Speed Up

Your Account Reconciliation

Process

Joy Hsu
HsuJoy https://www.LinkedIN.com/joyhsucpa
Agenda

Introduction

Account Reconciliation Cycle

ARCS vs. ARM on Premise

Summary
 Who am I?
• Joy Hsu, CPA (inactive)
– Director at The Hackett Group
– 5 years experiences in implementing
FDMEE, HFM, HTP, Close Manager and
ARM
– 10 years experiences in Audit,
Accounting, Financial Close process and
financial reporting
– Speaker for Kscope15, Collaborate15
– Enjoy cycling, hiking and traveling
 Hackett Solution Areas
End-to-End capabilities focused on solving business problems….

Membership
Advisory &
Research
(Provides insights into
World Class Performance)

© 2016 The Hackett Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this document or any portion thereof without prior written consent is prohibited. 4
 Current State
• Manually retrieve GL and Subledger balances
• Transpose the balances to Excel
• Prepare reconciliation in Excel
• Save reconciliation and supportings to local drive/SharePoint
• Email to Reviewer for approval
• Reviewer review and sign off
• Auditor request – going through local drive, SharePoint,
emails……to find the “final version”
 Challenges
• Numerous versions of the Excel reconciliations
• Manually update GL and Subledger balances
• Inconsistent format of reconciliations
• Multiple workflows – Reconciliation + Internal Audit
• Heavily relies on Email communication
• Lack of control and visibility
 Future State

Administrators Auditors
Executives

Reviewer
Preparers
Account Reconciliation Manager (ARM)
 Manage Global Reconciliations
– Global standard for managing worldwide reconciliation
compliance
– Ensuring on-time, compliant reconciliations
– Higher quality reconciliations
– Positive ROI in as little as 18 - 24 months

 Processes Enabled by ARM

– Verify Completeness
 All encompassing checks on data and reconciliation
completeness
– Track Assignments
 Preparer, reviewer, viewer and commentator role available in
tool by user / teams
– Identify Risk Conditions
 Based on risk category frequency and duration can be set
– Optimize the Process
 Workflow capabilities throughout the cycle including automated
e-mail capabilities
Agenda

Introduction

Account Reconciliation Cycle

ARCS vs. ARM on Premise

Summary
 ARM Reconciliation Cycle
 Dashboard reporting,  Scheduled or Ad-hoc data load from
calendar view, filters and GL/SL or other source via FDMEE
report binder

Load
Monitor
Data

 Review and approval by Auto  Triger Auto Reconciliation

different user (Segregation Review rules
Rec
of duty)

Prepare Notify

 E-mail notifications.

 Prepare reconciliation, add files and

comments
 Load
Data Load Framework Data

EXP

GLs
INV

AR

AP
FA
Functional Currency Functional Currency

Account Reconciliation Manager

Balance Compare Account Analysis

Sub ledger Reconciliation GL Bal Justification

SL Balance GL Balance GL Balance
 Load
FDMEE Data

• GL Adaptor available: EBS, PeopleSoft, JDE and SAP

• Subledgers and other source: custom solution
• Data Load Frequency: Scheduled or Ad-Hoc

FDMEE ARM
Source
Balances
Systems Mappings Table
 Load
FDMEE Mapping Data
 Load
Drill-Through Data

• GL balances are loaded into ARM via FDMEE. User can

click on the balance and drill down to source system for
details.
 ARM Reconciliation Cycle
 Dashboard reporting,  Scheduled or Ad-hoc data load from
calendar view, filters and GL/SL or other source via FDMEE
report binder

Load
Monitor
Data

 Review and approval by Auto  Triger Auto Reconciliation

different user (Segregation Review rules
Rec
of duty)

Prepare Notify

 E-mail notifications.

 Prepare reconciliation, add files and

comments
 Auto
Reconciliation Method Rec

Balance Comparison Account Analysis

• Verifies and compares GL • Verifies GL balance
balance to Subsystems through written
• Automated comparison of justification
source system and • Automated justification
subsystem balances based on GL balance
 Auto Rec – Standard Rule
Auto
Rec

• Auto-Reconciliation conditions vary for Account Analysis and Balance

Comparison formats.
Balance Comparison Format Account Analysis Format

Examples
GL = 0
GL = 0 and GL Balance equal to prior
period
GL 100 – SL 90 = 10 => Tolerance 10%
GL 300 – SL 100 = 200 => Tolerance 200
Examples
GL = 0
GL = 0 and GL Balance equal to prior period
Prior GL bal – Current GL bal = 0
GL is between -100 and 100
GL is between -100 and 100 & No Activity
 Auto
Custom Rules (New!) Rec

• Auto Submit / Prevent Submission - Preparer

• Auto Approve / Prevent Approval - Reviewer
• Requirement Attachment - Preparer
• Set Attribute Value – Dynamic
 Auto
Custom Rule Rec

• Rules are configured under Format or Profile

 Auto
Multiple Rules Rec

Low

Medium

High
 ARM Reconciliation Cycle
 Dashboard reporting,  Scheduled or Ad-hoc data load from
calendar view, filters and GL/SL or other source via FDMEE
report binder

Load
Monitor
Data

 Review and approval by  Triger Auto Reconciliation

different user (Segregation Auto rules
Review
of duty) Rec

Prepare Notify

 E-mail notifications.

 Prepare reconciliation, add files and

comments
6/15/2016 21
 Email Notifications Notify

• Each user has the ability to change the email notification

preferences and local time zone
Late Notifications:

Status Change Notifications

Due Reminders:
 ARM Reconciliation Cycle
 Dashboard reporting,  Scheduled or Ad-hoc data load from
calendar view, filters and GL/SL or other source via FDMEE
report binder

Load
Monitor
Data

 Review and approval by  Triger Auto Reconciliation

Auto
different user (Segregation Review rules
of duty) Rec

Prepare Notify

 E-mail notifications.

 Prepare reconciliation, add files and

comments
6/15/2016 23
Preparation Prepare

General information on
the reconciliation is
available for the preparer
to review

Balances are summarized

for preparer to review

Prior to submission, the

preparer can add
attachments/comments and
review workflow information
 ARM Reconciliation Cycle
 Dashboard reporting,  Scheduled or Ad-hoc data load from
calendar view, filters and GL/SL or other source via FDMEE
report binder

Load
Monitor
Data

 Review and approval by Auto  Triger Auto Reconciliation

different user (Segregation Review rules
Rec
of duty)

Prepare Notify

 E-mail notifications.

 Prepare reconciliation, add files and

comments
25
 Review
Review
• Reviewer reviews all balances and information provided
by the preparer on the reconciliation
Reviewer can
approve or
reject
reconciliation

The reviewer can view the

general information,
balances, attachments,
comments,, and workflow.

Commentators and viewers see all information on the reconciliations that preparers and reviewers have submitted,
but are only able to update commentator and viewer attributes
 ARM Reconciliation Cycle
 Dashboard reporting,  Scheduled or Ad-hoc data load from
calendar view, filters and GL/SL or other source via FDMEE
report binder

Load
Monitor
Data

 Review and approval by  Triger Auto Reconciliation

different user (Segregation Auto rules
Review
of duty) Rec

Prepare Notify

 E-mail notifications.

 Prepare reconciliation, add files and

comments
6/15/2016 27
 Monitor
Monitor and Report
• Out of Box reporting dashboard
Process
Status
Results
 Monitor
Report Binder
• To view reconciliations offline

Click Tools > Generate Report

Binder

Select the components to include

in the report

1. Selected reconciliations - generate report binder

with selected reconciliations (Tip: use basic filter
to include specific BU/Accounts…etc)
2. All reconciliations - generate report binder for all
reconciliations user has access to (not
recommended, if the file size is large)
 Monitor
View Report Binder
Navigate the page and drill further for details.

Report details such as creator and

date

Status of the
3
reconciliation
s selected Summary of 3
reconciliations
Agenda

Introduction

Account Reconciliation Cycle

ARCS vs. ARM on Premise

Summary
 ARCS vs. ARM on Premise
ARCS
• ARCS subscription base
• New Modern Look!
• Similar to 11.1.2.4
• Oracle responsible for version
update
• Oracle maintains server and
SOA
• Standard training included
(video and step-by-step manual)
• FDMEE integration in the works
On-Premise
• On-Premise workspace for
Hyperion suite
• FCM include ARM, CM & SDM
• Customer responsible for
version upgrade
• Customer maintains servers
and SOA
• Oracle training guides
• FDMEE for data integration
Peek into ARCS……
ARCS - Reporting
Academy
Agenda

Introduction

Account Reconciliation Cycle

ARCS vs. ARM on Premise

Summary
 Summary
• Improve Reconciliation Process
– Account reconciliation policy
– Standard business process, eg. format, frequency, risk rating
– Training on ARM’s functionalities
– Close accounts on time
• Data Integration and Mapping
– GL, Subledgers
• Volume Reduction and Automation
– Enable Business Rules
• Flexible Security Model
– Admin / PowerUser and Team concept