At RECONNECT 19, Amira Morcos, Senior Director Oracle Product Strategy, presented the PeopleSoft Financials roadmap and an update on the latest changes within PeopleSoft Financials.

PeopleSoft capitalizes on innovations to solve the many challenges of financial management. The three strategies at the core of PeopleSoft Financial Management Solutions contribute to an outstanding user experience:

1. Provide proactive insights
2. Make collaborations simple
3. Offer efficient solutions

During her RECONNECT 19 presentation, Morcos demonstrated and described the innovations that are currently in place to implement these strategies and innovations to look forward to utilizing.

PeopleSoft Financials Roadmap

Recent Updates to PeopleSoft Financials

PeopleSoft’s use of emerging technology is integrated throughout each of the strategies, and plans are underway for even more integrations. Technology is used to simplify interactions, submit transactions, anticipate questions, offer suggestions, and provide guidance. Artificial intelligence (AI) benefits processes related to invoice matching, accounts receivable collections, minimizing supplier risk, initiating supplier bid, and projecting risk. Chatbots can help organize financial data to make it useful to decision makers. Customers will also be able to use one-click pay and view recent invoices.

Financial Management Homepage

The Financial Management Solutions homepage reveals the benefits of technology already in place. The PeopleSoft Assistant makes it easy. A manager going to a meeting about budgets, for example, can request information straight from a chatbot. The chatbot anticipates a second question and then a third. With no need to open other pages, enter criteria request tables, etc., the process of preparing for the budget meeting for the manager is greatly simplified.

Global Search

Similarly, global search reveals many advantages and has been expanded to apply to Credit to Cash. The application includes projects, contracts, grants, billing, and AR image.

Fluid Payment Request + Drop Zones

Payment Request, which was delivered earlier in Classic in Image 6 was now made Fluid in Image 18. Users are urged to leverage the Fluid version of Payment Request. Input from users in the PeopleSoft Idea Space led to developments in Payment Request – including the development of Drop Zones to add data to a page as the user wants. It is a customization that requires the creation of a sub-record. Be aware, however, of any data or fields that show up on payment requests but not on the vouchers. This indicates a customized flow has been created. Users will need to accommodate this.

Simplified and Configurable Journals

Journals can also be simplified and configured now. This process was initiated by a request from the higher education community that aligned with the needs expressed by commercial clients and healthcare clients. PeopleSoft responded by making it possible for clients to configure a journal. Users can search for existing journals or add one with the help of a template. It can be configured with an activity guide to enter fields for descriptions, currency, amounts, etc. Fluid helps develop pages such as these can be configured.

Cash Management

Cash Management was developed in Image 10. A homepage makes important information immediately visible. The information cash managers need to improve the bottom line, ensure sufficient funding, and increase return on investment is readily accessible. Other information for the page can be configured. Accurate forecasting, drill-downs, and mobile transfers, for example, are available through configuration.

Cash & Treasury Operations

Cash & Treasury Operations utilize innovations to integrate accounting to the general ledger. The results increase productivity, improve cash forecasting and lower costs. Dynamic Deal Entry will even copy a deal. Copying reduces costly entry errors and increases efficiency.

Supplier Portal

While PeopleSoft Financial Management Solutions does give great attention to the user experience, external constituents can also benefit. PeopleSoft extends collaborations to include a business’ suppliers, for example. A supplier portal allows for an exchange between the public and secure access content. This helps with the management of ASNs, receipts, bidding opportunities, contracts, agreements, etc.

eSettlements

By making invoices available for external parties to view and by directing them to online conversations, PeopleSoft eSettlements allow suppliers and vendors to be more independent – and less bothersome to those working in an accounts payable office.

eBill Payment

While designed to benefit external constituents, eBill Payment is a favorite among PeopleSoft users. With the ability to one-click pay online for an entire balance, collection costs can be reduced, customer relations improved, and asset payment improved.

Classic Plus Pages

Throughout the presentation, notes are made about Classic and Fluid pages. Classic Plus helps to align the two.

Users are urged to move forward with upgrades and move toward Fluid. Technology continues to move in that direction and features will become increasingly accessible only through Fluid pages. The reason in part is that Fluid pages make it possible to give the power to create analytics to the end user – instead of with the IT department.

The advantages of having the power to create analytics are impressive. Managers and supervisors can access data to make decisions about workflow and then delegate work from their screens. They can analyze operations, navigate within accounts payable, compare suppliers, etc.

Roadmap for the Future of PeopleSoft Financials

Morcos covered some of the highlights on the PeopleSoft Financials roadmap:

• Emerging technology – AI and machine learning for the optimization of AR Collections and Invoice Matching and chatbots for Customer Assistant, Supplier Help, and Financials Snapshot
• Financial analytics that provide insights into financial performance and support departmental decisions
• WorkCenter expansions including email capability for AP, GL, and AR, use of trees for scope/filters, and grid personalization
• Credit to Cash capabilities like disputing AR items from worksheets, payment plans in AR and eBill Payment, Collector Performance, audit trail for eBill Payment, and persistence of sorting across multiple tabs in billing
• Match Collaboration Center – reduce the cost of financial operations, streamline match exception resolution, and maintain segregation of duties
• Ability to copy sub-ledger business unit
• Full integration with HCM Global Payroll
• Period Close actions – control activity during period close, visualization into open periods by business units, and mass update multiple business units’ open period
• Run Control Management Framework
• Fluid approvals for journal unposting

For a more comprehensive look at what’s coming to PeopleSoft Financials, check out the Planned Features and Enhancements tool on My Oracle Support.

To learn more about the PeopleSoft Financials roadmap and what else you can do with PeopleSoft Financials, check out the additional Quest resources attached below.

Additional Resources

COLLABORATE 20 will take place April 19-23, 2020 at the Mandala Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, NV! Call for Presentations is now open. Don’t miss your chance to share your stories, insights, and advice with the Quest Oracle Community! Submit an abstract by October 11, 2019, to be considered to be a speaker at the conference.

If you’re looking for more PeopleSoft content, join us next year at RECONNECT 20, the premier deep-dive PeopleSoft focused event of the year! The event will take place July 21-23, 2020 in St. Louis, Missouri. Keep an eye out for more information on this event!