Cognos Controller

The current set up:

- Profit and loss form is set up with period average rate (D) and is reported 8 times a year, excluding periods following a quarter closing.
- Specification forms, Tax, cash flow, segment information and so on, are reported quarterly and the accounts use ytd average rate (M) where the movements are to be reconciled with profit and loss accounts and are also movements over the year.

The challenge with this set up is that the translated difference between the D and M rate is growing. 

For instance, the tax expense is reported in the PnL to the D rate while the specification is reported quarterly in the tax form quarterly and is converted using the M rate. The M rate will then take the YTD reported tax expense and convert it using the YTD rate, while the PnL tax cost is converted using the periodic rate to convert only the movement in one period.

• What is the best practice to solve this?
• Ignoring best practice, how have you solved this?

Can a solution be to

• change the currency conversion on the specification to match the PnL accounts, e.g. to the D rate. Then copy the reported quarterly forms forward to the intermediate months so that for the next quarter only the movements between the reported, quarterly values and the copied previous quarter values are calculated.

Difficulties

• How do you prevent the companies from accessing the quarterly forms in the intermediate periods?
• Can a solution be to include the quarterly accounts in a separate form, which is closed for input?

------------------------------
Khai Nguyen
------------------------------

#CognosController

Here is a document that discusses currency translations.

Currency Translation in IBM Cognos Controller Guideline | Manualzz

manualzz.com		remove preview
Currency Translation in IBM Cognos Controller Guideline | Manualzz Guideline Currency Translation in IBM Cognos Controller Product(s): IBM Cognos Controller Area of Interest: Financial Management Currency Translation in IBM Cognos Controller 2 Copyright and Trademarks Licensed Materials - Property of IBM. © Copyright IBM Corp. 2009 IBM, the IBM logo, and Cognos are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. View this on manualzz.com >

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paul YOUNG
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Original Message:
Sent: Wed November 18, 2020 05:32 AM
From: Khai Nguyen
Subject: Currency translation differences between main forms and specification

The current set up:

- Profit and loss form is set up with period average rate (D) and is reported 8 times a year, excluding periods following a quarter closing.
- Specification forms, Tax, cash flow, segment information and so on, are reported quarterly and the accounts use ytd average rate (M) where the movements are to be reconciled with profit and loss accounts and are also movements over the year.

The challenge with this set up is that the translated difference between the D and M rate is growing. 

For instance, the tax expense is reported in the PnL to the D rate while the specification is reported quarterly in the tax form quarterly and is converted using the M rate. The M rate will then take the YTD reported tax expense and convert it using the YTD rate, while the PnL tax cost is converted using the periodic rate to convert only the movement in one period.

• What is the best practice to solve this?
• Ignoring best practice, how have you solved this?

Can a solution be to

• change the currency conversion on the specification to match the PnL accounts, e.g. to the D rate. Then copy the reported quarterly forms forward to the intermediate months so that for the next quarter only the movements between the reported, quarterly values and the copied previous quarter values are calculated.

Difficulties

• How do you prevent the companies from accessing the quarterly forms in the intermediate periods?
• Can a solution be to include the quarterly accounts in a separate form, which is closed for input?

------------------------------
Khai Nguyen
------------------------------

#CognosController

Hi Khai
Personally I always make sure that the specification matches the main accounts.
So if main accounts are using D-rate and are reported monthly, the same has to be done for the specification to make it work correctly.
I have not tried to find a workaround, but doubt that it is possible to find a solution with D-rate on main account and get this to match with a specification using another interval or rate.
Kind regards
Kerstin

------------------------------
Kerstin Kernwein
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Wed November 18, 2020 05:32 AM
From: Khai Nguyen
Subject: Currency translation differences between main forms and specification

The current set up:

- Profit and loss form is set up with period average rate (D) and is reported 8 times a year, excluding periods following a quarter closing.
- Specification forms, Tax, cash flow, segment information and so on, are reported quarterly and the accounts use ytd average rate (M) where the movements are to be reconciled with profit and loss accounts and are also movements over the year.

The challenge with this set up is that the translated difference between the D and M rate is growing. 

For instance, the tax expense is reported in the PnL to the D rate while the specification is reported quarterly in the tax form quarterly and is converted using the M rate. The M rate will then take the YTD reported tax expense and convert it using the YTD rate, while the PnL tax cost is converted using the periodic rate to convert only the movement in one period.

• What is the best practice to solve this?
• Ignoring best practice, how have you solved this?

Can a solution be to

• change the currency conversion on the specification to match the PnL accounts, e.g. to the D rate. Then copy the reported quarterly forms forward to the intermediate months so that for the next quarter only the movements between the reported, quarterly values and the copied previous quarter values are calculated.

Difficulties

• How do you prevent the companies from accessing the quarterly forms in the intermediate periods?
• Can a solution be to include the quarterly accounts in a separate form, which is closed for input?

------------------------------
Khai Nguyen
------------------------------

#CognosController

Hi Kerstin, and thank you for your reply. The challenge here is that the specification is not reported monthly / same frequency as the main forms. To be able to also use D-rate in the specification, it has to be replicated to the intermediate periods, as proposed in my original posting. I had hoped that there were other solutions than this.

------------------------------
Khai Nguyen
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Thu November 19, 2020 02:37 AM
From: Kerstin Kernwein
Subject: Currency translation differences between main forms and specification

Hi Khai
Personally I always make sure that the specification matches the main accounts.
So if main accounts are using D-rate and are reported monthly, the same has to be done for the specification to make it work correctly.
I have not tried to find a workaround, but doubt that it is possible to find a solution with D-rate on main account and get this to match with a specification using another interval or rate.
Kind regards
Kerstin

------------------------------
Kerstin Kernwein

Original Message:
Sent: Wed November 18, 2020 05:32 AM
From: Khai Nguyen
Subject: Currency translation differences between main forms and specification

The current set up:

- Profit and loss form is set up with period average rate (D) and is reported 8 times a year, excluding periods following a quarter closing.
- Specification forms, Tax, cash flow, segment information and so on, are reported quarterly and the accounts use ytd average rate (M) where the movements are to be reconciled with profit and loss accounts and are also movements over the year.

The challenge with this set up is that the translated difference between the D and M rate is growing. 

For instance, the tax expense is reported in the PnL to the D rate while the specification is reported quarterly in the tax form quarterly and is converted using the M rate. The M rate will then take the YTD reported tax expense and convert it using the YTD rate, while the PnL tax cost is converted using the periodic rate to convert only the movement in one period.

• What is the best practice to solve this?
• Ignoring best practice, how have you solved this?

Can a solution be to

• change the currency conversion on the specification to match the PnL accounts, e.g. to the D rate. Then copy the reported quarterly forms forward to the intermediate months so that for the next quarter only the movements between the reported, quarterly values and the copied previous quarter values are calculated.

Difficulties

• How do you prevent the companies from accessing the quarterly forms in the intermediate periods?
• Can a solution be to include the quarterly accounts in a separate form, which is closed for input?

------------------------------
Khai Nguyen
------------------------------

#CognosController