“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 Bank Suncorp banks on Cortell and leads the pack with next generation business reporting … SBR XBRL 2.1 Suncorp Bank is Australia’s 5th largest listed passed through multiple teams and Discover a clear view ahead! bank, with banking origins dating back to accountants and other financial leaders' Cortell is here to help. 1902. They are part of the Suncorp Group, a hands before a two-dimensional report was top 25 Australian company operating some produced. These processes were inadequate of the most respected banking, insurance to meet the multi-dimensional requirements and wealth brands in Australia and New of 2.1 and future taxonomy releases. Nor did Zealand. these processes address the common As a regional bank, Suncorp delivers banking problems of manual, error prone processes services to over one million personal and that were time consuming and difficult to business banking customers including: audit. Personal; Small to Medium Enterprises; The Strategy Commercial Lending; and Agribusiness. James Corner was the owner of Financial Suncorp Bank customers have access to 192 Reporting for Suncorp Bank and was branches, agencies and Business Banking confident XBRL was critical to the success of Centres across Australia. the organisation. Corner had first-hand The Challenge experience with XBRL overseas and could clearly see its many benefits. APRA introduced XBRL 2.0 taxonomy in 2002 Suncorp Bank went to market and evaluated and it was replaced in July 2011 with the CASE STUDY SBR Taxonomy XBRL 2.1. Being one of the a number of solutions to meet their > Suncorp Bank early-adopters of the 2.1 taxonomy, Suncorp requirements. It was critical the solution Bank quickly identified a substantial incorporate: AT A GLANCE difference in the release of 2.1. an OLAP (or multidimensional database) The introduction of dimensions to the with the architecture and process to Challenge support multi-dimensional tagging and taxonomy added the complexity of tagging > Suncorp Bank was not in a position to source data across many different business aggregation of the tagged results implement the new SBR Taxonomy XBRL 2.1 as a dimensions and consolidating 14 source a business rules or validation engine result of inadequate processes and technology. systems. Where previous versions may have security and workflow process. They could not meet the multi-dimensional required tagging against a single Profit and Loss account, 2.1 meant tagging had to be After considerable due-diligence, and a requirements of the 2.1 taxonomy. couple of pilots, Suncorp Bank validated that applied at a lower level and across not just Solution one, but potentially many different IBM’s Business Analytics platform with TM1 dimensions, such as closing account was their solution. During this time Cortell > Suncorp Bank engaged Cortell Australia to balances (product dimension) for all non- were identified as thought leaders, able to deploy IBM Cognos TM1 as their SBR XBRL 2.1 resident customers (customer dimension) give advice and guidance that would add solution. for a particular month, e.g. July (period crucial value to the design and Benefits dimension). implementation phases. Corner stated “Cortell had great experience in delivering “The dimensional tagging forced us to > Transparency in the numbers reported to APRA, simple and effective solutions to challenging rethink how we completed our tagging and with full audit trail back to source systems. and complex scenarios. We needed a reporting, and the tools we used to generate solution that would be effective for the long > Gave the business end users access to their data APRA forms,” said James Corner (Executive term, providing adaptability to the changing in an easy to use, intuitive interface. Manager Suncorp Bank Financial Control) regulatory environment that we the > Makes submitting an APRA report as simple as Their processes at the time involved tagging business, in conjunction with IT, could to be completed in MS Access databases or maintain in a simple, controlled and pushing a button. MS Excel. Data was prepared in a series of governed way”. linked spreadsheets and databases that The pilots proved Suncorp could use TM1 to review, do multidimensional tagging, allow now as simple as pushing a button and version control of the whole process, analysing the data,” said Corner. including the ability for an end user of the Suncorp Bank is now in an excellent position system to drill from report to source with the means to give fully reconcilable, numbers, reviewing how the number was transparent numbers in a timely manner, and tagged. a full audit trail back to source systems. For The solution validated Suncorp Bank could the first time, business end users have access About Cortell Australia provide commentary and variance reporting to their data in an easy to use, intuitive direct from the APRA reports. interface. Cortell Australia is the region’s largest and most experienced provider of Business Analytics and The key reasons Suncorp Bank chose the IBM Corner believes it is the ability to support Business Performance Management solutions. Business Analytics solution were: internal reporting that will be of the most We’re also a multi-awarded preferred partner for the benefit. “Regulatory reporting in Australia is In-Memory server architecture - the ability full suite of IBM Cognos applications: to load volumes of data at all levels of very granular, so once enough tagging has - IBM Cognos TM1 aggregation (and non-aggregated data) been rolled out to satisfy the regulators - IBM SPSS from many source systems. The in-memory there’s already enough work done to see - Cognos BI - Information Management architecture also leads to very fast delivery huge improvements in the quality of - Cognos Express and of results, especially when performing very management reporting,” he says. (Quote from Financial Review, 18 Oct 2012, article - Cognos Disclosure Management complex calculations on large data sets titled “Automating reporting worth it says supported Multiple Linked Cubes - Suncorp” by Sally Rose.) 900 successfully delivered solutions and counting separate in dimensional qualities, but integrated to form a single return or report Post Implementation Our globally recognised expertise is built on experience. And with over 900 business-changing a Business Rules Engine to support As a result of the Cortell design, Suncorp now solutions delivered to more than 500 companies calculations within the data model such as have a comprehensive model that allows across a diverse range of industries, we know exactly percentage allocations or validation rules them to analyse their entire business at a how to deliver exceptional results on tight deadlines as stipulated by the taxonomy granular level over and above the core and budgets. requirement of the APRA reporting. The auditing and checking of results - all data solution integrates Tax, Financial and can be traced to the source and calculated Customer focus Management Accounting Methodologies in a results analysed for parameters used and Our strong focus on customer success has been single location. The bank has discovered any variables that apply within the recognised across the industry. they can leverage the solution for greater calculations ease and efficiency in reporting to other IBM Business Analytics Asia Pacific Partner of the Year 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2014: Excellence Award easy integration with source systems - as authorities like the Australian Taxation Office tagging in 2.1 no longer solely applies to and ASIC. IBM Software Australian Partner of the Year 2013 financial data, tagging against banking IBM Worldwide BI & Advanced Analytics Partner of the system data, claims data, and other data Furthermore, Suncorp is able to stay on top Year 2013 of changes in APRA reporting whilst retaining sources is extremely important when IBM Business Analytics Australian Partner of the Year 2013 the integrity of history and point in time analysing results or auditing of data. IBM Business Analytics FPM Partner of the Year 2010 requirements through Reporting Process The strategy required a solid and flexible Control. To enhance the end-user experience IBM Business Analytics Industry Partner of the Year 2009 architecture to support the current 2.1 contextual model navigation was also requirements. It also needed to handle any deployed, integrated with approval For More Information change of requirements with minimal re- workflow, commentary and security. coding and maintenance effort. The IBM Cortell Offices: Business Analytics TM1 solution proved As Suncorp Bank extend the use of the IBM Sydney (HO): +61 2 9438 3940 effective on both counts. The pilot further Business Analytics platform, they expect Melbourne: +61 3 9626 2485 further wins from streamlining the way validated Suncorp Bank would have the Brisbane: +61 7 3010 9470 information is reported, automated and ability to add new data sources or cubes to Canberra: +61 2 6198 3267 shared within a common reporting platform. the core design while maintaining the tagging Singapore: +65 6838 0515 The cost to produce information going methodology separately as a layer over the forward will be greatly reduced and accuracy top of the data source. The solution www.cortell.com.au greatly improved. incorporated the ability to change where the data is tagged against new dimensions or “We are currently exploring further IBM even remove tagging from dimensions as the products to support the implementation of Follow us on requirements dictate, without impacting the TM1. These products will assist with further core design or history. streamlining other forms of internal and Key Benefit Areas external reporting whilst also embedding an enhanced governance framework, it really is “Prior to Cortell’s fully automated solution, it an exciting time realising the benefits of took several people, several days to provide these transformation initiatives.” (James TM the numbers.