Oracle’s core financial management solution sets the new standard for Finance. It helps organizations increase efficiency and effectiveness with:Centralized key business functions to support shared servicesSelf-service collaboration to reduce the burden on your accounting staffAnd extensive spreadsheet and imaging integration to reduce data entry and errors often associated with manual processesIt helps organizations meet global requirements with:Its unified global platform that allows companies to operate anywhere in the worldCommon, rules-based accounting infrastructure that helps standardize accounting policiesAnd simultaneous support for multiple GAAPs to meet global reporting requirementsLastly, it helps Controllers close their books faster with:Its tightly integrated, complete financial management solution that includes centralized consolidation and close management withFlexible reporting formats, such as XBRL
Controls are required for any organization that runs a financial system. Oracle provides a comprehensive control structure that provides continuous, embedded monitoring and enforcement within each of it’s critical applications. In addition, Oracle provides a Framework platform for regulations and policies that can help risk and compliance groups manage and monitor the all of the controls and risks within the organization. Today we will focus specifically on the controls Oracle provides for the Procure-to-Pay financial process.
Oracle provides 4 main types of controls for EBS, Segregation of Duties – controls that ensure monitoring and enforcement is in place around users having conflicting access within EBS.Application Configuration– controls that manage and monitor key setup information within EBS Transaction Monitoring – controls that identify suspect transaction scenarios that have occurred within EBS. Preventive – controls that can be embedded into EBS itself to control transaction processing
To help Controllers close their books faster, Oracle provides a comprehensive financial close solution . The solution encompasses all the areas impacted by the close with automation, visibility and workflow to manage the entire close process.Hyperion Financial Management is the core of the solution which manages the financial consolidation and delivers automated reporting to all stakeholders. It is pre-integrated with Oracle Financial solutions but is also designed to consolidate information from multiple, disparate sources, transaction systems and data warehouses. Implementing it does not require changes to underlying transaction systems, so you can save on integration costs and efforts. It’s common foundation includes tight integration with other Oracle performance management applications and Governance, Risk, and Compliance solutions. This integration reduces the total cost of ownership by providing a single point of maintenance that other point solutions and non-integrated EPM suites cannot match.
Controls are required for any organization that runs a financial system. Oracle provides a comprehensive control structure that provides continuous, embedded monitoring and enforcement within each of it’s critical applications. In addition, Oracle provides a Framework platform for regulations and policies that can help risk and compliance groups manage and monitor the all of the controls and risks within the organization. Today we will focus specifically on the controls Oracle provides for the Procure-to-Pay financial process.
Slide Transition: What types of controls exist?Controls can be broadly categorized as ERP controls and advanced controls. ERP controls are inherent to your ERP systems and include controls such as requiring approval of purchase orders. To have an effective control environment, it is important to take advantage of these ERP controls where appropriate.And while ERP controls do a great job, in today’s complex business environment further control solutions may be necessary.Advanced financial controls are another tier of controlsthat complement or augment ERP controls in two key ways: 1) they can alert management when ERP controls are changed, and 2) they provide flexible solutions to automatically analyze process activities to highlight possible errors, or when users might be working around policies. Advanced controls provide further benefits because they automate controls that might have been performed manually before, and they also reduce manual work necessary to resolve errors.Let’s now take a look at a few examples of how ERP and advanced controls work together to provide the most optimal solutions for your business processes.
Slide Transition: What types of controls exist?Controls can be broadly categorized as ERP controls and advanced controls. ERP controls are inherent to your ERP systems and include controls such as requiring approval of purchase orders. To have an effective control environment, it is important to take advantage of these ERP controls where appropriate.And while ERP controls do a great job, in today’s complex business environment further control solutions may be necessary.Advanced financial controls are another tier of controlsthat complement or augment ERP controls in two key ways: 1) they can alert management when ERP controls are changed, and 2) they provide flexible solutions to automatically analyze process activities to highlight possible errors, or when users might be working around policies. Advanced controls provide further benefits because they automate controls that might have been performed manually before, and they also reduce manual work necessary to resolve errors.Let’s now take a look at a few examples of how ERP and advanced controls work together to provide the most optimal solutions for your business processes.
Slide Transition: Another great example is CSX Corporation.Customer Profile – CSX Corporation is a national transportation company that provides rail, intermodal, and rail-truck transload services. Existing Problems – They operate in a very decentralized environment and were facing significant challenges managing complex government regulations.Product Used – Application Access Controls Governor (AACG)Benefits Received – In addition to having the ability to quickly identify and remediate system-user access conflicts, the solutions provided CSX executives with a real-time, enterprise-wide foundation to support forward-looking strategic planning.
Slide Transition: One of our more recent success stories with USANA Health Sciences. Customer Profile – USANA Health Sciences develops and manufactures high-quality nutritionals, personal care, energy and weight management products. Problems – Their controls environment was manually intensive, they had inefficient processes, and they were concerned about how their upgrade would impact their controls environment. Product Used – Application Access Controls Governor (AACG), and Configuration Controls Governor (CCG)Benefits Received – They were able to ensure a proper controls structure was retained after their upgrade, and improve change management. They are also looking to use other advanced control applications to detect suspicious transactions and redundant business practices, and prevent control violations and process breakdowns before they occur.
Slide Transition: Oxbow Carbon came to utilize advanced financial controls to standardize their processes to better manage their acquisitions. Customer Profile – Oxbow is a natural resources company with operations in 17 cities in the US, and 35 cities internationally.Existing Problems – Oxbow had gone through numerous acquisitions in recent years. As a result, the company was running 13 distinct enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, which limited visibility of critical business information and created IT governance challenges.Product Used – Entire suite of advanced controls.Benefits Received – Instilled a preventive approach regarding inappropriate user access, efficiently notify management when high-risk configuration changes are being made, and reap tremendous time and cost savings.
Slide Transition: Our final success story is Experian. Customer Profile – Experian is a leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 60 countries. Existing Problems – Experian operates in a highly-regulated industry where data security was an extremely critical requirement. They found it increasingly difficult to ensure proper data security. Product Used – AACG and Preventive Controls Governor (PCG).Benefits Received – Experian was able to reduce the time and effort spent managing user access and detecting and resolving inappropriate user access.