The May updates for Oracle's Financial Consolidation and Close Cloud Service (FCCS) are here! This blog post outlines new features, including seeded system consolidation rule-sets, enhancements to dashboards as well as many considerations for using FCCS.
The monthly update for FCCS will occur on Friday, May 18 during your normal daily maintenance window.
New FCCS Features
Seeded System Consolidation Rule-sets
This update provides nine system rule-sets for Ownership Elimination adjustments. The seeded rules are created by the application.
Note: Three of the rule-sets replace the previous three hard-coded rules available in prior updates. If you deployed any of the three previous rules, you will need to re-deploy them and also review the other six rules.
The seeded system rule-sets are as follows:
- Investment (replacing existing rule)
- Investment PP
- Owner's Equity (Subsidiary/Proportional) (replacing existing rule)
- Owner's Equity (Subsidiary/Proportional) PP
- Owner’s Equity (Equity)
- Owner’s Equity (Equity) PP
- Owner's Equity (Holding) (replacing existing rule)
- Net Income (Subsidiary)
- Net Income (Equity)
New EPM Automate Utility Version
A new version of the EPM Automate Utility is available with this update. This version includes the runDailyMaintenance command, which enables Service Administrators to run the daily service maintenance process as needed. For example, Service Administrators can use this command to update their service as soon as a patch to an environment is available instead of waiting for the daily maintenance window.
Excel Version Usage in Activity Report
The Activity Report has been enhanced to include the Microsoft Excel Versions in use and the number of users who use them.
Retain Last Accessed Tab in Navigation Flow Cards
When working with cards in navigation flows that have multiple tabs or sub tabs, the last tab accessed by a user will be retained the next time the user accesses the card in the same session.
Enhancements to Dashboards
Dashboards have been enhanced in several ways:
- Dashboards now present a more streamlined look. For example, scroll bars aren’t displayed if they aren’t needed.
- For many chart types, you can now opt to show or hide grid lines.
- You can set the horizontal alignment for values in tile chart types: Left, Center, or Right.
- To simplify how large currency values are displayed in tile chart types, you can now scale values. For example, select the M scaling option to display the value 123,456,789 as 123M.
Oracle ARCS Clusters and Cards as Navigation Flows Targets
EPM Cloud source subscriptions can now customize navigation flows to access Oracle Account Reconciliation Cloud clusters and cards (note that Oracle Account Reconciliation Cloud is only a target service when connecting subscriptions). Clusters and cards can now be directly selected from Oracle Account Reconciliation Cloud using the Add Existing Card/Cluster option.
Removal of Support
Close Manager Calendar View
For users of Close Manager within FCCS, the Calendar view will not be supported effective with the August, 2018 (18.08) update.
Classic Dimension Editor
Effective with the June 2018 (18.06) update, the Dimensions link in the Navigator will link to the Simplified Dimension Editor, which was released with the 17.05 update (May 2017). Consequently, the Classic Dimension Editor will not be supported starting with the June 2018 update to the service (June 1, 2018 for test and June 15, 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 Enterprise Performance Management 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 Enterprise Performance Management Cloud, Oracle recommends that you adopt this new integration as soon as possible.
Financial Report 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
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.
Dashboard Folders
In a future update (tentatively planned for the June (18.06) update), Service Administrators will have the ability to organize dashboards in folders. These folders will enable Service Administrators to apply security and permissions to folders rather than to each dashboard.
Existing dashboards will be visible under the root folder in dashboards and infolets listing pages after this new feature is introduced. The form folders available in the environment will also be available for organizing dashboards because folders are shared across artifact types. All folders will be managed using a unified folder management screen.
Metadata Aliases
Ensure that no alias entries are “Equity”. The use of “Equity” as an alias will cause issues with refreshing the database.
Migrating Rules with Shared Members
When you perform a Migration extract of a rule that contains a Target Redirection to a shared member, the extract file does not include information on the shared Dimension for that rule. When you import the extracted file, the rule is not created properly.
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.
Workaround: When you change an Exchange Rate Type, you must manually add or delete the members from the Historical Override shared hierarchies.
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.
Member Formulas in Simplified Dimension Editor
In the Simplified Dimension Editor, when you add a member formula for a member that has all the Data Storage (Default/Consol/Rates) properties the same, such as Dynamic Calc, the system incorrectly changes the Consol Data Storage value to Store, and displays it as a non-compliant value.
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.
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.
Importing Journal Artifacts
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.
Re-consolidating 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.
Copying and Clearing Data
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.
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.
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.
