The successful deployment of Financial Consolidation and Close (FCC) remains a discussion point within the FCC community more than three years after FCC made its debut. While Oracle invested time and effort to standardize consolidation rules, the intricacies and variety within the field of financial consolidations presents its own challenges.
Oracle began offering their cloud consolidation solution in 2016 called Financial Consolidation & Close Cloud Service (FCCS). The application was recently renamed Financial Consolidation and Close (FCC). Oracle provides monthly improvements to the application with notification via their FCC cloud readiness updates. Deploying a new FCC application requires attention to detail as there are many factors to consider for a smooth deployment.
Oracle developed FCC on an Essbase foundation, and included consolidation calculations such as currency translation and automatic eliminations as part of the out-of-the-box framework. A developer works within that framework to maximize the benefits of the application. This document will share some tips, tricks and build considerations when implementing a new system.
The insights provided are intended to equip customers and integrators with tools for successful implementations; including some potentially new discoveries to enhance the FCC community knowledge. The topics covered include:
- FCC Forum and Oracle Cloud Readiness
- FCC Dimensions and Extended dimensionality
- Importance of Hierarchy Design
- Data Management Drill Through URL
- Member Formulas
- Consolidation Process Configurations
- Account “FCCS_Balance”
- System Calculation Option for Custom Dimension Top Member
- Pre-Seeded Consolidation Rule Sets and Equity Pickup
- Valid Intersections
- Periodic Data
FCC allows companies to deploy a new FCC application with minimal customization. Production readiness can be achieved in a shorter time frame when leverage the consolidation logic within Oracle’s framework. Oracle has standardized the rules for consolidation contributing to faster implementation. Previously, developers often relied on a HFM rules “template” they would tailor for each new deployment. Developers now focus on system configuration to client specific requirements, spending less time on rules and testing.
Stay tuned as I will review in Part 2 the FCC Forum and Oracle Cloud Readiness.