1. Oracle Cloud ERP reporting 360º
107900
Pras Ramakrishnan
Sr. Solution Architect
Grant Thornton LLP
Realize the power of reporting capabilities in Oracle Financials Cloud ERP
04/23/2018

2. About Grant Thornton Office locations People Reach Partners
59 offices spread across 30 states and Washington D.C.
More than 8,500 professionals in the U.S.
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stats are as of 07/31/2017

3. Grant Thornton: What we do
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4. Grant Thornton: Oracle Cloud ERP clients (sample)
stats are as of 07/31/2017

5. Reporting framework

6. Reporting framework - overview

7. Reporting framework – data storage
Oracle Financials Cloud ERP maintains application data on couple different platforms depending on the nature of the data
Transactional data is stored on a relational DB (Oracle DB) platform
GL Balances data is stored on a multi-dimensional Essbase ASO cube
From a reporting perspective, both data sets are updated real time based on the transactions in the ERP application
Transactional details data is only maintained on the relational DB platform while the balances data is loaded into the Essbase cube for ad-hoc analytics and slicing/dicing

8. GL balances cube

9. GL balances cube - Essbase overview
Essbase is a multidimensional, OLAP database, designed to enable sub-second responses to analytical queries.
Online Analytical Processes (OLAP) take advantage of multiple dimensional storage, housing data points at the intersection of the dimensions that shape the “cube”.
Cubes can be more than 3 “dimensions” (becoming “hyper-cubes”)
The GL balances cube uses the Aggregated Storage Option (ASO)
The nature of the storage design of ASO allows for quick aggregations and the swift slicing and dicing of aggregated data along dimensional hierarchies
Multidimensional Storage

10. GL balances cube - features
Purpose
Mainly intended to store GL balances data for ad-hoc reporting of the same
Additionally represents the platform for enabling allocation rules within Oracle Cloud ERP
Hierarchies
The various trees and versions of each segment is manifested as alternate hierarchies under respective dimensions in the cube
Allows for slicing/dicing along the various hierarchies in the cube
Security
Data access and segment value security (if configured) apply for the data accessed from the cube as well
Report development tools that can pull data from the cube
Smartview
Financial reporting studio
OTBI

11. GL balances cube - maintenance processes
Update balances cube chart of account hierarchies
Updates all hierarchies in the specified dimension (segment)
Will prevent other connections to the cube while the process is active
Will fail if there are allocations or other processes that are already modifying the data in the cube
Should be used for regular update of hierarchies e.g., when hierarchies need to be updated from Oracle DRM
Does not delete hierarchies but rather only updates changes to the hierarchies
Create balances cube
This process does a full cube rebuild
Will delete and reload all data so as to completely rebuild the hierarchies
If there are hierarchy issues that are not resolved by the update process, this process needs to be used

12. Report creation tools

13. Reporting tools – GL balances cube only
Financial reporting studio
Used to create standardized, pixel perfect financial reports for consumption by management, executive, or external users
Reports are typically built by report administrators when using the Financial reporting studio tool
Reports can be accessed from EPM workspace or Financial reporting center
Smart view
Excel add-in based ad-hoc reporting tool used to create custom one-off reports
Reports are typically built by the end-user using the Smart View add-in for Microsoft Excel
Custom nature of reports necessitates knowledge of hierarchies and data to be able to slice/dice data
Both tools allow for drill through into detail data
ERP Data security is enforced when using either tool

14. Reporting tool - balances and detail data
Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence (OTBI)
Business intelligence tool based on OBIEE technology, used by operational users to create custom analyses (reports) and dashboards
Allows users to select from pre-defined subject areas with columns that can be used for reporting
All subject areas in OTBI except for one, use the ERP database as the source of data, allowing for real-time reporting when entries are made
General ledger balances – Real time subject area pulls data from the GL balances cube
Data access and segment value security natively apply to OTBI reports
Full-featured graphing, charting and advanced visualization capabilities
Dashboards can be created to group like reports for end-user consumption
Reports/dashboards can be consumed from Oracle BI portal, financial reporting center and/or Infolets

15. Reporting tool – transactional detail data only
Oracle BI Publisher
BI Publisher (published reports) is an XML based reporting tool which can be used for high volume, pixel perfect transactional reporting
BI Publisher can only access the relational database tables by means of direct SQL queries
SQL queries will give full access to the relational DB tables
BIP requires customization for data security
Significant performance implications should be considered
Reports created by BI administrator
Reports created in BI Publisher can be consumed through the BI portal or financial reporting center or scheduled process UI

16. Report consumption

17. Report consumption – internal to Cloud ERP
Financial reporting center
UI/Portal within ERP that allows to search and view all reports available within ERP
Both custom and seeded reports can be searched and bookmarked
Cannot view custom BI Publisher reports in FRC but scheduled reports can
Best suited for viewing reports created in FR Studio, FR Reporting books created in EPM Workspace as well as pre-generated BI Publisher reports
Report catalog (Folder) structure is not available in FRC but folder security applies

18. Report consumption – internal to Cloud ERP
Infolets
Visualization widgets available on the ERP homepage to highlight KPIs, call attention to issues and drive action where possible
Can be created based on OTBI analysis with option to drill back to detail
Enables presentation of metric values either numerically or through advanced visualization
ERP Uis
Delivered UIs in Cloud ERP provide operational reporting and analysis as well
For e.g., close monitor leverages ERP configuration to track the close process

19. Report consumption – internal to Cloud ERP
Oracle BI/Analytics portal
The portal is a one stop place for creating and consuming BI Publisher and OTBI reports and dashboards
Provides full report catalog access as well as ability to create/update catalog folder structures to store the reports
Report schedules and related jobs can be created and tracked from this portal
Oracle EPM workspace
The EPM workspace provides a portal to consume financial reports created in FR studio as well as create related artifacts like reporting books, batches and schedules
Additionally, it provides access to the calculation manager that allows for creating and maintaining allocation scripts

20. Report consumption - external to Cloud ERP
Smart View
Excel add-in that allows power users to perform ad-hoc excel based analysis of GL balances data
Pre-created excel templates/reports may be shared outside of Cloud ERP and can be refreshed on demand by users by connecting to the GL balances cube
BI Publisher reports run offline
BI Publisher reports that are run offline can be scheduled to export data into external file servers
Maintenance and consumption of scheduled reports is performed outside of the Cloud ERP application

21. Cloud ERP reporting essentials

22. Cloud ERP reporting essentials
Reporting configuration as part of rapid implementation spreadsheet
Requires identification of 3 top Income statement parent natural accounts using account types
Revenue – top revenues parent account
Expense – top cost of sales parent account
Expense – top operating expenses parent account
Once the 3 parent accounts are identified, financial reporting reports as well as account groups for Infolets, sunbursts, close monitor and account monitor can be auto generated by running the ‘generate financial reports and account groups’ scheduled process
Ability to preview effect of report configuration prior to deploying the rapid implementation spreadsheet exists within the spreadsheet
Pixel perfect reporting i.e., highly formatted reports
Balances data can be displayed in pixel perfect reports using FR studio
Relational ERP details data reported using BI Publisher

23. Cloud ERP reporting essentials
Ad-hoc querying
Balances data using Smart View
Slicing/dicing across multiple dimensions
Drill down along segment trees/hierarchies
Balances and transactional details using pre-modelled subject areas in OTBI
Advanced visualizations
Dashboards and analyses created using OTBI
OTBI visualizations rendered using Infolets with ability to view the underlying OTBI report for details
Drill back to details
Default drill back into detail balances and Account Inquiry UIs available when creating FR studio and Smart View reports
OTBI action link based drill through can be configured from balances to details

24. Governance and reporting hierarchies

25. Governance in Cloud ERP reporting
Effective reporting governance can be achieved by enabling governance across 3 constituent aspects:
Reporting hierarchies
Includes controlling the creation, editing and deactivation of segment trees across ERP
The process should be consistent with other applications that share these hierarchies
Metadata values
Includes controlling the creation, editing and deactivation of segment values across ERP
The process should be consistent with other applications that share these values
ERP segment value size restrictions should be part of governance to ensure clarity in reporting
Report certification
Centrally certify enterprise reports once and use everywhere
Departmental reports may still be used but will not be certified for widespread enterprise use
Oracle EDMCS and Oracle DRM can be used to centralize reporting governance
Governance in Cloud ERP reporting
Report Certification
Reporting Hierarchies
Metadata Values

26. Reporting hierarchies - functionality
Multiple alternate hierarchies (trees) are supported in a dimension (segment) of the balances cube (ERP application)
Shared member functionality works as expected across these alternate hierarchies wherein data is loaded to the base values are accurately reflected in every hierarchy that those values are present
Duplicate/shared members are not allowed within the same hierarchy (tree)
Every dimension has an “all values” hierarchy which is created automatically to keep track of level 0 values. This is just a flat list of values hierarchy
Member names are fully qualified with the full ancestor names for members that are duplicated within the same dimension or across different dimension

27. Reporting hierarchies - security
Data access security
Controls both data entry access as well as data retrieval access
Has to be setup against one tree/hierarchy only (i.e., one tree/hierarchy in one of the dimensions/segments)
Segment value security
Can be setup against multiple segments/dimensions
Within a segment/dimension however, the segment value security can be enabled on only one tree/hierarchy
NOTE: For users that do not have access to a tree/hierarchy (due to segment value or data access security) used in a report, the entire report will return no data

28. Report distribution by tool

29. Report distribution - overview
FRS reports
scheduled and distributed using books and batches
OTBI reports
scheduled using an agent
BI Publisher reports
scheduled using a ESS job or report scheduler
Smart View queries
cannot be scheduled for distribution purposes
can be uploaded to the BI catalog and downloaded by other users

30. Report distribution – FRS reports
FRS report distribution features
Reports included in books can be viewed in many different ways based on the ability to select multiple members for dimensions in the POV
The book POV allows individual users the flexibility to view reports differently than other users.
FRS report scheduling allows for cover pages and includes a table of contents
Dimensions can be hidden or shown in the table of contents
Has the ability to distribute PDF output to non-users via
Considerations
Limited output options
Maintenance of books and batches may become quite involved

31. Report distribution – OTBI reports
OTBI report distribution features
Abundance of frequency options when scheduling
Excellent output options (Excel, PDF, CSV, HTML, etc) for individual reports
Has the ability to schedule and distribute to users and non-users
Has the ability to schedule dashboard pages, analyses, and briefing books
Considerations
Row limits that are inherent to all OTBI reports apply to distribution as well
Including analyses with prompts requires extra configuration
is the only viable output destination
Reports grouped in briefing book are only available in PDF, HTML

32. Report distribution – BI Publisher reports
BIP report distribution features
Easy to input parameters when scheduling
Output options of Excel, PDF, HTML, and RTF
Ability to distribute via , printer, FTP, content server
Ability to run and schedule reports from financial reporting center
Ability to schedule at any frequency desired
User is able to view scheduling history of the report
Easy to republish and resend scheduled outputs from the past
Considerations
BI Publisher reports are unable to be grouped in a book

33. Tips, tricks and considerations for reporting

34. FR studio – suppressing the 13th period
Using advances options setup to ensure that trailing and rolling reports remain dynamic, when trying to suppress 13th period data from showing on those reports
Advanced options setup
Suppresses period 13 always

35. OTBI – action link based drill through
Identify the analyses that will be linked together
Edit the analysis from which the drill will be executed
Identify the column which will have to be clicked and edit properties
Click on Interaction tab and add an action link to Values
Browse to the 2nd report that will be executed by clicking on the column value

36. OTBI – action link based drill through

37. OTBI – tips for “GL Balances – Real Time” subject area
The only GL subject area in OTBI sourced from the Essbase cube is the General Ledger – Balances Real Time subject area
Requirements to report on the Essbase cube in OTBI
Migrate All COA segments into OTBI
Enable flex fields for BI reporting
Select columns required to build a report using GL Balances - Real Time subject area
Apply the necessary filters to pull the correct balances and access the Essbase cube
Bypass the presentation server cache in the OTBI analysis to remove lag between the Essbase cube and the subject area

38. OTBI – tips for “GL Balances – Real Time” subject area
The following columns are required to report on the Essbase cube.
Chart of accounts
Ledger name
Currency
Calendar name (under the time folder)
Scenario
Amount type
Currency type
Balance amounts
All COA codes and tree filters
Due to ragged hierarchies, select the highest level ("Level 31”) Code column for all COA segment codes, instead of the "segment code" column.

39. OTBI – tips for “GL Balances – Real Time” subject area
Filters must be applied on the following columns
Chart of accounts
Name
Scenario
All of the Tree filter columns
For the "tree filter" filter for each COA segment, manually type in ‘All [segment] Values' when using the 'is equal to / is in' operator.

40. BI publisher – memory guard considerations
BI publisher’s performance and report size/ data limits are controlled by Oracle’s memory guard settings
Oracle has maximum limits for memory guard settings which should be considered for requirements that would need offline reports that retrieve high volume of data
Running BI reports offline will allow for usage of higher limits than running them online
“Offline” is Oracle’s term for scheduling BIP reports via the report jobs scheduler (not scheduled processes)
“Online” is Oracle’s term for running BIP reports ad hoc
Oracle BI publisher best practices for SaaS environments (Doc ID )
Must ask Oracle via document submission for changes to memory guard settings
How to request changes for the BI publisher memory guard settings (Doc ID )
For e.g., we had a report that extracts GL details by hierarchical structure for one month at a time which required the data generation limit to be increased to the maximum value of 2GB

41. Report rationalization

42. Infolets and OTBI – sample use case demo

43.
107900

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