Oracle has acquired Hyperion, a leading provider of performance management software. The transaction extends Oracle's business intelligence capabilities to offer the most comprehensive system for enterprise performance management.
Two years ago, Oracle significantly reoriented business intelligence product suite, shifting focus from offering a solution that works for Oracle-only environments towards offering a best-of-breed business intelligence product family that will work with heterogeneous information sources in an enterprise, both Oracle and non-Oracle.
The acquisition of Hyperion extends our business intelligence product strategy. Customers are increasingly using performance management and business intelligence together. Hyperion adds complementary products to Oracle's business intelligence offerings including a leading open enterprise planning system, financial consolidation products, and a powerful multi-source OLAP server. Coupled with Oracle's BI tools and pre-packaged analytic applications, the combination redefines business intelligence and performance management by providing the first integrated, end-to-end Enterprise Performance Management System that spans planning, consolidation, operational analytic applications, BI tools, reporting, and data integration, all on a unified BI platform.
Soon after the acquisition, a new product was introduced in the family called Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition Plus. This integrated suite includes all of the Oracle and Hyperion reporting and analysis tools. In July 2008, we released a new version of the Oracle Enterprise Performance Management System, which include a number of innovations and capabilities to improve business insights and decision-making
Oracle
1/28/09
1/22/09
Events and Webcasts - Infor
Infor offers a broad range of solutions and industry events, including local regional face to face events.
Find at:
Events and Webcasts
Find at:
Events and Webcasts
Infor FMS (Financial Management System) Financial Accounting
Reducing total financial department administration costs while enhancing service levels and transparency is a critical goal for most enterprising companies, but it can be difficult to achieve without the proper financial resource management foundation.
Infor FMS (Financial Management System) financial accounting solutions put finance on solid ground, fully supporting the operational management of the business by providing instant access to and control over finance and accounting information. These Infor corporate financial management applications have stood the test of time, yet incorporate advanced technologies to help companies streamline enterprise-wide processes, achieve economies of scale, and improve visibility into performance.
Infor’s financial accounting solutions help enterprising companies like yours:
•Implement adaptable financial business processes on a global scale
•Reduce errors and cycle time
•Improve visibility into financial processes and overall performance
•Improve user productivity through easy reporting, querying, and data entry
•Comply with Sarbanes-Oxley and IFRS reporting requirements
•Enable collaboration inside and outside the organization
Financial accounting solutions from Infor are integrated, functionally-rich applications that give organizations the strength and versatility required not only to perform basic financial resource management tasks, but also to make their entire finance and accounting department operate more efficiently. The scalability necessary to accommodate future growth and meet evolving compliance requirements is also provided. Infor’s financial accounting solutions include:
General Ledger —combines solid control with abundant analytical power.
Accounts Receivable —provides comprehensive tools for credit, cash, and customer management in a timely manner with accurate, up-to-the-day information.
Accounts Payable —automates payables processing functions and addresses issues such as approving invoices, processing payments, and integrating with purchasing and financial systems.
Purchasing —assures the right goods are available while providing maximum cost control.
Inventory —delivers the flexibility to support the organization’s unique inventory operations and provides warehouse management capabilities that can be tailored to each warehouse.
Fixed Assets —allows the efficient tracking and maintenance of all information needed for financial and tax accounting, property control, and depreciation forecasting.
Source: infor
Infor FMS (Financial Management System) financial accounting solutions put finance on solid ground, fully supporting the operational management of the business by providing instant access to and control over finance and accounting information. These Infor corporate financial management applications have stood the test of time, yet incorporate advanced technologies to help companies streamline enterprise-wide processes, achieve economies of scale, and improve visibility into performance.
Infor’s financial accounting solutions help enterprising companies like yours:
•Implement adaptable financial business processes on a global scale
•Reduce errors and cycle time
•Improve visibility into financial processes and overall performance
•Improve user productivity through easy reporting, querying, and data entry
•Comply with Sarbanes-Oxley and IFRS reporting requirements
•Enable collaboration inside and outside the organization
Financial accounting solutions from Infor are integrated, functionally-rich applications that give organizations the strength and versatility required not only to perform basic financial resource management tasks, but also to make their entire finance and accounting department operate more efficiently. The scalability necessary to accommodate future growth and meet evolving compliance requirements is also provided. Infor’s financial accounting solutions include:
General Ledger —combines solid control with abundant analytical power.
Accounts Receivable —provides comprehensive tools for credit, cash, and customer management in a timely manner with accurate, up-to-the-day information.
Accounts Payable —automates payables processing functions and addresses issues such as approving invoices, processing payments, and integrating with purchasing and financial systems.
Purchasing —assures the right goods are available while providing maximum cost control.
Inventory —delivers the flexibility to support the organization’s unique inventory operations and provides warehouse management capabilities that can be tailored to each warehouse.
Fixed Assets —allows the efficient tracking and maintenance of all information needed for financial and tax accounting, property control, and depreciation forecasting.
Source: infor
1/21/09
Strengths and Cautions - Infor Performance Management
Strengths
•Infor's CPM suite has particular strengths in strategy management and BP&F. The latest release, Infor PM 10.1, supports the Infor Open SOA to increase back-end interoperability and front-end information delivery through the newly announced clients Infor MyDay (role-based portals) and Infor Decisions (ad hoc analysis). This will enhance its capability to compete in large, global CPM deals and integrate CPM with more of the Infor product family.
•Infor has again made good progress on previous CPM and financial-management road map announcements by delivering Infor PM 10.1 and the new, low-priced midmarket planning offering (Infor PM Business Edition, released in August 2008), financial reporting using XBRL tagging support has been added to Infor PM Office Plus (Excel add-in), and there are longer-term plans to tag data for XBRL within the applications. Other planned enhancements are to support Linux and Unix environments.
•Infor has a large installed base (approximately 70,000 customers) using its transactional applications in the midmarket and enterprise space, which are ideal target markets for its CPM solutions. Infor cites more than 3,000 PM customers, and has a widespread global customer base with products available in multiple languages. With Infor PM 10 and Infor PM Business Edition, there is plenty of potential to further cross-sell and penetrate net new accounts.
•Infor has again seen steady growth during the past year in CPM sales with its enterprise solution Infor PM 10. Infor has integrated its CPM and BI capabilities, enabling customers to deliver a unified BI and PM framework, renaming the former MIS components Infor PM Application Studio (Web client), Infor PM OLAP (analytic engine) and Infor PM Office Plus (Excel add-in).
Cautions
•Infor has made an effort during the past year to raise awareness of its PM portfolio through influencers and direct marketing to customers; however, awareness remains relatively low. This will limit its ability to compete for new business outside its installed base, unless it can build greater awareness.
•Lack of awareness of the Infor PM brand is a challenge in the firm's installed base. Many customers are unaware that Infor offers a CPM solution, or that the CPM products they use are owned by Infor. Consequently, customers may look elsewhere, and installations could be replaced without Infor being invited to bid, owing purely to a lack of awareness.
•Infor faces tough competition, and has yet to prove that it can gain wide acceptance with IT and finance departments in preference over CPM offerings from the other large vendors.
•Infor has had challenges to best locate PM and has reorganized its sales force several times, between central teams and separate business units. The company has spent a lot of time training the generic sales force to understand where CPM fits, and now has a central PM sales team in Americas and a PM center of excellence in EMEA.
Source :
Gartner
•Infor's CPM suite has particular strengths in strategy management and BP&F. The latest release, Infor PM 10.1, supports the Infor Open SOA to increase back-end interoperability and front-end information delivery through the newly announced clients Infor MyDay (role-based portals) and Infor Decisions (ad hoc analysis). This will enhance its capability to compete in large, global CPM deals and integrate CPM with more of the Infor product family.
•Infor has again made good progress on previous CPM and financial-management road map announcements by delivering Infor PM 10.1 and the new, low-priced midmarket planning offering (Infor PM Business Edition, released in August 2008), financial reporting using XBRL tagging support has been added to Infor PM Office Plus (Excel add-in), and there are longer-term plans to tag data for XBRL within the applications. Other planned enhancements are to support Linux and Unix environments.
•Infor has a large installed base (approximately 70,000 customers) using its transactional applications in the midmarket and enterprise space, which are ideal target markets for its CPM solutions. Infor cites more than 3,000 PM customers, and has a widespread global customer base with products available in multiple languages. With Infor PM 10 and Infor PM Business Edition, there is plenty of potential to further cross-sell and penetrate net new accounts.
•Infor has again seen steady growth during the past year in CPM sales with its enterprise solution Infor PM 10. Infor has integrated its CPM and BI capabilities, enabling customers to deliver a unified BI and PM framework, renaming the former MIS components Infor PM Application Studio (Web client), Infor PM OLAP (analytic engine) and Infor PM Office Plus (Excel add-in).
Cautions
•Infor has made an effort during the past year to raise awareness of its PM portfolio through influencers and direct marketing to customers; however, awareness remains relatively low. This will limit its ability to compete for new business outside its installed base, unless it can build greater awareness.
•Lack of awareness of the Infor PM brand is a challenge in the firm's installed base. Many customers are unaware that Infor offers a CPM solution, or that the CPM products they use are owned by Infor. Consequently, customers may look elsewhere, and installations could be replaced without Infor being invited to bid, owing purely to a lack of awareness.
•Infor faces tough competition, and has yet to prove that it can gain wide acceptance with IT and finance departments in preference over CPM offerings from the other large vendors.
•Infor has had challenges to best locate PM and has reorganized its sales force several times, between central teams and separate business units. The company has spent a lot of time training the generic sales force to understand where CPM fits, and now has a central PM sales team in Americas and a PM center of excellence in EMEA.
Source :
Gartner
1/19/09
IBM Cognos 8 Controller - Whitepaper
IBM Cognos 8 Controller provides Finance organizations with unmatched capabilities for managing the close, consolidation, and reporting process. An automated, menu-driven application that is owned and managed by Finance, IBM Cognos 8 Controller can consolidate diverse ledgers representing thousands of operating units and accounts into a common chart-of-accounts structure
IBM Cognos 8 Controller - White paper
Source:
www.oraclehyperion.co.uk
IBM Cognos 8 Controller - White paper
Source:
www.oraclehyperion.co.uk
Magic Quadrant for CPM Suites - 2008
Magic Quadrant 2008
The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 19 December 2008 by Gartner, Inc. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner’s analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the “Leaders” quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
more at:
Magic Quadrant 2008 for CPM Suites
Strengths and Cautions - IBM Cognos
IBM (Cognos)
Strengths
•IBM (Cognos) offers a combination of CPM applications and BI platform capabilities that enables it to compete effectively in enterprise-level CPM deals. One of the initial BI vendors to venture into the CPM market, IBM (Cognos) has remained a leader, owing to its core strengths in BP&F (which still drives most CPM deals) and strategy management, and has maintained a strong market presence. Its Controller product for financial consolidation continues to gain ground, and these solutions are all integrated with its underlying BI platform. This gives IBM (Cognos) greater opportunity to cross-sell to existing BI and CPM customers.
•IBM (Cognos) has done a good job of extending its CPM functionality through "blueprints" that Cognos' licensed users can download free of charge; however, these are not complete applications, and there is no applications support for these "blueprints." These are developed through its Innovation Center for Performance Management (involving partners where appropriate), and gives IBM (Cognos) vertical and functional capabilities outside core CPM applications. Its relationship to IBM Global Business Services (GBS) extends the use of Cognos' blueprints, and may eventually lead to verticalizations of its CPM products. For example, a new Banking Risk Performance application and a Strategic Investment Management Blueprint have recently been developed by IBM (Cognos) and GBS. Moreover, the integration of Cognos into the broad IBM portfolio and a greater focus by IBM's consulting force will help to drive greater adoption of Cognos. Since acquisition, IBM has invested significantly in new hires for this segment in sales, development and services areas. This helps Cognos to deliver its broader PM vision.
•IBM (Cognos) is further enhancing its financial-reporting tools with a solution that will address the unique requirements for financial and management reporting, and is designed for business users, rather than for IT. Cognos Planning 8.4 has a new Web-based rich client that improves the planning interface, and support for TM1 OLAP capability in Analyst, if TM1 is separately licensed.
•IBM (Cognos) has good partnerships with system integrators and resellers that enable the company to extend its global footprint. Being an IBM company will also increase penetration into existing IBM customers.
•The acquisition of Applix in 2007 provided an in-memory, OLAP engine, TM1, which strengthens general reporting and analytics capabilities, and provides good integration with Excel. This has been integrated with the Cognos BI platform and Planning Analyst but not Contributor, which is lagging behind in the market with an OLAP-based planning engine, continuing to deliver this application in two distinct components (Contributor and Analyst).
Cautions
•Despite continued product enhancements, the underlying technology of IBM (Cognos) Planning is starting to show its age, and will face increased challenges in the future, even with the releases of Cognos 8 v.3 in January and, most recently, Cognos 8 v.4. However, Cognos is planning to incorporate the acquired TM1 technology to augment its planning solution to address this in 2009.
•The IBM (Cognos) financial-consolidation solution, Controller, is an established product but does not have the same penetration in the direct sales, partner and system integrator communities as Cognos Planning. This means that Controller's market presence is limited in North America, when compared with other IBM (Cognos) products. This has not improved much since the 2007 Magic Quadrant.
•For profitability modeling and optimization, IBM (Cognos) has a partnership with Acorn Systems that has still not generated significant interest. However, according to IBM (Cognos), 25% of TM1's customers are performing profitability analysis. Consequently, the TM1 acquisition gives IBM (Cognos) the opportunity to plug this gap, but it still being sold as separate products and the integration of Planning with TM1 will not be completed until future releases.
•Disappointingly, the read/write capabilities of TM1 will not be leveraged as a replacement for the relational database Contributor until future releases, undisclosed at present. We see this as a major opportunity for IBM (Cognos), which has stated that when it migrates to TM1 for Cognos Planning Contributor, it will have three interfaces positioned in deals depending on customer requirements: the Excel interface, the existing TM1 read/write interface, and a rich-client interface. IBM (Cognos) asserted that migration should be relatively simple; however, as in all significant upgrades, Gartner believes that services from IBM (Cognos) or another system integrator will be necessary. Moreover, an OLAP-based planning solution for IBM (Cognos) Planning will be a welcome addition in the market, as Planning 8.4 still has walls between data entry and reporting, and requires a separate process to send plan data to Analyst for reporting.
more at:
Magic Quadrant 2008 for CPM Suites
Strengths
•IBM (Cognos) offers a combination of CPM applications and BI platform capabilities that enables it to compete effectively in enterprise-level CPM deals. One of the initial BI vendors to venture into the CPM market, IBM (Cognos) has remained a leader, owing to its core strengths in BP&F (which still drives most CPM deals) and strategy management, and has maintained a strong market presence. Its Controller product for financial consolidation continues to gain ground, and these solutions are all integrated with its underlying BI platform. This gives IBM (Cognos) greater opportunity to cross-sell to existing BI and CPM customers.
•IBM (Cognos) has done a good job of extending its CPM functionality through "blueprints" that Cognos' licensed users can download free of charge; however, these are not complete applications, and there is no applications support for these "blueprints." These are developed through its Innovation Center for Performance Management (involving partners where appropriate), and gives IBM (Cognos) vertical and functional capabilities outside core CPM applications. Its relationship to IBM Global Business Services (GBS) extends the use of Cognos' blueprints, and may eventually lead to verticalizations of its CPM products. For example, a new Banking Risk Performance application and a Strategic Investment Management Blueprint have recently been developed by IBM (Cognos) and GBS. Moreover, the integration of Cognos into the broad IBM portfolio and a greater focus by IBM's consulting force will help to drive greater adoption of Cognos. Since acquisition, IBM has invested significantly in new hires for this segment in sales, development and services areas. This helps Cognos to deliver its broader PM vision.
•IBM (Cognos) is further enhancing its financial-reporting tools with a solution that will address the unique requirements for financial and management reporting, and is designed for business users, rather than for IT. Cognos Planning 8.4 has a new Web-based rich client that improves the planning interface, and support for TM1 OLAP capability in Analyst, if TM1 is separately licensed.
•IBM (Cognos) has good partnerships with system integrators and resellers that enable the company to extend its global footprint. Being an IBM company will also increase penetration into existing IBM customers.
•The acquisition of Applix in 2007 provided an in-memory, OLAP engine, TM1, which strengthens general reporting and analytics capabilities, and provides good integration with Excel. This has been integrated with the Cognos BI platform and Planning Analyst but not Contributor, which is lagging behind in the market with an OLAP-based planning engine, continuing to deliver this application in two distinct components (Contributor and Analyst).
Cautions
•Despite continued product enhancements, the underlying technology of IBM (Cognos) Planning is starting to show its age, and will face increased challenges in the future, even with the releases of Cognos 8 v.3 in January and, most recently, Cognos 8 v.4. However, Cognos is planning to incorporate the acquired TM1 technology to augment its planning solution to address this in 2009.
•The IBM (Cognos) financial-consolidation solution, Controller, is an established product but does not have the same penetration in the direct sales, partner and system integrator communities as Cognos Planning. This means that Controller's market presence is limited in North America, when compared with other IBM (Cognos) products. This has not improved much since the 2007 Magic Quadrant.
•For profitability modeling and optimization, IBM (Cognos) has a partnership with Acorn Systems that has still not generated significant interest. However, according to IBM (Cognos), 25% of TM1's customers are performing profitability analysis. Consequently, the TM1 acquisition gives IBM (Cognos) the opportunity to plug this gap, but it still being sold as separate products and the integration of Planning with TM1 will not be completed until future releases.
•Disappointingly, the read/write capabilities of TM1 will not be leveraged as a replacement for the relational database Contributor until future releases, undisclosed at present. We see this as a major opportunity for IBM (Cognos), which has stated that when it migrates to TM1 for Cognos Planning Contributor, it will have three interfaces positioned in deals depending on customer requirements: the Excel interface, the existing TM1 read/write interface, and a rich-client interface. IBM (Cognos) asserted that migration should be relatively simple; however, as in all significant upgrades, Gartner believes that services from IBM (Cognos) or another system integrator will be necessary. Moreover, an OLAP-based planning solution for IBM (Cognos) Planning will be a welcome addition in the market, as Planning 8.4 still has walls between data entry and reporting, and requires a separate process to send plan data to Analyst for reporting.
more at:
Magic Quadrant 2008 for CPM Suites
CPM- Roads ahead
source: mediaproduct.gartner
The market landscape for corporate performance management suites continues to dramatically change and grow. Users should evaluate vendors carefully according to business needs and their broader business intelligence and performance management strategies.
CPM suites can bring greater rigor, accuracy and transparency to many management processes, such as budgeting, planning and forecasting (BP&F), financials and regulatory reporting (and associated compliance challenges), and they can deliver a better understanding of the drivers of corporate profitability. The current economic climate is driving demands from the board of directors to minimize costs and maximize profits, and organizations are increasingly deploying CPM applications to help management teams make the right strategic vendor selection decisions.
The market landscape for corporate performance management suites continues to dramatically change and grow. Users should evaluate vendors carefully according to business needs and their broader business intelligence and performance management strategies.
CPM suites can bring greater rigor, accuracy and transparency to many management processes, such as budgeting, planning and forecasting (BP&F), financials and regulatory reporting (and associated compliance challenges), and they can deliver a better understanding of the drivers of corporate profitability. The current economic climate is driving demands from the board of directors to minimize costs and maximize profits, and organizations are increasingly deploying CPM applications to help management teams make the right strategic vendor selection decisions.
Cognos 8 Controller - Brochure
Cognos Controller 8-Brochure
Consolidate thousands of operating units and accounts into a common chart-of-accounts structure.
Overview
IBM® Cognos® 8 Controller helps your finance organization manage the close, consolidation and reporting process.Automate your entire close process, from data collection to financial consolidation to output. Reduce close cycle times, assure data integrity and gain the transparency that is essential for sustained compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and IFRS.
•Reduce consolidation, close and reporting cycles by days or weeks—with a single version of the facts and automated validation.
•Consolidate multiple ledgers with thousands of operating units and accounts into a common chart-of-accounts structure.
•Create reports rapidly to facilitate compliance with IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) and Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404.
•Evaluate financial results with confidence and accuracy across multiple countries, currencies and legal entities, each with their own accounting policies intact.
•Support better planning and forecasting with reliable consolidated management data, based on a clear link between statutory and management consolidation.
Product Highlights
•Sophisticated, global consolidation functionality —to handle multiple reporting and consolidation standards such as IAS and US-based GAAP; inter-company elimination and reconciliation; multicurrency translation; complex ownership calculations and financial consolidation rules.
•Fully aligned with Microsoft Excel —users can log in to Controller for data collection or distribution from any location at any time though a familiar Excel interface , accessing financial information as their security levels allow .
•Adaptable to your unique requirements —in addition to management and statutory dimensions, Cognos 8 Controller provides user-defined dimensionality that supports data collection and reporting on all levels including cost center, product, and customer.
•Deployable by finance with IT appeal — Controller can be configured and maintained by financial professionals with minimal IT support. Using the most advanced and scaleable Web and relational data storage, users can input, consolidate and access data quickly and securely.
•Add other capabilities as your needs require —The industry's most comprehensive and award-winning planning, scorecarding, reporting, and analysis solutions from Cognos integrate seamlessly with Controller to help you manage your performance even more effectively.
Cognos Controller 8-Brochure
Cognos 8 Controller-Training and Certification
Source: Cognos
Accelerate your success and return on investment in your IBM® Cognos® 8 Controller solution with Cognos Education for your project team and users. By enabling your project team with the knowledge and skills they need to drive readiness and user adoption, Cognos Education can help take your performance to the next level.
Get the right training based on your role and your Cognos product. Choose when, where and how you learn. Select from a variety of training options to suit your needs and budget; from classroom courses to e-Learning options.
Your business benefits
Find the training that’s right for you
Complete curriculam have been designed to meet the diverse needs of every IBM Cognos 8 Controller user, including Application User, Report Author and Application Administrator. For existing Cognos customers, Cognos also offer “What's New” courses.
IBM Cognos Controller curriculam Search and register for a course Certification
The IBM Cognos Certification Program provides an industry standard technical competence benchmark and validation for professionals working with Cognos technology. Professionals can demonstrate their competence in a competitive marketplace and use IBM Cognos solutions with confidence.
Download more details about IBM Cognos Controller curriculam Search and register for a course Certification
COGNOS trainings
Accelerate your success and return on investment in your IBM® Cognos® 8 Controller solution with Cognos Education for your project team and users. By enabling your project team with the knowledge and skills they need to drive readiness and user adoption, Cognos Education can help take your performance to the next level.
Get the right training based on your role and your Cognos product. Choose when, where and how you learn. Select from a variety of training options to suit your needs and budget; from classroom courses to e-Learning options.
Your business benefits
Find the training that’s right for you
Complete curriculam have been designed to meet the diverse needs of every IBM Cognos 8 Controller user, including Application User, Report Author and Application Administrator. For existing Cognos customers, Cognos also offer “What's New” courses.
IBM Cognos Controller curriculam Search and register for a course Certification
The IBM Cognos Certification Program provides an industry standard technical competence benchmark and validation for professionals working with Cognos technology. Professionals can demonstrate their competence in a competitive marketplace and use IBM Cognos solutions with confidence.
Download more details about IBM Cognos Controller curriculam Search and register for a course Certification
COGNOS trainings
1/16/09
Business Object Finance - An Overview
Technology can be used to achieve both quick and big wins, and understanding the options is a critical part of fast close project planning. It’s vital to align the use of technology with the organization’s resources and needs, focusing on what can be achieved in a defined time frame. For example, the combination of implementing a standard chart of accounts (SCOA) in a new single instance enterprise resource planning (ERP)/general ledger (GL) may be far too time-consuming and expensive for even the largest and most technology-rich companies. However, the benefits of making improvements to an existing consolidation engine or implementing a new functional and high-performance consolidation engine, to collect and consolidate results, are still achievable within the time frame of a fast close project.
Consolidation engines like BusinessObjects™ Finance, part of the BusinessObjects EPM XI suite, can offer significant advantages and make numerous quick wins possible.
BusinessObjects Finance is the world’s fastest statutory consolidation and management reporting solution, providing the office of the CFO with the processing power, agility and breadth of analysis needed to complete financial consolidation and reporting cycles faster. It delivers full process control and data transparency, allowing users to simulate unlimited scenarios to address all performance management reporting requirements.
They have identified five key focal points to help speed the closing cycles. These can be achieved through improvements to current applications as quick wins, or by defining what you may need from future investment in a performance management suite.
Peer-to-Peer Intercompany Reconciliation
Applications like BusinessObjects Intercompany are now available as standalone solutions or as part of integrated suites to facilitate online peer-to-peer intercompany reconciliation. They can often be implemented alongside existing consolidation applications and, due to the centralized nature of their deployment, can be implemented very quickly and at relatively low cost, resulting in dramatic reductions in the close time and generating significant ROI.
Integration With Source Systems
Systems like BusinessObjects Finance—which can intelligently cope with multiple reporting channels, differing charts of accounts, account flows, and analysis dimensions over time—offer significant advantages. By retaining past reporting frameworks within the system, finance professionals
can safely adapt to changing needs without having to rebuild or destroy previous
reporting scenarios.
Data Entry and Validation
By leveraging functionality in consolidation applications like BusinessObjects Finance, it’s possible to ensure data quality at every level of a corporate reporting cycle and guarantee that the incoming information not only respects the timing and expected format, but also that it makes sense,
is consistent, complete, commented appropriately, and goes through the right
auditable approval process. This leads to greater quality and a “right first time”
approach to the closing cycle—which reduces the need for late adjustments and
additional data submissions and speeds the review and variance analysis process
by ensuring narrative is provided where required. Consolidation systems such as
BusinessObjects Finance, which offer this data entry and validation capability, also
enable you to monitor and record the performance of the various contributors to
the close process. It’s long been said that what gets measured, gets managed—
and that is just as true for the close process as for any other activity.
High Performance Consolidation Application
As the adoption of web-based consolidation applications has increased over the past five years, so has the importance of their performance in the closing cycle. BusinessObjects Finance that allow and perform simultaneous consolidation processing on the database rather than the application server, and which don’t compromise the audit trail, users can experience consolidation times that are up to five-times faster than competing products and run fewer iterations.
Process Automation
BusinessObjects Finance, however, take automation to the next level, introducing built-in financial intelligence to further speed the close cycle. BusinessObjects Finance has built-in rules logic that automates consolidation entries. Currency translation adjustments, minority interest and equity calculations, intercompany reconciliations, and automatic cash flows are easily set up through a standard user interface and intuitive wizards that don’t require Visual Basic programming skills. Because the applications also understand the life and challenges of finance departments, they can handle multiple reporting channels with different charts of accounts, and different account flows or analysis dimensions over time. It’s also possible to manage the retention of past reporting frameworks so finance professionals can safely adapt to ever-changing financial needs without having to copy and paste, rebuild, or destroy their previous reporting scenarios.
Source: Business Objects
Consolidation engines like BusinessObjects™ Finance, part of the BusinessObjects EPM XI suite, can offer significant advantages and make numerous quick wins possible.
BusinessObjects Finance is the world’s fastest statutory consolidation and management reporting solution, providing the office of the CFO with the processing power, agility and breadth of analysis needed to complete financial consolidation and reporting cycles faster. It delivers full process control and data transparency, allowing users to simulate unlimited scenarios to address all performance management reporting requirements.
They have identified five key focal points to help speed the closing cycles. These can be achieved through improvements to current applications as quick wins, or by defining what you may need from future investment in a performance management suite.
Peer-to-Peer Intercompany Reconciliation
Applications like BusinessObjects Intercompany are now available as standalone solutions or as part of integrated suites to facilitate online peer-to-peer intercompany reconciliation. They can often be implemented alongside existing consolidation applications and, due to the centralized nature of their deployment, can be implemented very quickly and at relatively low cost, resulting in dramatic reductions in the close time and generating significant ROI.
Integration With Source Systems
Systems like BusinessObjects Finance—which can intelligently cope with multiple reporting channels, differing charts of accounts, account flows, and analysis dimensions over time—offer significant advantages. By retaining past reporting frameworks within the system, finance professionals
can safely adapt to changing needs without having to rebuild or destroy previous
reporting scenarios.
Data Entry and Validation
By leveraging functionality in consolidation applications like BusinessObjects Finance, it’s possible to ensure data quality at every level of a corporate reporting cycle and guarantee that the incoming information not only respects the timing and expected format, but also that it makes sense,
is consistent, complete, commented appropriately, and goes through the right
auditable approval process. This leads to greater quality and a “right first time”
approach to the closing cycle—which reduces the need for late adjustments and
additional data submissions and speeds the review and variance analysis process
by ensuring narrative is provided where required. Consolidation systems such as
BusinessObjects Finance, which offer this data entry and validation capability, also
enable you to monitor and record the performance of the various contributors to
the close process. It’s long been said that what gets measured, gets managed—
and that is just as true for the close process as for any other activity.
High Performance Consolidation Application
As the adoption of web-based consolidation applications has increased over the past five years, so has the importance of their performance in the closing cycle. BusinessObjects Finance that allow and perform simultaneous consolidation processing on the database rather than the application server, and which don’t compromise the audit trail, users can experience consolidation times that are up to five-times faster than competing products and run fewer iterations.
Process Automation
BusinessObjects Finance, however, take automation to the next level, introducing built-in financial intelligence to further speed the close cycle. BusinessObjects Finance has built-in rules logic that automates consolidation entries. Currency translation adjustments, minority interest and equity calculations, intercompany reconciliations, and automatic cash flows are easily set up through a standard user interface and intuitive wizards that don’t require Visual Basic programming skills. Because the applications also understand the life and challenges of finance departments, they can handle multiple reporting channels with different charts of accounts, and different account flows or analysis dimensions over time. It’s also possible to manage the retention of past reporting frameworks so finance professionals can safely adapt to ever-changing financial needs without having to copy and paste, rebuild, or destroy their previous reporting scenarios.
Source: Business Objects
Barriers to Fast Accounting Close
While compliance-related issues have resulted in the increase of close cycles, compliance itself is not a direct barrier to a world-class close. It is the
governance process required to meet statutory requirements that creates an environment which puts additional burden on existing processes, making them less efficient or in cases where they are already strained taking those processes to the breaking point.
The issues lie with the processes, people and technology barriers
to a fast close which can be found at both the head office and reporting unit
level, and affect multiple teams and processes. Some of the most frequently cited
barriers—based on our experience of supporting fast close initiatives in the corporate centers of today’s global enterprises—are presented in Figure below with a number of the most significant explained in more detail.
Source: Business Objects
governance process required to meet statutory requirements that creates an environment which puts additional burden on existing processes, making them less efficient or in cases where they are already strained taking those processes to the breaking point.
The issues lie with the processes, people and technology barriers
to a fast close which can be found at both the head office and reporting unit
level, and affect multiple teams and processes. Some of the most frequently cited
barriers—based on our experience of supporting fast close initiatives in the corporate centers of today’s global enterprises—are presented in Figure below with a number of the most significant explained in more detail.
Source: Business Objects
IBM Cognos 8 Controller - An Overview
IBM Cognos 8 Controller provides Finance organizations with unmatched capabilities for managing the close, consolidation, and reporting process. An automated, menu-driven application that is owned and managed by Finance, IBM Cognos 8 Controller can consolidate diverse ledgers representing thousands of operating units and accounts into a common chart-of-accounts structure.
IBM Cognos 8 Controller reduces close cycle times and gives you the transparency that is essential for sustained compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and IFRS. It supports local, regional, or global requirements, and enables you to adapt to business and regulatory changes in real time.
What IBM Cognos 8 Controller Offers to Finance Leaders
IBM Cognos 8 Controller offers critical benefits for the key members of your finance team—and for the CIO, who needs to ensure compatibility with existing IT investments:
For Corporate Controllers:
IBM Cognos 8 Controller enables the corporate controller to automate the entire close process, from data collection to financial consolidation to output. Close cycle times are reduced while data integrity is assured.
For the CFO:
IBM Cognos 8 Controller reduces risk and provides the CFO with an enterprise view of key financial ratios and results. Greater visibility improves strategic decision making across the organization, while the high quality of financial results eases external reporting and compliance.
For the CIO:
IBM Cognos 8 Controller allows the CIO to leverage current IT investments while ensuring that centralized systems meet the demand for secure and reliable data. And it offers the opportunity for performance management standardization from a single vendor, with enterprise planning and business intelligence across a single architecture and platform.
Source: COGNOS
IBM Cognos 8 Controller reduces close cycle times and gives you the transparency that is essential for sustained compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and IFRS. It supports local, regional, or global requirements, and enables you to adapt to business and regulatory changes in real time.
What IBM Cognos 8 Controller Offers to Finance Leaders
IBM Cognos 8 Controller offers critical benefits for the key members of your finance team—and for the CIO, who needs to ensure compatibility with existing IT investments:
For Corporate Controllers:
IBM Cognos 8 Controller enables the corporate controller to automate the entire close process, from data collection to financial consolidation to output. Close cycle times are reduced while data integrity is assured.
For the CFO:
IBM Cognos 8 Controller reduces risk and provides the CFO with an enterprise view of key financial ratios and results. Greater visibility improves strategic decision making across the organization, while the high quality of financial results eases external reporting and compliance.
For the CIO:
IBM Cognos 8 Controller allows the CIO to leverage current IT investments while ensuring that centralized systems meet the demand for secure and reliable data. And it offers the opportunity for performance management standardization from a single vendor, with enterprise planning and business intelligence across a single architecture and platform.
Source: COGNOS
IBM Cognos 8 Controller - DEMO
IBM Cognos 8 Controller is the only solution that includes more than 200 pre-configured, standard reports to satisfy the demands of management and regulators. All the reports required at key stages of the close process are available automatically—no custom report creation is needed.
Cognos Controller DEMO
Cognos Controller DEMO
IBM Cognos Controller
IBM Cognos 8 Controller provides built-in financial intelligence and advanced analysis capabilities to deliver on today’s consolidation requirements. The Web-based platform provides centralized, synchronous financial consolidation. It compresses the time to close, ensures accuracy, and ensures that the business controls directly impacting your corporate reporting process are effective.
You gain true and reliable consolidated financial data, based on a clear link between statutory and management consolidation, which provides a solid foundation for your operational and strategic decisions. IBM Cognos 8 Controller gives you a many-fold advantage in addressing compliance needs:
• Automates the consolidation process.
• Compresses closing times.
• Accelerates reporting times.
• Significantly reduces the risk of financial reporting errors.
• Minimizes compliance costs.
The multi-dimensionality of Controller offers enormous potential. It provides us with excellent support for our extensive management reporting. All necessary eliminations and adjustments can be performed at an operative level as well as at an organizational level to reflect the current structure.
Key Features of Cognos Controller
Application approach
Directly managed by finance, not by IT, for rapid implementation. Eliminates extensive development and programming that adds complexity. Simplifies and automates the definition, structure, and rules of the consolidation process.
Single, accurate, corporate view of key information
Consolidates multiple, diverse ledgers with thousands of operating units and accounts into a single, common, chart-of-accounts structure.
Sophisticated, global consolidation functionality
Provides inter-company elimination and reconciliation, multi-currency translation, complex ownership calculations, and financial consolidation rules to handle multiple reporting and consolidation standards.
Leverages existing assets
Integrates data from existing ERP, transactional, and desktop systems.
Provides reporting and analysis on controls and transparency into information
Mitigates risk and delivers accurate information to support compliance requirements
Built-in finance consolidation intelligence
Includes pre-defined consolidation functionality and reports that incorporate best practices for managing the consolidation of financial information and delivering external management and corporate reporting.
Adaptable to unique requirements
In addition to statutory dimensions, Cognos Controller provides user-defined dimensionality to support collection and reporting at all levels including cost center, product, and customer.
Real-time adjustment to meet new business, environment, or legislation changes
Easily and rapidly accommodates changes such as mergers and acquisitions as well as reorganizations.
Impact of IFRS
Listed companies in all European Union countries are required to prepare their financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), developed by the International Accounting Standards (IAS) Board. These standards are also being adopted in other nations around the world. The United States is considering convergence of US GAAP standards with IAS/IFRS requirements to stay in step with the trend toward international regulation.Under the IFRS, companies are required to provide financial statements that fairly disclose their financial position, performance, and cash flows. The goal is to increase financial transparency by setting more comprehensive reporting requirements. This will make it easier to analyze and compare financial performance around the world. IFRS will necessitate changes to existing accounting policies, including segment reporting and financial instruments
Infor PM Financial Consolidation
Infor PM Financial Consolidation helps you streamline the process for closing the books, while providing transparency and business value to your organization. You can confidently address both local and global reporting standards and regulations such as IFRS, IAS, GAAP, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
You can learn more about Infor’s Performance Management solutions by viewing these 5-minute demos. For more information about any of these products, click on the link at the end of the demo to contact
DEMO at:
Infor PM Financial Consolidation
International Accounting Standards to IFRS: Why Convergence?
Accounting standard-setters around the world have been working on convergence — or uniform accounting standards among countries — for decades. Progress has been slow, but it has picked up speed in recent years. And, as convergence moves closer to reality, the end of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) may be drawing nearer.
Gaining Ground
More than 100 countries already have adopted country-neutral International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS); another 50 — including Canada, China, Japan and India — are expected to do so by 2012. The United States recognizes both GAAP and IFRS, but the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) also continue to work diligently and cooperatively on convergence of the two.
Why the push toward global standards? When companies, including manufacturers, prepare financial reports using different standards, it’s more burdensome for investors and creditors. Convergence would allow them to compare financial statements without adjusting for national accounting differences.
In addition, universal high-quality accounting standards can make the world’s capital markets more efficient. That may lower the cost of capital for businesses and encourage global economic growth, which, in turn, may create jobs and lower the cost of goods and services.
Anti-choice Movement
How soon the change will come remains up in the air. Late last year a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposal to allow foreign firms using IFRS to stop reconciling their accounts to U.S. GAAP rules met with resistance at home and abroad.
The European Federation of Accountants and the U.S.-based FASB both asked the SEC not to implement what FASB termed an “extended period of choice” that would add complexity to the overall reporting system. Instead, the organizations urged the SEC to move more purposefully toward completing the U.S. transition to IFRS.
Key DifferencesIFRS VS US GAAPS
That transition has been under way for some time, but differences remain. The differences pertain to:
Balance sheets. IFRS doesn’t require a specific format. Typically, assets and liabilities are presented in a current/noncurrent format, unless a liquidity presentation is more relevant and reliable. Companies that use U.S. GAAP rules may present either classified or nonclassified balance sheets.
Income statements. No particular format is prescribed with IFRS, but expenditures are presented in either function or nature format. With U.S. GAAP, income statements are presented in either single- or multiple-step formats, with expenditures by function.
Historical cost or valuation. U.S. GAAP allows revaluations for only certain types of financial instruments. IFRS uses historical costs, but intangible assets, property, plant and equipment, and investment property may be revalued to fair value.
Revenue recognition. IFRS requires recognition when risks, rewards and control have been transferred and revenue can be reliably measured. U.S. GAAP includes extensive guidance for specific types of transactions, though the rules are similar in principle to IFRS.
Inventories. IFRS prohibits last in, first out (LIFO). Inventory is carried at the lower of the cost (determined by first in, first out or weighted average) and net realizable value. U.S. GAAP is similar, but allows LIFO.
These are just some of the differences between IFRS and U.S. GAAP. The similarities between the two continue to grow, however, and you should consult your financial advisor as to when you should change to IFRS.
When you do, you’ll be required to apply all effective IFRS standards retrospectively, with some limited exemptions and exceptions. You’ll also have to reconcile profit or loss under the last period you reported under U.S. GAAP, equity at the end of that period, and equity at the start of the earliest period presented in comparatives.
Changing Proactively
The first financial statement under IFRS will require a lot of work to complete, but it seems change is inevitable. You may want to change soon — proactively — rather than wait until you absolutely must.
More at:
FDCPA
Gaining Ground
More than 100 countries already have adopted country-neutral International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS); another 50 — including Canada, China, Japan and India — are expected to do so by 2012. The United States recognizes both GAAP and IFRS, but the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) also continue to work diligently and cooperatively on convergence of the two.
Why the push toward global standards? When companies, including manufacturers, prepare financial reports using different standards, it’s more burdensome for investors and creditors. Convergence would allow them to compare financial statements without adjusting for national accounting differences.
In addition, universal high-quality accounting standards can make the world’s capital markets more efficient. That may lower the cost of capital for businesses and encourage global economic growth, which, in turn, may create jobs and lower the cost of goods and services.
Anti-choice Movement
How soon the change will come remains up in the air. Late last year a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposal to allow foreign firms using IFRS to stop reconciling their accounts to U.S. GAAP rules met with resistance at home and abroad.
The European Federation of Accountants and the U.S.-based FASB both asked the SEC not to implement what FASB termed an “extended period of choice” that would add complexity to the overall reporting system. Instead, the organizations urged the SEC to move more purposefully toward completing the U.S. transition to IFRS.
Key DifferencesIFRS VS US GAAPS
That transition has been under way for some time, but differences remain. The differences pertain to:
Balance sheets. IFRS doesn’t require a specific format. Typically, assets and liabilities are presented in a current/noncurrent format, unless a liquidity presentation is more relevant and reliable. Companies that use U.S. GAAP rules may present either classified or nonclassified balance sheets.
Income statements. No particular format is prescribed with IFRS, but expenditures are presented in either function or nature format. With U.S. GAAP, income statements are presented in either single- or multiple-step formats, with expenditures by function.
Historical cost or valuation. U.S. GAAP allows revaluations for only certain types of financial instruments. IFRS uses historical costs, but intangible assets, property, plant and equipment, and investment property may be revalued to fair value.
Revenue recognition. IFRS requires recognition when risks, rewards and control have been transferred and revenue can be reliably measured. U.S. GAAP includes extensive guidance for specific types of transactions, though the rules are similar in principle to IFRS.
Inventories. IFRS prohibits last in, first out (LIFO). Inventory is carried at the lower of the cost (determined by first in, first out or weighted average) and net realizable value. U.S. GAAP is similar, but allows LIFO.
These are just some of the differences between IFRS and U.S. GAAP. The similarities between the two continue to grow, however, and you should consult your financial advisor as to when you should change to IFRS.
When you do, you’ll be required to apply all effective IFRS standards retrospectively, with some limited exemptions and exceptions. You’ll also have to reconcile profit or loss under the last period you reported under U.S. GAAP, equity at the end of that period, and equity at the start of the earliest period presented in comparatives.
Changing Proactively
The first financial statement under IFRS will require a lot of work to complete, but it seems change is inevitable. You may want to change soon — proactively — rather than wait until you absolutely must.
More at:
FDCPA
CPM Deployment Patterns
CPM is dominated by financial reporting …
… and finance drives the implementation
Source: Gartner
… and finance drives the implementation
Source: Gartner
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