In this article, you will learn about new features and functionality within the Account Reconciliations solution and why they matter. Learn more about enhanced controls and auditability features released in April 2022.
- Easily Update Reconciliation Attributes
- Account Groups Page
- Security is Now More Granular
- User Friendly Reconciliation States
- New Audit Functionality
- Detail Item Enhancements
Easily Update Reconciliation Attributes
The new user friendly dialog provides an easy and intuitive way to update multiple reconciliations at once with real time transparency into which changes can and can’t be made.
- Edit Reconciliation Attributes Dialog
- Ability to edit multiple attributes across multiple reconciliations at once
- Status Grid will indicate if updates can be made
- Mass Updates page removed from Reconciliation Inventory
Account Groups Page
When you click on an Account Group on the top dashboard, you will be able to see all child recs apart of that account group in the dashboard below – which allows the admin to able to conveniently see both on the same page instead of having to switch back and forth between two screens. You can also create a new Account group or use the Clone option which will display the attributes of a selected Account Group that can be used as a template or base to create a new Account Group so they don’t have to create from scratch.
- Separate Account Groups page within Administration
- Convenient layout allows Admin to see Child Recs associated with each Account Group on same screen
- Child reconciliation attributes will remain in sync with Account Group's attributes
- Easily see child reconciliations within the Account Group
Security is Now More Granular
Primaries is now moved out of access group and onto the rec itself, which results in less maintenance and potentially fewer access groups. This will also improve performance since the system will not have to loop through each Access Group to determine if you have the proper credentials, but will instead, look directly to the reconciliation table. Platform security groups has now been added to access groups in addition to individual users so that setup of security groups does not have to be done twice but instead can piggyback off of what already exists.
- Primary Preparer and Approver 1-4 assigned at the reconciliation level
- Access Groups - you can copy group, clone access, replace access, remove access and can also use import/export to make it easy to make updates.
- Back-up roles for Preparers and Approvers 1-4, Commentor, and Viewer
- Local Admin checkbox will function as it has in previous versions
- Utilize Platform Security Groups
- Security works in an "order of operations" approach
User Friendly Reconciliation States
Existing state descriptions and also added more states has improved, which provides greater transparency into where the reconciliation is in the preparation and approval process. If you're looking to auto reconcile something, but still require someone to review it, this update allows you to do so. For example, many users ask if you could require approval only on quarter ends. In this case, make an auto prepare rule and assign it within the inventory for months 3, 6, 9 and 12. For all other months, assign a rule that will auto approve, thus requiring no approval.
- "State" categories have been updated throughout all areas of Account Reconciliations
- Completed now displays as Prepared
- Distinguish between Partially Approved and Fully Approved
- States shown in reconciliation history
- NEW - Ability to use auto reconciliation to only prepare a reconciliation
New Audit Functionality
You can now see what changes were made and which user made the change as well as what time they made it – helpful for internal use and for audit purposes.
- Auditor Role
- Allows you to have auditors to only see reconciliations that are fully approved
- Audit Logging
- When changes were made
- Who made the change
- What changes was made
- Export functionality to provide support to auditors
Detail Item Enhancements
With the copy feature, preparers can now use the prior detail item as a base or template to create a new item for current period. For example, if you have a recurring rec item where the explanation remains the same every month, but the balance may change, you could copy this forward and only update the balance each time instead of having to type out all of the information again.
- Reconciliation Preparers have option to Pull or Copy detail items
- Can now select which items to pull
- Database storage improvements
If you're interested in watching the Platform Power Hour webinar on this topic, view it here.
Source: Platform Power Hour: Account Reconciliations Webinar
Author: Kelly Darren & Jessica McAlpine of OneStream
