“Prior to Cortell’s fully automated solution, it took several people, several days to provide the numbers. Submitting an APRA report is now as simple as pushing a button and analysing the data.” James Corner, Executive Manager, Financial Control, Suncorp banks on Cortell and leads the pack with next generation business reporting … SBR XBRL 2.1 uncorp Bank is Australia’s 5th in a series of linked spreadsheets and Discover a clear view ahead! largest listed bank, with banking databases that passed through multiple Cortell is here to help. S origins dating back to 1902. They teams and accountants and other financial are part of the Suncorp Group, a top 25 leaders' hands before a two-dimensional Australian company operating some of report was produced. These processes the most respected banking, insurance were inadequate to meet the multi- and wealth brands in Australia and New dimensional requirements of 2.1 and Zealand. future taxonomy releases. Nor did these As a regional bank, Suncorp delivers processes address the common problems banking services to over one million of manual, error prone processes that personal and business banking customers were time consuming and difficult to including: Personal; Small to Medium audit. Enterprises; Commercial Lending; and The Strategy Agribusiness. James Corner was the owner of Financial Suncorp Bank customers have access to Reporting for Suncorp Bank and was 192 branches, agencies and Business confident XBRL was critical to the success Banking Centres across Australia. of the organisation. Corner had first-hand The Challenge experience with XBRL overseas and could clearly see its many benefits. CASE STUDY APRA introduced XBRL 2.0 taxonomy in Suncorp Bank went to market and 2002 and it was replaced in July 2011 with > Suncorp Bank the SBR Taxonomy XBRL 2.1. Being one of evaluated a number of solutions to meet the early-adopters of the 2.1 taxonomy, their requirements. It was critical the AT A GLANCE solution incorporate: Suncorp Bank quickly identified a > Business Objective substantial difference in the release of 2.1. an OLAP (or multidimensional database) Challenge The introduction of dimensions to the with the architecture and process to taxonomy added the complexity of support multi-dimensional tagging and > Suncorp Bank was not in a position to aggregation of the tagged results tagging source data across many different implement the new SBR Taxonomy XBRL 2.1 business dimensions and consolidating 14 a business rules or validation engine as a result of inadequate processes and source systems. Where previous versions security and workflow process. technology. They could not meet the multi- may have required tagging against a dimensional requirements of the 2.1 single Profit and Loss account, 2.1 meant After considerable due-diligence, and a taxonomy. tagging had to be applied at a lower level couple of pilots, Suncorp Bank validated and across not just one, but potentially that IBM’s Business Analytics platform with Solution many different dimensions, such as TM1 was their solution. During this time closing account balances (product Cortell were identified as thought leaders, > Suncorp Bank engaged Cortell Australia to dimension) for all non-resident customers able to give advice and guidance that deploy IBM Cognos TM1 as their SBR XBRL 2.1 (customer dimension) for a particular would add crucial value to the design and solution. implementation phases. Corner stated month, e.g. July (period dimension). Benefits “Cortell had great experience in delivering “The dimensional tagging forced us to simple and effective solutions to rethink how we completed our tagging > Transparency in the numbers reported to challenging and complex scenarios. We and reporting, and the tools we used to APRA, with full audit trail back to source needed a solution that would be effective generate APRA forms,” said James Corner systems. for the long term, providing adaptability (Executive Manager Suncorp Bank to the changing regulatory environment > Gave the business end users access to their Financial Control) that we the business, in conjunction with data in an easy to use, intuitive interface. Their processes at the time involved IT, could maintain in a simple, controlled > Makes submitting an APRA report as simple tagging to be completed in MS Access and governed way”. databases or MS Excel. Data was prepared as pushing a button. The pilots proved Suncorp could use TM1 to review, do multidimensional tagging, report is now as simple as pushing a allow version control of the whole process, button and analysing the data,” said including the ability for an end user of the Corner. system to drill from report to source Suncorp Bank is now in an excellent numbers, reviewing how the number was position with the means to give fully tagged. reconcilable, transparent numbers in a The solution validated Suncorp Bank could timely manner, and a full audit trail back to provide commentary and variance source systems. For the first time, business About Cortell Australia reporting direct from the APRA reports. end users have access to their data in an Cortell Australia is the region’s largest and most easy to use, intuitive interface. The key reasons Suncorp Bank chose the experienced provider of Business Analytics and IBM Business Analytics solution were: Corner believes it is the ability to support Business Performance Management solutions. We’re internal reporting that will be of the most also a multi-awarded preferred partner for the full In-Memory server architecture - the benefit. “Regulatory reporting in Australia suite of IBM Cognos applications: ability to load volumes of data at all - IBM Cognos TM1 is very granular, so once enough tagging levels of aggregation (and non- - IBM SPSS has been rolled out to satisfy the aggregated data) from many source - Cognos BI regulators there’s already enough work systems. The in-memory architecture - Information Management done to see huge improvements in the also leads to very fast delivery of results, - Cognos Express and quality of management reporting,” he says. especially when performing very - Cognos Disclosure Management (Quote from Financial Review, 18 Oct 2012, complex calculations on large data sets article titled “Automating reporting worth 900 successfully delivered solutions and supported Multiple Linked Cubes - it says Suncorp” by Sally Rose.) separate in dimensional qualities, but counting integrated to form a single return or Post Implementation Our globally recognised expertise is built on report As a result of the Cortell design, Suncorp experience. And with over 900 business-changing solutions delivered to more than 500 companies a Business Rules Engine to support now have a comprehensive model that across a diverse range of industries, we know exactly calculations within the data model such allows them to analyse their entire how to deliver exceptional results on tight deadlines as percentage allocations or validation business at a granular level over and above and budgets. rules as stipulated by the taxonomy the core requirement of the APRA reporting. The solution integrates Tax, auditing and checking of results - all Financial and Management Accounting Customer focus data can be traced to the source and Methodologies in a single location. The calculated results analysed for Our strong focus on customer success has been bank has discovered they can leverage the parameters used and any variables that recognised across the industry. solution for greater ease and efficiency in apply within the calculations reporting to other authorities like the IBM Business Analytics Asia Pacific Partner of the Year 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2014: Excellence Award easy integration with source systems - as Australian Taxation Office and ASIC. tagging in 2.1 no longer solely applies to Furthermore, Suncorp is able to stay on IBM Software Australian Partner of the Year 2013 financial data, tagging against banking top of changes in APRA reporting whilst IBM Worldwide BI & Advanced Analytics Partner of system data, claims data, and other data retaining the integrity of history and point the Year 2013 sources is extremely important when in time requirements through Reporting analysing results or auditing of data. IBM Business Analytics Australian Partner of the Year Process Control. To enhance the end-user 2013 The strategy required a solid and flexible experience contextual model navigation architecture to support the current 2.1 was also deployed, integrated with IBM Business Analytics FPM Partner of the Year 2010 requirements. It also needed to handle approval workflow, commentary and IBM Business Analytics Industry Partner of the Year any change of requirements with minimal security. 2009 re-coding and maintenance effort. The IBM As Suncorp Bank extend the use of the IBM Business Analytics TM1 solution proved Business Analytics platform, they expect effective on both counts. The pilot further further wins from streamlining the way For More Information validated Suncorp Bank would have the information is reported, automated and Cortell Australia ability to add new data sources or cubes to shared within a common reporting Sydney (HO): +61 2 9438 3940 the core design while maintaining the platform. The cost to produce information Melbourne: +61 3 9626 2485 tagging methodology separately as a layer going forward will be greatly reduced and Brisbane: +61 7 3010 9470 over the top of the data source. The accuracy greatly improved. solution incorporated the ability to change Canberra: