Balancing

The Balancing is a data processing that allows the system to automatically balance the unbalanced amounts below the threshold.

The analysed unbalanced amounts are those detected by the diagnostic of equality control groups (that is, with “=” operator) and by IC capacity check (for details on the diagnostic, see the relevant section Data processing > Diagnostic).

The balancing is enabled on the process, in the Data processing section:

• on Entities. The balancing operates on data inserted on original scenarios related to the Entities: amounts and Entity journals (both contributor and consolidator)
• on Group. The balancing includes group consolidation data present on original scenarios: consolidation journals on original scenarios
• on Consolidation Area. The balancing operates on all data present on consolidation scenarios: consolidation journals on consolidation scenarios (consolidable amount type)

The balancing is not performed at the contributor node level.

The threshold taken into consideration when deciding whether or not to perform the balancing is the one set up in the validation rules for the equality control groups and for the accounts: Original scenario balancing threshold and Consolidation scenario balancing threshold (the latter is only available for control groups).

If the Currencies for thresholds field is also defined, then the threshold amount is understood to be expressed in the specified currency and for the comparison it must be converted into the currency of the Entities / journals to which it is applied. The Fx rate used for the conversion is the Final Fx rate. If it is not defined, then the amount of the threshold is understood to be expressed in the currency of the entities / journals to which it is applied.

If the thresholds are not defined, then the system will not perform any balancing.

The balancing can be run:

• from the contributor cockpit. Once you have selected one or more Entities or one or more nodes to be processed, it is necessary to select the "Entity data processing" button from the menu on the right and then select "Balancing" in the data processing tree available under the "Entity data processing" node. This data processing is visible only if the Balancing data processing has been enabled for the selected process. Moreover, if you want to perform only the balancing of the fiscal year's result, you can select the "Balancing only the result" option
• from Consolidator Cockpit. Once one or more nodes to be processed have been selected, it is necessary to select the "Consolidation data processing", Standard or Custom, button from the menu on the right. If selected, the Standard data processes will be performed automatically, including the Balancing, if they are enabled on the process. If you select the Custom data processes, a window will pop up allowing you to run the Entity, group and area data processes, including the Balancing, if enabled on the process
• from Workflow. Inside the workflow of a contributor or mixed step, it is possible to insert a "Data processing by Entity" task having the Balancing among the data processes to be run. Whereas, inside the consolidator or mixed steps, it is possible to insert a "Consolidation" task, by choosing to run the Entity and / or group and / or area data processing
• from Job. Inside à Job, it is possible to insert a "Data processing by Entity" task having the Balancing among the data processes to be run. Moreover, it is possible to insert a "Consolidation" task, by choosing to run the Entity and / or group and / or area data processing

Control groups balancing

First, the system determines the order with which the various control groups have to be balanced. This is necessary as this data processing balances the child accounts. Thus, if an account is child of a control group and parent of another control group, then the control group in which it is a child must be balanced first.

The control groups that are balanced are those with operator "=" and having the "Balance automatically" option enabled. As already mentioned, they also need to have been correctly parameterized in the validation rules for the equality control groups, by defining the balancing threshold.

The control groups with dependence on dimensions for account / custom dimension are not balanced.

First, the data processing removes the old balancing rows (namely, those with PROC_BALANCING origin on the original scenarios and CONS_BALANCING on the consolidation scenarios) and then inserts the new ones, for each "level" of calculated control groups.

To determine the rows on which to balance the amounts, it runs the diagnostic of the control groups that, when run by the Balancing, returns only errors below the balancing threshold.

The balancing is performed for all data types (gross, intercompany, net).

Balancing rows are inserted to balance the errors diagnosed at the level of category and category node, custom dimension, and custom dimension node and, for the IC control groups, Ctp entity and Ctp entity node.

Neither errors diagnosed at category level on journal categories, nor errors diagnosed at level of category node containing only journal categories will be balanced.

When the row to be balanced is determined (for example, if the control group reports an unbalanced amount at the category node level, the balanced amount may be inserted on any category belonging to the node), at comparable account, the one with the highest amount is taken. If no row is found, the system will generate one.

IC capacity balancing

The balancing of the IC capacity errors is performed for the accounts for which the IC capacity check is equal to "Check=". As already mentioned, they also need to have been correctly parametrized in the validation rules for the accounts, by defining the balancing threshold.

First, the data processing deletes the old balancing rows (those with PROC_BALANCING origin) and then inserts the new ones.

To determine the rows on which to balance the amounts, it runs the diagnostic of the IC capacity that, when run by the Balancing, returns only errors below the balancing threshold.

Balancing rows are inserted to balance the errors diagnosed at the level of category and category node, custom dimension and custom dimension node.

Neither errors diagnosed at category level on journal categories, nor errors diagnosed at level of category node containing only journal categories will be balanced.

When the row to be balanced is determined (for example, if the IC capacity check reports an unbalanced amount at the category node level, the balanced amount may be inserted on any category belonging to the node), at comparable account, the one with the highest amount is taken. If no row is found, the system will generate one.

To distinguish the balancing rows on control groups from those of IC capacity, the “Notes” field is filled in inside the data tables by specifying the control group for which the balancing was performed or by specifying the capacity balancing.