Collaborative Financial Close Portal

• US 20100299176A1
• Filed: 05/21/2009
• Published: 11/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Mangipudi, Keshava, Morcos, Amira, Romana, Jeremias, Sondhi, Bhupinder
• Granted Patent: US 8,296,200 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.26
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

Mechanisms and approaches for a collaborative financial close portal are provided. A client receives display data, which when rendered by the client, depicts a collaborative financial close portal that supports one or more workspaces. Each of the one or more workspaces may be used by a different set of users to perform activities related to a financial close process. The one or more workspaces are arranged in a hierarchical relationship. In response to receiving identification data that identifies a user of the client, additional display data is sent to the client, which when rendered, depicts a particular workspace for which the user is granted access. The depiction of the particular workspace includes depicting status information about financial close activities associated with one or more workspaces lower in the hierarchal relationship than the particular workspace.

Claims

1. One or more machine-readable storage mediums storing one or more sequences of instructions, which when executed, cause:

sending, to a client, first display data, which when rendered by the client, depicts a collaborative financial close portal, wherein the collaborative financial close portal supports one or more workspaces, and wherein each workspace, of the one or more workspaces, may be used by a different set of users to perform activities related to a financial close process, and

wherein the one or more workspaces are arranged in a hierarchical relationship; and

in response to receiving identification data that identifies a user of the client, sending, to the client, second display data, which when rendered by the client, depicts a particular workspace, of the one or more workspaces, for which the user is granted access, and wherein the depiction of the particular workspace includes a depiction of status information about activities associated with a set of workspaces lower in the hierarchal relationship than the particular workspace.

2. The one or more machine-readable storage mediums of claim 1, wherein the user may configure the particular workspace to include one or more pagelets, wherein each of the one or more pagelets are pluggable user interface components that assist in the performance of the activities related to the financial close process, and wherein each of the one or more pagelets display data obtained from an external source.

3. The one or more machine-readable storage mediums of claim 2, wherein the particular workspace includes a particular pagelet, of the one or more pagelets, that depicts information describing a status of a particular financial close activity, and wherein work is being performed on the particular financial close activity by users having membership in at least one workspace, of the one or more workspaces, other than the particular workspace.

4. The one or more machine-readable storage mediums of claim 3, wherein the outcome of the particular financial close activity depends upon an outcome of two or more processes associated with one or more different workspaces other than the particular workspace, wherein the information is depicted in associated with a displayed color, wherein the displayed color is associated with a particular state of a sequence of possible states, and wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions further causes:

selecting the particular state, associated with the particular financial close activity, to correspond to the least successful status associated with any of the two or more processes.

5. The one or more machine-readable storage mediums of claim 2, wherein the identification data is first identification data, and wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions further causes:

using the first identification data to obtain second identification data, wherein the second identification data uniquely identifies the user; and

sending the second identification data to an external source to obtain data for display in a particular pagelet of the one or more pagelets.

6. The one or more machine-readable storage mediums of claim 1, wherein the particular workspace enables the user to (a) track tasks by assigning responsibility of a particular task to a particular user having access to the particular workspace, (b) monitor progress of the particular task, (c) conduct threaded discussions on action items relating to the activities related to the financial close process, (d) share documents with other users having access to the particular workspace, and (e) maintain version control of the documents shared with other users having access to the particular workspace.

7. The one or more machine-readable storage mediums of claim 1, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions further causes:

in response to receiving a request to create a new workspace, creating the new workspace having attributes of a template identified by the request.

8. The one or more machine-readable storage mediums of claim 1, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions further causes:

storing, in a persistent storage medium, approval data that identifies, for each document associated with the particular workspace that has been signed, (a) the identify of any user which signed the document, (b) the version of the document signed, and (c) the date each user signed the document; and

maintaining the approval data in the persistent storage medium after the conclusion of the financial close process.

9. The one or more machine-readable storage mediums of claim 1, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions further causes:

in response to receiving input that selects a particular action item that is indicated to be overdue, sending, to the client, third display data which, when rendered by the client, displays a user interface component which enables the user to contact, by telephone, email, or instance message, another user assigned responsibility for the particular action item.

10. The one or more machine-readable storage mediums of claim 1, wherein the hierarchical relationship in which the one or more workspaces are arranged is a tree, and wherein each level of the tree corresponds to a different organizational level of an organization.

11. A machine-implemented method for enabling a client to perform activities related to a financial close process, comprising:

sending, to the client, first display data, which when rendered by the client, depicts a collaborative financial close portal, wherein the collaborative financial close portal supports one or more workspaces, and wherein each workspace, of the one or more workspaces, may be used by a different set of users to perform the activities related to a financial close process, and

wherein the one or more workspaces are arranged in a hierarchical relationship; and

in response to receiving identification data that identifies a user of the client, sending, to the client, second display data, which when rendered by the client, depicts a particular workspace, of the one or more workspaces, for which the user is granted access, and wherein the depiction of the particular workspace includes a depiction of status information about activities associated with a set of workspaces lower in the hierarchal relationship than the particular workspace.

12. The machine-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the user may configure the particular workspace to include one or more pagelets, wherein each of the one or more pagelets are pluggable user interface components that assist in the performance of the activities related to the financial close process, and wherein each of the one or more pagelets display data obtained from an external source.

13. The machine-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the particular workspace includes a particular pagelet, of the one or more pagelets, that depicts information describing a status of a particular financial close activity, and wherein work is being performed on the particular financial close activity by users having membership in at least one workspace, of the one or more workspaces, other than the particular workspace.

14. The machine-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the outcome of the particular financial close activity depends upon an outcome of two or more processes associated with one or more different workspaces other than the particular workspace, wherein the information is depicted in associated with a displayed color, wherein the displayed color is associated with a particular state of a sequence of possible states, and wherein the machine-implemented method further comprises:

selecting the particular state, associated with the particular financial close activity, to correspond to the least successful status associated with any of the two or more processes.

15. The machine-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the identification data is first identification data, and wherein the machine-implemented method further comprises:

using the first identification data to obtain second identification data, wherein the second identification data uniquely identifies the user; and

sending the second identification data to an external source to obtain data for display in a particular pagelet of the one or more pagelets.

16. The machine-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the particular workspace enables the user to (a) track tasks by assigning responsibility of a particular task to a particular user having access to the particular workspace, (b) monitor progress of the particular task, (c) conduct threaded discussions on action items relating to the activities related to the financial close process, (d) share documents with other users having access to the particular workspace, and (e) maintain version control of the documents shared with other users having access to the particular workspace.

17. The machine-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the machine-implemented method further comprises:

in response to receiving a request to create a new workspace, creating the new workspace having attributes of a template identified by the request.

18. The machine-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the machine-implemented method further comprises:

storing, in a persistent storage medium, approval data that identifies, for each document associated with the particular workspace that has been signed, (a) the identify of any user which signed the document, (b) the version of the document signed, and (c) the date each user signed the document; and

maintaining the approval data in the persistent storage medium after the conclusion of the financial close process.

19. The machine-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the machine-implemented method further comprises:

in response to receiving input that selects a particular action item that is indicated to be overdue, sending, to the client, third display data which, when rendered by the client, displays a user interface component which enables the user to contact, by telephone, email, or instance message, another user assigned responsibility for the particular action item.

20. The machine-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the hierarchical relationship in which the one or more workspaces are arranged is a tree, and wherein each level of the tree corresponds to a different organizational level of an organization.

21. An apparatus for enabling a client to perform activities related to a financial close process, comprising:

a machine-readable medium storing one or more sequences of instructions, which when executed, cause;

sending, to the client, first display data, which when rendered by the client, depicts a collaborative financial close portal, wherein the collaborative financial close portal supports one or more workspaces, and wherein each workspace, of the one or more workspaces, may be used by a different set of users to perform the activities related to a financial close process, and

wherein the one or more workspaces are arranged in a hierarchical relationship; and

in response to receiving identification data that identifies a user of the client, sending, to the client, second display data, which when rendered by the client, depicts a particular workspace, of the one or more workspaces, for which the user is granted access, and wherein the depiction of the particular workspace includes a depiction of status information about activities associated with a set of workspaces lower in the hierarchal relationship than the particular workspace.