Translating entities to multiple currencies during consolidation

HFM typically does currency translation when the parent entity and the child entity have different currencies. A hierarchy for a division may go up through several levels before translation occurs. The problem is users want to see the lower level entities in the translated currency even though the hierarchy says no translation should occur.

HFM offers users the manual ability to set the value dimension to the desired currency and then use an action aptly named "Translate" to run the translation. But users must remember to do this every time the data changes. Doesn't really work well if users forget.

A traditional approach, going back to HFM's predecessor products, is to create an alternate hierarchy, full or partial, with new parent members that are all the desired currency. Like this:

This worked well, as users would just consolidate both hierarchies after data changes (usually have a single "dummy" parent at the top that consolidated all hierarchies underneath). But there's a big problem in that users have to change the entity, like going from RegA1 to RegA1_KYD.

So, what to do? A better approach is to create a parent entity with the desired currency and then add all needed entities directly to the parent - no hierarchy, no new entities. Like this:

Can still use the single "dummy" parent to make consolidations easy. With this approach, the consolidation of KYDTranslations forces the translation of each child entity to the desired currency. To avoid any confusion, change the consolidation rule to not run if the parent entity is KYDTranslations, as any number there is meaningless and not needed.

Best of all, the users don't have to change entity labels - they can view RegA1 in either EUR or KYD just by changing the value dimension.

Migrating HFM Metadata to DRM

In Classic mode HFM really doesn't care what is used to manage the metadata; Notepad works fine, for example. But DRM - Oracle Data Relationship Manager - is a great choice that many companies have or are moving to. There's a workflow process for requests, audit trails, formulas (i.e., if account starts with a 1 then tag it as an asset), etc.

People ask: when setting up DRM to create the HFM metadata load file, what's the best way to check if it's right. If the HFM version is 11.1.2.3 or higher, HFM can easily provide that info. Here's what to do.

1) Set up a new HFM app and load the current metadata. The app does not need rules, data, lists, etc. but it will need security classes.

1a) As this will be a reiterative process, plan on reloading the real metadata before each DRM load to re-establish the baseline for comparisons.

2) Load the DRM file into the HFM app as a replace.

3) First, if the syntax is bad, it won't go in - use the log to find out the problem(s)

4) Once the file loads, check and see what changed. Ideally, nothing changes. To check, go to Task Audit and click on the link for the metadata difference file. If something changed, it should show up here.

5) Make DRM changes and repeat the steps starting with 1a) until there is a clean load with no changes.

Moving to DRM is a really good thing to do. And it not only works with HFM but Planning, FDMEE (great tool for managing mappings), ERPs, data warehouses, etc.

HFM 11.1.2.4.100 patch released

HFM 11.1.2.4 patch 100 was released this week. Here's a quick and partial list of new features:

• Application Creation wizard
• Dashboard for monitoring system status - Exalytics platform only
• Ability to run on Solaris for Exalytics platform
• Print entity details screen [finally!]
• Application year update
• Right click options on tabs for close others, close all a la Workspace tabs
• Open and work with journals in Smart View (requires Smart View 11.1.2.5.500)

There is also a healthy list of defects fixed.

Happy patching!

Oracle EPM 11.1.2.3.700 PSU

The 700 patch for 11.1.2.3 was released on July 1. The big thing that comes with this patch is IE 11 support. For HFM, there were a couple of bug fixes, including one that addresses Smart View performance when comparing 11.1.2.3.501 to 11.1.2.2.

HFM's Equity Pickup Module

One of the somewhat newer (well, a few years ago) and lesser used features is the equity pickup module. I've set it up twice and in the middle of a third time, so let's talk about what it does and how.

From an accounting standpoint, when one entity owns another, you want to pull the net income from the owned entity into the owner. During consolidation, when the two entities meet (first common parent) the entries need to eliminate. That part is easy - standard intercompany elimination. But how to do the equity entry?

Before EPU, we'd do a few different things that all had problems. One, you could build the hierarchy where the owned entity is a child of a parent that is also the parent of the owner and use a consolidation rule to just consolidate the net income into the investment. But it was a really weird looking hierarchy. Two, the other approach is using GetCell formulas to pull the numbers around. The problem was order of execution - how to get each entity to calc in the correct order.

What you really want to do is push data to another entity. But HFM is great at pulling but almost never pushes - the exception is during a consolidation rule where you push data from [Parent Total] to [Proportion] and [Elimination].

So, the equity pickup module comes in to fit the bill. It handles both key pieces that are normally missing: order of execution and push. Technically, HFM is still pulling, but it looks like a push.

So, what happens?

For the setup, we'll need some metadata, data, and rules. The metadata is nothing special, other than having the owned and owner entities flagged as intercompany. For data, load in, using the system accounts, for shares outstanding and shares owned by owner. Note: this data comes in by the OWNED entity and says who OWNS them. TIP - assume shares outstanding is 100, so that everything can be loaded on a percentage basis.

For rules, there is a special subroutine (EquityPickup) that gets executed during the process. The rules basically pull data from the owned entity, apply the percentage to it, and put it in the owner entity. This last part uses standard HS.Exp.

After that, go to the EPU screen. The software figures out who owns who and, more importantly, the order in which everything should execute. After that, it's push a button to run the EPU calcs. When it runs, the module will look at the owned entity and first calculate/consolidate/translate as needed, so standard calculate subroutine runs, of course. Then it goes to the owner entity and runs the EPU subroutine to pull the appropriate data over.

There are some quirks to this, like a data load will change the EPU status but a force calc doesn't, but generally it does work and is in production.

KScope 2015 next week!

Putting the final touches on my KScope presentations. Both of these are HANDS-ON - attendees show up, get assigned a server, and log in and work in the software - NO POWERPOINT HERE (well, maybe an intro slide). I'm doing two sessions.

Monday morning - 8:30-10:45am - HFM Consolidation Rules - We're going to set up the basic consolidation rules and then introduce some enhancements, like intercompany journals, discontinued operations, and non controlling interest. Will definitely get a good grounding on HS.OpenDataUnit and HS.Con!

Tuesday morning - 11:15am-12:15pm - HFM 11.1.2.4 Tour - Walk through the new features of this year's release.

Both of these are first come, first serve. In previous years you had to sign up for the hands-on sessions and usually a third to a half of the signups didn't show. This year, they're open just like normal sessions and are bound to fill up. The seats are limited to 75 so get there early!

Hands On Sessions at KScope15

Going to KScope in June? I've been working on my hands on sessions, the BEST deal at KScope. These are NOT Powerpoint tan-fests. Bring your laptop, connect into a server, and go hands-on with the software.

In the past, you had to preregister to do the hands-on session. Each session would quickly fill up and then only about 60% of the people would show. This year, they're first come first serve, but still limited to 75 attendees. Come early - don't assume that only 45 people or so will show.

I'm doing two sessions this year. The Monday session is on HFM consolidation rules. First we'll go through setting up the standard rules that replicate what HFM normally knows how to do. Then we'll get into how to do various tweaks for a lot of functionality.

The Tuesday session is a walkthrough of HFM 11.1.2.4. We'll take a look at what's new and probably talk about WHY this is the fastest release of HFM.

Here's the link for more info.

http://kscope15.com/content/handson-training#Financial

When you register, use promo code 123OLAP to save $100.

I'll also be on the floor, in the sessions, etc. I'll be spending some time around the 123OLAP booth so that's the best place to find me (other than the two sessions above!).

See you there!