The Case for Account Consolidation Cloud Service (ARCS)

Account reconciliations, which provide the answer to this question, are an essential part of the financial closing process. Assume you are attempting to construct a sandcastle. Assume your “sand” was obtained from a cow pasture. You *could* keep building this “sandcastle,” but you will end up with a pile of…bull-sand. Similarly, if your account balances and transactions have the integrity of “bull-sand,” this will inevitably lead to problems down the road. 

When it comes to new enterprise-wide application solutions, the move to the Cloud has complicated the decision-making process.

The decision of whether to go with a recognized “on-premises” solution or take a daring move into Cloud solutions is difficult, especially when high-visibility cycles such as forecasting or financial consolidations are involved.  

A Valid Recommendation 

Instead, make the calculated move.

If you are apprehensive to go “all-in” on Cloud products, here are four reasons why you should enter the Cloud via the arch of ARCS… ARCS way (Get it? …archway…ARCS way… Anyway, just keep reading…) 

A solid foundation is a safe bet

Account Reconciliation Cloud Service (ARCS) was introduced by Oracle in 2016 as a “one-stop shop” solution for managing and optimizing the reconciliation cycle on the Cloud.

While other EPM (Enterprise Performance Management) systems lose functionality during their initial shift to the Cloud, ARCS keeps the “good bones” of its on-premises equivalent – Account Reconciliation Manager (ARM).

ARCS extends the intelligent functionality and customizability of ARM, which was released in 2012, while maintaining the clean appearance and feel of the Oracle Cloud experience.  

Since its introduction, ARCS has become the “golden child” of the reconciliation product family, gaining not only “first dibs” on the enhancement of existing capabilities, but also the newest components such as Transaction Matching (note: this has separate licensing than the Reconciliation Compliance component of ARCS).

This trend is projected to continue as the product gains traction.

With the tried-and-true base of the ARM tool and Oracle’s watchful eye, ARCS is a sure bet. 

There are no mistakes with modularity

ARCS, unlike several other applications, is simple to implement in chunks.

While superior design can undoubtedly save you time and money overall, there are no judgments taken on the first day of a project that cannot be changed or improved later:  

-Do you want to manually enter data for reconciliation today, but have it automatically loaded from a source system the next day? This is something we can accomplish.  

-Missing fields for additional information you would like users to provide? Can be ready for the following period (or even the present one!)  

-Do you only want to start with one country? That is fine – go ahead and make the other entities envious! 

While some improvements are “cleaner” than others (hello, Profile Segments!), ARCS encourages you to “test the waters” and evaluate what works in your company before going “all-in.

” For example, a current client has a live ARM application that, given the initial project timetable and budget, provides a feasible solution for its reconciliation process needs.

Although the client was unable to fully utilize the available functionality at the time, the modularity of the reconciliation tools (both ARM and ARCS) allows for enhancements without penalizing this design decision – we are currently redesigning the client’s auto-reconciliation setup to further streamline the process.

This implies more project stages for Partners, and less biting off more than you can chew for Clients (win-win!). 

You have nothing now, and it is costing you. 

That may appear to be an arrogant scare technique, but hear me out: 

Account reconciliation ARE being completed in your company – one way or another.

Whether that means your CPAs are click click* clicking away on their keyboards in order to manually update Excel spreadsheets or – heaven forbid – printing out recons so that they can hand sign them, if you cannot name the system that is comprehensively handling your reconciliation cycle, it is because there is not one.

This is quite normal. However, there are prices to this normality

Reconciliation cycles are not glamorous (well…personal preference…) and are frequently hidden from higher management. Nonetheless (!) the reconciliation process is frequently pervasive throughout the organization, encompassing business units, divisions, and corporate ladders (I see you, Mr./s. Director checking off on recons). When evaluating enterprise-wide Cloud solutions to “test run,” ARCS is an appealing option because everyone can try it.

A successful ARCS implementation opens the groundwork for future project adoption to be easier – it brings everyone on board. 

Walk Through all the “ARCS way”  

The Cloud is upending the traditional market for on-premises EPM solutions.

Explore ARCS as a “first step” as you consider the new strategic possibilities accessible to your company’s roadmap. It is crucial to remember that ARCS is first and primarily a management tool, and while it can give useful information in addressing account discrepancies, it does not substitute doing a reconciliation in an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system.

Furthermore, unless you are experienced with BI (Business Intelligence) Publisher, modifying reports can be tough, albeit the out-of-the-box reports and robust dashboarding features more than compensate for this disadvantage. Overall, I heartily suggest this program as an introduction to Oracle’s latest features.

The “minimal risk, high return” characteristic of ARCS generates actual corporate value swiftly while painting a positive picture of life in the Cloud.

Now is the ideal opportunity to abandon your “sand” reconciliation procedure and migrate to a more stable foundation in the Cloud via the ARCS way.