This presentation looks at issues facing office of the finance as part of closing the accounting cycle for business. The emphasis is on both business demands when it comes to reporting. The presentation will discuss areas like risk management, business process change, reporting options as part of looking at how best to streamline the close, consolidate and reporting cycle for a business.

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© 2014 IBM Corporation
Close, Consolidate and Reporting
Cycle
Presenter: Paul Young, CPA, CGA – Proven Practice Adviser – Risk
Analytics, FOPM/FPM and Close, Consolidate and Reporting
Date: February 13, 2017

2. © 2012 IBM Corporation
Agenda
September 9,
2014
• Close, Consolidate and Reporting

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Author / Bio
September 9,
2014
• Paul Young, CPA, CGA
• SME – Financial Performance Management (TM1, Cognos Controller and
Cognos Disclosure Management, OpenPages, Algorithmics, Cognos
Integrated Server, Cognos Command Center and Datawatch)
• Industry Experience
• 15+ years in Corporate Reporting, Budget & Forecasting, Costing,
Business Process Management, Internal Audit and Controls, Risk
Management, Financial Analysis, Costing
• 11+ years in financial solutions (FOPM, FPM, Risk, Office of the
Finance, Risk Management)
• 8+ years teaching Advance Finance, Advance Accounting, Public
Finance and Advance Management Information Systems
• Blogger in areas like Finance Analysis, Government policies, market
segment

4. © 2012 IBM Corporation
Issues facing the CFO/Office of Finance
September 9,
2014
• Top 10 CFO Risks for 2017
• Reducing the time to close
• The reliance on excel for reporting
• Demands from business
• Risk Management
• Work Process Changes

5. © 2012 IBM Corporation
Top 10 CFO Risk for 2017
September 9,
2014
Source – CFO.com

6. © 2012 IBM Corporation
Reducing the time to Close, Consolidate and Report
September 9,
2014
Areas of focus
• General Ledger close
• Gap Analysis
• Soft close/Management Reporting
• Tax Planning
• Regulatory Filings
• New Mandates
• Government Filings
• SEC Filings (Schedules)
• XBRL Reporting
Source: Tech Target
Pain Point
• Demands from business to
reduced the time to close the
G/L
• Companies need to be more
agile in terms making
decisions
• Ability for companies to deal
with big data

7. © 2012 IBM Corporation
Reliance on Excel
September 9,
2014
Source – CFO.com
Office of Finance/CFO concerns
• Accounting/finance are comfortable with excel (Pivot Tables, Macros, graphs, etc)
• Accounting/Finance have issues with looking at data in a OLAP (multi-dimensional
structure
• Difficulties with locking down excel (Internal Control issues)
• More and more moneys spent on audit work as part of the rigorous regulatory filing
process with various Security Exchange Commissions
• New Accounting Standards (Leases, Revenue, Recognition, Financial Instruments)
• Risk Management modeling (Cybersecurity, operational risk)
• Proactive Budget Cycle
• Tax Planning
• Business process change

8. © 2012 IBM Corporation
Demands from the Business
September 9,
2014
• Business ability to manage data as part of adjusting to market conditions
• Testing out the reserves/spending (Bad Debt, Inventory Provision,
Environmental Liabilities, etc)
• Evaluation the success of product delivery (Product improvements and
maintenance)
• Product Launch
• Embracing digital media
• Dealing with domestic and international markets (Local market issues as well
as geopolitical issues)

9. © 2012 IBM Corporation
Risk Management
September 9,
2014
Major Risk Factors
• Operational Risk
• Financial Risk
• Cybersecurity Risk
Comment:
• Many companies are including
Risk Management Reporting as
part of their Management
Reporting Cycle
• Securing and protecting assets
from cyber attacks is big concern
for business
• Integrated supply chain drives
operational risk concerns for
management
• Regulatory Filings (BEPS, New
Accounting Standards and more
disclosure)

10. © 2012 IBM Corporation
Work Process Changes
September 9,
2014
• Cost savings through streamlining business processes
• Mergers and acquisitions
• International expansion (New markets)
• Domestic expansion
Comments
• Accounting and Finance new to be agile when updating reporting
• Requirement for business to build business Models (Cost to Serve, Supply
Chain Management, Market Segment Reporting, Scenario Planning,
Reforecasting cycle, Cost Controls/Risk Assessment)

11. © 2012 IBM Corporation
What does it mean for Accounting and Finance
September 9,
2014
• Microsoft Excel still will be main tool for analysis by accounting and finance
• Ability for Finance and Accounting to embrace the use of analytical tools
• The need for more automation in terms of accounting processes as part of
streamlining the close, consolidate and reporting cycle
• The ability to build models that support business. The new models can be
built using OLAP technology
• Investment in Internal Audit as part of reducing the regulatory filing cost

12. © 2012 IBM CorporationSeptember 9,
2014
• Additional Sources
• Paul Young (email: paul.young@ca.ibm.com)
• IBM Close, Consolidating and Reporting, Risk and Planning Analytics
• http://www.ibm.com/analytics/us/en/business/financial-reporting/
• http://www-03.ibm.com/software/products/en/planning-analytics
• http://www.ibm.com/analytics/us/en/business/governance-risk-
compliance/
• Reporting Pain Points -
http://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/reporting-challenges-for-
accounting-and-finance-january-2017