1
Introducing Financial Analyzer

Chapter summary

This chapter describes Oracle Financial Analyzer workstations and provides configuration information.

Who should read this chapter

You need to know the information in this chapter if you are:

• A system administrator

• A Budget or Analyst workstation user who wants to know how their workstation fits into the Financial Analyzer environment

List of topics

This chapter includes the following topics:

• About Financial Analyzer

• Super Administrator Workstations

• Administrator Workstations

• Task Processor Workstation

• Budget Workstations

• Analyst Workstations

• Example: Workstations in a Typical Corporate Environment

• Comparison of Workstation Types

• Typical Financial Analyzer Configurations

• External Users

About Financial Analyzer

Definition: Financial Analyzer

Financial Analyzer is a distributed software application that you can use to:

• Report and analyze corporate financial data and create financial budgets, forecasts, and plans

• Create and run financial models

• Configure an efficient and convenient financial system for your business

Financial Analyzer runs on a combination of networked personal computers and servers. A variety of software modules, known as workstations, are installed on the personal computers and servers and are set up to access common databases, called shared databases. These shared databases contain data and structures that are used throughout the Financial Analyzer system.

If Web listener software has been installed and configured on the server, Financial Analyzer reports, graphs, and data entry forms can also be accessed through a Web browser.

Types of workstations

The Financial Analyzer environment includes two basic types of workstations, administrator workstations and user workstations.

The following types of administrator workstations are supported:

• Super administrator workstation

• Administrator workstations

• Task Processor workstations

The following types of user workstations are supported:

• Budget workstations

• Analyst workstations

Types of databases

The following table describes the types of databases that can be associated with Financial Analyzer workstations.

Database	Description
Personal	Personal databases are used to store objects, and on some types of workstations, financial data. Objects include dimensions, financial data items, attributes, and hierarchies, as well as documents such as reports, worksheets and graphs.
Shared	The shared database contains financial data and objects that are shared by all users. Shared databases are maintained by administrators.

Tiered system design

Using the Super administrator workstation as the starting point, you can build a tiered architecture by creating subordinate administrator workstations, which can in turn be used to create other subordinate administrator workstations.

This tiered approach to system design reduces the size and complexity of the top-level structures and permits greater autonomy and control at lower-level and remote sites.

Super Administrator Workstations

Definition: Super administrator workstation

A Super administrator workstation enables the administrator at the highest level to perform the following functions:

• Define database structures and documents for system-wide use

• Control subordinate administrators' and users' access to financial data

• Process tasks submitted by users to update the Super administrator's shared database

Location in a tiered environment

The Super administrator workstation is located at the top level of any Financial Analyzer environment. Only one Super administrator workstation can exist in a given system.

Associated databases

Super administrator workstations are associated with a Super shared database, a personal database, and a Task Processor. The following illustration shows how a typical Super administrator workstation is configured.

Text description of the illustration U_01c001.gif

Administrator Workstations

Definition: Administrator workstation

The Administrator workstation is a system management and data access tool that enables you to perform the following tasks:

• Define and maintain users of Budget, Analyst, and subordinate Administrator workstations.

• Specify the default configuration for Budget, Analyst, and subordinate Administrator workstations when you create them.

• Restrict changes to shared data by controlling user access to the financial data in the shared database.

• Define database structures and distribute them to the shared database, subordinate Administrator workstations, Budget workstations, and Analyst workstations.

• Distribute slices of financial data to users and the shared database.

• Refresh the shared database that you maintain with data distributed from your superior administrator.

• Submit financial data from the shared database that you maintain to your superior administrator's shared database. (Note that super administrators cannot perform this task because by definition they are at the highest level in the reporting structure.)

Location in a tiered architecture

Multiple Administrator workstations can exist at various levels of an environment that is set up in a tiered configuration. Each Administrator workstation is associated with its own shared database.

Associated databases

Administrator workstations are associated with a shared database and a Task Processor. The following illustration shows how a typical Administrator workstation is configured.

Text description of the illustration U_01c002.gif

Task Processor Workstation

Definition: Task Processor workstation

A Task Processor workstation is a queue management tool that has the following characteristics:

• It is associated with each Administrator workstation in an Financial Analyzer system

• It enables administrators to monitor and control the transfer of data between user workstations and their associated shared databases

• It enables administrators to manage distribution of structures to subordinate workstations

Methods of running a Task Processor

Although all tasks are actually processed on the server, a Task Processor can be set up:

• As a separate software component on the computer where an Administrator workstation runs

• On a separate computer that is dedicated to task processing

• To run directly on a server as a background task

When the Task Processor workstation is installed as a stand-alone workstation on a dedicated PC or server, tasks can be processed without interruption.

Administrator workstation Task Processor

The following illustration shows how a Task Processor workstation can be installed on the same PC as an Administrator workstation.

Text description of the illustration U_01c003.gif

Stand-alone Task Processor

The following illustration shows a Task Processor workstation that is set up to run on a separate computer that is dedicated to task processing.

Text description of the illustration U_01c004.gif

Related information

For more information about the Task Processor, see Chapter 11.

Budget Workstations

Definition: Budget workstation

A Budget workstation is a data access tool that enables you to perform the following tasks:

• Define and maintain personal database objects such as dimensions, attributes, hierarchies, models, solve definitions, and group solve definitions

• Create and maintain personal reports, graphs, worksheets, and folders

• Use administrator defined database objects and documents

• Submit financial data from the personal database to the Administrator workstation's shared database

• Refresh the personal database with data from the Administrator workstation's shared database

Location in a tiered architecture

In a tiered structure, a Budget workstation is located beneath the Administrator workstation that created it and is associated with a personal database that contains database structures, settings, and financial data.

Multiple Budget workstations can exist beneath the same Administrator workstation. In a tiered configuration, multiple Budget workstations can also exist at multiple levels of the configuration.

How Budget workstations communicate with the shared database

The following illustration shows how Budget workstations communicate with the shared database through the Task Processor.

Text description of the illustration U_01c005.gif

Analyst Workstations

Definition: Analyst workstation

An Analyst workstation is a data access tool that enables you to perform the following tasks:

• Refresh structures distributed by the Administrator workstation

• Define and use personal reports, graphs, worksheets, and folders or use administrator defined documents

• Access and manipulate data associated with dimensions, dimension values, time, attributes, hierarchies, and models in the shared database

Location in a tiered architecture

In a tiered structure, an Analyst workstation is located beneath the Administrator workstation that created it and is associated with a personal database that contains database structures and settings but no personal copy of financial data.

How Analyst workstations communicate with the shared database

The following illustration shows how Analyst workstations communicate with the shared database through the Task Processor.

Text description of the illustration U_01c006.gif

Note that when viewing data, the Analyst workstation communicates directly with the shared database, and does not go through the Task Processor.

Example: Workstations in a Typical Corporate Environment

Introduction

In a typical corporation, there are many different ways that Financial Analyzer can be configured and utilized. The following sections describe several divisions of a fictitious corporation and how they each use Financial Analyzer.

Consulting division

In the consulting division, regional Consulting Managers use Budget workstations that report into the Sub Administrator workstation of the Consulting VP. Consulting Managers can:

• Edit the expense and revenue line items of their region.

• View the expense and revenue line items of other regional Consulting Managers. This facilitates Consulting Managers inputting their budget and forecast numbers based on trends in their particular regions.

• Perform what-if analysis to evaluate the potential performance based on the probability of the variable environment factors occurring.

• Augment their personal database by adding financial and personnel data which is not present in the data set distributed to them from the Administrator (which is sourced primarily from Oracle General Ledger).

When budgets or forecasts are completed, Consulting Managers submit their final numbers to the Consulting VP who reviews them and requests revisions if necessary. The Consulting VP may also make edits to the shared data which become the final budget. The lower level Budget workstations Consulting Managers then refresh their personal databases to get the finalized figures. The Consulting VP submits final summary consulting P&L budgets and forecasts to a Senior Financial Analyst in Corporate Finance who runs the Super administrator workstation.

The following illustration shows the Consulting Division.

Text description of the illustration U_01c007.gif

Manufacturing

In the manufacturing environment, Product Managers:

• Follow an organization similar to the Consulting Managers, except that what they can view and edit is determined by their product responsibilities rather than by their geographic region.

• Utilize Financial Analyzer Budget workstations to budget and forecast and perform in-depth analyses such as product profitability, customer profitability, trend analysis, what-if analysis, and production forecasting.

• Submit forecasts and budgets to the Production VP or directly to a Financial Analyst in Corporate Finance.

Some product managers are provided with Analyst workstations to keep current on company performance and to support production line decisions. These Analyst workstation users view the historic, budget, and current forecast data to properly plan and execute to the budget/forecast. Their view of the data is also very product-focused. They do not need to perform analysis or provide budget or forecast data. They use the finalized corporate data for ongoing decision making and planning; therefore, the functionality of the Analyst workstation suits their needs.

The following illustration shows the manufacturing division.

Text description of the illustration U_01c008.gif

Corporate finance

In general, all Manufacturing and Consulting related workstations report directly to the Super administrator workstation in Corporate Finance. Other Financial Analyzer users in the Corporate Finance Department are either Budget or Analyst workstations, all of which report to the Super administrator workstation.

A Senior Financial Analyst or a number of Senior Financial Analysts are responsible for the collection of budget and forecast data throughout the organization. If there are a number of these positions, they act as Administrator workstations which then report to a Super administrator workstation within the Corporate Finance Department. The Senior and Junior Financial Analysts all require analysis and modeling capabilities to review and possibly modify the information coming in from other areas of the organization.

Other specialists in the Corporate Finance Department can require either the Budget or Analyst workstation functionality:

• The CFO normally requires only Analyst workstation functionality

• Budget or Forecast Analysts who concentrate primarily on forward trends and potential changes in the projected performance path require Budget workstations

The Super administrator resides in the Corporate Finance Department and the number of Sub administrator workstations it supports depends on whether data from other areas of the organization is submitted to one or many workstations within the Corporate Finance department.

The following illustration shows Corporate Finance.

Text description of the illustration U_01c009.gif

Comparison of Workstation Types

System management tasks

The following table shows the different types of workstations and the system management tasks that each can accomplish.

Task	Super Administrator	Administrator	Task Processor	Budget	Analyst
Configure workstations	X	All but Super administrator
Control user access to database objects	X	X
Define and maintain users	X	All but Super administrator
Monitor and control transfer of data	X	X	X
Set fiscal time	X
Specify default configurations for Budget and Analyst workstations	X	X

Data management tasks

The following table shows the different types of workstations and the data management tasks that each can accomplish.

Task	Super Administrator	Administrator	Task Processor	Budget	Analyst
Create data structures	X	X		Personal only
Create and maintain personal documents	X	X		X	X
Distribute financial data	X	X
Distribute structures	X	To all but Super administrator
Maintain personal data	X	X		X
Submit data to shared database via the Task Processor	X	X	N/A	X	X
Process tasks in the shared database			X
View task log	X	X	X	X	X
Integrate with Oracle General Ledger	X
Refresh data distributed from higher level administrators		X		X	X
Use the Copy Data feature	X	X		X

Typical Financial Analyzer Configurations

Simple configuration

The simplest system configuration is made up of the following:

• A single Super administrator workstation that includes a super shared database and Task Processor

• One or more user workstations

The following illustration shows an example of a simple system configuration.

Text description of the illustration U_01c010.gif

Complex configuration

A more complex system configuration can be set up with multiple tiered structures. In a structure with multiple tiers, each level, or tier, includes the following:

• A single Super administrator workstation, that includes a super shared database and Task Processor

• One or more Administrator workstations that each include a shared database and Task Processor

• One or more user workstations that communicate with the Administrator workstation in the tier immediately above them

The following illustration shows a more complex system configuration.

Text description of the illustration U_01c011.gif

External Users

About external users

In addition to supporting access through workstations, Financial Analyzer supports external users. External users have access to their administrator's shared database. No client software needs to be installed on the local PC.

There are two types of external users:

• External Web users

• External Express Spreadsheet Add-In users

External Web users

External Web users access Financial Analyzer reports and graphs through a Web browser. An external Web user can also use data entry forms to enter data into the shared database. An external Web user cannot create or maintain personal documents, create or distribute data structures, or distribute data.

External Express Spreadsheet Add-In users

Express Spreadsheet Add-In users fetch data from one or more Financial Analyzer databases and work with the data in a spreadsheet environment. An Express Spreadsheet Add-In user who is an external user is limited to data manipulation; no personal database is available.