12.15. Maintain Reporting Units

Most companies are divided into several sections. It is likely, for example, that one company has more than one unit or department bringing revenue into the company. In that case, the company will have several “profit centers,” each of which has its own reporting unit. Reporting units reflect how the business is divided internally according to reporting structure. In SICS, all businesses may be assigned to one or more reporting units, or leaves. You connect businesses to leaves, which are later used for reporting purposes.

Reporting Units icon

When you double-click the Reporting Unit icon on the SICS Desktop, you see the Reporting Units Management window.

When you have one or more reporting unit structures completed, you can click any level of the structure and see the information pertaining to that category on the right-hand side of the window.

The lowest level in the hierarchy is called a leaf, also known as a reporting unit. The top level is called the root, and the levels in between are groups.

Regardless of whether or not a reporting structure has been created for your company, you see Hierarchies and Leaves icons on the left-hand side of the window, which are your starting points for creating new structures.

If you click the Hierarchies icon on the left-hand side of the window, you see a list of hierarchies on the right-hand side of the Reporting Units Management window (including the hierarchy name, code, and category). Double-click an item in the list to see details about that hierarchy.

To see a list of leaves in the Reporting Units Management window:

1. Click the Leaves icon on the left-hand side of the window.
2. Select All, Not Connected, or Connected from the Show sub menu. This lets you see a list of leaves that are connected to a reporting unit hierarchy, not connected to a hierarchy, or both.
3. After you have selected All, Not Connected, or Connected, you see a list of leaves in the right-hand side of the window.
4. Double-click one of those leaves to see details about it.

Create a New Hierarchy #

A hierarchy is a structure that contains at least one root and at least one reporting unit. A hierarchy can only be of one category, and it must be balanced (all reporting units on the same level.) There can be several hierarchies within one hierarchy, as shown here:

Click once on the Hierarchies icon, and then click the right mouse button to see the pop-up menu. Select New Hierarchy. You see the Edit Reporting Unit Hierarchy window where you can type in the name, and code for your new hierarchy. Use the drop-down list to select a reporting unit category (such as Profit Center, for example.)

You can type in notes about the new hierarchy in the notes section of the window.

Click OK. You return to the Reporting Unit Management window, and if you double-click Hierarchies, you see the new hierarchy you just created (with the notes you wrote about it). You now have two hierarchy icons on your screen: the main hierarchy icon, and the hierarchy you created, which serves as a kind of “hierarchy container” for other hierarchies made up of roots, groups, and reporting units.

If you want to edit it, you can click once on it, and select Edit from the pop-up menu.

Create Roots #

Click once on your new hierarchy, and select New Root from the pop-up menu. You see the Details window.

This window is divided into two tabs: Details, and Add Reporting Unit. Type in the Name and Code for the new root, and select a category from the Category drop-down list.

Add a Valid from and Valid to date that indicates from when and until when this reporting structure is valid. If another root within this hierarchy exists, the Valid from and Valid to dates (the periods) cannot overlap the existing root period.

When you click the Add Reporting Unit tab, you see a list of all the reporting units, or leaves, that can be added to your new structure. (If you have not created any leaves, the list is blank.) What appears in the Available part of this list depends on the following things:

• the leaves must all be in the same category (unless they are not connected to a hierarchy, in which case, the category will automatically change if that leaf is selected).
• the leaves are not already connected to the root.

When a root is deleted, all groups under that root are also deleted.

Create Groups #

You can have several groups under one root, and a group can only be in one hierarchy.

To create a group, click a root, and select New Group from the pop-up menu. You see the Edit Reporting Unit Group window, which is divided into two tabs: Details, and Add Reporting Unit. Add the new group name, code, and category on the Details tab.

Note! You cannot create a group if there are already reporting units created under a root.

See Add Reporting Units to Groups for more information.

Create Reporting Units #

Create an entity within your company to reflect how the business is divided internally according to a reporting structure. It could be for example a single person at the lowest level to departments or legal companies at the highest.

1. Select Reference Items
2. Select Reporting Units
3. Select the Leaves icon
4. Select New Reporting Unit from the pop-up menu. You can also create a reporting unit directly under the group.
5. Enter the information as you require.
6. Select OK

Details: #

Name: The name representing the reporting unit.
Values: Free-Text.
Maximum number of characters: 70
Validation: Must be unique.
Mandatory: Yes

Code: A system of e.g. letters and figures to represent the reporting unit.
Values: Free-Text.
Maximum number of characters: 12
Validation: Must be unique if set up for this in the system parameters.
Mandatory: Yes

Category: The reporting unit type.
Values: Customized in the reference data (Code 00042), e.g. Profit Center, Segment Code, Department
Mandatory: Yes

Notes: Free-text

Class of Business: #

Select the Class (or Classes) of Business that you want to be a part of the reporting unit. Select the items in the Available list, and move them to the Selected list by clicking the right arrow button.

Legal Area: #

The country or countries which the reporting unit represents. This could be for example the country of the cedent or the insured of the contract which should receive this reporting unit. If set up, the legal area could be used for defaulting reporting units.
Values: Locations, e.g. countries, areas, states.
Linked Functionality:
Create New Business

Active: #

You can activate or deactivate reporting units by clicking them, and selecting Activate or Inactivate from the pop-up menu.

Base Company: #

When you have assigned a base company to a reporting unit, you get this reporting unit available on e.g. your business, if this buisiness has the same base company. If the reporting unit is not linked to any base companies, it will be accepted for all base companies.
Values: Business Partners being Base Company
Validation: Multiple values allowed
Mandatory: No
Functional Impact:

• Reporting Unit Assignment to Business
• Reporting Unit Assignment to Business Partner’s bank account
• Reporting Unit Assignment to Claims
• Reporting Unit Assignment to Remittance Worksheet

Add Reporting Units to Groups #

To add reporting units to groups, click the Add Reporting Units tab from the Edit Reporting Unit Group window when creating new roots and groups. Select items in the Available list, and move them to the Selected list by clicking the right arrow button. Click OK and you see the reporting units listed under the root or group you created.

To Edit the reporting units, click once on the reporting unit, and select Edit from the pop-up menu. You see the Edit Reporting Unit Leaf window, where you can make your changes.

Relate Reporting Units to Businesses #

All businesses may be related to reporting units in SICS. Relating businesses and reporting units is done when you define the business classifications.