Oracle EBS Licensing: Metrics, Minimums and Part Numbers

Oracle licenses E-Business Suite one module at a time. Every line on its EBS price list carries three things besides the price: the metric that counts usage, a minimum quantity and a part number. The database and middleware underneath follow separate rules, and those rules change with how far you customise the applications.

How EBS modules are counted

• Application User. Most modules use this metric: an individual authorised to use the licensed application programs, whether or not they are using them at any given time.
• Employee. Human Resources and Payroll count every full-time, part-time and temporary employee, plus the agents, contractors and consultants who use or are tracked by the programs, however many people actually log in. If you outsource a business function, the outsourcer’s staff who provide it and use or are tracked by the programs count as well.
• Transactions. Some modules count activity instead of people. Internet Expenses, for example, counts the expense reports processed in a 12-month period, and you may not exceed the licensed number in any 12 months.

Minimums and part numbers for common modules

List prices per licence, from Oracle’s E-Business Suite Applications Global Price List of 10 September 2026. The minimum also shows each module’s metric. Annual support on each line is 22% of the licence price.

The minimum is the smallest quantity you can license for that module. A company with 300 employees on Payroll still licenses 500 Employees, which is US$112,500 at list price.

The part number identifies the exact product, which matters when names are close. A Read-Only User licence, for example, is sold per product, with its own part number for Financials (A76295), Purchasing (A76298) and Project Costing (A85900). Matching the part numbers on your orders against the price list shows precisely which modules and metrics you own.

The database and middleware under EBS

Oracle’s Applications Licensing Table sets three levels, based on how much you change the applications:

• No modifications. You receive a restricted-use licence for Database Enterprise Edition and Internet Application Server Enterprise Edition (which includes WebLogic Server Basic), and a limited set of other products.
• Java programs, or changes to forms, reports or workbooks. The database stays restricted-use, but you must buy Internet Application Server Enterprise Edition for the end users or processors where the modifications are deployed.
• Changes to the database. Adding or modifying tables, columns, stored procedures or triggers in the EBS application schema means buying Database Enterprise Edition and Internet Application Server Enterprise Edition for the end users or processors where the modifications are deployed.

A restricted-use licence may only be used to run the licensed applications, never for any other purpose. So a change to the schema raises the database bill as well as the applications one, and once Database Enterprise Edition is a full licence, its Named User Plus minimum of 25 per processor applies. Oracle keeps a separate table for orders placed on or before 28 February 2007, so check the date on your order.

Where to check

• The E-Business Suite Applications Global Price List for each module’s metric, minimum and part number.
• The Applications Licensing Table for the technology each level of modification requires.
• Your ordering documents, which list what you bought and govern how it may be used.

Planning EBS customisations, or unsure whether your modules and database still match what you bought? Our E-Business Suite licence review maps your deployment against your orders.

General information, not legal advice. Your Oracle agreement and ordering documents govern your terms.

Sources: Oracle E-Business Suite Applications Global Price List, 10 September 2026 (metrics, minimums, part numbers, and the Application User, Employee and Expense Report definitions); Oracle Applications Licensing Table, 10 March 2026 (technology prerequisites for E-Business Suite).