The March updates for Oracle's Financial Consolidation and Close Cloud Service (FCCS) are here. This blog post outlines multiple new features and considerations.
The monthly update for FCCS will occur on Friday, March 16 during your normal daily maintenance window.
New FCCS Features
Supplemental Data Manager Multi-Cube Support
When you work with Supplemental Data Manager forms, you now have the option to select the cube from which to use dimension members. For example, when you are validating supplemental data, you select the cube from which the data needs to be validated.
During the Refresh Database process, metadata is copied to Supplemental Data Manager. In addition to leaflevel members, non-leaf level members are now copied, and the corresponding parent node name is displayed in Supplemental Data Manager.
Reporting Translation Process
Translating to reporting currencies is now required for all periods. Correct presentation of translated opening balances for historical accounts requires the cumulative translation of prior periods.
If prior periods in the current year have not yet been translated, they will be translated before the selected period. If there are prior years that have not been fully translated, the user will need to translate in sequence each year that has not yet been translated and then translate the current year. This requirement is the same as for the consolidation process.
Provisioned Users Audit Report
A script is now available to automate the process of creating an audit report for provisioned users. This report shows the users and associated roles or groups that changed since the last time the report was generated.
New Server Setting in Financial Reporting Web Studio
A new property has been added to the Server Settings in Financial Reporting Web Studio. The "Maximum Number of Page Members For Excel Report" property allows you to specify the maximum number of page dimension members that can be exported to Microsoft Excel. The default value for this property is 100.
Smart View Support for Integrated Business Process Navigation Flows
Smart View now supports integrated business process navigation flows.
Using integrated business process navigation flows, Service Administrators can configure shared connections that enable Smart View users to navigate across any combination of the supported EPM Cloud subscriptions.
Removal of Support
Classic Dimension Editor
Effective the February 2018 (18.02) update, the Dimensions link in the Navigator will link to the Simplified Dimension Editor. Consequently, the Classic Dimension Editor will not be supported starting with the February 2018 update to the service (February 2, 2018 for test and February 16, 2018 for production instances).
File-based Integration of Data Management with Oracle Fusion Financials Cloud
Oracle Fusion Financial Cloud Budgetary Control and Encumbrance Accounting is now fully integrated with Data Management.
This enhancement brings the integration of Oracle Fusion Financials Cloud with Oracle EPM Cloud on par with the current, out-of-the-box, file-based integration. As a result, the file-based integration is being phased out starting the September update to the service.
If you are using file-based integration between Oracle Fusion Financials Cloud and Oracle EPM Cloud, Oracle recommends that you adopt this new integration as soon as possible.
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 currently planned for the 18.06 update (June 01, 2018 for test and June 15, 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
Auto Reversal Journals
If an auto reversal journal has an Approved status, you cannot unpost the corresponding auto-reversing journal. If the auto reversal journal is Rejected, then you can unpost the auto-reversing journal.
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. To work around this issue, log off, and then log back in. Resolve the member alias conflict and refresh the database.
Note: If you try to refresh the database without re-logging into the session, a server crash may occur.
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
Importing Journal Archifacts
When you import Journal artifacts into Oracle Financial Consolidation and Close Cloud through Migration, errors may occur and the journals are not imported. To work around this issue, after the import process fails, log out and log back in as an Administrator. From the Navigator, select Migration, and then the Snapshot tab. Expand the application. Expand Relational Data, select Journals, and click Import.
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 Summary dialog; or
- Minimize and then reopen the Summary dialog; or
- Use a different browser
Copying and Clearing Data
If you try to clear a shared entity, the base entity and all shared entities do not get cleared. To work around this issue, clear the primary entity in order to clear all shared entities.
After copying data from actual to forecast, if you select the Rate option along with the Data option when clearing the forecast data, the system will clear the data as per the POV specified, but it also clears the Rate data for all Scenarios and not just the rate data as per the POV specified.
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 reconsolidate your historical data by running the Consolidation process.
Comprehensive Income CTA Accounts
If you assigned an account as a CICTA Redirection Account, after you upgrade, the Redirection account attribute that you selected may be missing.
If you configure a Comprehensive Income CTA account (CICTA) to capture CTA adjustments, the CICTA values are not correctly translated to reporting currencies other than the Entity and Parent Currency.
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 Data 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.
