Blended Transactions provide the functionality to specify custom process and algorithms that automate creating sets of Transactions against Instruments, Paths, or Rules.
Blended Transactions Features
All a Blended Transaction does is automating the creation of a set of Transactions in the system. These are Transactions that you could calculate offline, and then enter manually into the system, but instead what to automate that process.
You can always calculate Transactions you want to create in Excel, and just upload the results directly into the system and it will create the Transactions you specify and process them using the Transaction Code settings for each Transaction created. All your configuration in the Transaction Code will still be processed correctly, including any Cancel/Corrects just as if you had manually entered all these Transactions in the system yourself.
Blended Transactions allow you to take this process one step further and integrate it entirely into the platform itself. You can define the algorithm and the system will automatically process it and create all the necessary Transactions linked to the parent Blended Transaction. Again all the Transactions are processed correctly according to their own rules and algorithms. This reduces any chance of input error, or miscalculation, etc. All your transactions are created in a simple, traceable and consistent manner.
Configuration
Blended Transactions are configured by the setup in Blending Transactions. These holds the algorithm, rules, formulas, and custom processes to apply when processing a Blended Transaction.
See here for more information on Blending Transactions configuration.
Transactions
The Transactions the system creates follow all the rules, and custom processes that Transactions have themselves from the Transaction Code they use.
Therefore when a Blended Transaction simply creates a new Transaction with some values, the Transaction Code it uses dictates how that is allocated, any custom processes/formulas/rules and also any GL Postings to be made along with their Ledgers.
This provides a very simple and consistent mechanism for processing Transactions, allowing you to re-use your processes. You can simply specify the new transactions you want the system to create safe in the knowledge all the configured transaction processes will still take place.
Base Transaction Functionality
The Blended Transaction process is itself a Transactional process. In other words it inherits the Base Transactions functionality that Transactions themselves use. See Transactions for more information. This means the Blended Transaction process has all the following functionality:
All Blended Transactions have a Status
All Blended Transactions have a unique auto-incremented reference number
All Blended Transactions have a Transaction Date
All Blended Transactions implement the Cancel/Correct logic
This provides a huge range of beneficial functionality for Blended Transactions ensuring they behave as Transactional items in a consistent and easy to use manner.
Every Transaction a Blended Transaction creates is linked to the Blended Transaction, can all be seen at a glance in a simple view, and all have the same Status as the Blended Transaction. In other words if the Blended Transaction is Finalize, so are all the Transactions it created. This is the same if you Cancel, or even Cancel/Correct the Blended Transaction too.
Blended Transaction Process
When processing a Blended Transaction the system goes through the following steps:
Acquires all the Instruments, or Transaction, for the Source data.
Aggregates Transaction values for the Source data according to the Transaction Matchers [more info] and Transaction Aggregators [more info] specified. This data is available as a whole or by Instrument.
Acquires the Target data
Aggregates Transaction values for the Target data according to the Transaction Matchers [more info] and Transaction Aggregators [more info] specified. This data is available as a whole or by instrument.
Loads the specified Algorithm
Executes the Algorithm
Processes any rounding
The Blended Transactions process is quite simple and powerful, and made more flexible through its own Base Transactions capabilities, re-using Transactions, and having completely customisable algorithms.
Reporting
All a Blended Transaction does is automating the creation of a set of Transaction in the system. These are Transactions that you could calculate offline, and then enter manually into the system, but instead what to automate that process.
As such everything a Blended Transaction creates can be reported on in the same manner as ordinary Transactions, and associated GL Postings, can be reported on as Blended Transactions are doing exactly the same thing - creating real Transactions.
Views
Blended Transactions are managed through the following views:
