Utility Accounting Controllers Love

In anticipation of the SAP for Utilities conference coming up in two weeks, HPC has been thinking about what makes for truly exceptional utility accounting. After serving utilities on SAP for more than 20 years, we've learned that customers value—dare we say love—the following:

• A complete and accurate functionalized view of their financials
• No reconciliation issues between GAAP and FERC/NARUC/AWWA
• Meaningful data every day, not just at month-end
• Cost flows that are easy to understand and explain
• Financials straight from the ERP, without dependency on (waiting for) third-party solutions
• Field Ops free to focus on their work, not arcane regulatory accounting
• Highly defensible rate case data

To learn more about how HPC delivers utility accounting that Controllers love, look for us at the SAP for Utilities conference (booth #39) or schedule a meeting with us in advance. During the conference, we’ll not only discuss optimization of SAP Financials, Regulatory Reporting, and Work Management on ECC 6.0 systems, but also SAP S/4HANA adoption strategies and HPC's latest innovation for real-time regulatory financials on S/4.

Top Seven Things Your SAP FERC Reporting Solution Should Do

After spending a couple days at the SAP Controlling conference, we're reminded that utility accounting professionals are often unaware that regulatory reporting on SAP does not have to be opaque, error-prone, slow, or otherwise painful. Utilities that are relatively new to SAP may not have exposure to alternative ways of generating and managing FERC data; all they know are their own systems, which may not be configured to their full potential.

One way to test this is to see if your own SAP FERC reporting solution delivers key benefits of modern regulatory accounting systems.

Does Your SAP FERC Reporting Solution Do This?

1. Deliver all the data that Accounting and Rates need without Field Operations having to know anything about FERC
2. Assign regulatory indicators to work orders automatically
3. Translate natural to regulatory accounts automatically
4. Eliminate reconciling differences between FI, CO, and FERC
5. Help Accounting allocate common costs very easily and flexibly
6. Run fast without errors
7. Let Accounting reverse and rerun FERC quickly, anytime they want

If your current SAP FERC system doesn’t deliver these benefits, talk to HPC about it.

FERC Reporting on SAP S/4HANA - Updated FAQ

In the course of developing solutions on SAP S/4HANA this year, we've updated our FAQ about Regulatory Reporting (FERC) on SAP S/4HANA.

Whether your utility runs the SAP FI-RRU (“FERC”) module or a homegrown derivation- or transaction-based regulatory accounting solution on SAP to functionalize your GAAP accounts, this FAQ will provide some guidance on S/4HANA’s impact on regulatory reporting for utility companies on SAP.

This paper is for public and investor-owned utilities considering S/4HANA, and is ideal for Finance, Accounting, Rates, and IT managers with SAP FICO/FERC responsibility. Request the FAQ online.

CXO Guide for Utilities on SAP: Four Reasons Not to Charge Cost Centers

HPC's latest CXO Guide for Utilities on SAP discusses four key reasons why charging cost centers is not a best practice for utility accounting. In working closely with utilities over the last 20 years, we've determined that cost centers are useful for summarizing orders, comparing budget to actual, and establishing a framework for accountability. But on the front end, charging them leads to less transparency and greater complexity.

On a related note, we've also found that utilities are often frustrated with reports in SAP that are difficult to understand. We hear the same questions everywhere: Where did these overhead costs come from? How were they calculated? Why do amounts vary inexplicably every month?

If you’re asking these questions, too, then it’s likely that your cost flow model overuses or misuses assessments, which leads to "bucket dumping" costs in order to close the books. Accounting needs to spread overhead each month, but doing so without considering the confusing effects on field operations can defeat the benefits of cost accounting to control spending. HPC helps customers address this challenge with our Cost Flow Streamlining service, which delivers total visibility into both direct and indirect costs, improved spending forecasts, and more efficient separation of costs into the appropriate regulatory categories.

Utility Controllers and FICO/FERC subject matter experts can request their copy of this new CXO Guide here.

SAP for Utilities 2016 Conference

This coming October, HPC America will exhibit at the 2016 SAP for Utilities conference, where

we'll be speaking with utility finance, accounting, rates, and work management professionals about the challenges they face and the benefits that HPC has delivered to utility customers over the last 20+ years.

HPC is an SAP Financials, Regulatory Reporting, and Work Management expert dedicated to utilities since 1994. Our latest innovation for SAP S/4HANA delivers next-generation utility accounting: transaction-based regulatory reporting, automated line-item adjustments, unmatched cost flow transparency, one version of truth between GAAP and FERC/NARUC, and, ultimately, stronger rate case positions.

Learn more about HPC's solutions, services, and SAP-related resources for utilities, and contact us to schedule a meeting prior to the SAP for Utilities conference.

Reverse FERC Drill-Down in SAP

As cost flows become more complex, utilities today often find it challenging to trace costs in adequate granularity from sender to receiver—and in reverse to more easily explain costs to regulators. HPC America has pioneered an accounting approach that enables unmatched forward and reverse FERC drill-down transparency.

Our “CO-centric” design for utility financials leverages the Controlling module’s rich secondary cost

data, and our Utility Financials Accelerator and Cost Flow Forensics software provide the most detailed forward and reverse translation of costs. In a forward translation, an original charge is split to one or more FERC accounts. HPC CFF indicates which portions of these original transactions trace to each FERC account. Likewise, in reverse, HPC CFF traces each FERC account to the portions of the original transactions, thereby explaining each dollar amount in FERC accounts by the natural account amounts entered. Our CO-centric design creates a trail of sender/receiver handoffs, and HPC CFF plays this back in a FERC context.

Learn more about modern utility accounting on SAP, and contact us to discuss your own challenges around tracing costs and the FERC drill-down.

2016 SAP Controlling Conference - Fleet Accounting and more

HPC America is pleased to announce that we'll be exhibiting and presenting at this year's SAP Controlling conference in San Diego, September 13-14, 2016.

During the event, HPC CEO Jerry Cavalieri will lead a session on Fleet Accounting best practices in SAP. We'll also be demonstrating our cost adjustment solution for SAP, the HPC Journal Entry Transfer Solution (JETS), which streamlines the process of making high-integrity line-item corrections to mischarged orders, cost centers, and other cost objects directly in the SAP ERP.

Prior to the conference, you can learn more about fleet accounting in SAP and contact HPC America to schedule a meeting.