Introduction of new report for Cosmetic changes in Transaction Matching in ARCS

For Transaction Matching profiles that are integrated with Reconciliation Compliance, the Cosmetic Changes Report displays all cosmetic changes for a reconciliation during a specified Period. Cosmetic changes are operational changes made after a reconciliation is submitted and they do not result in the reconciliation being reopened.

What is Cosmetic and Non-Cosmetic Changes

Loading transactions into Transaction Matching may cause period-end reconciliations to be reopened. This happens automatically, without a warning message, since the importing of transactions is, typically, a scheduled job performed after business hours.

The system handles transactions differently based on how they affect the period-end reconciliation. Changes to transactions can be classified into non-cosmetic changes and Cosmetic changes.

Non-Cosmetic Cosmetic Changes to Transactions in Transaction Matching

Non-cosmetic changes automatically reopen period-end reconciliations. If the period is locked, non-cosmetic changes are not allowed.

Following is a list of non-cosmetic changes:

• Import one or more transactions whose Accounting Date is less than or equal to the Closed Through Date

• Delete one or more transactions whose Accounting Date is less than or equal to the Closed Through Date

  The deletion can be done from the Unmatched Transactions tab or by searching using the Job Id.

• Unmatch a match with an adjustment, if the Accounting Date of the adjustment is less than or equal to the Closed Through Date and the Extract Status of the adjustment is Open
• Match with Adjustment where Accounting Date of the adjustment is less than or equal to the Closed Through Date

• Delete Support from one or more transactions with Accounting Date is less than or equal to the Closed Through Date. 

  Note: Adding Support is a cosmetic change.
• Edit transaction Accounting Date or Balancing Amount when Accounting Date is less than or equal to the Closed Through Date

The Closed Through Date is defined as the period-end date for the last Preparer completed reconciliation. For example if the Preparer is working on April 2022, and the most recent previous reconciliation completed is March 2022, then the Closed Through Date is 31-March-2022 (assuming that’s the End Date of the March period).

Cosmetic Changes to Transactions in Transaction Matching

Cosmetic changes automatically update the subtotals on the period-end reconciliation. Because the reconciliation balancing (unexplained difference) is not affected, the reconciliation is not reopened.

Following is a list of cosmetic changes:

• Match Set created and all transactions have an Accounting Date that is less than or equal to the Closed Through Date

  The cosmetic effect is that the Total Unmatched and/or Unmatched Supported is reduced equally.

• Match Set is Unmatched and all transactions have an Accounting Date that is less than or equal to the Closed Through Date

  The cosmetic effect is that the Total Unmatched and/or Unmatched Supported is increased equally.

• Match Set created and some transactions have an Accounting Date that is less than or equal to the Closed Through Date, others have Accounting Date greater than the Closed Through Date

  The cosmetic effect is that, for the affected sources, the total Unmatched and/or Unmatched Supported is reduced, and Matched In-Transit is increased, equally.

• Adjustment Match Set is Unmatched and Accounting Date of Adjustment is greater than the Closed Through Date

  The cosmetic effect is that, for the affected sources, the total Matched In-Transit is reduced, and the Total Unmatched is increased equally.

• Unmatch a match with an adjustment, if the Accounting Date of the adjustment is less than or equal to the Closed Through Date and the Extract Status of the adjustment is Closed

• Support is added to Unmatched Transactions having an Accounting Date that is less than or equal to the Closed Through Date

  The cosmetic effect is that the Total Unmatched is reduced, and Total Unmatched Supported is increased equally.

 To generate the cosmetic changes report:

1. From the Home page, click Matching, and then select the reconciliation for which you want to generate the cosmetic changes report.
2. In the Balancing panel of the Overview tab, select the period for which the report must be generated.
3. Click Actions and select Cosmetic Changes Report.





4. The Information dialog is displayed containing the Job ID of this report generation job.

                                

5. Click the link in the Information dialog to display the Jobs page.

6. For Job ID, click the Succeeded link to view the generated report.

        

The file name of the generated report is in the format Cosmetic_Changes_Report_ACCOUNT_ID_<JOBID>_<YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS> <SERVICETIMEZONE>.csv.

Business Benefit: This feature enhances usability by providing a single report containing all cosmetic changes made to a particular reconciliation. Auditors can also easily view and track changes made to a reconciliation from the time it was submitted until date.

Thank you!