Consolidates financial, internal control and operational information while monitoring compliance
Chicago — April 26, 2004 — In a bid to help organizations achieve and move beyond compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, business performance management (BPM) provider Hyperion and Deloitte Consulting LLP, a professional services firm, today announced an agreement to deliver a solution for financial and internal control monitoring and reporting.
The companies said the solution combines Hyperion's software and Deloitte's experience in assisting more than 500 clients in Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 readiness to enable companies to monitor compliance through a single portal that consolidates financial, internal control and operational information.
According to John Hagerty from AMR, organizations should parlay their compliance efforts into more comprehensive performance management activities.
"Companies are beginning to put compliance requirements in perspective of what they consider the spirit of Sarbanes-Oxley: better-managed and reliable company financial performance. With that, they are connecting the dots between overall corporate governance initiatives, mandated compliance requirements, and their own enterprise performance management activities," said John Hagerty in The AMR Research Alert, March 8, 2004.
The solution offers integrated information that is delivered to user desktops via a single dashboard. By providing the status of internal controls through a single source of information on policies and principles that is integrated with day-to-day financial operations, Hyperion added, users gain the ability to analyze and take action on potential control weaknesses.
"We know that our clients are seeking solutions that will enable them to achieve compliance, not just as an end in itself, but as a critical stop on the path to improving overall business performance," said Rich Clayton, vice president of product marketing for Hyperion. "By integrating Hyperion's BPM applications with Deloitte's practices and internal control processes, we have designed this solution to help organizations focus on superior operational and financial performance while monitoring compliance."
In addition, Deloitte's financial and internal control monitoring and reporting framework, which is known as OneView, combines compliance-specific knowledge and practices with technology, including Hyperion Financial Management software, which the company said is a Web-based, enterprise-scale management and reporting application that serves to satisfy shareholder, investor and government requirements for disclosure, transparency and accountability. Thus, Deloitte said organizations could maximize their investment in current Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and build an environment of sustained compliance for the future.
"We've extended our alliance with Hyperion specifically to help organizations monitor the quality of their internal control environment and improve their overall business performance," said Andy Rusnak, principal, chief financial officer Services for Deloitte.
Both companies claimed the solution can help companies reduce close-cycle times by days or weeks, cut compliance and operational costs by replacing manual control procedures with automated and preventative controls, and identify new sources for profitability and cash flow. Some of the key categories of enabling technology for the solution include Web-based financial consolidation and reporting application for collecting and reporting periodic financial data, control monitoring of the current control environment and monitoring the Sarbanes-Oxley compliance process, and a Web delivery platform.
A key technology component of the OneView framework is Hyperion Financial Management, a proven Web-based, enterprise-scale financial management and reporting application that helps satisfy shareholder, investor and government requirements for disclosure, transparency and accountability. Part of a comprehensive suite of Business Performance Management software, Hyperion Financial Management provides managers with rapid access to financial results, and the ability to review an audit trail of approvals before signing off on financial statements.