Presentation to highlight a formalized, centralized, and comprehensive solution to reduce manual effort on low value reconciliation tasks, Provide transparency, traceability, and auditability into the reconciliation cycle
workflow, incentivize an evaluation of what accounts / reconciliations were needed for the
reconciliation cycle, and provide ease of communication among Preparers, Reviewers, and Administrators
The Zero-ETL Approach: Enhancing Data Agility and Insight
The Wright Way into the Cloud: The Argument for ARCS
1. The Wright Way into the Cloud
The Argument for Account Reconciliation Cloud Service (ARCS)
Prepared by:
Nick Boronski & Kim Province
July 9th, 2018
Follow Nick Boronski @PocketAce_NB
2. Agenda
• About Ranzal, Us, and Wright Medical
• Project Purpose
• Project Results
• The Argument for ARCS as a First Cloud Implementation
• Q&A
3. About Ranzal
Edgewater Ranzal is a full-service Oracle Platinum Partner with premier services in
North America and Canada
1,000+ Oracle/Hyperion
epm, bi, big data customers
2,000+ Oracle/Hyperion
epm, bi, big data projects
50+ Oracle SaaS Customers
PBCS
EPBCS
FCCS
ARCS
BICS/
OAC BD Cloud
PCMCS
EPRCS
Planning
Suite
Fin Close
Suite
BI Suite
Cloud (SaaS/PaaS) On Premise
Big Data
HPCM
DRM/DRG
FDMEE
Governance
Engineered
Systems
FCM
Integration
EDMCS
Ticker Symbol: NASDAQ:EDGW
4. About the Speakers
• Nick Boronski – Product Manager for Financial Close & Consolidation
– 5+ years with Edgewater Ranzal
– Set internal standards for new product implementations
– Partners closely with Oracle Product Management
– Engage with the Oracle user base community
• Kim Province – Financial Systems Program Manager
– 12+ years of FP&A experience
– 5 years with Wright Medical Technology*
• Rounded! Official work anniversary in Nov 2018
– Internal project manager for financial system enhancements
5. About Wright Medical Group N.V.
Wright Medical Group N.V. is a global medical device company focused on extremities
and biologics products. The company is committed to delivering innovative, value-added
solutions improving the quality of life for patients worldwide. Wright is a recognized
leader of surgical solutions for the upper extremities (shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand),
lower extremities (foot and ankle) and biologics markets, three of the fastest growing
segments in orthopedics. For more information about Wright, visit www.wright.com.
™ and ® denote trademarks and registered trademarks of Wright Medical Group N.V. or
its affiliates, registered as indicated in the United States, and in other countries. All other
trademarks and trade names referred to in this release are the property of their
respective owners.
Ticker Symbol: NASDAQ : WMGI
6. The Wrong Way – Pre-Project Reconciliation Cycle (1/2)
Primary Pain Points Pre-Project
• No formal reconciliation system
– Reconciliations were completed in Excel, then manually uploaded to a shared drive
– No risk ratings / weight on reconciliations
• No centralized repository
– Less than 10% of completed reconciliations were actually uploaded to the shared drive
– The majority were physically printed and kept in folders and filing cabinets at desks
– This made locating historical reconciliations very difficult if someone left the company
• No comprehensive solution
– Data was compiled from multiple sources:
• Multiple versions of JD Edwards (JDE) General Ledger (9.0, 9.1, 8.10, etc.)
• Multiple sub ledgers / subsystems including Sage, JDE A/R and A/P, etc.
7. The Wrong Way – Pre-Project Reconciliation Cycle (2/2)
Primary Pain Points Pre-Project cont’d
• Extensive manual effort, with no automation
• No enforced workflow and difficult to track status
– Difficult to communicate reconciliation availability / assignee
– Reconciliation completion was tracked via Excel checklist on SharePoint which was
manually updated monthly
– Preparers were responsible for updating the status of their assigned reconciliations –
difficult to follow-up with Preparers / Reviewers to sign-off on each reconciliation
8. The Wright Way – Post-Project Reconciliation Cycle (1/3)
Project Successes
• Created a formalized, centralized, and comprehensive solution
– “Nobody has to hunt down where Preparers are savings files – reconciliations are just
easier to find”
• Reduced manual effort on low value reconciliation tasks
– Scheduled multiple daily data loads from JDE 9.0 and JDE 9.1 general ledgers to ensure
reconciliations were being complete against the most recent data
– Out-of-the-box auto reconciliation based on select criteria (ex. no activity change, etc.)
– Created Auto-Submit rules to bypass the Preparer under certain conditions
– Customized these auto-reconciliation / submit rules to only run on non quarter end months
• All reconciliations are “Opened” for quarter-end
9. The Wright Way – Post-Project Reconciliation Cycle (2/3)
Project Successes cont’d
• Provided transparency, traceability, and auditability into the reconciliation cycle
workflow
– Customized BI Publisher report and out-of-the-box dashboards
– Provided visibility for Wright’s various groups to have insight into what reconciliations the
other groups owned
– Easily track system and data changes per reconciliation throughout the reconciliation cycle
– Lock down completed reconciliations
• Incentivized an evaluation of what accounts / reconciliations were needed for the
reconciliation cycle
– Active engagement from the various Wright groups
– “No one used to ask me when a reconciliation was due when we were using SharePoint”
– Notifications encouraged “scrubbing” through to see what was really being done and by
who
10. The Wright Way – Post-Project Reconciliation Cycle (3/3)
Project Successes cont’d
• Ease of communication among Preparers, Reviewers, and Administrators
– Utilized automated email notification functionality to inform users when a reconciliation is
ready
– Re-assignment provides a direct means to request a change in ownership
– Commentary threads at multiple levels in the reconciliation
11. Moving to the Cloud is a Daunting Decision!
• There are A LOT of options
– A LOT of acronyms
– A LOT of business processes to consider
So why ARCS?
What is the argument for implementing
Account Reconciliation Cloud Service
as your first step into the Cloud ?
12. Argument for ARCS
• “Bang for your Buck”
• Fast Implementation Cycles
• Modularity
13. Argument for ARCS – Bang for your Buck (1/3)
• Relative to what you are doing today, this is a night and day comparison
– Access security, data integrity, and manual effort in Excel
– Shared drives and SharePoint do not enforce completion nor provide easy communication
• Out-of-the-box functionality for multiple user types (Preparers, Reviewers, Admins,
Audit, etc.):
– Auto-reconciliation method
– Copy Transactions across periods
– Track aging of reconciling items within ARCS
– Provide Action Plans for reconciling items
– Status reflects if data has changed
– Tic marks per reconciling item / transaction
– Questions section (for compliance, etc.)
– Holiday Rules
14. Argument for ARCS – Bang for your Buck (2/3)
• Big gains with a bit of effort
– Ability to schedule and perform ad-hoc data loads through Cloud Data Management (CDM)
or Financial Data Quality Management, Enterprise Edition (FDMEE)
– Customized rules for…lots of things
• Setting attribute detail
• Auto Submitting
• Auto Reconciling under specific criteria (such as for certain months)
• Submission / Approval criteria
15. Argument for ARCS – Bang for your Buck (3/3)
• Streamlined communication among Preparers, Reviewers, and Administrators
– Notifications for reconciliation status change (i.e. “With Preparer”, “With Reviewer 1”, etc.)
– Request Re-assignment
– Modified Workflow assignee (i.e. to Backup) based on end-user’s set Availability
– Comment threads on Summary, Transactions, and Action Plans
• Insight / Visibility into what is actually happening during the cycle
– Strong dashboard capabilities for management
– Customizable reports (in BI Publisher), as well as a set of out-of-the-box reports
16. Argument for ARCS
• “Bang for your Buck”
• Fast Implementation Cycles
• Modularity
17. Argument for ARCS – Fast Implementation Cycles (1/3)
• Typical full implementation time frame is anywhere between 3 to 6 months
– For Wright Medical, the implementation took 5 months with a lot of “wiggle room”
• Able to put in additional testing cycles
• Able to put in additional training sessions
• Able to take December / January vacation
• ARCS “Quick Starts”
– Timeline moves from months to weeks
– Can be as quick as 4 weeks
– Use the Copy tool from the Actions drop-down
18. Argument for ARCS – Fast Implementation Cycles (2/3)
• A lot of functionality out-of-the-box
– Previously described functionality…
– Reports
– Default Formats
• Partners have developed “Accelerators”
– Common rules
– Framework for multiple general ledger loads
– Framework for single sign on (SSO)
– Automated nightly application backups
19. Argument for ARCS – Fast Implementation Cycles (3/3)
• Lower Risk
– Able to see return on investment and make an assessment
– (Generally speaking!) The reconciliation cycle has lower visibility to upper management
compared to Consolidations & Reporting or Budget / Forecast
– …and yet! Directors are still often involved with signing off on high-risk reconciliations
• ARCS is an attractive “test run” of enterprise-wide Cloud solutions as it allows everyone on the
corporate ladder to experience the software
– Standardized Oracle Cloud experience
• Particularly with the May 2018 patch – similarities to FCCS Close Manager tasks
• Able to make an assessment on whether or not moving the whole EPM suite to the Cloud is right
for you
20. Argument for ARCS
• “Bang for your Buck”
• Fast Implementation Cycles
• Modularity
21. Argument for ARCS – Modular Approach (1/4)
Wright Medical – ARCS Phase 1
– All reconciliations completed today for US & Corporate Entities only
– Flat file feeds from 2 instances of JDE general ledger
Wright Medical – ARCS Phase 2 Options
– Direct feeds from JDE general ledgers
– Automated integrations for subsystems / sub ledgers
– Transaction Matching for A/P process and intercompany matching
– Global rollout (i.e. other GLs, foreign currencies, etc.)
There are many options for additional Phases
22. Argument for ARCS – Modular Approach (2/4)
New Scope / Add-Ons
• Creating new artifacts in ARCS is very straightforward
– New Formats for different data sources or reconciliation types
– New Profiles that were not included in original scope
– New Custom Attributes at different granularities (Summary, Transactions, Action Plans)
– New Rules
23. Argument for ARCS – Modular Approach (3/4)
Modifying in ARCS is very straightforward
• Ex. Changing from Account Analysis to Balance Comparison
• One-off changes can be made in the deployed reconciliation for the Period
• Permanent changes can be made in the Profile for all future Periods
Redesign is…less straightforward…but possible!
• Redesigning System Attributes
• Even Profile Segments
24. Argument for ARCS – Modular Approach (4/4)
Including Automation
• Inside ARCS:
– Setup Auto-Reconciliation method
– Create custom Rules (within Formats, individual Profiles, or custom Attributes)
• Outside ARCS:
– Direct and flat file integrations through FDMEE and / or CDM
• For additional general ledgers
• For subsystems / sub ledgers
– Native connections with FCCS Close Manager and really cool stuff Oracle Integration
Cloud
25. Argument for ARCS
• “Bang for your Buck”
• Fast Implementation Cycles
• Modularity
So, why was ARCS right for Wright?
26. Right for Wright Medical
• Hyperion Financial Management (HFM) and Hyperion Planning (HP) are already in
place and working well!
– The higher visibility financial cycles (Consolidation, Budget / Forecast) had existing
comprehensive solutions, but reconciliations had not been looked at
• Able to leverage some existing build artifacts (FDMEE, mappings, etc.)
• Infrastructure cost savings in the Cloud vs. on-premise applications
– Wanted a Finance Department owned solution
– Minimize dependency on IT
27. Right for YOU
MANY Places to Ask Questions / Get Started
• Oracle Cloud Customer Connect:
– EPM - Account Reconciliation Cloud updates (May 2018)
• Major user interface changes in May 2018 patch
• Quality of life changes for both Reconciliation Compliance and Transaction Matching modules
– EPM - Benefits of Intelligent Process Automation in Financial Consolidation & Close (Nov 2017)
• Time Stamp: 21:16 -> Live Demo using FCCS Close Manager & Oracle Integration Cloud to automatically kick-off a
data load to ARCS after EBS general ledger is closed
• Ranzal Blogs:
– "A Safe Step into the Cloud: The Argument for Account Reconciliation Cloud Service (ARCS) (Apr 2018)
– Current on-going series on Modularity in ARCS (Jun 2018 – Jul 2018)
• OAUG: https://oaug.org/
Follow Nick Boronski @PocketAce_NB