERE.
How to Use the Home Screen
The final thing I wanted to talk about was how to use this. I would recommend using this in lieu of task lists if your users go through the web. These cards do not show up in Smart View, so it will only be beneficial within the Simplified Interface.
However, it is very useful for those users that do use the simplified interface. It makes it much easier to organize the tasks that most planners need to do. For instance, if you have a cost center planner that only needs to input a few expenses and then review their estimate, you can put together a Navigation Flow in a couple minutes that shows them exactly what they need to see.
From what I have seen, this is a much simpler approach for users than going through task lists. It provides a more straight-forward setup without having to sift through objects that are not applicable to their process. This is an easy way to make the interface more friendly for the people who are inputting data on a monthly or annual basis.
Questions? Comments? Feel free to reach us at:
David Grande, dgrande@ecapitaladvisors.com
Amy Stine, astine@ecapitaladvisors.com
