Finit solutions arm_deep_dive_feb_2014(1)

www.finitsolutions.com
Getting the Most out of EPM:
A ‘Deep Dive’ into Account Reconciliation
Manager
February 28, 2014
Jay Hampton
jhampton@finitsolutions.com

- 2 -
 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
 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
Finit Overview

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

- 4 -
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.
WHY is Finit Here?

- 5 -
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.
HOW do we achieve our beliefs?

- 6 -
Below are Finit’s core values
These are the same values we ask you to provide
consultant feedback on
Finit Values

- 7 -
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).
Finit’s Client Service

- 8 -

Some Finit Clients

- 9 -
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!
About the Presenter

- 10 -
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
Agenda

Financial Close and ARM
Overview

- 12 -
 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
Financial Close Overview

- 13 -
 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
ARM Overview

- 14 -
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
Accounts Reconciliation Manager (ARM)

- 15 -
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
Risks with Excel Account Reconciliations

Process Flow

- 17 -
ARM Overview – Workflow
Load Balances
Auto Reconciliation
Email Notifications
Preparation
Review
Late Notices
Monitoring
 GL System Balances
 Sub Ledger Balances
 ERPi (FDMEE) Data load
adaptors provided for:
 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+
 Flat Files

- 18 -
Load Balances
Auto Reconciliation
Email Notifications
Preparation
Review
Late Notices
Monitoring
 Auto Reconciliation
Zero Balance Accounts
Accounts under a certain
threshold
Accounts with No
Activity

- 19 -
Auto Reconciliation

- 20 -
Load Balances
Auto Reconciliation
Email Notifications
Preparation
Review
Late Notices
Monitoring
 Email Notifications
Sent at designated times
Reminders that
reconciliations should
begin

- 21 -
Load Balances
Auto Reconciliation
Email Notifications
Preparation
Review
Late Notices
Monitoring
 Preparation
Configurable Formats
Adaptable to each
account type
Instructions
Attach supporting docs
Loadable transactions

- 22 -
Preparation – Source Balances

- 23 -
Preparation – Adjustments to Source

- 24 -
Load Balances
Auto Reconciliation
Email Notifications
Preparation
Review
Late Notices
Monitoring
 Review
Comments
Tickmark features
Approval and rejection
workflow

- 25 -
Review

- 26 -
Load Balances
Auto Reconciliation
Email Notifications
Preparation
Review
Late Notices
Monitoring
 Late Notices
Sent at designated times
Sent only to users who
have missed a deadline
Notifications continue
until work is complete

- 27 -
Email Reminders / Late Notice

- 28 -
Load Balances
Auto Reconciliation
Email Notifications
Preparation
Review
Late Notices
Monitoring
 Monitoring
Status of reconciliations
Aging analysis
Warnings
Debit / credit violations
Aging violations

- 29 -
Monitoring

Set Up and Configuration

- 31 -
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
ARM Set Up Simplified

- 32 -
Two Types of Reconciliations (Formats)
 Balance Compare
 Automated comparison of source
system and subsystem balances
 Accounts payable
 Accounts receivable
 Inventory
 Fixed Assets
 Can “source” from Sub-Ledger
 Account Analysis
 Justification of the source system
balance
 Prepaids
 Accruals
 Intangibles
 Any other account where the balance is
not derived from a subsystem

- 33 -
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
Profile Set Up

- 34 -
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
Profile Set Up - Properties

- 35 -
Profile Set Up - Properties

- 36 -
Profile Set Up - Instructions

- 37 -
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
Profile Set Up - Workflow

- 38 -
Profile Set Up - Workflow

- 39 -
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
Profile Set Up - Currency

- 40 -
Profile Set Up - Currency

- 41 -
Commentators
Can view and add comments to Reconciliations
Supports Users or Groups
Viewers
Can view but not comment on Reconciliations
Supports Users or Groups
Profile Set Up – Access

- 42 -
Profile Set Up - Access

- 43 -
Custom Attributes
Allow for different ways to Group or “Tag” Reconciliations for
analysis and tracking purposes
Examples we’ve seen:
Profile Set Up – Attributes
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

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

- 47 -
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.
FCM / ARM Changes in 11.1.2.3

- 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)
 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 -
*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
Potential* New Features in 11.1.2.3.500

- 53 -
Long Account Description
Improvements to Reconciliation Layout

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

- 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-to-
period

- 62 -
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
New Custom Attribute Type

- 63 -
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
New Custom Attribute Type

- 64 -
Typical Use Case
Action Plans for Reconciliations
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 -
Configuring a Set of Default Portlets
Default Dashboard and List Views
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.

Lessons Learned

- 70 -
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
Tips/Tricks/Lessons Learned

- 71 -
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
Opportunity for Standardization

- 72 -
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.
Opportunity for Process Change

- 73 -
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?
ARM Beyond a Transactional Recon Tool

- 74 -
Provide additional views of the recons
Future reporting enhancements will allow for
better analytics based on attributes
Simple to create and update
Leverage Custom Attributes

- 75 -
Complete Data Loads

- 76 -
All Profile Properties are in columns, can save as .csv
and import
Import / Export Profiles Via Excel

- 77 -
Questions?
Email us for a copy of the
slides or link to the
recording.
Presenter
Jay Hampton
jhampton@finitsolutions.com
Insights@finitsolutions.com
General Questions
Greg Barrett
gbarrett@finitsolutions.com
Joe Mizerk
jmizerk@finitsolutions.com
Thank you for attending!

Finit solutions arm_deep_dive_feb_2014(1)

Recomendados

Recomendados

Más contenido relacionado

La actualidad más candente

La actualidad más candente (20)

Similar a Finit solutions arm_deep_dive_feb_2014(1)

Similar a Finit solutions arm_deep_dive_feb_2014(1) (20)

Más de finitsolutions

Más de finitsolutions (20)

Finit solutions arm_deep_dive_feb_2014(1)