1. OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE 

1.1 Objective of this Procedure

The objective of this procedure is to describe the process and the actions that should be taken when there is a request to update the GAR List of companies, the changes can be:

  • Solvay Structure of Companies
    • Acquisition of New company
    • The change of Consolidation Method of a company
    • End of a Company: Sale, Liquidation or Merger
  • Time to time requests made by stakeholders to update any other filed of the legal entities (CAMs, Address, Tax number)
  • CAMS Adhesion review
  • CBCR activity review


The actions concerns the update of the GAR List of Companies and in case of changes in Solvay structure the update of the monthly Scope of Consolidation in BFC and update the users' accesses.

1.2 Scope

This procedure applies to the BFC Administration team.


2. REFERENCE DOCUMENTS 


3. DEFINITIONS

BFC - Business Financial Consolidation (Solvay's Group Consolidation Tool).

BFC-Admin - BFC Administration Team (Team in charge for the Administration of the BFC).

GAR - Group Accounting Reporting Team.

CAM - Company Accounting Manager.

IG - Full Consolidated.

IP - Proportional.

ME - Equity Method.

NC - Not Consolidated. 

PRS - Production Reference System.

ERP - Enterprise resource planning.


4. SUMMARY 

4.1 Principle and Context

GAR LIST OF COMPANIES

The GAR List of Companies is the official list that contains the main information about the companies of Solvay Group, e.g. Consolidation information, ERPs, Accounting Contacts, Audit Process, and the SBS Service Organization.

This list is stored in the AODocs library FINANCE LEGAL ENTITIES MANAGEMENT, and any necessary update must be performed directly in this list to guarantee an up to date database with all necessary information of a company.

It is important to have it updated on a regular basis, before month end, as it's the source of information for other processes across the organization, e.g., manage authorizations on Bank Acc Mngt, Freshdesk robots or LER Dashboards.


More details about the fields of the GAR List are available in the


SCOPE OF CONSOLIDATION

On a monthly basis it is created a Scope of Consolidation, named SOLVAY14. This scope concerns all consolidated companies of the Group (IG, ME and IP). This way when there is an operation this scope must be updated to reflect the new structure of consolidation.

The operations and actions in the scope are:

  • End of a company (Sold, Liquidated or Merged) - exclude the company from the scope
  • New Consolidated company - add the company into the scope
  • Change in the consolidation method - add the company when it becomes consolidated, or exclude when the opposite


4.2 Responsibility

The BFC-Admin is responsible to perform any update in the List of Companies, and the actions that have impact when there is an operation, as to update the Scope, perform any updated for a company in BFC, add a CAM or Controller to the concerned Distribution list, and update the user access when necessary.

The Corporate Secretary is responsible to maintain the PRS System and then communicate the operations.

The GAR Consolidation Team is responsible to update the Structure file with the operations.


4.3 Overview

The following graphic describes when the GAR List of companies should be updated:



5. GAR List of Companies Update

The need to create a new company or to update the Consolidation method of a company is linked to the operations in the Solvay Structure. These changes are officially communicated in the following ways:

1. OPERATIONS COMMUNICATED BY THE CORPORATE SECRETARY

When there is an operation in the Solvay's structure it is firstly updated in the PRS system.

The PRS System is a SAP module directly connected with the ERP.

When the updated is performed in the PRS, an email is sent to the mailbox $SBS-StructureManagement RtR.

Example of email received:

Critical changes such as new company created-sold-merged-liquidated should be updated immediately whether they are communicated by Corporate Secretary, information from GAR or BFC Admin manager, even if not all the detailed fields are known. 

At the same time BFCAdmin should get in touch with other stakeholders (CAD, Fin Op's managers, TSU for cams adhesion) to complete the other detailed fields.


2. OPERATIONS COMMUNICATED BY THE GAR CONSOLIDATION TEAM

After the email of the Corporate Secretary, the GAR team will update the  Solvay Structure File in the GAR AODOCs Library, with the information about the company's operation. As the consolidation method used for the new company, type of operation, and any additional information necessary to update in BFC.

Every month end (last week of the month), BFC Admin should guarantee appropriate review of all changes in order to assure they are aligned with changes performed in parallel in BFC structure/reporting packs/scope/users.


Other updates also under the responsibility of BFCAdmin team are as follow:

Updates requested via GForm - Stakeholders like CAMs, CADs or Financial Op.Team Leaders can also request the update of some fields via a dedicated Gform. The form responses file should be checked every week (on Fridays) and GAR list should be updated.

CAMS Adhesion review - In order to update companies that have transferred their trade payables / receivables to the factoring companies (Cash Accounting Simplification), a quarter review should be done by comparing the status of CAMS Adhesion field of all active companies with  the information received from Corporate Treasury (excel file).

CBCR activity review - In order to update the activity(ies) of the main business carried out by each legal entity, a year review should be done in September. 

The following topics describe how to update the List of Companies according to each type of operation, as soon as they are communicated.


5.1 GAR List of Companies - Add a new Comapny

In the List of Companies, click on NEW, and choose the option New LEGAL ENTITY CARD.





Then, fill the fields according to information received.

The only fields that are mandatory to create a new item in the GAR list of companies are the BFC Code and Entity Name, but note that there are some important information to enter:

  • Document title, which is the combination of BFC Code and Company name
  • BFC code
  • Country
  • Region
  • Consolidation method and Control
  • Functional currency
  • Legacy
  • PRS Code
  • LER Acquisition/ Creation Date

After enter all the information save the new item, clicking on the icon .




5.2 GAR List of Companies - End of a Company

There are three situations for the End of a Company:

  • The company is merged into another Solvay's company
  • The company is sold to another Group
  • The company is liquidated

When the information of these types of operations is received, the GAR list of companies must be updated accordingly. The following fields have to be updated:

  • Group company status - Deactivate + Reason (Liquidation/ Merger/ Sold)

  • Group exit date - The operation date (MM-DD-YYYY)

  • Comment -Details about the exit (Date, reason, buyer if any, etc)

  • LER Sale/ Liquidation/ Merger date - Indicating the same date as in the Group Exit Date, but in the dedicated field according to the operation

Important: Latest known consolidation method and control % should be kept in order to don't loose this useful historical data. 

* As example, the company 5884 was merged into another Solvay's company.






5.3 GAR List of Companies - Contacts of a Company


Since this is the official list used by the Group, it is important to have duly updated the main Accounting Contacts of a company, as:

  • CAD Country Accounting Director - Is the accounting contact responsible for a country
  • Accounting Compliance Officer - Accounting Compliance Officer
  • CAM - Company Accounting Manager - is the contact in first line for any questions regarding the entity

The information to update a contact can be raised to the BFC-Admin mailbox, by the RtR Process Owner, the CAD or other GAR List user. It also may be seen through the appointments done in the Solvay One portal.

When it is necessary to update one of these contacts, it has to be granted that they have access to the companies under their perimeter in BFC and also if they are properly added to the Distribution List according to the position.






6. Company Management in BFC 

The Companies management is done in BFC FC_Top platform, then the changes should be transferred to the BFC FC_Prod.

The companies can be accessed in the Dimension Builder module, through the option RU - Reporting Unit.



6.1 Company Management in BFC - Create a Company

The creation of a new Company can be done from the scratch or through Save As from another company.


* To create with reference to another company select another one that has the same definitions (Country, Consolidation Method...) than the company to be created. In this example to create the company 63270 it was takes as reference the company 60624.



In the tab General enter the following information:

  • The code
  • The short description
  • The long description
  • The extra-long description



in the tab Properties enter the following information:

  • Company - The new BFC company code
  • Country - Country Code
  • Currency - Currency Code
  • Activity - is linked with the consolidation method of the new company, There are four activities used in Solvay's definitions:
      • GR (Intra Group Partners): for consolidated companies. The company will be considered in the scope of consolidation
      • HG (Out Of Group Partners): for non-consolidated companies. The company will not be considered in the scope of consolidation
      • ME (Equity Partners): for companies with Equity method (when Solvay does not hold the control of the company). The company will be considered in the scope of consolidation
      • MI (External Mother of IP Companies): This is a very specific situation. When one entity is owned by 50%, the mother company will be considered as an “External mother” and not as a “Partner HG”
  • Entity Type - is linked with the consolidation method of the new company. There are three types:

    • S (Legal Company) - for consolidated companies

    • H (Third Parties) - for non-consolidated companies

    • T (Technical)  - each time a DISCOP (discontinued operation) company has to be created upon GAR request.

  • TYPEREM - There is only one type used in Solvay, the STAT (Statutory)
  • Entity Portfolio - 

    • IG (Full Consolidation) - for full consolidated companies

    • IP (Proportional Consolidation) - for proportional consolidated companies , according to the percentage of shares held by SOLVAY on the company

    • ME (Equity Method) - for companies with Equity method, when Solvay does not hold the control of the company

    • NC (Not Consolidated) - for non-consolidated companies

  • Legacy - Select the Legacy of the company, the options are:
    • SOLVAY
    • RHODIA
    • CYTEC
    • AUTRES (Other)
  • PGESTION - This field is related to the Management Country of the company (for Controlling purposes, the management Country for some companies, may be considered on a different Country than it is located)

In the tab Translation, update the short, long and extra-long description for French and English languages.





6.2 Company Management in BFC - Update the Consolidation Method

When there is a change in the Consolidation Method of a Company, its information has to be updated in BFC.


Example a company that changed from Not Consolidated (NC) to Full Consolidated (IG), the information to be changed in the tab Properties are:


FieldFrom To
ActivityHGGR
Entity TypeHS
TYPEREM
STAT
Entity PortfolioNCIG
LEGACYAUTRES


           


6.3 Company Management in BFC - Send the Updates from FC_Top to FC_Prod

BFC FC_Top


Go to the Task List module within the Administration domain.



As the creation of a new company comes from Consolidation team, select the task list type of EXPL-CONSO, for Consolidation.



Click on the icon  New Transference Object, select the option “Reference table members” then the item Entity.



Ensure that the Entity is the only object Selected for Transfer.

To select or deselect an object, choose the option "Select for Transfer" with right click on the object.

Then Save  the selection and close this window.





In the Task List select the task and click on Start, to begin the transference process.



BFC FC_Prod


Go to the module “Task List”  within the domain "Administration".


First, launch the Scan of tasks, by clicking on "Start" option.


The task transferred from BFC_Top will appear in the list type "Task".


 

Then click on Start on the task, to initiate the process.



After the task has finished the process, check if the company was properly transferred.




7. Scope Management 

The update must be performed in accordance to the operation available in the "Solvay Structure" file.

Depending on the changes there are 3 updates to perform:

  • New company: the company must be included in the scope of the Group.
  • Change of Consolidation method: if the company became consolidated, the company must be added to the scope.
  • End of company: the company must be removed from the scope of consolidation (change the consolidation method to Not Consolidated).

In the BFC FC_Top Select the Scope Builder module within the Operation domain.


The scopes can be created from the last version available, through the Save As option. It should be created firstly in the FC_Top database.

For this, go to the Scope Builder module, select the last version of the Scope to be used as reference to create the new one.

* In this instance it will be created the scope SOLVAY14 2017.04, thus it should be selected the scope SOLVAY14 - 2017.03.


Open it, choose Save As, enter the Period and then click on OK.




At this stage the scope is created, however check in the Structure file if in the current month there was any operation in the Structure that should be considered in this scope.


7.1 Scope Management - New Company

Within the Step Scope, click on the button  to Insert Reporting Unit.


Indicate the BFC code of the company to be inserted and fill the consolidation method of this company according to the information received from the GAR:

  • Financial interest %
  • Ownership interest %
  • Consolidation method

And click on Next.


When a company its Consolidation Method changes from Not Consolidated (NC) to Full Consolidated (IG), it also has to be added to the scope, the same way then a new company.


When the rate is changed in the filed Ownership Interest %, the system changes the consolidation method automatically according to the range set for each method, thus it should be payed attention whether the consolidation method should be updated or not, otherwise it has to be amended manually to the correct method. The BFC concerns the following ranges for each consolidation method:


7.2 Scope Management - End of a company

Sale of a Company


For the reporting period corresponding to the month of the sale, the company sold will be excluded from the scope of consolidation and it will be generated an "intermediate" package.

As example the company 0309 Solvay Indupa that was sold in December of 2016.

In the step Scope select the company and updated the consolidation method to "Not consolidated (NC)".




In the tab Incoming/Outgoing inform:

  • In the Intermediate data entry period - the reporting period correspondent to the previous month (M-1).





Merger of a Comapany


 There are 2 types of merge:

  • With retroactive effect: the balance and the P&L from January 1st of the company is transferred account by account from the company absorbed to the absorbing company.
  • With NO retroactive effect: the closing balance and corresponding P&L result (L12000) of the company is directly transferred from the company absorbed into the absorbing company. 

With retroactive effect


In the step Scope select the company and change the consolidation method to "Not consolidated (NC)".


As example the company 5907 SOLVAY ORGANICS, that was merged in February 2016 into the company 1196 Solvay GMBH.




In the tab Incoming/Outgoing inform:

  • In the Acquiring reporting unit - the reporting unit of the absorbing company.




With NO retroactive effect


Nothing to change in the scope.

The company will continue to report until the end of the year and it will be necessary to copy the reporting data from the month of the merge until the end of the year.


As example the company 5697 SOLVAY SA INFORMATION SERVICES, that was merged in May of 2016 into the company 00001 Solvay SCH.




Liquidation of a Company


In the month of the Liquidation the company remains in the Scope, and the packages are generated normally.  But in the next reporting period it will be necessary to exclude the company from the scope and generate an "intermediate" package (same as for the sale of a company).


In the step Scope select the company and change the consolidation method to "Not consolidated (NC)".


As example the company 5020 BLAIR INTERNATIONAL, that was liquidated in June 2017.




In the tab Incoming/Outgoing inform:

  • In the Intermediate data entry period - the reporting period correspondent to the previous month (M-1).

Note that the company was liquidated in June/17, and the company is just being updated in the scope of July/17.




7.3 Scope Management - Send the Scope from FC_Top to FC_Prod

BFC_Prod


After the scope is duly created and validated in the FC_Top it should be transferred to the FC_Prod.

Go to Task List module within the Administration domain, and select the Object EXPL-ADMIN.


Open it and in the Definition tab select New transferable object icon.


Choose the option Scope Builder.


Open the list of available scopes and select the one to be transferred.


Then Save the definitions set.


With right click on the object select the Start option.




BFC_Prod


In the FC_Prod environmental go to the Task list module, select the SCAN object and Start, to initiate the process.

Press F5 to refresh, then the object will be available in the subgroup Receive objects, it will be first object available, in the column Last Run it should be empty.

To make sure this is the correct object, open it and in Definition tab check the item.

After that start the object transference, by click on the object with right click and choose the option Start.

Press F5 to refresh, the column Status shows a green flag meaning that the transference is completed with no errors.

Just confirm in the Scope Builder module that the scope was properly transferred.



8. Other Actions 

When someone is appointed for a position within the RtR Team (Record to Report), or when a company is added in the List of Companies and then created in BFC, there are some actions to be taken, as:

  • Confirm if it is necessary to grant access to the BFC to a new user
  • Confirm if a new user needs to be added to a Distribution List Managed by the BFC-Admin Team
  • Add a new company to the filter of companies of the people that will be in charge for it

8.1 Other Actions - BFC User Access

When someone is appointed as CAM for a given company, it has to be granted that this person has the properly access to this company on BFC.


If the appointed person has no access to BFC, please see the Procure:


As example, Aleksandra KUCINSKA was appointed as CAM for the  companies 0231 and 5884. After the update of GAR List of companies it had to be confirmed in BFC her access, if it was necessary any update.

*Screen of GAR List

To confirm if the person has access to the companies, go to BFC_Prod >> Administration module >> Security domain.

Double click on the person's profile.

Open the Data Access Group.

What defines the level of information the user will have, as:

The categories; Data entry and / or Data Analysis, etc.


Go to the option Change, to have more details.

Enter in a group available in the screen opened.

It there are different groups it must be confirmed in all groups. 


In the Group opened select the option "Change", to have more details.

The person needs to have a filter defined in the Dimension Reporting Unit, which defines the companies that will be shown for the person.

So open this filter to see more details.

Select the option "Change", to have more details.

As can it be seen she has a common access to Luxembourg Team, which concerns both companies she is assigned (00231 and 05854). 


If the CAM had no access to the company it would be necessary to add to the view, according to the instructions in the topic 8.2 Other Actions - Add a New Company to the Users Profile.


8.2 Other Actions - Add a New Company to the Users Profile

When there is a new company in BFC, either when a company is acquired or become Full Consolidated, it should be granted that the people in charge for the company have it in their view.

Usually the proflies that have to be updated are:

  • Front Office - The Data Access Group of the CAM 
    • Owner Group: Usually RTR-FO-XX, where XX stands for the country code
  • Back Office - According to the Region of the company
    • Owner Groups: Europe - RTR-BO-EUR; Asia - RTR-BO-ASIA; LAM & NAM - RTR-BO-LATNA
  • Transversal Team - Should have access for all IG Companies
    • Owner Group: RTR-BO-TRANS

Firstly, it needs to be confirmed if the company is in the Data access Group. For this enter in the profile of someone that is responsible for the company .


As example the company 63220, that becomes Full Consolidated on July 2017, then it was necessary to check the Mexican Front Office's profile.


Open the field Data Access Group.


Open the Group by selecting the option "Change", to have more details.


The Screen opened shows the level of access and the Data definitions for each category.

  • The levels of access that someone can have is: Data entry, that allows to enter data in the packages; Data analysis, that allows only to consult data through the Run Reports domain; Consolidation and Central manual Journal Entries access.


Then select a Data definition to open and see more details.

A group may have different data definitions, if that is the case, it has to be entered in all to see the details.


Select the option "Change", to have more details about the Data definitions.


The screen opened shows the dimensions defined for the access, as a Filter of Reporting Units; Activities; Accounts, etc.

In this instance the user has a Filter of Reporting Units that defines the companies he/she has access.


Then it will be possible to see the companies that are set in the filter. 

If the company is not available it has to be updated.


Note: The filters should be defined in the Setup module > Dimension Builder domain of BFC_Top database. And if any information needs to be updated, it has to be done in its origin.


Not all the filters are available on BFC_Top database, so firstly check whether it was created on TOP or PROD.

In BFC_Prod database, go to Setup module > Dimension Builder domain.


There are some levels of definitions of the dimension builder, it must be select the option Filters.

Then check if the filter that needs to be update has any information in the column Created By. If it is empty means that the filter was created in TOP, then it must be updated in this database. Otherwise, the update can be done directly on Prod database.



Open the filter and with double click over the companies, it opens the edition mode, then the company has to be added in sequential order.

Afterwards, Save the change.


If the Filter was updated in Top database it has to be transferred to Prod, following the step: 
6.3 Company Management in BFC - Send the Updates from FC_Top to FC_Prod

* The transference process of a Filter of Reporting Units is the same as than the transference of a single Reporting Unit.




8.3 Other Actions - Distribution Lists

When a new contact is appointed for Accounting or Controlling teams the new member must be included in the related Google Distribution List.

The process to add a user to the Distribution List can be found in the procedure:


8.4 Other Actions - Communications in the Solvay One Portal

In the Solvay One portal it is possible to follow the appointments made in the Group.

As soon as an appointment for RtR is identified it is a good approach to be proactive and anticipate the person appointed needs (Creation of BFC user, update of GAR List of Companies, add to Google Distribution List, etc).


As example: on February 1st of 2017 it was identified a new CAM for some US companies. In the announcement is possible to see that the person is a new comer in the Group, thus has no access to BFC.

This way it would be a good approach:

  •  Identify the companies the person will manage;
  • Create access to this person with the needed rights;
  • Update on GAR List of Companies, in this instance, the CAM for the companies that this person will be assigned.



Also it might be seen announcements of people changing their roles within the group, leaving the group, etc. These kind of information may need some actions either in BFC or in the GAR List of Companies.



END OF THE PROCEDURE.