Video: Utility FICO/FERC panel discussion at SAP Controlling 2015

At last month's SAP Controlling conference, HPC moderated a panel discussion of four utility company controllers and FICO/FERC experts from RPU, NTUA, FirstEnergy, and Sharyland Utilities, covering a range of topics around modern cost accounting and regulatory reporting strategies for utilities on SAP.

Panelists Bryan Blom, Gerard Curley, Steve Law, and Armando Bustamante were joined in an engaging discussion by utility FICO/FERC professionals from PSEG, Salt River Project, CPS Energy, and EDF Renewable Energy.

Watch the SAP Controlling video online:

Utility FICO/FERC Topics at SAP Controlling 2015 - Part 2/2

Following up on last week's post, the utility company panel discussion at the 2015 SAP Controlling conference will give utility company controllers, utility accounting and finance managers, and Rates department managers a chance to learn from several highly experienced utility FICO/FERC subject matter experts.

Steve Law, Business Analyst at FirstEnergy Corporation, will discuss FirstEnergy's steps to eliminate clearing groups and resolve negative flow errors. Steve has more than 35 years of experience in utility accounting, and has worked in General Accounting, Financial Reporting, Internal Controls, and Business Services. Most recently, Steve has been a project lead on FirstEnergy's upgrade to a "CO-centric" FERC model that enhances external reporting with Controlling module data.

Armando Bustamante, Controller of Sharyland Utilities, will speak about streamlining Sharyland's regulatory reporting and creating a hybrid functional Income Statement. Armando has more than 20 years of experience in accounting, including Financial Reporting and External Audit. He began his professional career with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Venezuela and Dallas, before joining the Hunt Family of Companies in 2011. Armando is also a CPA.

Contact HPC to learn more about modern SAP FICO/FERC strategies for utilities at the 2015 SAP Controlling conference, and to request group discount registration passes.

Utility FICO/FERC Topics at SAP Controlling 2015 - Part 1/2

At next month's SAP Controlling conference in San Diego, the utility company panel discussion will cover a number of SAP cost accounting and regulatory reporting topics relevant to utility controllers, utility finance and accounting managers, and Rates department experts.

Bryan Blom, Controller of Rochester Public Utilities, will speak about RPU's steps to improve SAP FERC reporting clarity, and their process for eliminating offline cost calculations. Bryan is a CPA and has more than 16 years of SAP Financials experience. Today, he is responsible for general ledger accounting and reporting; treasury management; accounts payable, budgeting and forecasting; financial regulatory reporting; utility billing, credit and collections; and financial, cost, and rate analysis.

Gerard Curley, Controller of Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, will speak about improving NTUA's assessment process, and minimizing month-end reconciliations in SAP. Gerard has more than 10 years of SAP Financials experience, and focuses on optimizing NTUA's ERP functionality to streamline operations of the utility's electric, gas, water, wastewater, photovoltaic, and communication services.

Contact HPC to learn more about modern SAP FICO/FERC strategies for utilities at the 2015 SAP Controlling conference, and to request group discount registration passes.

Sharyland Utilities to Join SAP Controlling 2015 Customer Panel

HPC America is pleased to announce that Sharyland Utilities will be joining the SAP Controlling customer panel discussion on modern cost accounting and regulatory reporting on September 22.

Armando Bustamante is the Controller of Sharyland Utilities, which serves over 50,000 electric delivery points in 29 counties throughout Texas. Armando is responsible for many aspects of SAP Financials at Sharyland, including general ledger accounting and reporting, accounts payable, financial regulatory reporting, and project accounting. Armando is currently leading Sharyland's implementation of the SAP FERC module, and he is a contributor on the implementation of a new hosted CIS module. Armando has more than 20 years of experience in accounting, including Financial Reporting and External Audit. He began his professional career with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Venezuela and the Dallas offices before joining the Hunt Family of Companies in 2011. Armando is a CPA and earned an MBA from the University of Dallas.

Learn more about the utility company SAP FICO/FERC panel discussion at Controlling 2015.

FirstEnergy to join Utility Panel Discussion at SAP Controlling 2015

Back in January we announced that the 2015 SAP Controlling conference in San Diego would include for the first time some utility-specific content: a panel discussion of utility company accounting experts sharing their latest solutions to SAP cost accounting, regulatory reporting, and other SAP FICO/FERC challenges. (Plus, a networking session for utility industry professionals.)

We're very pleased to announce that Bryan Blom and Gerard Curley, Controllers from RPU and NTUA, respectively, will be joined on the utility industry panel by Steve Law, a business analyst and FICO/FERC subject matter expert from FirstEnergy Corporation, a diversified energy company headquartered in Akron, OH that serves 6 million customers across Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, and New York.

Steve has more than 35 years of experience in utility accounting, and has worked in General Accounting, Financial Reporting, Internal Controls, and Business Services. Since 1998, Steve's primary responsibility has been Regulatory Reporting; he led the SAP FERC module implementations at General Public Utilities Corp. in 1999, and at FirstEnergy in 2003. Today, he is a project lead on FirstEnergy's upgrade to a "CO-centric" FERC model that enhances external reporting with Controlling module data.

Learn more about the utility industry panel discussion at Controlling 2015, and contact HPC to share any questions or discussion topics that you would like the panelists to address.

SAP Fleet Management for utilities

We're starting another SAP Fleet Management implementation for a utility company this month, based on the HPC Fleet Template and our proven best practices for preventive maintenance schedules, notifications, and fleet costing at utilities on SAP.

This latest project will consolidate several legacy fleet systems into SAP using standard SAP Plant Maintenance and Materials Management functionality—plus HPC America's "fleet dashboard" that provides easy, user-friendly access to common fleet management tasks in SAP for mechanics, fleet managers, and other administrators.

The HPC Fleet Dashboard provides quick access to the daily functions required to maintain vehicles in SAP from purchase through retirement. 

New Software for Utilities on SAP: HPC Cost Flow Forensics (CFF)

Total visibility into complex cost flows—to the penny

HPC Cost Flow Forensics (CFF) is software for utility companies on SAP® that provides total visibility into lengthy or complex cost flows. It enables Rates and Finance professionals to identify the dollars and descriptions associated with every single cost object by FERC account, even those typically obscured from view in between the final (receiver) and source (sender) objects. As a result, HPC CFF improves responsiveness to regulatory inquiries and reduces audit risk, with zero disruption to current operations practices.

Complex Cost Flows Hinder Transparent Regulatory Reporting in SAP

As utilities have grown through acquisition over the last decade, their cost flows have become increasingly lengthy and complex. Key elements in the flow are often obscured from view, challenging Rates and Finance to answer questions about actual costs from regulators and management. The traditional cost model and legacy SAP FERC solution are simply not sufficient to expose the rich detail typically found in internal orders and WBS elements:

HPC Cost Flow Forensics (CFF) Delivers Complete Transparency

In combination with the IS-U/FERC Module and HPC Utility Financials Accelerator, HPC CFF exposes all of the cost objects in between the cost flow's sender and receiver. In doing so, it improves responsiveness and accuracy to regulatory inquiries; reduces audit risk and strengthens rate case positions; and, ultimately, provides one version of the truth between FI, CO, and FERC.

Learn more about HPC Cost Flow Forensics and how it can benefit regulated utilities on SAP.