Creating a Single Journal (Not a Template)
HFM Journals are used to enter adjustments to account balances and maintain an audit trail of changes to the data.
Users create journals by entering a journal label and description, balance type, point of view, and adjustment amounts.
Before creating a journal, verify the point of view to be sure that the scenario, year, period, and value are the ones to which the adjustments are to be made. When entering adjustments, users can scan the detail lines and ensure that the lines are valid. Users can then make any necessary changes before posting the journal. To create a single journal from scratch, begin by selecting Process Journals from the Journal Tasks folder in the browser view hierarchy.
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Alternatively, users can access the HFM Journal module by clicking on the Process Journals link in the Tasklist:
After clicking on the Process Journals URL, the Process Journals dialog screen will appear that will list any existing journals. Since we are creating a new journal, note that the POV bar only consists of 4 dimensions: Scenario, Year, Period and Value – an additional 7 dimensions will be defined by the user in the journal entry itself.
The final dimension for the journal entry, view, depends on the journal entry view settings for each of the Scenarios and cannot be changed by the user. If a scenario has a journal entry setting of Periodic, then all journals posted to that scenario will go in on a periodic basis. If the scenario has a journal entry setting of YTD, then all journals posted to that scenario will go in on an YTD basis.
Once the user is sure that the POV for the 4 dimensions is set appropriately, click New to create a new journal entry.
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After clicking new, users should get to the next dialog screen where the system is gathering further information about the journal entry that is being created. Leave the radio box for “Start with blank journal” selected. If this journal entry will only affect one entity, select the “Create as Single Entity Journal” checkbox. If the journal entry will affect more than one entity, leave this box unchecked – users will then have to specify an entity per row of the journal entry form. Note:
leave the type set to regular; do not select Auto-reversing, since these are not being used by Tyco.
After clicking OK on the New Journal dialog box, a blank journal will open. The following screen is displayed:
1. This is the POV for the journal entry – 4 of the dimensions (scenario, year, period, and value) were set at the initial screen right before clicking on New and these elements of the POV cannot be changed. The entity dimension now appears because the user instructed HFM that this will be a single entity journal. This can be changed to a specific entity. If the single entity journal box was not checked, the entity dimension will not show here – only the scenario, year, period, and value dimensions will. In that case, the user would then have to enter entity members on each line of the journal entry.
2. These are the buttons for the actions for the journals that the user will perform after he/she has populated the journal entry form. Generally, the process is to populate the form, scan it for validity, save it, and then close it.
3. This section is where a user will enter in the Label for the journal entry (a naming convention will be supplied by Tyco), the Group (if applicable), and Balance Type (either Balanced, Unbalanced, or Balanced by Entity). Leave Security at Default. When creating a single-entity journal, the system displays the currency for the entity being adjusted.
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4. Enter a journal description. This description can be a maximum of 255 characters.
5. This section is where the specific lines in the adjustment are recorded. Each field on each row that contains an adjustment amount must contain a valid member from each dimension. In a single entity journal entry, members must be selected for each of the following dimensions. A line item description field is available on each line, as well as fields for debit and credit amounts.
Line item dimensions needed in a single entity journal entry
Account ICP Custom1 Custom2 Custom3 Custom4
To choose members for each line item, first place the cursor on a specific cell. Then users can either click on the Pick Members button or double-click in the specific cell to bring up the Member Selector dialog box. If the user knows the exact member label, he/she could also key it in manually without using the Member Selector dialog box.
Only base-level members from each dimension should be selected. In addition, the ICP and custom dimensions will only display valid members from each dimension depending upon the member users select for the account dimension. For example, if a user is creating a journal to affect 113060 (Inventory - Work in Process – ST,) the only ICP member that will display is [ICP None]. The system will also attempt to “guess” at the selections for the additional dimensions – be sure to verify the guesses; in some cases they may not match the desired Point of View.
The last field in the left portion of this section is for a line item description. Users can enter a description for each specific line (the description in section #4 above is for the entire journal entry).
Finally, enter an amount in either the debit or credit field to complete the record. At this point, users can scan the journal entry to ensure that the lines entered so far are valid. In addition, it is a good idea to periodically save the journal as it is created.
Users can continue adding additional records as desired. To save time, users can copy a row by first placing the cursor in the row from which he/she is copying, and then clicking the copy row button. Then, moving the cursor to the row to which the record will be copied, and then clicking the paste row button. Edit the pasted data as necessary.
6. This section of the window carries a running total for the debits and credits of the records. Balanced journal types must be in balance before submitting.
Using Journal Templates
Users can create journal entries from templates to save time when entering similar journals each month. HFM allows two types of journal templates:
• Standard templates - contain accounts and entities for adjustments that are entered frequently, but do not have debit and credit amounts already populated. If standard templates are created, users can begin their journal entry by selecting this template, and then simply entering in the debit and credit amounts – saving all of the time need to specify the dimension members.
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• Recurring templates - contain complete information for identical journal entries (including the debit and credit amounts) that recur for more than one period. Useful for identical journal entries that are made to the system each and every period.
Templates apply to all scenarios in an application - they are not dependent on scenario and year. Recurring templates are dependent on the Value dimension member.
Scanning journals
As users enter line items and adjustments, they can scan the detail lines and ensure that the lines are valid. The scan button can be clicked numerous times during the build of a journal entry. In this way, users can make any necessary changes before saving the journal and processing it.
When a user runs a scan, if the journal contains errors, a separate window is displayed with the scan results by row number. Note: If all of the entries are valid when scan is run, no message is displayed. If any errors are returned, click Back to Journal to return to the journal entry and make the correction.
After the journal entry is completely populated, scan the journal entry one final time before saving it and beginning the posting process. After the journal has been successfully scanned, click the Save button to save the journal to the system.
Processing journals
After successfully scanning and saving the journal entry, the journal will be saved to the system with a status of
“working”. At this state, a user can revisit the entry as often as required to make changes, but remember to scan and save the journal. The journal status indicates the current state of the journal as it moves through the HFM journal entry approval process. The following table describes the potential journal statuses in HFM:
Journal entry statuses in HFM
Working Journal is created. It has been saved, but it may be incomplete.
Submitted Journal is submitted for approval.
Approved Journal is approved for posting.
Rejected Journal is rejected or unposted.
Posted Journal adjustments are posted to the database.
Once the journal entry is ready to go, the user needs to submit it for approval. This will change the status of the journal from Working to Submitted. To do this, select process journals (if the user is currently viewing a journal entry, he/she must click Close to return to the process Journals main window). The journal entries that are available will be displayed.
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To submit the journal, click on the check box to the left of the journal entry that is to be submitted, and then click on the submit icon from the HFM tool bar.
To submit the journal, click on the check box to the left of the journal entry that will be submitted, and then click on the submit icon from the HFM tool bar. The status of the journal entry will change to submitted.
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Even after submitting the journal, the data is still not in the financial results of the entity until the journal has a status of
“posted”. Users (or the designated Tyco resource) need to continue promoting the journal entry through the working ->
submitted -> approved -> posted approval chain to get it to posted. The process to do this is very similar to the process illustrated above for submitting a journal, except that different icons in the HFM tool bar are used. The table below summarizes these icons:
HFM Process Journal icons and functionality
Submit - After creating a journal, users can submit it for approval before posting. Users can submit journals one at a time or in batches. After submitting a journal, the status changes to Submitted.
Unsubmit – Users can unsubmit a journal that was previously submitted.
When a user unsubmits a journal, the status reverts from Submitted to Working.
Approve - After submitting a journal, users can approve it for posting.
Journals can be approved one at a time or in batches. After approving a journal, the status changes to Approved and the journal cannot be edited.
Reject - After a journal is submitted for approval or approved, users can reject it. Users can reject journals one at a time or in batches. After a journal is rejected, the status changes to Rejected.
Post – Users can post a journal after it is approved. Users can post journals one at a time or in batches. The journal period must be opened before anyone can post. When a journal is posted, the system recalculates the account balances so that the database reflects the adjustments. The journal status changes to Posted and users can now view the adjustment in a data grid or a report.
Unpost - Users can unpost a journal after it is posted. When a journal is unposted, the journal status changes to Rejected.
Note: HFM journals submitted after Wednesday at 5:00 PM EST cannot be approved by users. Once they have a status of Submitted, users will log in to Sharepoint and provide details about the journal and request that the
corporate/administrative team post the journal for them.
Editing Journals
Users can edit a journal that was previously created. For example, users can change the description of a journal, insert rows in a journal to add adjustments, or change the balance type. Users can edit only Working, Submitted, and Rejected journals. Approved or Posted journals cannot be edited. If a user needs to edit an Approved or Posted journal,
someone with the proper access will first need to either reject an approved journal or unpost a posted journal to get it back to a status where it can be edited. After editing, follow the journal submission process described on the previous pages until the status returns to posted.