SOLUTION OFFERINGS

Praxinet believes that the path to a successful solution design and project implementation starts at the very beginning of the sales process. Always careful to set proper expectations, Praxinet has developed an engagement methodology that outlines realistic goals and expectation for every project we undertake. Our initial objective is to be sure that both the client and ourselves understand the business goals and objectives of the project. So our initial conversations seek to capture and articulate those, at least on a high yet meaningful level. We also capture high-level requirements using our Pre-Implementation Questionaire (PIQ) and other information. We then use our proprietary Project Scoping and Costing Tool to formulate a detailed project plan that outlines all of the specific activities, involved with the project. The project plan defines time duration, skills, and responsibilities for each activity as well as costs. And because our Tool is built using project parameters and metrics from hundreds of projects, we can offer a price and delivery date guarantee during the pre-sales process.

Once we begin a project, Praxinet consultants utilized their expertise to extract detailed business and technical requirements, map business processes, and determine the needs of your organization. By doing so they can effectively design, develop, and implement a solution to support your employees ability to optimize the organization’s financial and business performance. We work with the relevant members across your organization to identify key financial and operational measures, data sources, analysis capabilities, and information needs. Then, by leveraging our collective experience, expertise, and knowledge of industry best practices, we design a technology and business process-based solution that meets all the necessary design and budgetary criteria for the project.

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Budgeting & Forecasting

If your company's processes are like most, annual budgets are prepared far in advance, and created through processes that take several months at a minimum. Unfortunately, by the time the year begins, the conditions upon which the budget was shakily built have changed and the financial plan is quickly forgotten, because the process is too cumbersome to start again.

One could argue that forecasting is a more timely process. The problem is that forecasting, if the process even exists at your company, tends to be a futile exercise for a few reasons. It can take considerable time to develop a meaningful forecast and as a result, by the time the forecast is complete, it's time to do the next one. Additionally, even if you are able to somehow accomplish these processes individually, can you pull them together quickly and effectively into reporting and analysis that has meaning?

Praxinet has an extensive background in providing forecasting, budgeting, and analysis solutions using the latest in relational database and OLAP technologies which leverage everyday tools that your analysts use, such as the web browser and Excel. These tools allow our clients to easily perform tasks like multiple scenario comparisons, exception reporting/analysis, "what-if" analyses, and ad-hoc analyses.

To download a brochure detailing all of our financial offerings, click here.

COST ALLOCATION

Praxinet has developed sophisticated allocation models that are tailored to our clients' businesses. We have developed solutions around Payroll, R&D Materials, Procurement, Sales, and Operating Expenses. In many cases, a custom solution was needed because the underlying ERP or Payroll Processing system did not have the capability or capacity.

To download a brochure detailing all of our financial offerings, click here.

Employee Cost Allocation System (ECAS)

Praxinet's employee costs allocation system (ECAS) was designed to allocate a property management company's employee-related costs to its multiple properties. However, the flexible design of the solution and its framework allow several uses. The solution can allow a company to allocate ANY employee driven cost across an organization to entities such as properties, cost centers, regions, projects or departments.

ECAS is a highly customizable, web-based solution that simplifies the allocation of employee-related expenses (salary, bonuses, benefits, taxes, etc) across an organization using advanced, but proven Internet technology. Praxinet designed ECAS to do the following:

• Maintain all employee allocation information and preserve employee actual allocation history for reporting and analysis
• Store actual costs per employee, per an effective date. Costs include payroll, profit sharing, bonus, 401K match, medical, dental, vision, long and short-term disability, state and federal unemployment taxes, social security, as well as any custom costs you may have
• Provide the ability to enter retroactive revisions on allocations and maintain an adjustment audit trail for general ledger integration purposes
• Interface with backend payroll applications, such as ADP, Paychex, Ceridian, or any internal company system
• Integrate with either Praxinet's built-in time & attendance application, an existing internal timesheet product, or a third-party product
• Determine the labor distribution effect on third-party general ledger systems
• Prevent errors with built-in processing controls that allow companies to run individual allocations and allocation batches in specific periods, select effective dates to restrict the lifecycle of an allocation, choose to process allocations only if not previously posted, and view an audit trail
• Provide a means for Project Modeling to identify the short and long-term effects of new project/purchase
• Maintain property, department, project, or other allocation budgets
• Provide web-based reporting and multi-dimensional (OLAP) analysis
  
• Create unlimited budget scenarios based on actual allocation & payroll data
• Auto-email reports to managers and key decision-makers

Praxinet will work closely with your staff to customize ECAS and incorporate your business rules to meet your specific needs. In addition to standard customization, such as graphics and internal nomenclature, other functions open to customization include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Allocation entities (i.e. properties, departments, contracts, grants, etc.)
• Process Workflow
• Reporting and Analysis (i.e. budgeting, forecasting, modeling)

Basic Functionality

ECAS provides the ability to track current allocation information per employee using percentages entered into the system by analysts or managers. It supports most general ledger systems by providing allocated expenses on a pay period basis and posting original and adjusted allocations if any retroactive changes are made.

ECAS provides forward-looking functions such as budgeting, forecasting, and modeling based on either user-created scenarios or current allocations. Users have the option to gross up salaries and benefits by a certain percentage or year over year. They even have the option of changing specific values. For example, a company that knows health insurance costs will be increasing can enter the new values for each plan, and ECAS will calculate the future costs for each employee.

The modeling feature allows longer-term "what-if" analyses. For instance, a company considering a new IT project can estimate the time they expect existing or new employees to work, and ECAS will generate all employee-related costs associated with the project to provide a better basis for a proper cost/benefit or ROI analysis.

Analytics

ECAS includes a Business Intelligence (BI) component that utilizes on-line analytical processing (OLAP) tools. OLAP tools allow for the "slicing and dicing" of dimensional data. Information items such as Department, Region, Employee, Project, Manager, Job Title, etc. are each considered dimensions. Praxinet can create a data mart (called an OLAP cube) whereby department managers and analysts can access data to create ad-hoc analyses and reports.

The reporting capability will provide your staff with insight into trends and help them identify potential challenges and create innovative strategies. Praxinet can also connect your ECAS data to other corporate data to allow even richer analysis. Imagine what your company could do if it had the ability to consolidate allocation data with revenue, product, and market information in real-time, and then make that information available immediately to decision-makers empowered to act!

Solution Features & Business Benefits

All organizations strive to shorten period end closing cycles. With ECAS, you can create virtually any type of allocation transaction, distribute allocations in a variety of ways, and redistribute individual transactions. The web interface allows timely delivery of valuable information, reduces both paperwork and processing costs and increases your organization's productivity by eliminating the effort of maintaining massive spreadsheets built outside of the accounting system.

Because ECAS integrates directly with your general ledger and payroll data, all information used for allocations is up-to-date and accurate. Data accuracy is assured by the built-in creation of both journal entries and full audit trails.

ECAS's extensive reporting capabilities decrease the amount of manual effort required by end-users and thus allow more time for valuable analysis and planning. Its robust functionality and accurate distribution methods assist organizations in maximizing their indirect recovery dollars as well as improving staff productivity.

To download a brochure detailing all of our financial offerings, click here.

Employee Performance Appraisal System (EPAS)

Praxinet created the Employee Performance Appraisal System (EPAS) to streamline the process so that companies can leverage the data collected quickly. EPAS is a web-enabled tool that automates the workflow of your company's performance appraisal process.

EPAS links your employees to a common solution via a secure enterprise-wide Intranet. Since the system operates using a familiar web interface and provides user direction at each step, virtually no user training is necessary. Therefore, rolling EPAS out to the entire organization is simple and painless.

Praxinet will work closely with your Human Resource staff to incorporate your corporate business rules into EPAS so that it meets your specific workflow needs. Praxinet has designed EPAS to handle the data entry and distribution of the workflow in a simple and effective manner. The following is a typical workflow:

1. A manager initiates the appraisal process through the EPAS interface.
2. EPAS sends the employee an email stating that the appraisal process has begun and asking the employee to complete a self-assessment.
3. The employee completes the self-assessment on EPAS.
4. EPAS sends an email to the employee's direct manager stating that the self-assessment has been completed.
5. The direct manager completes their portion of the form, elects to pass the evaluation on to another manager, or resubmits the evaluation to the employee for further information.
6. Once all parties have indicated their role as complete, EPAS sends an email notification to your compensation body and Human Resources.
7. Upon the compensation committee's approval, EPAS sends an email indicating that a sit-down review may transpire.
8. Following a sit-down review, the employee and direct manager can enter post review comments. EPAS then sends an email to the employee, direct manager, and Human Resources notifying them that the finalized, signed copy must contain the post review comments.

Basic Functionality

In addition to the workflow and email messaging capabilities, EPAS includes basic functions such as evaluation forms, data population, security measures, appraisal disputes, and appraisal status. Each employee's appraisal form includes sections on Performance Evaluation, Core Competencies, Personal Development Plan, and Performance Summary. EPAS automatically enters system-generated information into the forms using predetermined tables. The remaining information is completed online using entry fields, dropdown boxes, and menus.

Once the employee or manager has finished entering information, EPAS ensures that all required information is complete and accurate before advancing the appraisal process to the next step. EPAS also maintains Security Groups that control which of the application's menu options are available to each category of user.

If a direct manager and another manager do not agree with one another's assessment of the employee, they will be able to express their thoughts in an email message to the other party by selecting the Disputes option, which will generate a new page requesting the required information. Logic and controls are built into EPAS preventing the process from advancing until all disputes are closed.

The employee and direct manager will always be able to see which stage an appraisal is at in the workflow process. The employee can always see what is happening to their appraisal, and direct managers can also see what appraisals are in process and any outstanding tasks.

Analytics

EPAS includes a Business Intelligence (BI) component that utilizes on-line analytical processing (OLAP) tools, included in Microsoft SQL Server via its Analysis Services. OLAP tools allow for the "slicing and dicing" of dimensional data. Information items such as Region, Employee, Product, Manager, Department, etc., are each considered dimensions. Praxinet has created a data mart (called an OLAP cube) whereby Human Resource and management personnel can access data to create ad-hoc analyses and reports.

The reporting capability will provide your Human Resource staff with insight into personnel trends and help them identify innovative retention strategies. In addition, the BI portion of EPAS can be combined with other corporate data to conduct richer analysis that ties employee performance to other enterprise metrics. Think of what your company would be capable if it could consolidate performance data with revenue, product, and market information in real-time, and then make that information available instantly to decision-makers who are empowered to act?

Solution Features & Business Benefits

EPAS provides multiple features that can make an immediate impact on your business. The following are some features and benefits that EPAS offers:

• Automated, paperless workflow
• Intuitive interface requiring minimal training
• Increased efficiency
• Lowered operating costs
• Increased control over data integrity and uniformity of personnel data
• Comprehensive real-time and historical analysis
• Easy to identify employment trends and training needs
• Increased business agility
• Increased retention

To download a brochure detailing all of our human capital management offerings, click here.

Financial Consolidation

Praxinet has designed, developed, and implemented numerous applications that provide consolidation of multiple general ledgers. Our consultants have dealt with alternate Account and/or Organizational structures. The solutions we have designed have provided functions for Inter-company eliminations, viewing data with and without adjustments at all levels, incorporating non-financial data, and providing pre-defined reports and customized "Blue Books" for Management.

To download a brochure detailing all of our financial offerings, click here.

Financial Reporting & Analysis

Praxinet believes that pulling information out of your financial systems should not be a chore. Praxinet has developed interfaces using the tools that financial people use the most - Microsoft Excel and the Web. The true benefit of the technology allows users at all levels, from an A/P clerk to the Executive suite, to intuitively view data. Praxinet has presented data through the leading corporate portal software and has custom developed Executive dashboards. With this information available to more senior people, the pressure is lessened on financial analysts to produce reports, thus freeing them up to do more analysis.

To download a brochure detailing all of our financial offerings, click here.

Praxinet’s Hedge Manager

The Financial Accounting Standards Board Rule 133, “Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities,” has made a significant impact on virtually any company buying or selling energy in the wholesale commodity market. Since Hedging is one of the most valuable and commonly used risk management tools available to these industries, FAS 133 has forced companies to rethink the way they account for hedging and derivatives, and more importantly, to evaluate the ability of their information technology systems to support compliance.

Many companies, needing to report the fair value of their hedge positions each quarter, are scrambling to figure out what to calculate as well as how to maintain quality data. Good management of accurate and quality data will be critical to ensure that all accounting and public reporting are done properly-analysts and investors do not like surprises. Companies not only have to accurately track their mark to market for derivatives and physical commodities, but they also have to analyze hedge efficiencies in detail because they will affect reported earnings, with any inefficiencies adding significant volatility to income statements. But what is good quality data? How can companies be sure the data they are using is reliable?

Praxinet’s HedgeManager was designed to not only address these challenges, but empower companies involved with the hedging of energy-related commodities to conduct in-depth analysis and make more informed decisions.

THE SOLUTION

HedgeManager is a highly customizable, browser-based solution that simplifies the tracking and analysis of energy-related commodity hedging activities using advanced, but proven Internet technology. Praxinet designed HedgeManager to:

• Maintain information on each individual commodity trade and preserve trade history for reporting and analysis
• Store actual mark to market trades, per an effective date
• Maintain an audit trail for general ledger integration purposes
• Provide processing controls to prevent errors and preserve data integrity
• Allow companies to restrict the activity of traders and view an audit trail
• Provide sensitivity analyses to determine the effect changes to mark to market data would have on hedging effectiveness and ultimately, earnings
• Maintain budgets to inform traders of funds not yet committed to hedges
• Provide FAS 133 compliance reporting
• Provide web reporting and, if appropriate, multi-dimensional analysis
• Auto-notify managers and key decision-makers of activity

The Implementation

Working closely with your staff, Praxinet will incorporate your business rules to customize HedgeManager so that it meets your specific needs. In addition to standard customization such as graphics and internal nomenclature, other functions open to customization include process workflow, reporting & analysis, and integration with other systems and data such as your general ledger and third-party market data.

Basic Functionality

HedgeManager provides the ability to track current hedge positions and audit trails in a secure web environment. During implementation, it can be configured to integrate with a general ledger system, seemlessly automating the posting of buying and selling activities to your general ledger on a user-defined, periodic basis.

HedgeManager provides forward-looking functions such as sensitivity analysis based on user-created scenarios. The sensitivity analysis feature allows you to determine the impact of changes to mark to market data on your overall hedge effectiveness. For example, you can determine the effect a 10% increase in mark to market will have on your profit and loss statement, giving you a clearer picture of your risk mitigation.

Managers also have the option of setting specific limits on each trader’s activities, flagging trades for supervisor approval that exceed those limits. For example, a junior trader may have a specific dollar limit for trades he/she can post without approval. HedgeManager will alert supervisors when trades exceed that amount.

Analytics

If appropriate, HedgeManager can be configured to include a Business Intelligence (BI) component that utilizes on-line analytical processing (OLAP) tools. OLAP tools allow for the “slicing and dicing” of dimensional data. Information items such as Product, Contract type, Line of Business, Trader, Manager, etc. are each considered dimensions. Praxinet can create a data mart (called an OLAP cube) whereby finance and management personnel can access data to create ad-hoc analyses and reports. The reporting capability will provide your staff with insight into trends and help them identify potential challenges and create innovative strategies.

Solution Features & Business Benefits

With HedgeManager, you can rest assured that FAS 133 compliance will be maintained. The web interface allows timely delivery of valuable information to traders and managers alike and reduces both paperwork and processing costs. It increases your organization’s productivity by eliminating the effort of maintaining massive spreadsheets built outside your trading and accounting systems.

Because HedgeManager can be configured to integrate directly with your general ledger, all hedging activity information is up-to-date and accurate. By automatically creating the necessary journal entries, accuracy and full audit trails are built in.

Its extensive reporting capabilities decrease the amount of manual effort required by end-users and, thus, allow more time for valuable analysis and planning. Its robust functionality and accurate distribution methods assist organizations by ensuring compliance, creating audit trails, improving trading-related decision making, as well as improving overall staff productivity.

Drill Anywhere: The Ultimate Drill Down Tool

Excel-based Drill-Through to Any Data Source

Drill Anywhere© is an exciting extension to your current report writer which enhances data access within and beyond your ERP system, or any other database! Anyone who regularly reads, reviews and analyzes reports will save time and effort by now being able to retrieve the "story behind the numbers", regardless of where the data resides.

From any report put into Excel, you can now use Drill Anywhere to drill down to any transaction detail data in your ERP system or in any other ODBC-compliant database on your network. Users will no longer have to call the accounting department to ask why a balance is different than they expect. With a mouse-click, they will be able to retrieve the actual transactions which made up the summary balance (e.g. from the GL) they are viewing in the report and then continue drilling into the related sub-ledger detail! And most importantly, they do not have to be licensed users of the source system, which will help to keep the expensive “seats” or users of the ERP system to a minimum.

Drill Anywhere can save a company hundreds of hours per year spent requesting and researching data in reports. Finally an easy-to-use tool that provides end-users with the power to easily and instantly find the data that is important to them.

Benefits

• • Excel is used as the drill down environment
• • Drill down to, for example, GL detail and then drill down another layer to sub-ledger data
• • Access data from any database on your network by creating drill down queries
• • Avoid unnecessary ERP (or other software licenses) for users that only need to drill-down from distributed reports
• • Save hundreds of hours in time and thousands of dollars per year with automatic drill down
• • Works with any reports you can view in Excel such as Crystal Reports, FRx, and everything else!

Features

• • Quick and easy Excel Add-in installation
• • Optional prompts for instant ad-hoc data filtering
• • Customizable templates for viewing of results
• • Provides drill down to any ODBC-compliant database (e.g. SQL Server, Oracle, and DB2)
• • Unlimited number of drill down queries per report
• • Enhanced and easy to use security capabilities
• • Drill down query parameters can be passed from Excel reports and from user input
• • Queries and settings stored in a central MS SQL database
• • Many configuration options to control returned transactions, test queries and more

Drill Anywhere PDF
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