Chapter 14 The Business Reporting BR Process Power

Learning Objectives • To describe how business processes feed data required for general ledger (GL) updates and business reporting (BR) • To explain how the GL and BR capabilities support an organization’s external and internal reporting functions • To analyze the limitations of the traditional GL approach to contemporary systems Copyright © 2004 South-Western. All rights reserved. 2

Learning Objectives (cont’d) • To describe the extensive business reporting capabilities enabled by enterprise systems, the Internet, and business intelligence software • To explain the applicability of business reporting to both operational and strategic planning Copyright © 2004 South-Western. All rights reserved. 3

Functions of Business Reporting Process • Accumulating data, classifying data, and recording data. • Providing for generation of both ad hoc and predetermined business reports to support operational and strategic decision making. • Preparing general-purpose, external financial statements. • Generating Web-based forms of key business reporting information for dissemination via the Internet. Copyright © 2004 South-Western. All rights reserved. 4

The Business Reporting Process Using an Enterprise System FIGURE 14. 1 Copyright © 2004

Internal and External Business Reporting Flows FIGURE 14. 2 Copyright © 2004 South-Western. All rights reserved. Source: Stanley Zarowin and Wayne E. Harding, “Finally, Business Talks the Right Language, ” Journal of Accountancy (August 2002): 25. Copyright © 2002 from the Journal of Accountancy by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Inc. Opinions of the authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect policies of the AICPA. Reprinted with permission. 6

Responsibility Accounting Performance Reporting NOTE: Information is summarized (aggregated) as it moves upward Source: Adapted with permission from James D. Wilson, “Human Relations and More Effective Reporting, ” NAA Bulletin, (May 1961): 13– 24. Copyright © 2004 South-Western. All rights reserved. FIGURE 14. 3 7

Horizontal and Vertical Information Flows FIGURE 14. 4 Copyright © 2004 South-Western. All rights

Business Reporting— Context Diagram FIGURE 14. 5 Copyright © 2004 South-Western. All rights reserved.

General Ledger/Business Reporting Process FIGURE 14. 6 Copyright © 2004 South-Western. All rights reserved.

JD Edwards Financials Screen Reprinted by permission of JD Edwards World Source Company. Copyright

JD Edwards Distribution/Logistics Screens Reprinted by permission of JD Edwards World Source Company. Copyright

JD Edwards Human Resources and Payroll Screen Reprinted by permission of JD Edwards World

JD Edwards Manufacturing Screen Reprinted by permission of JD Edwards World Source Company. Copyright

JD Edwards Report Writer and Business Intelligence Screen Reprinted by permission of JD Edwards

Technology-enabled Issues in BR • Financial reporting (FR) modules in ERP systems • Balanced Scorecard • Business Intelligence Systems for Aiding the Strategic Planner • e. Xtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) Copyright © 2004 South-Western. All rights reserved. 16

FR Modules in ERP Systems • Many options available for processing business events that affect multiple processes • Options controlled to permit only users with pertinent interest to record events • User access to ERP database also restricted to “need to know” basis Copyright © 2004 South-Western. All rights reserved. 17

Balanced Scorecard • Methodology for assessing organization’s business performance via Ø Financial records Ø Internal business processes Ø Customers Ø Innovation and improvement activities • Functionality included in applications by all major ERP vendors Copyright © 2004 South-Western. All rights reserved. 18

Business Intelligence • Integration of statistical and analytical tools with decision support technologies • Facilitates complex analyses of data warehouses by managers and decision makers • Typical module in ERP systems • May be especially helpful to support strategic planning Copyright © 2004 South-Western. All rights reserved. 19

Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) • XML-based language consisting of a set of tags used to unify presentation of business reporting information into a single format • Easily read by many software packages • Can be easily searched by web browsers • Enables easy uploading and downloading of information to other software packages for update, analysis, etc. Copyright © 2004 South-Western. All rights reserved. 20