Getting the Most Out of EPM: A deep dive into Account Reconciliation Manager

Getting the Most out of EPM:
A ‘Deep Dive’ into Account Reconciliation
Manager

February 28, 2014
Jay Hampton
jhampton@finitsolutions.com
www.finitsolutions.com

Finit Overview
 About Finit
 In business over 11 years: Company
founded in July 2002.
 60+ employees in 20+ states (mostly
East Coast, South, and Midwest)
 80+ HFM Clients
 Recognized as the Market Leader in
ARM/FCM
 Recognized as the World Leader in
FDM Project Work and FDM
Customizations
 50+ Planning / Essbase Clients
 Finit has managed many of the
largest EPM projects in the U.S.
 Our employees are generally CPA’s,
MBA’s, and have extensive Product
and Financial Reporting Backgrounds

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

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Implementation Services
Full cycle implementations
Infrastructure and Data Services
Project / Program Management
Product Upgrades
Redesign / Enhancements
Dedicated Support – Finit Answers
Access to Hyperion SME’s (Dedicated
support team and guaranteed
response times)
Customer Service Focus
Flexible Time and Material support
packages with a ‘Pay as you Go’
option
Technical and Admin / Functional
Support
Contact Greg Barrett
(gbarrett@finitsolutions.com) for info

-2-

Finit Solutions Introduction

Finit as a company: Who
we are….Why? How?

WHY is Finit Here?
We believe in making and delivering personalized
financial reporting solutions and experiences for
others.
Making Solutions with Personalized Experiences
We value craftsmanship, authenticity and solution making
We believe in listening, questioning and analyzing the issues
and wishes of those we work with.
We look to build relationships, not as company to company
but person to person.
We are honestly aligned to the cause of those we work with.
We are Makers and Doers who roll up their sleeves and dig
in.
-4-

HOW do we achieve our beliefs?
Running Finit like a Family
Finit has no debt or external owners.
This lets us keep focused on the customer in all cases as
Finit’s goal is not to maximize profit but maximize the value
we add to clients.

All owners are involved in the business.
We do not use contractors, employees only.
Finit’s compensation model is based upon client
satisfaction with consultant’s work, not utilization /
chargeability.
-5-

Finit Values
Below are Finit’s core values
These are the same values we ask you to provide
consultant feedback on

-6-

Finit’s Client Service
Our values, culture and approach to becoming a
trusted advisor to clients has led to 100%
customer success for every Finit client (200+ and
counting) and for every Oracle Hyperion project
(over 350+ and counting).

-7-

Some Finit Clients


-8-

About the Presenter
Jay Hampton
Partner with Finit
Solutions
10 Years experience with
Hyperion EPM Software
Financial Close Primarily
(HE, HFM, FDM/ERPi,
FCM)
Cincinnati, OH
Annabelle’s Webinar
Debut!
-9-

Question and Answer

- 10 -

Agenda
Financial Close Manager (FCM) Overview
Account Reconciliation Manager (ARM) Overview
Standard Process Flow
Set Up and Configuration
New Features currently available in 11.1.2.3
“Potential” New Features soon to be available in
11.1.2.3.500
Lessons Learned from implementations
- 11 -

Financial Close and ARM
Overview


Financial Close Overview





Released with EPM 11.1.2.0
Part of the EPM Suite
Integrated with Shared Services and Workspace
Currently 2 Products are Part of Financial Close
 Close Manager
 Task Management Solution – “…anything that needs to be done during the close process…”

 Reconciliation Manager

 Road map calls for More “modules”
 Supplemental Data Manager
 Journal Entry Manager

- 13 -

ARM Overview
 Account Reconciliation Manager designed to Manage and
Monitor your Global Account Reconciliation Process
 General Ledger Reconciliations (aka “Balance Sheet Reconciliations”)
 Consolidation System Reconciliations
 Tax Reconciliations
 Any other reconciliation that performs a periodic validation of an
account balance

 Competes against:
 Excel Based Reconciliations
 Other Account Rec Tools
 Trintech Assurenet
 Blackline

 Requires ERPi (FDMEE) for Data Integration Component
 Cannot load General Ledger data via FDM Classic

- 14 -

Accounts Reconciliation Manager (ARM)
ARM solves a compliance documentation problem
Manages the reconciliation processes and stores
evidence that reconciliations occurred

Key characteristics of accounting reconciliations
They are process-specific
Focused on period-end balances
Generally managed by corporate accounting or shared
services
Performed by divisional accountants world-wide
May use reconciliation compliance software
- 15 -

Risks with Excel Account Reconciliations
Risk of missing accounts
No visibility into the status of completion
Incomplete explanations
What happens if the balances change? Are
reconciliations updated?
Inability to report across reconciliations
Risk of lost reconciliations

- 16 -

Process Flow


ARM Overview – Workflow
 GL System Balances
 Sub Ledger Balances
 ERPi (FDMEE) Data load
adaptors provided for:

Load Balances
Auto Reconciliation

 Oracle E-Business Suite 11i,
12
 Oracle Fusion Financials
 PeopleSoft Enterprise
Financial Management 9.0,
9.1
 JD Edwards Enterprise version
9.0
 SAP ERP Financial 4.7c, ECC
6.0 enhancement pack 4.0+

Email Notifications
Preparation
Review
Late Notices

 Flat Files
Monitoring
- 18 -

 Auto Reconciliation

Load Balances

 Zero Balance Accounts
 Accounts under a certain
threshold
 Accounts with No
Activity

Auto Reconciliation

Email Notifications
Preparation
Review
Late Notices

Monitoring
- 19 -

Auto Reconciliation

- 20 -

 Email Notifications

Load Balances

 Sent at designated times
 Reminders that
reconciliations should
begin

Auto Reconciliation

Email Notifications
Preparation
Review
Late Notices

Monitoring
- 21 -

 Preparation

Load Balances

 Configurable Formats
 Adaptable to each
account type
 Instructions
 Attach supporting docs
 Loadable transactions

Auto Reconciliation

Email Notifications
Preparation
Review
Late Notices

Monitoring
- 22 -

Preparation – Source Balances

- 23 -

Preparation – Adjustments to Source

- 24 -

 Review

Load Balances

 Comments
 Tickmark features
 Approval and rejection
workflow

Auto Reconciliation

Email Notifications
Preparation
Review
Late Notices

Monitoring
- 25 -

Review

- 26 -

 Late Notices

Load Balances

 Sent at designated times
 Sent only to users who
have missed a deadline
 Notifications continue
until work is complete

Auto Reconciliation

Email Notifications
Preparation
Review
Late Notices

Monitoring
- 27 -

Email Reminders / Late Notice

- 28 -

 Monitoring

Load Balances

 Status of reconciliations
 Aging analysis
 Warnings
 Debit / credit violations
 Aging violations

Auto Reconciliation

Email Notifications
Preparation
Review
Late Notices

Monitoring
- 29 -

Monitoring

- 30 -

Set Up and Configuration


ARM Set Up Simplified
1) Identify Accounts and Data Sources to Reconcile
Note: Level of Account Reconciliation is Very Important!
GL Account Level? GL Account + Cost Center Level? GL Account +
Legal Entity Level? Etc.

2) Create Account Reconciliation “Profiles” and assign
attributes and Reconciliation Preparers and Reviewers
3) Configure ERPi (FDMEE) to Map and Load General Ledger
Data to Profiles
4) Create Monthly Reconciliations from Profiles
5) Load General Ledger Data into ARM
6) Open Reconciliations to Users
- 32 -

Two Types of Reconciliations (Formats)
 Balance Compare
 Automated comparison of source
system and subsystem balances

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

 Account Analysis
 Justification of the source system
balance

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

Accounts payable
Accounts receivable
Inventory
Fixed Assets

 Can “source” from Sub-Ledger

- 33 -

Prepaids
Accruals
Intangibles
Any other account where the balance is
not derived from a subsystem

Profile Set Up
Properties
Characteristics of the account reconciliation

Instructions
Visible to end users

Workflow
Controls the ‘who’ and ‘how often’ of the reconciliation process

Currency
Access
Who can modify and maintain the account reconciliation

Attributes
Customizable properties

History
To see property changes
- 34 -

Profile Set Up - Properties
Account ID
Account – Company / Account – Cost Center / etc.

Name/Description
Risk Rating - High, Medium, Low
Format
Balance Compare
Account Analysis

Normal Balance – Debit/Credit
Auto Reconciliation – Yes/No
Manually Enter Balances – Yes/No
- 35 -

Profile Set Up - Properties

- 36 -

Profile Set Up - Instructions

- 37 -

Profile Set Up - Workflow
Preparer
Frequency
Start Day Offset
Duration
 Newer versions support Groups

Reviewers
Can add as many as you want
Frequency
 e.g. 1 Reviewer for Monthly, 2 for Quarterly

Duration

- 38 -

Profile Set Up - Workflow

- 39 -

Profile Set Up - Currency
Single – All reconciliations done in one common
currency
Multiple – if reconciliations are done in more than one
currency
Entered: Balances and transactions in the currencies in
which they occurred
Functional: Balances and transactions in the currency
associated with the entity that owns the account
Reporting: Balances and transactions in the currency used
for system-wide reporting

Can enable/disable per Profile
- 40 -

Profile Set Up - Currency

- 41 -

Profile Set Up – Access
Commentators
Can view and add comments to Reconciliations
Supports Users or Groups

Viewers
Can view but not comment on Reconciliations
Supports Users or Groups

- 42 -

Profile Set Up - Access

- 43 -

Profile Set Up – Attributes
Custom Attributes
Allow for different ways to Group or “Tag” Reconciliations for
analysis and tracking purposes
Examples we’ve seen:

 GL System
 Legal Entity
 Geographical Location
 Shared Service Center
 HFM Account
 Action Plan
 Review Method
 Review Date

 Type
 Journal Entry Number
 Reconciliation Frequency
 Business Unit
 Segment
 Reconciliation Group
 Responsibility Group

- 44 -

Profile Set Up - Attributes

- 45 -

Profile Set Up – History

- 46 -

New Features:
11.1.2.3 (Currently Available)
11.1.2.3.500 (Next Release)


FCM / ARM Changes in 11.1.2.3
 Net Activity Attribute
from Prior
Reconciliation
Calculates the activity
on any reconciliation
profile / account from
the last reconciliation.
Displays as an amount
along with the
Beginning Balance,
Ending Balance,
Explained Balance, etc.
- 48 -

Can Hide Options from Reconciliations Formats
Can choose to Hide an item such as Adjustments to
Source Systems, Net Activity, etc.

- 49 -

Can have Summary Reconciliations that pull from
child reconciliations.

- 50 -

 Improved User Assignments of Reconciliations
 A user can assign a backup
 Can assign a group to a reconciliation (with members existing in the
group). The group exists as a Native group in Shared services.
 A user can request a workflow be reassigned to another user.

- 51 -

 Improvements to Auto Reconciliations (5 new methods added)

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

Balance is zero & no activity exists
Balance is within a range (based on prior reconciliation amount)
Balance is within range and no activity (based on prior reconciliation amount)
No Activity (based on prior reconciliation amount)
Balance match (# tolerance) – less or equal to a tolerance amount.

- 52 -

Potential* New Features in 11.1.2.3.500
 *Until they’re actually released, all Future Release
Enhancements are subject to change
 Guidance provided by Heather Lynds FCM/ARM
Product Manager (best PM at Oracle!)
 The following items are “likely” but not guaranteed to
be included
Improvements to reconciliation layout
Enhanced attribute configuration options
New custom attribute type
Action Plans for reconciliation transactions
Questions for all roles
Default dashboards and list views
- 53 -

Improvements to Reconciliation Layout
Long Account Description

- 54 -

Displaying Individual Segments
The configuration
option is at the Format
level, enabling
customers more
granular control over
display options (rather
than forcing a single
configuration)

- 55 -

Displaying Individual Segments
If configured to display
individual segments,
each segment is
displayed separately,
preceded by the
segment label

- 56 -

New Other Attributes Section
Attributes assigned to
the Attributes tab on
the Format or Profile
dialogs will now
appear in the Other
Attributes section

- 57 -

Enhanced Attribute Configuration Options
Renaming standard
transaction attributes
Attributes have been
exposed in Manage
Attributes and limited
edits to changing the
name

- 58 -

Removing / Re-ordering Standard Transaction
Attributes

- 59 -

Configuring Access Privileges
Access privileges can be
assigned to both
standard and custom
attributes assigned to
Formats or Profiles. Edit
behavior depends on
role assigned access,
and the type of
attribute (action plan
attributes have
different behavior than
other attributes)

- 60 -

Displaying Format Attributes on the Profile

Enables Administrators to see a
comprehensive view of attributes that
will appear in the Other Attributes
section of reconciliations, including
attributes added to the Format Attribute
tab and the Profile Attribute tab

- 61 -

Copying Reconciliation Attribute Values back to
the Profile

Applies to all types of
custom attributes; enables
authorized roles to
contribute information &
files that should be stored
on the profile and carried
forward from period-toperiod

- 62 -

New Custom Attribute Type
Prior versions of ARM support only a single “Text”
type custom attribute; this attribute displays only
a single line of text
Added new attribute type “Multi-Line Text” with
optional attachments section

- 63 -

New Custom Attribute Type
The multi-line text
attributes can be
assigned anywhere
custom attributes can be
assigned
Format Attributes &
Transaction tabs
Profile Attributes tab
Assignment includes the
access privileges feature
- 64 -

Action Plans for Reconciliations
Typical Use Case
Primary use case is to enable
workflow users to edit Action Plan
attributes after completion of their
workflow responsibilities.

- 65 -

Questions for All Roles

- 66 -

Default Dashboard and List Views
Configuring a Set of Default Portlets
Administrators now have a second dashboard icon on their toolbar: Public
Dashboard. Whatever portlets they configure on this dashboard become the
default portlets that new users will see.

- 67 -

Configuring Portlets
Each portlet has a “Save as Default”
option available to Administrators. It
saves the column configuration and
applied filters as the default,
causing these settings to apply to
each new instance of the portlet.

- 68 -

Configuring List Views
Each List View (Profile, Reconciliation, & Transaction)
also has the Save as Default option available to
Administrators. It saves the current column
configuration as the default configuration to apply to
all new users.
The Restore to Default option can be used by any
user to reset the view to match the default view.

- 69 -

Lessons Learned


Tips/Tricks/Lessons Learned
Start Simple and Continue to Evolve
Use ARM as a chance to Standardize Recon Process
Use ARM as a chance to Drive Process Change
Plan to Expand ARM
Sub ledgers
Analytics

Leverage Custom Attributes
Leverage Complete Data Loads
Ability to Export / Import Profiles via Excel

- 71 -

Opportunity for Standardization
Reconciliations should be consistent
Use ARM as an opportunity to standardize the
recon process
All accounts don’t need to be reconciled the same
but all the same accounts should be reconciled
consistently
e.g. Cash can be reconciled differently than AR, but AR
should be reconciled consistently across the
organization
- 72 -

Opportunity for Process Change
Most companies deal with Reconciliations on a
‘Reactive’ basis
Proactive approach would be to tie Recons,
Mapping, etc. into the account activation
Add ARM process to new GL account request
Who’s the reviewer, what are the attributes, etc.

- 73 -

ARM Beyond a Transactional Recon Tool
Consider relationship between GL accounts and
your Consolidation Chart of Accounts
If supporting multiple ERP’s and source systems
ARM can help bridge the gap and limit exposure
e.g. What % of your Balance Sheet balances are
reconciled?

- 74 -

Leverage Custom Attributes
Provide additional views of the recons
Future reporting enhancements will allow for
better analytics based on attributes
Simple to create and update

- 75 -

Complete Data Loads

- 76 -

Import / Export Profiles Via Excel
All Profile Properties are in columns, can save as .csv
and import

- 77 -

Thank you for attending!
Presenter
Jay Hampton
jhampton@finitsolutions.com
Insights@finitsolutions.com

Questions?
Email us for a copy of the
slides or link to the
recording.

General Questions
Greg Barrett
gbarrett@finitsolutions.com
Joe Mizerk
jmizerk@finitsolutions.com

- 78 -

Getting the Most Out of EPM: A deep dive into Account Reconciliation Manager

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