The May updates for Oracle's Financial Consolidation and Close Cloud Service (FCCS) are here! This blog post outlines new features, including power users being able to lock and unlock data, more intuitive POV bar as well as more upcoming changes.
The monthly update for FCCS will occur on Friday, June 15 during your normal daily maintenance window.
New FCCS Features
Power Users Can Lock and Unlock Data
Starting with this update, power user can lock and unlock data.
Referential Integrity for Configurable Consolidation Rules
To prevent a referential integrity problem with configurable consolidation rules from occurring in an application, the system now verifies and prevents the deletion of any metadata member that is referenced in the rules.
New Version of Oracle Smart View for Office
Oracle Smart View for Office 11.1.2.5.800 will be available by mid-June. This version includes new features such as:
- Move Formatting behavior enhancement to notify you of performance impact
- Improved resolution on high-definition devices, such as Microsoft Surface Pro tablets
- New Health Check, where you can view information about your system, and configure Smart View options and Windows Registry settings geared toward improving performance and reducing flickerin
This release also fixes a number of defects.
The Smart View 11.1.2.5.800 Readme, available on the Help Center at the time of release, contains a complete list of features and defects addressed in this version. You must install this version to ensure compatibility with the June 2018 update features and to access the new functionalities.
Updates to Snapshot Retention Policy
The daily maintenance process has been enhanced to prevent large accumulation of snapshots (over 150 GB) in EPM Cloud environments. By default, the snapshots that you create through the export process or upload to an environment are stored for a period not exceeding 60 days after which they are automatically removed. Starting with this update, the daily maintenance process will automatically remove snapshots prior to sixty days, oldest first, to prevent the total size of all snapshots from exceeding 150 GB, which may adversely impact your environment.
The daily maintenance snapshot, irrespective of its size, is always retained in EPM Cloud environments.
Forms Listing as a Hierarchy in Navigation Flows Artifact Library
Forms listed within the artifact library in Navigation Flows are now displayed in a hierarchical manner.
More Intuitive POV Bar in Dashboards
The Go arrow in the POV for dashboards (which commits changes made on the page) displays only if the user has made changes. Changes to the page display in yellow.
Specify a Maximum Email Attachment Size when Scheduling Batches
In Financial Reporting, you can now specify a Maximum Email Attachment Size so that you can email more books using the Batch Scheduler.
Remove Time Stamp from File Name When Bursting Batch Reports
In Financial Reporting, you now have the option to remove the time stamp from the zip file names created by batch job outputs to external directory. This change does not apply to normal batch output in Financial Reporting.
Upcoming Changes
New Data Exchange Card in EPM Cloud
To facilitate easier access to Data Management features, starting with the 18.07 update, EPM Cloud will feature a new Data Exchange card in the Application Cluster. This card will launch a page from which you can access these Data Management features:
- Data Maps: Launches the existing Data Maps user interface so that users can manage maps between a source application and a reporting application. No functional changes will result from the Data Maps reassignment to the Data Exchange card.
- Data Integration: Launches the Integrations tab of the Simplified Interface. The Integrations tab consolidates all import/export tasks under a single tab. Formerly in the Standard Interface, integration tasks were accessed from the Data Management tab.
Classic Dimension Editor
With a view to allowing customers more time to familiarize themselves with the Simplified Dimension Editor, Oracle has decided to defer the removal of support for Classic Dimension Editor to a future update. Current plan is to remove access to the Classic Dimension Editor starting with the 18.10 (October 2018) update to the service.
Composite Form Creation Capability
To allow customers more time to adapt and move from composite forms to dashboards, Oracle has decided to defer the removal of the ability to create new composite forms (forms that comprise multiple simple forms) to a future release update (January 2019 - 19.01). Oracle had previously announced that this feature will be removed in the June (18.06) update.
All customers are advised to use dashboards in place of composite forms. There will be no more enhancements to the composite forms functionality.
Financial Reporting Studio Desktop Client
Oracle is committed to providing a simple and intuitive user experience. To achieve this, Financial Reporting Web Studio, available since March 2016, will become the only environment for designing and building reports.
Oracle is providing additional time for users to transition from Financial Reporting Desktop Studio to Financial Reporting Web Studio. Tentative plans call for functional parity between Financial Reporting Web Studio and Financial Reporting Desktop Studio in 2018, at which time, support for the Desktop Studio will transition to the Web Studio and distribution of the Desktop Studio will cease. This transition is tentatively planned for the 18.09 update (September 07, 2018 for test and September 21, 2018 for production environments).
Oracle recommends that you transition to using Financial Reporting Web Studio at the earliest opportunity. Please send questions and concerns to Oracle using the Provide Feedback option in the service.
Considerations
Consolidation Rules - Errors in Seeded System Rules
The seeded consolidation rules do not properly cater for disposals of investments in all cases, notably full disposals after acquisitions over several periods.
Calculation Status
When you change Ownership Data that uses a Consolidation rule and then consolidate, the Calculation Status is not correct for the partner and entity.
Metadata Aliases
Ensure that no alias entries are “Equity”. The use of “Equity” as an alias will cause issues with refreshing the database.
Changing the Exchange Rate Type
When you change the Exchange Rate Type for an account to a Historical Override Exchange Rate Type (for example, from “No Rate” to “Historical Amount Override”), the shared member is not created under FCCS_Historical Accounts. When you change the Exchange Rate Type from “Historical Amount Override” or “Historical Rate Override” to another Exchange Rate Type, the system does not delete the shared members from FCCS_Historical Accounts.
Exchange Rate Type for Plug Accounts
The Exchange Rate Type must be the same for an Intercompany account and the plug account associated with it. For example, if the source accounts have an Exchange Rate Type of “No Rate”, then the Plug account Exchange Rate Type must be “No Rate”. If the source accounts have any of the three Historical Exchange Rate Types, then the plug account must also have the Historical Exchange Rate Type. The plug account does not have to be the exact same Historical type, but it must be one of the Historical Exchange Rate Types.
Intercompany Matching Reports
When a Power User has no access to an Entity or Partner in the report, the report displays “#noaccess”, and it also does not display the Variance.
If a Power User has access to all members in the report except an Entity or one of the Intercompany Account members, the system displays “An error occurred while processing”. The error occurs because the Power User requires security access to both the Entity and Partner, and the Intercompany Account members.
Translation Rules
When you create a translation rule and specify redirection to different members, the Source POV can be any members, including parent members, and seeded and system calculated members. You cannot select parent members only as part of the Source selection. The Redirection POV must be a base member and not a system calculated member. If you create a translation rule with no redirection, using only parent members in the Source selection is not allowed.
Reconsolidating Data After Upgrading
After you upgrade to 18.01, the first time you want to re-consolidate and re-translate any entity for a specific Scenario, Year and Period combination, you must run the Compute Rates task rule. Refresh the database and make sure that that Data Status is SC, showing that the cells are impacted. Then launch Consolidation and Translation. Subsequent re-consolidation / re-translation of the same Scenario, Year and Period combination does not require this step.
The Data Storage property has changed from Dynamic Calc to Never Share for these rate accounts in the Rates Cube:
- FX Rates – Average
- FX Rates – Ending
Additionally, due to a change in calculation for Opening Balance for Retained Earnings Prior, you may require reconsolidation of existing data if Opening Balance Adjustment entries have been made, but not otherwise.
Also, enabling the Ownership Management feature requires a reconsolidation of existing data in order to populate the Proportion member of amount in the Consolidation dimension.
Ownership Management Enablement
Enabling the Ownership Management feature entails adding seeded accounts, which causes a restructuring of your application. Depending on the size of your application, the restructuring could take a considerable length of time. This can be expected to take as long as manually refreshing the database after adding accounts.
If there are conflicts with aliases of existing members, an error is displayed that the system cannot enable the feature. Resolve the member alias conflict, refresh the database and then enable the feature.
When the Ownership Management feature is enabled, you will need to reconsolidate all existing data in your application in order to re-populate the Proportion member in the Consolidation dimension.
If you enable the Ownership Management feature, you may not be able to open some existing Financial Reporting reports due to metadata changes for Ownership Management.
Adding Base Members From Dimension Editor
If you add a base member using the classic Dimension Editor and change the initially displayed Data Storage property on the Member Properties tab, please also check the Consol cube Data Storage option on the Member Formula tab. Ensure that the Data Storage option matches between the two settings. If it does not match, the member might not be usable. The Data Storage options can also be easily viewed and changed in the Simplified UI Dimension Editor.
Smart View Summary Dialog Display
In Internet Explorer, you may experience issues using the Open Summary dialog in Smart View. To work around this issue:
- Use the keyboard arrow keys to make your selection, then close and reopen the dialog; or
- Minimize and then reopen the dialog; or
- Use a different browser.
Copying and Clearing Data
Be aware of the following issues relating to copying and clearing data:
- When copying override rates or amounts from one entity to another, the Calculation Status of the target entity should change from No Data to Impacted, but currently it does not. The source entity's Calculation Status is also incorrectly impacted.
- When copying an entity with a Calculation Status of No Data, the target should also have a Calculation Status of No Data. The Copy Data process is incorrectly setting the Calculation Status to Impacted.
Change in Calculation of CTA for Net Income/Retained Earnings Current Accounts
In the August, 2017 update (17.08), the seeded Net Income hierarchy included a new member named “Retained Earnings Current – Opening Balance – FX-CTA” as a sibling of Net Income. Opening Balance calculation was done for the new member, which was automatically added during the upgrade process. Due to this change, if you have not yet done so, you must re-consolidate your historical data by running the Consolidation process.
Self Service Upgrade
It is strongly recommended that you do not use the Upgrade Application Content settings in this update. Although a new Upgrade screen is available in Daily Maintenance, this feature is not fully functional.
Editing Dates in a Collection Period
In a Data Collection Period in Supplemental Data, editing Start, End, and Close Dates may result in an error that the date is outside the valid range.
Entity Member Names/Aliases with ICP Property
When you create an Entity with the ICP property enabled, the maximum length of the member name is 76 characters instead of 80, to allow for the ICP prefix.
Working with Metadata
Be aware of the following considerations:
- You should not make metadata changes that result in the following:
- Changing a base member to which a journal has been posted into a parent member (other than in the Entity dimension in which journals are valid at a parent entity)
If there are journals or Supplemental Data posted to those members, these changes can cause problems when accessing Journals or importing existing journals.
- Changing a base member to which a journal has been posted into a parent member (other than in the Entity dimension in which journals are valid at a parent entity)
- When you use ad hoc grids in Smart View with Financial Consolidation and Close Cloud, do not add a root Period member on the grid. Make sure the root Period member is removed by either clicking Remove Only or selecting periods that are in the application and selecting Keep Only. If a Period member is left on the grid, then any changes to data that you make will fail to properly set the impact status of the Entities.
