ServiceNow®
Finance Close Automation (FCA) product enhancements and updates in the Orlando release.
Warning: The Finance Close Automation application has been deprecated and is no
longer maintained.
With Finance Close Automation, use workflows
and automation to accelerate your finance close processes and reduce your finance
close risk. The
application simplifies accounting and finance close process for your organization. You can
post journal entries, manage timelines for close tasks, and perform end-to-end accounting
procedures in a centralized location.
New in the Orlando release
- Finance Workspace
-
Manage your finance close work with an intuitive multi-tab interface.
- Finance Close
dashboard
-
Monitor multiple metrics as well as manage reporting and analytics to quickly track
the health and progress of your finance close.
- Finance Operations Mobile
application
-
Access your Finance Close Automation data on your mobile device. You can
also monitor the status of close tasks in real time, approve or reject close and
follow-up tasks, and collaborate with stakeholders to address exceptions while on
the go.
- FCA integration with the Oracle
NetSuite ERP system
-
Configure FCA to integrate with your Oracle NetSuite ERP system to automate posting
of journal entries in real time.
- Workspace form view mapping to a
Journal Entry (JE) header template
- Map a workspace form view to a JE header template. This form view displays the
template's columns as fields in the Details tab of a journal entry in the Finance
Workspace. The close admin can also create a new form view for JE header
templates.
- Group assignment for a journal
entry task
-
Assign a journal entry close task to user groups so that any member of the assigned
groups can work, review, or approve this task and its journal entries.
These user groups, such as the Owner group, Reviewer group, and Approver group, are
of type Finance Close and have finance close roles assigned to them.
- Mass approval and rejection of
close tasks and journal entries
-
Select multiple tasks or journal entries to approve or reject them in one go.
During mass rejection, the same rejection reason applies to all the selected
items.
- Mass editing of close
tasks
-
Edit multiple tasks in an accounting period that require similar edits in one go.
Any changes you make during the mass editing apply to all the selected close
tasks.
- Editing permission configuration
for tasks
-
As a finance close admin, configure permissions for editing tasks using the
extension point.
- Import of journal entries from a
CSV file
-
Create journal entries for a journal entry task by importing from a CSV file.
- Default sheet name configuration
for an Excel import file
-
Configure the default sheet name that is used when uploading the Microsoft Excel
file to create journal entries.
- Automatically resend journal
entries for the reversal if there is a reversal failure
- In addition to the ability to repost the failed journal entries, the scheduled job
Repost failed JE Documents also resends the request to reverse
journal entries that didn't reverse successfully. The property sn_fcms.erp.repush.count determines
the maximum number of times the system should retry to send the reversal request.
- Criticality setting of a close
task
-
Set the level of criticality of a close task to determine its urgency and
importance in the close process for an accounting period.
- Completion method of a journal
entry task
-
Select the option to complete the task manually or automatically for close tasks
using JE workflow.
- Multiple organizational
calendars for close tasks
-
Set up calendars you use in your organization and associate close tasks with these
calendars. You can associate tasks with one or more calendars.
- Multiple open accounting periods
-
You can kick start and work on close workbooks for multiple open accounting periods
simultaneously.
- Tracking journal entry reversal
changes
-
Use the Reversed by field on a journal entry form to view
the user who performed the reversal. If there is a reversal failure, this user gets
the notification.
- Substate of a close
task
-
Track the progress of a close task using its substates. Each state of a task has
been further categorized into one or more substates that enable you to review the
task progress at a detailed level.
- Service Level Agreement (SLA)
for tasks
-
Create an SLA definition for close tasks and follow-up tasks to make sure that the
tasks are closed within the defined time frame. Review the task SLA information in
the Finance Close Dashboard using SLA reports.
- Property for retaining task
owners when duplicating a close workbook
-
Set the Retain task owner upon duplicate property
(fca_retain_task_owner) to true so that if a task has both
the Owner and Owner Group fields
filled in, then the owner field value is copied over to the new close workbook when
you duplicate a close
workbook for the next accounting
period.
- Property to set the execution
mode for the task state roll-up business rule
-
Improve performance by specifying the number of tasks in the
sn_fcms.sync.rollup.business.rule.limit property. When the
number of tasks is less than that specified in the property, the business rule to
roll up the task state runs in synchronous mode.
- Quick start tests for Finance
Close Automation
-
After upgrades and deployments of new applications or integrations, run quick start
tests to verify that Finance Close Automation still works. If you
customized Finance Close Automation, copy the quick start tests and
configure them for your customizations.
Changed in this release
- User Groups in FCA
-
- The JE Approval Groups module is renamed
Groups.
- The group type is changed from Journal Approver to Finance Close. Groups of
type Finance Close have finance close roles also associated with them.
- Percent complete mapping of
close tasks
- Configure the mapping of the percent complete of close tasks with substates instead
of states.
Removed in this release
- Close Management Portal has been deprecated. Instead, use Finance Workspace to track and manage your tasks.
- The Include in Corporate calendar check box is removed from the
close task form. Instead, use the Calendar list to associate a close
task with one or more calendars.
- The Delete button on the ERP User Mapping and ERP Role Mapping forms has been removed. Instead, use the
Inactive check box to deactivate the mappings if not
required.
Activation information
Install the Finance Close Automation
(FCA) application and its dependent applications from ServiceNow Store
applications.
Additional requirements
The integration of FCA with your ERP
system requires an installed and configured MID Server in your ServiceNow instance. This MID Server integration is
required only for an ERP integration that uses SOAP services.
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