EPM Case Study

Goldman Sachs JBWere

Mark Nottle
Finance Systems Controller
Goldman Sachs JBWere
Goldman Sachs JBWere

• Australasian pre-eminent financial services organisation

• Providing quality investment, advisory, wealth
management and execution services to a broad range of
private, corporate and institutional clients.
• 1,500 employees
• Part of the Goldman Sachs Group
Budgeting – the old way
• Process was predominantly spreadsheet
based
• Supporting schedules via excel, word
email
• Budget data loaded into Oracle eBusiness
Suite (General Ledger)
• Reporting via Oracle GL
The journey
Evaluating Budgeting Solutions
• Evaluating systems in 2005
• Commenced project Feb 2006
Implemented Hyperion System 9
• Several months of data analysis and detailed
business requirements
• Initial build on Hyperion System 9
• Cost allocations tool
Deployment
FY07 First Budget Cycle
• Go Live: August 2006
• 100 users
•9 drafts (only 2 drafts in FY06)
• Supported by James & Monroe
• Internal Training by GSJBW
Why Hyperion Planning?
• User Interface
– User friendly interface
– Input forms and task lists set up and owned by GSJBW
• Hyperion provide “train the trainer”
• Single sign-on with Microsoft Active Directory
• Real-time reporting of the budget model for end-users
and reviewers (Hyperion Workspace)
• Essbase
• Forecasting – changes in market conditions
• Minimal IT support (server infrastructure only)
Why Hyperion Planning?
For the Budget process
• Multiple drafts (including allocation runs)
• Able to use comparative data (prior year actuals,
calculated forecast columns)
• Budget stays open during review cycles
• Security access by Business Unit, Geographical
Location and Account
• Supporting detail worksheets held within the system
• Workflow notifications for approvals
Why Hyperion Planning?
Calculation and Modelling Features
• Modelling key drivers:
– Head count
– Phasing based on Trading days, Business Days
• Built-in calculations
– PRT, FBT, Depreciation on CapEx, Travel
Oracle Financials
• Planning remains the formal budget system of
record
• “Member hierarchies” (account definitions,
business unit structure, etc) based on Oracle
Financials structures
– Scheduled ETL process custom-built by James &
Monroe
• ASO database for enhanced reporting and
analytics of Oracle Financials data
Project Success
• Business and Management Buy-in
• Dedicated project team
• Bed down business requirements in planning
phase
• Project to determine Go Live not vice versa
• Consultants: rely on Hyperion knowledge
• Scope Creep
EPM Case Study
Goldman Sachs JBWere

Ben White
Principal Consultant
James & Monroe
About us

• Specialist Oracle EPM consulting partner

• Commercial background
• Consultants with 10+ years’ experience
with the core components of Oracle EPM
Our engagement
• Methodology
• Phased implementation
• Focus on Knowledge Transfer
The implementation
Oracle EPM: Hyperion Planning
• Extending Oracle eApplication Suite
(Oracle Financials General Ledger)
• Detailed budget by Account, Cost Centre, and Project
Code
• 100 budget users
• Modelling:
– Foreign Exchange
– Centrally-budgeted items
• Managed Workflow
Extending Planning: Allocations
• Allocating back-office costs to front office
• Previously...
– Took 2 to 3 days to complete
– Extremely error-prone
• Allocation module developed by J&M
– Automatic validation
– Under 1 hour to complete
• Based on Oracle’s Hyperion Planning
• Developed as an Oracle Fusion application
• Fully integrated with Planning
EPM Approach

Integrated Start Anywhere

Management Approach
Process
Business Intelligence
Oracle EPM: Hyperion Essbase
• Full-detail Reporting & Analysis
of Oracle Financials General Ledger data
– Standard monthly report packs
– Speed-of-thought analysis in Excel
• Corporate Card Expense Analysis
The future
• New Business Intelligence applications
• Statutory Consolidations and
Financial Reporting
• Balance Sheet Substantiation
EPM Case Study
Goldman Sachs JBWere
James & Monroe

Q&A