Zero View for Adjustments and Zero View For Non-Adjustments use

First of all, the attribute applies only to flow accounts (revenue, expense, and flow). The setting tells HFM how to interpret missing values. For the vast majority of HFM applications, Actual data is loaded YTD. For performance reasons we do not want to load zeros, and so we suppress them in the data load process. If a cell had a value last month, and there is no value in the current month, a setting of "YTD" tells HFM that the missing value should be interpreted as YTD zero. In order to accomplish this, HFM will derive a negative value on a Periodic basis, in order to arrive at a YTD zero.
The same holds true for data coming from journals. If you post a journal to an intersection in one period, and do not post any journals to the same intersection in the next period, the ZeroViewForAdjs setting "YTD" tells HFM to derive a negative number in the adjustment node to arrive at a YTD zero for the intersection. This is the main reason why most HFM users don't need reversing entries -- HFM will reverse the vast majority of adjustments based on this setting.
When either is set to Periodic, the situation is very different. HFM will intepret the missing data as a Periodic zero, and on a YTD basis it will simply carry forward the previous period's YTD amount. This is most common for Periodic scenarios such as Budget or Forecast.

Validation Accounts

example: You want to make sure your Fixed Assets movement schedule totals tie to the numbers in your Balance Sheet and P&L (i.e. Amortization Expenses). You set up a validation account that checks for the variance between the amount input in the movement schedule against the assets and the users cannot promote and lock their data if there is a variance. Same thing could be done for the Accounts Receivable and the Aging Schedule comparison. So you first most define that you will use validation accounts in your metadata, then create the account where the variance will be checked, (a valid intersection with [ICPTop]
in the Custom dimensions.) then set a rule that compares the accounts. In process management the validation accounts are use to ensure that the value equals zero before the unit can be promoted to the next review level. Therefore, don't forget to add the validation account to a submission group. Assign a submission group 0 to validation accounts that are not subject to process management.

HFM -- Ownership Change

Ownership Information:

Chapter 4. Managing Metadata
Defining Consolidation Methods
http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E17236_01/epm.1112/hfm_admin.pdf

Chapter 8. Managing Ownership
http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E17236_01/epm.1112/hfm_user.pdf

Applies to:
Hyperion Financial Management - Version: 4.0.1.0.00 to 11.1.2.0.00 - Release: 4.0 to 11.1

Goal:
An explanation is required of how to extract Ownership Management data from HFM system accounts.

Solution:
The ownership management data in HFM is just like any other piece of data, it can also be extracted through the "Extract Data" option and loaded through the "Load Data" option (as long as the "File Contains Ownership Information" check box is selected prior to load).

Apart from when being loaded from a data file, the data should normally be adjusted only via the Ownership Management module of the web user interface of Financial Management. This is discussed at length in the HFM User Guide documentation, chapter "Managing Ownership" section "Entering Ownership Information".

The User Guide for the 11.1.1.3 release of Financial Management can be found by clicking here.

However, it is sometimes important to understand where this information is stored within the 12 fixed data dimensions of HFM. The below hints should be understood in the context of the existing information in the User Guide.

For example..

[Active] account
The "Active" Yes / No information is stored in a system account [Active] of the Parent Entity in Entity dimension against the child entity in ICP dimension, and indicated by the number "1" in that account. Normally a blank value or a zero is "Not Active". This is unless the application settings metadata have "DefaultValueForActive" set to 1.... then all blank values are counted as being "Active". For more information on "DefaultValueForActive" metadata property, see the HFM Administrators guide for the relevant version of the software.

[Method]
The Method account data is indicated by a "1" in the account [Method] for the Parent entity in Entity dimension, Child entity in ICP dimension and the name of the method in Custom 1 dimension. It is very important that only one C1 method member has a "1" stored against it, in any particular Scenario-Year-Period-Entity-ICP combination, otherwise it can lead to system problems.

The POWN, PCON, PCTRL, SharesOutstanding, VotingOutstanding, SharesOwned and VotingOwned are all numeric values stored in Custom1-Custom4 [None] member.

To see this data you must be looking at the [None] member in the Value dimension, and also the [None] member in the custom 1-4 dimensions (except Method account).

As with any other HFM data it is not recommended to build integrations directly into the relational database data store underneath HFM. Oracle reserves the right to change the relational database schema in future releases without prior notification. The correct way to access this data is by loading/extracting of data files, using Smartview, FDM, HAL or DIM, Extended Analytics or Livelink (Hyperroll). Any integration between HFM data and external sources should be done in cooperation with Oracle Consulting Services or an approved 3rd party partner company of Oracle Corporation.

HFM Task Automation

Task Automation is a Web-based module that provides a method for chaining a

series of tasks into a taskflow. You can use Task Automation to automate tasks

that you commonly perform using Financial Management. When you work with

Financial Management, you routinely perform tasks such as loading data,

running calculations and translations, consolidating parent entities, and

extracting data through data extract or extended analytics. You can create

and maintain task flows to perform Financial Management operations and

schedule critical tasks to be run as required.

You can use Task Automation to automate these Financial Management tasks:

1) Allocate

2) Calculate

3) Calculate Contribution

4) Translate

5) Consolidate

6) Load Journals

7) Extract Journals

8) Load Data

9) Extract Data

10) Execute Journal Action

11) Extended Analytics

12)  Process Management

Note:  that there are a few areas in which automation is not available, specifically, certain loading tasks such as loading metadata, security, and member lists.

Uses for Task Automation

1). Translating and calculating all base entities.

2). Loading data files and consolidating data.

3). Extracting data from one application and loading it into another Application.

4). Reconsolidating all prior periods and scenarios.

5). Regularly consolidating main points of view overnight during the close

process.          

The ability to automate loading, calculating, translating, and consolidating tasks

(Including notifications) provides an opportunity to improve the efficiency of

your monthly and quarterly closing and reporting business processes.

Components of Taskflow

A stage describes a step in a taskflow. Each stage has an action, such as load

data, calculate data, and so on. These actions have parameters for which values

are supplied at runtime.

Each stage contains two tabs, except for the first stage, which has three tabs.

1). General

2). Processing

3). Starting Event (first stage only)

Creating Taskflow:

1). Select administration -> Manage Taskflow -> New      

Tabs in task Flow:

General Tab

The General tab defines the stage name, description, and user ID of the user

responsible for completing the stage. The user can bean initiator, that is, the

owner of the first stage of the taskflow or another user for the other stages.

Processing Tab

The Processing tab defines the actions to be performed when the stage is run and

Defines all required parameters.

Starting Event

The Starting Event tab defines the event that initiates the taskflow and the

scheduled times for the event to occur. The scheduled time is based on the time of the application server, not on the time of the local user’s computer.

This functionality is schedule related. You can schedule the taskflow to run

according to a schedule, such as weekly, monthly, at the first of the month, and so on.

Adding Links

A link is the point during the execution of the taskflow at which the activity in

one stage completes and the task flow ends or control passes to another stage. A

link can be unconditional, where the completion of one stage always leads to

the start of another, or conditional, where the sequence of operation depends on

one or more link conditions. A link instructs the system about the action to take

next. In general, most stages have two links, Success and Failure. You can

specify that, if the first stage is successful, the system should proceed to the

second stage (receiving stage). For example, if the first stage of Load Data is

successful, the system should proceed to the receiving stage of consolidation.

You can specify conditions for a link.

For example, you can add a condition for a consolidation task (stage), such as

Consolidation Success= = ‘True’.

Consolidation Process

Data is typically entered into base-level members of dimensions and not into

parent members. Values for parent-level members are aggregated from the

children of the parent-level members. In some cases, data for base-level members

is calculated. For example, the Salaries account member might be a base-level

member whose value is calculated based on head count and salary rate. In the

illustration in the slide, the data values from the base-level members are rolled up to the parent-level members—Total Revenues and Total Costs. Data values from Total Revenues and Total Costs are then rolled up to their parent, Gross Margin.

Financial Consolidation

Consolidation is the period–end process of combining the financial results of

separate subsidiaries with the parent company to form a single, combined

statement of financial results.

Consolidation is the process of gathering data from descendants and aggregating

the data to parent entities. Consolidation applying only to Entity dimension.

After loading or entering data into base level entities we run a consolidation for a

selected scenario or period to aggregate data throughout the organization.

Steps to perform consolidation

Before Consolidate

After Consolidate

When you consolidate an entity, the processes are required for the descendants of the entity run automatically.

• Calculation rules are run for all descendants of the entity for the period

being consolidate and for all prior periods

• If the data for the children & parent entities are in different currencies the data is translated based on the exchange rate.

• Intercompany transactions between entities are eliminated at their first common parent.

• Data is consolidated from base level entities to parent entities.

HFM Dimensions

Dimensions describe an organization’s data and usually contain groups of related members.

Examples of dimensions are Account, Entity, and Period. Financial Management

supplies eight system-defined dimensions and enables you to populate up to four custom dimensions that you can apply to accounts. Dimension members are

arranged in hierarchies. Upper-level members are called parent members, and a

member immediately below a parent member is referred to as the child of a parent member. All members below a parent are referred to as descendants. The bottom level hierarchy members are called base-level-members.

Scenario Dimension

The Scenario dimension represents a set of data, such as Budget, Actual, or

Forecast. For example, the Actual scenario can contain data from a general ledger, reflecting past and current business operations. The Budget scenario can contain data that reflects the targeted business operations. The Forecast scenario typically contains data that corresponds to predictions for upcoming periods. A Legal scenario can contain data calculated according to legal GAAP format and rules. You can define any number of scenarios for an application and define attributes for Scenario dimension members, such as the default frequency, the default view, and zero data settings.

Year Dimension

The Year dimension represents the fiscal or calendar year for data. An application can contain data for more than one year. You specify a year range when you create the application and select a year from the Year dimension to process data.

Period Dimension

The Period dimension represents time periods, such as quarters and months. It

contains time periods and frequencies by displaying the time periods in a hierarchy. For example, if the Actual scenario maintains data on a monthly basis,

generally 12 periods of data are available for this scenario in a year. Financial

Management supports years, months, and weeks for the period dimension. It does not support days for the dimension.

Entity Dimension

The Entity dimension represents the organizational structure of the company, such as the management and legal reporting structures. Entities can represent divisions, subsidiaries, plants, regions, countries, legal entities, business units, departments, or any organizational unit. You can define any number of entities. The Entity dimension is the consolidation dimension of the system. Hierarchies in the Entity dimension reflect various consolidated views of the data. Various hierarchies can correspond to geographic consolidation, legal consolidation, or consolidation by activity. All relationships among individual member components that exist in an organization are stored and maintained in this dimension. Entities in an organization are dependent, base, or parent entities. Dependent entities are owned by other entities in the organization. Base entities are at the bottom of the organization structure and do not own other entities. Parent entities contain one or more dependents that report directly to them. You define attributes for Entity dimension members, such as the default currency and security class, and to specify whether the entity allows adjustments and stores intercompany detail.

Value Dimension

The Value dimension represents the different types of values stored in your

application, and can include the input currency, parent currency, adjustments, and consolidation detail such as proportion, elimination, and contribution detail. For example, the Entity Currency member stores the value for an entity in its local currency. The Parent Currency member stores the value for an entity translated the currency of its parent entity.

Account Dimension

The Account dimension represents a hierarchy of natural accounts. Accounts store financial data for entities and scenarios in an application. Each account has a type, such as Revenue or Expense that defines its accounting behavior.

You define attributes for Account dimension members, such as the account type, the number of decimal places to display, and whether the account is a calculated,

consolidated, or intercompany partner account.

Intercompany Dimension

The Intercompany dimension represents all intercompany balances that exist for

an account. This is a reserved dimension that is used in combination with the

Account dimension and any custom dimension. Financial Management can track

and eliminate intercompany transaction details across accounts and entities. You

can also run intercompany matching reports to view intercompany transactions.

View Dimension

The View dimension represents various modes of calendar intelligence; for

example, Periodic, Year-to-Date, and Quarter-to-Date frequencies. If you set the

view to Periodic, the values for each month are displayed. If you set the view to

Year-to-Date or Quarter-to-Date, the cumulative values for the year or quarter are displayed.

Custom Dimensions

Four custom dimensions are available for analysis of detailed data. You can use

custom dimensions to store additional details associated with accounts, such as

products, markets, channels, balance sheet movement, or types of elimination. For example, custom dimensions could include Product Line, Region, Channel, or Customers.

Dimensions

You create metadata for applications by defining dimensions. Dimensions

describe your organization’s data. Examples of dimensions are Account, Entity,

and Period. The elements that comprise a dimension are called members. For

example, GrossMargin and TotalRevenues are members of the Account dimension.

Dimension Hierarchies

Members of a dimension are arranged in hierarchies. Upper-level members are

called parent members and a member immediately below a parent member is

referred to as its child. All members below a parent are referred to as descendants.

The bottom-level members of the hierarchy are called base-level members. The

illustration in the slide shows a part of the dimension hierarchy of the Account

dimension. In this hierarchy, the Total Revenues member is a child of Gross

Margin. Sales, Other Revenues, Salaries, Total Revenues, and Total Costs are

descendants of Gross Margin. Sales, Other Revenues, and Salaries are base-level

members.

HFM Process

Financial Management is a powerful application that enables you to manage

enterprise financial information quickly and cost effectively. You follow a typical

task flow for a monthly financial cycle.

1). Load and add data To add data to your application by loading it from a file

and by using data forms.

2). Calculate After enter data, you can run calculation rules to populate calculated accounts.

3). Adjust data after you calculate data, you can adjust the data by using journals that provide an audit trail of your adjustments.

4). Translate and consolidate data. After data for individual business units is entered and adjusted, you can translate and consolidate the data.

5). Approve data after data is consolidated, you can submit the data for review and approval.

6). Lock data after you receive the approval for the submitted data, you can lock the data to prevent further modifications.

7). Run and publish financial reports. You can run reports against the approved data.