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Panel Discussion Reporting and period-end GL Activity

Join the NorCalOAUG Training Day on January 17th, 2008 for a panel discussion on reporting and period-end GL activity. Learn from industry experts about challenges and solutions in financial reporting. Don't miss this informative event!

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Panel Discussion Reporting and period-end GL Activity

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  1. Panel Discussion Reporting and period-end GL Activity NorCalOAUG Training Day January 17th, 2008

  2. Panel Agenda • Introduction • Short presentation by each Panel Member (20 minutes) • Open Question & Answer session • Wrap Up

  3. Panel Members 1 Ramesh Dhullipala • Cal Water, PeopleSoft 2 Lucas Pannell • Solyndra (EBS) and past SAP user 3 Michael Zazzera • Netgear (Hyperion) 4 Alex J Zima • Aquest Systems (EBS) also an SAP user 5 Timothy Thronson • Oracle Corporation – Oracle JDE 6 Nancy Beardsley • Oracle Corporation – Oracle EBS

  4. California Water Services Co. • Company Background • Revenue – 2006 - $334 million • California Water Service Group is the largest investor-owned American water utility west of the Mississippi River, and the second largest in the country. Traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CWT," the Company has five wholly owned subsidiaries operating in California, Washington, New Mexico, and Hawaii. • Oracle Solutions • Peoplesoft FSCM, RMS and HCM is used for close, consolidation, & reporting. • Reviewing closing/reporting for Account Reconciliations, General Ledger & Misc. Receivables. • Reporting Methodology: Standard PS vanilla/custom reports (SQR, Crystal, nVision and PSQuery).

  5. Challenges & Solutions • Reorganizations • Problem: Integration between the different PS systems & subsystems and reporting separately for other sister companies. • Oracle Solution: All the modules are tightly integrated, and that streamlines the Financial reporting • Reconciliation Methodology • Problem: Unable to Close/Report on time because of General Ledger Activity difference for accounts across the systems (Purchase Price Variance, Vendor Aging, Sub systems, etc.) • Oracle Solution: Reviewing accounting entries across the systems and comparing the same with GL Activity reports with in PS systems.

  6. Solyndra, Inc. • Company Background • High-performance photovoltaics; cost-effective solar electricity • Private, Headquartered in Fremont, California, USA • Personal Background • Sr. Finance Manager; was first Finance employee (other than CFO) in June 2007. New to Oracle 11i; implemented in Feb-Mar 2007. • Novellus Systems, Inc. from 2001-7; Novellus used an AskMan/Hyperion (Pillar/Enterprise) combo to 2003; implemented SAP R/3 in 2003 to replace AskMan; upgraded Hyperion to Planning (HP) & Financial Management (HFM) in 2007. • Auditor; Ernst & Young 1997-2001 • Current Situation • Small company; looking to grow; • Early and quick adoption of a Tier I ERP system has complicated the Company’s ability to control and report due to the pace of change required of start-ups.

  7. Challenges & Solutions • Structure Overview • Transactional: EBS 11i, Discoverer, ADI, DBI, Excel • Issues • Procurement • MRP – Designed for stable operations as opposed to R&D operations • iProcurement – Challenges with account coding and ease of use • Actuals and Variance Reporting • Manual Excel the preferred method due to usability • Working to enhance DBI to meet quick needs of managers • Capital reporting capability desired • Budgeting/Forecasting • Desire real-time results with weekly predictability of month closes • DBI with Encumbrance solution being explored • Desire to forecast below GL account level • Projects or Project ID’s within accounting flexfields • ADI Forecast template adequate in short-term

  8. NETGEAR Profile • Company Background • Revenue – 2006 - $574 million – 30+% AGR • Networking, Wireless – ReadyNAS – Wireless HD streaming devices • Business conducted in NA, APAC and EMEA • Oracle Solutions • JDE Edwards – One World XE • (EBS- R12 – GO LIVE Q3 08) • Agile 9.2 • db - Oracle 10g • OLAP: OBIEE, Cognos and Hyperion Essbase • Planning tools: Demantra & Hyperion Planning • HRIS – Oracle HR • Work Flow tool – Savvion 8

  9. Solutions & Challenges • Solutions • 2007 - Implemented Demantra, Oracle HR, OBIEE, Agile upgrade and Essbase GO LIVE within months of each other… • 2008 – Solutions in progress • Navisite - Currently in CRP for R12 – GO LIVE in Q3 2008 • Also implementing – OM and TM • OBIEE expansion - onging • Hyperion Planning 9.3 – Q1 08 • Challenges • Hierarchy disciplines needed to be instituted with Demantra and Essbase projects – who owns various dimensions? • Moving users from “SpreadMart” approach to application specific applications and tools such as OBIEE, Demantra and Essbase • Heavy Pivot table usage by many users • Key business processes grew from Excel paradigm • “Ever” evolving Reporting and ETL landscape – which tool(s) are right fit for end user 9

  10. Aquest Systems • Currently with Aquest Systems, but implemented & used both Oracle 11i and SAP 4.7 with KLA-Tencor. • Background: Aquest Corporate Controller; KT: Internal Audit Mgr (1.5yrs), GL Consolidations Mgr (2yrs) , SAP Project (1yr) With KLA-Tencor a total of 10 years. • Implemented Oracle 11i & SAP globally: Responsible for Financial statement conversions world-wide, GL Activities, and close/consolidations • Oracle Solutions • EBS was used internationally for close, consolidation, & reporting • Dependent of set of books solution for consolidation & used allocation workbench to automate some consolidating entries such as Rev/COGS eliminations & Interco AR/AP • Reporting Methodology: Legal Entity reporting by company code for SEC but division reporting for Mgt decision making

  11. Challenges & Solutions • Reorganizations • Problem: Product lines constantly being moved between divisions at the whim of executives and/or general managers • Oracle Solution: Made good use of product segment parent-child assignments • SAP Solution: Profit center assignments & drag/drop in hierarchies • Revaluation of Foreign Currencies for FAS52 • Problem: Being able to revalue only specific items on the GL and having confidence the FX value was correct and reasonable & executing the program. (Mismatch of currencies) • Oracle Solution: General review of accounts and sweeping unwanted currencies to the P&L to be cleared through retained earnings • SAP Solution: GL accounts configured to only accept a specific currency and to be identified in the revaluation program.

  12. Ramesh Dhulipalla Lucas Panell Michael Zazerra Alex J. Zima Nancy Beardsley Principal Solution Consultant (650)506-5043 nancy.beardsley@oracle.com Contact Information

  13. Questions are welcome Questions can be addressed to the panel Questions can be addressed to specific individuals Next Steps and Open Session

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