Introduction

This 60-minute tutorial introduces you to the Cloud EPM business processes. You also learn how to create Planning business processes in EPM Cloud Service: Standard and Enterprise subscriptions.

Background

Oracle Cloud EPM provides end-to-end business processes, such as Planning, to meet the requirements of most organizations and ensure a connected and agile experience across multiple business processes.

Prerequisites

An EPM Cloud Service instance allows you to deploy and use one of the supported business processes. To deploy another business process, you must request another EPM Cloud Service instance or remove the current business process. The business processes that you deploy share the same identity domain to facilitate user management and assigning of roles. Access to resources belonging to a business process is individually controlled for each business process.

Planning is a budgeting and forecasting solution that integrates financial and operational planning processes and improves forecast accuracy.

Cloud EPM Hands-on Tutorials may require you to import a snapshot into your Cloud EPM Enterprise Service instance. Before you can import a tutorial snapshot, you must request another Cloud EPM Enterprise Service instance or remove your current application and business process. The tutorial snapshot will not import over your existing application or business process, nor will it automatically replace or restore the application or business process you are currently working with.

Before starting this tutorial, you must:

  • Have Service Administrator access to Planning in EPM Standard Cloud Service or EPM Enterprise Cloud Service. The instance should not have a business process created.
  • Have an OTL file for Free Form Planning.
  • Have a valid snapshot of a Custom Planning business process.

Note:

If you run into migration errors importing the snapshot, re-run the migration excluding the HSS-Shared Services component, as well as the Security and User Preferences artifacts in the Core component. For more information on uploading and importing snapshots, refer to the Administering Migration for Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud documentation.

Getting Started

In this section, you learn about Planning in the Cloud EPM Service.

Available Cloud EPM Subscriptions

The business processes and features available to you depend on the specific Cloud EPM service that you subscribed. Both EPM Standard Cloud Service and EPM Enterprise Cloud Service are comprised of a suite of business processes.

Generally, the EPM Enterprise Cloud Service includes everything in the EPM Standard Cloud Service as well as additional offerings as illustrated below:

EPM Standard Cloud Service EPM Enterprise Cloud Service
Planning
  • Module-based Planning
    • Capital
    • Financials
    • Projects
    • Workforce
    • Strategic Modeling
  • One custom cube each for Hybrid BSO Cubes and ASO Reporting Cubes
  • Task Management
 Planning
  • Planning Application Type
    • Custom Planning Application Type (with Strategic Modeling Support)
    • Sales Planning
    • Strategic Workforce Planning
  • Module-based Planning
    • Capital
    • Financials
    • Projects
    • Workforce
    • Strategic Modeling
  • Hybrid BSO and ASO Cubes
  • Custom Groovy Scripting Support
  • Intelligent Process Automation by Integrating Task Manager with Other Services
Account Reconciliation

Includes Reconciliation Compliance

 Account Reconciliation
  • Reconciliation Compliance
  • Transaction Matching
Financial Consolidation and Close
  • Supplemental Data Management
  • Financial Consolidation
  • Task Management
  • Support for Complex Ownership Structures
  • Configurable Consolidation Rules
  • Equity Pickup
  • Custom Configurable Calculations and On-demand Rules
Financial Consolidation and Close
  • Supplemental Data Management
  • Financial Consolidation
  • Task Management
  • Support for Complex Ownership Structures
  • Configurable Consolidation Rules
  • Equity Pickup
  • Custom Configurable Calculations and On-demand Rules
  • Enterprise Journals
  • Intelligent Process Automation by Integrating Task Manager with Other Services
Narrative Reporting
  • Report Packages
  • Management Reporting
Narrative Reporting
  • Report Packages
  • Management Reporting
  FreeForm
  Enterprise Data Management
  Profitability and Cost Management
  • Enterprise Profitability and Cost Management
  • Profitability and Cost Management
  Tax Reporting

Modules extend Planning with complete planning and budgeting solutions for Financials, Workforce, Capital, and Projects. These business processes include built-in best practice pre-defined content including forms, calculations, dashboards, drivers, and key performance indicators (KPIs). Forms are designed to integrate with the dashboards and reports that dynamically reflect your data, plans, and forecasts.

Module-based Planning sets up the cubes required for Capital, Financials, Projects, Workforce and Strategic Modeling. Choose this option to create a business process that supports best practices and industry standard functionality. With the exception of Strategic Modeling, Planning Modules are available with pre-seeded configurable content including dimensions, models, forms, rules, dashboards, infolets, and reports. Strategic Modeling is available with standard and industry templates that can be leveraged to create a customized scenario models with flexible blended scenario business cases.

The following business processes and features are available in the EPM Enterprise Cloud Service:

  • Custom Planning, which allows a high degree of customization to support business requirements
  • Use of the Groovy scripting language to create or customize business rules

EPM Cloud Service Landing Pages

The landing page is your starting point for creating a business process and for viewing video tours to help you get started. The landing page presents the business processes that you can create.

EPM Standard Cloud Service Landing Page

EPM Standard Cloud Service Landing Page

EPM Enterprise Cloud Service Landing Page

Business Process Overview

You develop your operational financial plan with Planning. You set up the Planning business process to include the appropriate structure for your organization's needs. Each Planning business process has a specific framework with the following structure:

  • Application name—Specify the name of the business process.
  • Calendar structure—Specify your organization’s calendar, such as the first month and first year for your fiscal year.
  • Currency—Identify whether multiple currencies are needed and define the default currency.
  • Number and names of cubes—Select and name plan types to hold combinations of metadata, forms, and business rules.

After the framework is created, dimensions and members (metadata) are added and assigned to cubes. Security is assigned so that users and groups can access Planning. Access can be further defined to secure metadata, forms, task lists, and business rules.

Creating the Standard Planning Business Process

Before you create your Planning business process, analyze your current processes and determine your organization’s requirements.

Note:

See the Best Practices for Designing Your Application section in the Oracle Cloud Administering Planning documentation

In this section, you learn how to create the following Planning business processes in EPM Standard Cloud Service:

Tip:

After you initiate the creation of a business process, you cannot return to the EPM Cloud Service landing page. If want to return to the landing page to create a different business process, you must first reset your environment to its original state. See the Recreating Service section of this tutorial.

Logging On

  1. Go to the Planning URL provided by your Service Administrator.
  2. Enter your user name and password.
  3. Click Go.
  4. On the EPM Standard Cloud Service landing page, for Planning click SELECT.
    5. Planning business process

    The Planning landing page is displayed.

    New Application: Creating a Modules-based Application

    Note:

    If you have a business process created, remove it first by following the steps in the Removing Applications section of this tutorial.

    1. On the Planning landing page, for Create a new application, click START.
      Create a new application
    2. Complete the required general properties:
      • Name your application.
      • Enter a description.
      • From the Application Type dropdown list, select Modules.
      Planning
    3. Click Next.

      4. The Details page is displayed.

      Details page
    4. Select a Time Period.
    5. Select the Start and End year.
    6. Select the First Month of the Fiscal Year.
    7. Select a Weekly Distribution option: Even, 445, 454, or 544.
    8. For Task Flow Type, EPM Task Manager is the default option for new applications. Task lists are a classic feature which guides users through the planning process by listing tasks, instructions, and end dates.
    9. Select the Main Currency.
    10. Select whether to allow for multicurrency.
    11. Accept or modify the names of the input cube and reporting cube.
    12. Select whether to enable Sandboxes.
    13. Click Next.
    14. Review your selections. If necessary, return to previous pages to make changes.
      15. Review selections
    15. When ready to proceed, click Create.

      The Application Creation Status information message box is displayed.

      Application creation status

      Application creation may take several minutes. When completed, an Application created successfully message is displayed.

      Application created successfully
    16. Select whether to go to the Configure page and enable modules or complete that task later.

      If you click OK, the Planning home page is displayed. You can access the Configure page by navigating to Application, then Configure from the home page.

      If you click Configure, the Configure page for modules is displayed.

Migrating a Snapshot to Create an Application

Migration allows you to create a custom Planning business process from a snapshot that you upload to the environment.

Note:

If you have a business process created, remove it first by following the steps in the Removing Applications section of this tutorial.
  1. On the Planning landing page, click MIGRATE.
    2. Migrating snapshots

    The Migration page is displayed.

    Migration dialog box
  2. Click Snapshots.

    3. The Snapshots tab is displayed.

    Snapshots tab
  3. Click Upload.
  4. In the Upload dialog box, click Browse to select the file.
    • Locate and select your snapshot.
    • Click Open.
    5. Uploading a snapshot
  5. Click Upload.
    6. Uploading a snapshot
  6. When a message stating that the File uploaded and processed successfully is displayed, click OK.
    7. Upload completed successfully

    The snapshot is now listed on the Snapshots tab.

    List of snapshots
  7. For the snapshot you uploaded, click the Actions icon (…), and select Import.
    8. Actions menu for the imported snapshot
  8. When prompted to proceed with the import, click OK.
    9. Import prompt

    The Migration Status Report is displayed. The migration import process may take several minutes.

    Migration Status Report
  9. Click Refresh until the status displays Completed.
    10. Completed migration
  10. Click Close twice to close both dialog boxes.
  11. Sign out and log back in to start working with Planning.

Creating the Enterprise Planning Business Process

Before you create your Planning business process, analyze your current processes and determine your organization’s requirements.

Note:

See the Best Practices for Designing Your Application section in the Oracle Cloud Administering Planning documentation on docs.oracle.com.

In this section, you learn how to create the following Planning business processes in EPM Enterprise Cloud Service:

  • Sample application
  • Module-based
  • Custom
  • Free Form
  • Migrated Custom

Tip:

After you initiate the creation of a business process, you cannot return to the EPM Cloud Service landing page. If you want to return to the landing page to create a different business process, you must first reset your environment to its original state. See the Recreating Service section of this tutorial.

Logging On

  1. Go to the Planning URL provided by your Service Administrator.
  2. Enter your user name and password.
  3. Click Go.
  4. On the EPM Enterprise Cloud Service landing page, for Planning click SELECT.
    5. Planning business process

    The Planning landing page is displayed.

Sample Application

Planning provides a sample business process, called Vision, that lets you quickly deploy a business process with artifacts and data. The sample business process is only available in Planning for EPM Enterprise Cloud Service.

If you have a business process created, remove it first by following the steps in the Removing Applications section of this tutorial.

  1. On the Planning landing page, for Create a sample application, click CREATE.
    2. Planning landing page

    The Application Creation Status information message box is displayed.

    Application creation status

    Application creation may take several minutes. When completed, an Application created successfully message is displayed.

    Application created successfully
  2. Click OK.

    The Planning home page is displayed.

    Planning home page

New Application: Creating a Modules-based Application

Note:

If you have a business process created, remove it first by following the steps in the Removing Applications section of this tutorial.
  1. On the Planning landing page, for Create a new application, click START.
    2. Create a new application
  2. Complete the required general properties:
    • Name your application.
    • Enter a description.
    • From the Application Type dropdown list, select Modules.
      • Planning
  3. Click Next.

    4. The Details page is displayed. The Planning Frequency is set to Monthly.

    Details page
  4. Select the Start and End year.
  5. Select a Weekly Distribution option: Even, 445, 454, or 544.
  6. For Task Flow Type, EPM Task Manager is the default option for new applications. Task lists are a classic feature which guides users through the planning process by listing tasks, instructions, and end dates.
  7. Select the Main Currency.
  8. Select whether to allow for multicurrency.
  9. Accept or modify the names of the input cube and reporting cube.
  10. Select whether to enable Sandboxes.
  11. Click Next.
  12. Review your selections. If necessary, return to previous pages to make changes.
    13. Review selections
  13. When ready to proceed, click Create.

    14. The Application Creation Status information message box is displayed.

    Application creation status

    Application creation may take several minutes. When completed, an Application created successfully message is displayed.

    Application created successfully
  14. Select whether to go to the Configure page and enable modules or complete that task later.

    15. If you click OK, the Planning home page is displayed. You can access the Configure page by navigating to Application, then Configure from the home page.

    If you click Configure, the Configure page for modules is displayed.

New Application: Creating a Custom Application

Custom applications support most planning and budgeting requirements through Enterprise complex business logic, such as business rules and allocations. Select this option to create a business process if your requirements would necessitate a high degree of application customization.

Note:

If you have a business process created, remove it first by following the steps in the Removing Applications section of this tutorial.
  1. On the Planning landing page, for Create a new application, click START.
    2. Create a new application
  2. Complete the required general properties:
    • Name your application.
    • Enter a description.
    • From the Application Type dropdown list, select Custom.
      • Planning general properties
  3. Click Next.

    4. The Details page is displayed.

    Details page
  4. Select the Start and End year.
  5. Select a Planning Frequency: Monthly, Weekly, Quarterly, or Custom.
    • If you selected Monthly:
      • Select the first month of the fiscal year.
      • Select a Weekly Distribution option: Even, 445, 454, or 544.
  6. If you selected Weekly or Quarterly, select the first period start date.
  7. If you selected Custom:
    • Enter the Periods per Year.
    • Optional: Specify a prefix.
  8. Select whether to enable Rolling Forecast and specify the period duration.
  9. For Task Flow Type, EPM Task Manager is the default option for new applications. Task lists are a classic feature which guides users through the planning process by listing tasks, instructions, and end dates.
  10. Select the Main Currency.
  11. Select whether to allow for multicurrency.
  12. Accept or modify the names of the input cube and reporting cube.
  13. Select whether to enable Sandboxes.
  14. Click Next.
  15. Customize the required Planning dimensions, if necessary.
    16. Metadata and Custom Dimensions page
  16. Add members in the Member Names column, separating each name with a comma.
  17. Optional for Account, Scenario, Version, Entity, and Custom Dimensions: Import metadata using a file.
  18. To add a custom dimension, for the dimension type listed as Custom, enter a dimension name.
  19. If you need to add more dimensions, click Add Custom Dimension to add another row.
  20. Click Next.
  21. Review your selections. If necessary, return to previous pages to make changes.
    22. Review selections
  22. Click Create.

    23. When application is completed, an Application created successfully message is displayed

    Application created successfully
  23. Click OK.
    24. Planning home page

    The Planning home page is displayed.

New Application: Creating a FreeForm application from On-Premises Essbase

Free Form Planning does not require Currency, Entity, Scenario, and Version dimensions and their member hierarchies. This business process is created using an Essbase outline file (OTL) from an on-premises deployment to import dimensions and members. The outline file name can have a maximum of eight characters because the file name is used to name the cube of the free form business process.

  1. On the Planning landing page, for Create a new application, click START.
    2. Create a new application
  2. Complete the required general properties:
    • Name your application.
    • Enter a description.
    • From the Application Type dropdown list, select Free Form.
    • From the Application Setup dropdown list, accept the default value Import Essbase OTL/LCM.
    • Select a location:
      • Local—if you have the OTL or LCM stored locally.
        • If you selected Local, for Import File, click Browse.
        • Locate and select your OTL file.
        • Click Open.
      • Inbox—if you have the OTL or LCM uploaded to your instance.
        • If you selected Inbox, select your OTL or LCM from the Select One dropdown list.
      Free Form Planning general properties
  3. Click Next.
  4. Review your selections. If necessary, return to previous pages to make changes.
    5. Review Free Form Planning selections
  5. Click Create.

    6. The Application Creation Status information message box is displayed.

    Application creation status

    Application creation may take several minutes. When completed, an Application created successfully message is displayed.

    Application created successfully.
  6. Click OK.

    7. The Planning home page is displayed.

    Planning home page

New Application: Creating a FreeForm application using Create Cubes

You can model and build your own Hybrid BSO or ASO cubes while preserving the ability to leverage Planning functionalities.

Hybrid BSO cubes support some aggregate storage capabilities. Parent members of sparse and dense dimensions can have dynamic aggregations for calculations.

Hybrid cubes provide many benefits including:

  • Smaller database and application size
  • Better cube refresh performance
  • Faster import and export of data
  • Improved performance of business rules
  • Faster daily maintenance of the application
  1. On the Planning landing page, for Create a new application, click START.
    2. Create a new application
  2. Complete the required general properties:
    • Name your application.
    • Enter a description.
    • From the Application Type dropdown list, select Free Form.
    • From the Application Setup dropdown list, select Create Cubes
    • Select Is ASO for an aggregate storage Cube
      • Selecting the Free Form Application type
    • Enter a cube name.
      • Selecting the Free Form Application type-cube name
  3. Click Next.
  4. Select whether to enable default dimensions during the application creation process.
    5. Default dimensions

    Note:

    If you select not to enable the default dimensions here, you create them later in Classic Dimension Editor to make sure that you can assign the correct dimension type.

  5. Review your selections. If necessary, return to previous pages to make changes.
    6. Review Free Form Planning selections
  6. Click Create.

    7. The Application Creation Status information message box is displayed.

    Application creation status

    Application creation may take several minutes. When completed, an Application created successfully message is displayed.

    Application created successfully.
  7. Click OK.

    8. The Planning home page is displayed.

    Planning home page

Note:

Steps to creating a new application in Sales Planning or Strategic Modelling are similar to creating a Module-based or a Custom-based Planning application.

Migrating a Snapshot to Create an Enterprise Application

Migration allows you to create a custom Planning business process from a snapshot that you upload to the environment.

Note:

If you have a business process created, remove it first by following the steps in the Removing Applications section of this tutorial.
  1. On the Planning landing page, click MIGRATE.
    2. Migrating snapshots

    The Migration page is displayed.

    Migration dialog box
  2. Click Snapshots.

    3. The Snapshots tab is displayed.

    Snapshots tab
  3. Click Upload.
  4. In the Upload dialog box, click Browse to select the file.
    • Locate and select your snapshot.
    • Click Open.
    Uploading a snapshot
  5. Click Upload.
    6. Uploading a snapshot
  6. When a message stating that the File uploaded and processed successfully is displayed, click OK.

    7. The snapshot is now listed on the Snapshots tab.

    List of snapshots
  7. For the snapshot you uploaded, click the Actions icon (…), and select Import.
    8. Actions menu for the imported snapshot
  8. When prompted to proceed with the import, click OK.
    9. Import prompt

    The Migration Status Report is displayed. The migration import process may take several minutes.

    Migration Status Report
  9. Click Refresh until the status displays Completed.
    10. Completed migration
  10. Click Close twice to close both dialog boxes.
  11. Sign out and log back in to start working with Planning.

Removing Applications

In this section, you learn how to remove applications from your Planning instance.

  1. From the Planning home page, click Application, and then Overview.
    2. Applications cluster
  2. On the Overview tab, click Actions and select Remove Application.
    3. Remove Application in the Actions menu
  3. When prompted to continue to delete the application, click Yes.
    4. Confirm application removal

    The process takes a few minutes to complete. When the application is completely removed, you will be signed out of the instance.

Recreating Service

The process of recreating your environment deletes the current business process, including all user-defined (custom) artifacts and data from the environment. If you want to preserve the data and artifacts in the current environment, you must perform a complete backup of the business process before you re-create an environment.

Tip:

The environment is not available for approximately 15 minutes, while the re-create process is in progress.

After re-creating the environment, you can create the same business process or a different one. You can also import a business process from a snapshot using Migration or EPM Automate.

In this section, you learn how to restore the environment into its original state, ready for you to create a new business process.

  1. From the Planning landing page or home page, access Settings and Actions by clicking your user name at the top right corner of the screen.
    2. Settings and Actions
  2. Select Recreate Service.
    3. Settings and Actions

    The Recreate Service dialog box is displayed. Carefully read the information. The process deletes the application, including its data and artifacts.

  3. Select the checkboxes to confirm that you are aware of the consequences of recreating the environment.
    4. Recreate Service dialog box
  4. Click Recreate Service.
    5. Recreate Service dialog box

    You are signed out of the instance. The instance will be inaccessible for approximately 15 minutes.