DENVER, March 16, 2004 — FRx Software Corp., a Microsoft company and a part of Microsoft Business Solutions, today announced the availability of Microsoft
® Business Solutions for Analytics–FRx®
6.7, a financial reporting application that gives midsize organizations and corporate businesses immediate control of their entire financial reporting process. Continuing to address top concerns of the global accounting and finance community, Microsoft FRx 6.7 includes three major upgrades: a new module, FRx Report Manager, which allows users to quickly and easily pull together documents needed to deliver a comprehensive report book; improvements to the Currency Translation module; and upgraded support for the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) 2.0 Specification.
“The ability to collect and present trusted and timely financial data from various accounting sources is the Holy Grail for many midsize companies,” said Chris Scherpenseel, president of FRx Software. “FRx 6.7 is an important step in helping our customers streamline their financial reporting processes and improve the productivity and efficiency of individuals across the organization.”
Significant to FRx 6.7 is the FRx Report Manager module, a powerful optional module that makes it easy to compile FRx reports and other documents and files users need to evaluate the financial performance of their organization in one comprehensive report book. Report Manager automates the time-consuming and manual process of compiling, organizing and producing report books while presenting information in a manner that is logical, organized and relevant to the audience. Report Manager also streamlines the printing and distribution of the complete presentation.
FRx 6.7 also includes an enhanced Currency Translation module, which helps companies with currency translation needs better compete in the global economy. Changes made to the Currency Translation module were based on customer feedback and include greater flexibility in the calculation of monthly and annual average rates, translation of historical transactions, and several software modifications to improve the module as a whole.
In addition, FRx 6.7 remains at the forefront of advances in XBRL technology, having upgraded its support of the reporting standard to the version 2.0 Specification. FRx Software understands the need for its users to transfer complex, highly confidential corporate financial information to regulators, banks, investors and boards of directors using a trusted standard of financial communication.
With expanded report management capabilities and more in-depth currency translation features, FRx 6.7 helps businesses make financial reporting an important component of their strategic decision-making.
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FRx Report Manager. FRx Report Manager enables customers to quickly and easily pull together all the documents, charts and files needed to deliver a comprehensive report book in electronic or print format. It eliminates the manual, time-consuming process of producing report books that include many types of documents and provides the flexibility to design a report book that lets users quickly find information important to them, so they can spend their time making decisions important to their business. The tool allows users to logically organize report books; format them to provide easy navigation; and place charts, footnotes, title pages and other information where they want. Report Manager is an optional add-on module.
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FRx Currency Translation. FRx 6.7’s Currency Translation module has been enhanced to allow for greater flexibility in the calculation of translation rates, enabling users to select one of two ways to calculate monthly average rates. In addition, annual average rates can be calculated, thereby streamlining the maintenance in column layouts when creating FRx reports. Another enhancement allows users to translate individual layers that represent transactions while comparing the total amount in the historical rates table with the appropriate general ledger (GL) total, helping ensure that all transactions are accounted for when converting data at the appropriate historical rate. Finally, FRx Software has addressed several software modification requests to improve the Currency Translation module as a whole.
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XBRL 2.0 support. FRx 6.7 now supports XBRL.org’s 2.0 Specification for business reporting. FRx 6.7 allows users to utilize XBRL and security features to transfer complex, highly confidential corporate financial information to regulators, banks, investors and more.
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Microsoft Excel graphing. The FRx instant!OLAP® module is now included in every FRx edition. Users can utilize the instant!OLAP output format to export a report directly into a PivotTable® that is automatically graphed in Microsoft Excel. Once in Excel, users can select specific data elements from an FRx report for further analysis and insight using Microsoft Excel PivotTable and PivotChart®
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FRx WebPort. FRx WebView has been consolidated with FRx WebPort to form a single product module that is available to all users of FRx regardless of product edition or GL. Users can quickly publish Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and other documents with their FRx reports for easy access by others on a security-enhanced intranet site.
“Midsize companies will benefit from the latest FRx release [6.7], which includes new features and capabilities that were previously only available to large corporations,” said Robert D. Kugel, vice president and research director at Ventana Research. “These include the highly efficient Report Manager, the ability to export directly into Excel graphs and PivotTables, and greater flexibility in handling foreign exchange capabilities. Midsize companies face most of the same requirements as Global 2000 companies but have fewer resources. Microsoft Business Solutions for Analytics–FRx helps to level the playing field.”
Availability and Pricing
Those interested in the availability of Microsoft Business Solutions for Analytics–FRx 6.7 should check with their general ledger partner. Pricing begins at $4,500 (U.S. estimated reseller price*) and is based on the size of the implementation, the number of concurrent users and the general ledger interface. Implementation and training services are available at an additional cost.
About FRx Software
FRx Software, a Microsoft company and a part of Microsoft Business Solutions, is a leading provider of financial analytic applications that work with virtually any general ledger to give companies the control they need to be more effective. Its product suite, Microsoft Business Solutions for Analytics–FRx and Microsoft Business Solutions for Analytics–Forecaster, can improve productivity by helping customers efficiently manage their organization’s financial reporting and budgeting processes. FRx is used by more than 115,000 sites worldwide to gain immediate control of the financial reporting process. Forecaster is a browser-based budgeting and planning application that makes it easy for organizations to quickly realize the benefits of budgeting. Used together or separately, FRx and Forecaster provide the financial visibility customers need to actively manage their business and take decisive action. The applications are widely available through a worldwide channel of Integration Partners and Analytics Solution Providers, who can help companies quickly implement these solutions and start saving time and money throughout the year. Additional information about FRx Software can be obtained by calling (800) 379-8733 or +1 (303) 741-8000, or by visiting the company Web site at http://www.frxsoftware.com/ .
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
* Reseller prices may vary.
Microsoft, FRx, instant!OLAP, PivotTable and PivotChart are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp., FRx Software Corp. or their affiliates in the United States and/or other countries.
FRx Software Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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