Status Management in the Consolidation Monitor 

Use

You use this function to monitor the progress of the tasks for each individual consolidation unit or consolidation group.

Prerequisites

Status management must be activated. This is the default.

You should deactivate status management only in rare exceptions. This can be done in the process view of the workbench under Consolidation Area ® tab Settings.

The other prerequisites are the same as described in section Consolidation Monitor.

Features

Status Display per Organizational Unit

The consolidation monitor displays the status for each organizational unit:

·        Individually for each task  and…

·        Summarized for task groups

Legend of symbols for the status display

Explanations of each task status

Status	Explanation/ Example	X = System automatically sets the status	Optional/ Required = user sets the status
Initial stage	The task has not been executed in update mode yet.	X
Incomplete	The task has been executed in update mode, but is still incomplete, for example, due to the following: ·        The task has not been executed for all lower-level consolidation units, or ·        A preceding task was executed again.	X
Errors	Errors occurred in the task when executed in update mode.	X
Pending completion of preceding task	One or more preceding tasks are not yet blocked. The copy task has the pending completion status when source tasks have not been blocked yet.	X
No errors, with warnings	No errors occurred in update mode, but warning messages did arise.	X
No errors, no warnings	The task was executed in update mode without any errors or warnings.	X
Blocked	The task is blocked against (another) execution. The user can block the task only if it executed without errors and all preceding tasks are blocked. This does not apply to tasks for data collection and manual standardization. These can be blocked without having been run (however, the preceding tasks must first be blocked). You can block the copy task after it has been executed without errors its source task or tasks have been blocked.		Optional
Blocked by user	Users can block tasks at any time (regardless of the status of preceding tasks).  However, you should use this option only when have justification to do so, and only in rare circumstances.		Optional
Unblocked	After a task has been blocked, you can unblock it if it needs to be re-executed.		Optional
Not applicable	Currency translation is not applicable for a consolidation unit if its local currency is the same as the group currency, or its reported financial data is recorded in group currency. A copy task is not applicable if the assignment of the method to the copy task is dependent on the consolidation units, and you have deselected the Relevant indicator for those consolidation units (instead of specifying a method).	X
Reset	When the source task of a copy task is reset, the system resets the status of a copy task and the tasks that follow.  You should "reset" the status only when you have justification to do so, and only in rare circumstances (see below).	X (for the copy task)	Optional

To look at the details of the status of an organizational unit and a task (or task group), go to the context menu of the header row or header column and choose Swap Characteristic with… ® Status Details.

The details include the user name, date and time of the last change.

Details About Status Updating

·        When you run a task in update mode, the system updates the status for the relevant organizational units.

·        You can execute, for example, task "B" even if its preceding task, "A", has not been blocked yet. In this case, task "B" is set to status pending completion of preceding task.

·        A task can only be blocked (in the menu) if it was executed without any errors and all preceding tasks have been blocked.

An exception is made for the tasks data collection and manual standardizing entries. These can be blocked without having been run.

You can block the tasks of a task group  as a bundle.

·        Once a task has been blocked, it must be unblocked before it can be rerun. Note that this also automatically unblocks all downstream tasks. For example, if you unblock the task data collection, the system simultaneously unblocks the task currency translation and so forth.

You can unblock the tasks of a task group  as a bundle.

·        The system uses the same update logic for higher-level and lower-level organizational units, and for the overall status.

·        Only in rare situations should you reset the status (in the menu: Task ® Reset). Here is an example: Suppose the system sets the status of currency translation to not applicable because the local currency is the same as the group currency. At a later date, a local currency change takes place. In this case, you need to manually reset the status of currency translation.

The system then resets the following statuses of the organizational units for the selected task:

¡        the status of the selected consolidation unit or group

¡        the statuses of the lower-level consolidation units and groups

¡        the statuses of the higher-level consolidation groups

The system also resets the downstream tasks.

Furthermore, when a source task of a copy task is reset, the system resets the status of the copy task and the tasks that follow.

·        Another function for rare situations is the one for deactivating status management (see customizing settings for the consolidation area, tab Settings).

Opening and Closing Task Processing for a Period

In general, periods are always initially open for task processing.

You can open and close the periods of a fiscal year for all tasks to ensure that documents are always posted in the correct period. This is always done for a selected consolidation group (including its lower-level organizational units) or for a single consolidation unit.

You can also close processing of consolidation units only. In this case, only the tasks for consolidation groups can be executed. To do this, choose Edit ® Period ® Close Processing of Consolidation Units.

If the period (including all tasks) is already closed, you can reopen task processing for the consolidation groups by choosing Edit ® Period ® Open Processing of Consolidation Groups.

You require special authorization to open and close periods.

The following graphic illustrates which colors are used to highlight the nodes of the organizational units when periods are open or closed.

Color legend for opening and closing periods