Financial Reporting and Analysis

AgFirst offers a full range of software and support services to promote accuracy, consistency and efficiency in financial reporting while helping Associations meet increasingly complex reporting requirements and analysis needs. The goal is to empower users with the ability to produce actionable information and not just data.

Enterprise Resource Planning

AgFirst provides access to a commercial enterprise resource planning system, PeopleSoft – a fully integrated financial system that has been tailored to meet the reporting needs of our users. PeopleSoft includes modules for general ledger, accounts payable, asset management (fixed assets), and time and expenses. AgFirst provides a library of standard reports, as well as training and system support, and manages all enhancements and upgrades.

General Ledger

Nightly batch processing of online, spreadsheet uploaded, and system integrated journals.
Capability of real-time posting by system administrators.
Historical data, from 2001 to current, available online.
Common chart of accounts to promote consistency. New accounts are opened quickly to meet Association needs.
System rules are designed to allow, restrict and require certain account combinations.
AgFirst builds and maintains financial allocations specified to meet Association needs.
A separate ledger for tax reporting that is created from a copy of the financial ledger and allows adjustments to be made one month in arrears.
Access to general ledger data for analysis is available via Microsoft Office products.

Accounts Payable

Master vendor list with the capability to handle multiple addresses and payment options.
Electronic workflow approval.
Invoice and check images through an integrated document management system, iSynergy.
EFT payment processing, with files transmitted by AgFirst daily.
1099-Misc reporting with back-up withholding capability. AgFirst handles the mailing to vendors and electronic file submission to IRS after review and approval by the Association.

Asset Management (Fixed Assets)

Interface with Accounts Payable allows assets to be created when invoices are paid.
Accommodates large-volume changes using a Mass Change feature, which AgFirst manages.
Data extract for the tax reporting software, CS Professional, which AgFirst administers and which provides tax reports to Associations.
Projected depreciation for budgeting.

Time and Expenses

Integration with AgFirst’s Human Resources Oracle Human Capital Management system, including security, work and leave hours, workflow routing, and employee bank accounts for expense reimbursement.
Ability to add prepay auditors in addition to managers for expense report workflow.
Customizable expense categories.
Ability to electronically upload receipts and documentation to expense reports.

AgFirst provides access to a commercial enterprise performance management system, Hyperion, to facilitate accuracy, consistency and efficiency in the reporting and analysis process.

Integrated data

This centralized planning and reporting solution receives integrated data from two primary data warehouses: the Financial Data Warehouse (FDW) for non-loan-related data and the Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) for loan-related data. Hyperion makes available a range of information, including financial, budget, loan and investment data via reports or Smart View, a Microsoft Excel add-in.

Reports library

A standard library of more than 200 management, shareholder and regulatory reports in Hyperion is provided and maintained by AgFirst. Hyperion Reports are dynamic so the same report can be run for multiple selection criteria, thereby reducing the number of report versions that need to be maintained. Associations have the ability to:

Copy and customize any of the standard reports or create their own reports to meet their Association’s specific requirements.
Run reports on demand or schedule them in a batch process for distribution.
Run ad-hoc queries and build charts and graphs using Smart View.

Streamlined adjustments

An in-house application has been developed by AgFirst to allow adjustments to system-generated data so the adjustments can be entered once and flow seamlessly into Hyperion and all Hyperion-generated reports and queries. AgFirst’s staff provides training and system support, manages enhancements and upgrades, and maintains the hierarchy structures within the Hyperion databases to ensure accuracy and consistency.

Shareholders and Regulatory Reporting

AgFirst assists Associations with the completion of quarterly and annual reporting requirements, including shareholders’ reports, Call Reports, internal controls certification and reporting, and detailed loan data reporting required by regulators. Technical guidance on the implementation of accounting and regulatory requirements is also provided.

Collaborative Reporting Process

The shareholders’ reporting process is managed through an extensive, collaborative SharePoint site for each Association. This allows Associations to:

Easily share files with the AgFirst financial reporting staff, which facilitates efficient input, review and approval at each step along the way.
Have available archived reports on the SharePoint site for future reference.
Access an accounting guidance library maintained by AgFirst via SharePoint.

Meetings are conducted with Associations on a quarterly basis (and more frequently as warranted) either via video or live conference to discuss accounting and reporting updates.

Documentation

A shareholders’ report draft containing rolled forward prior period data and updates for new disclosure requirements is provided to each Association to begin the quarterly and annual report process. AgFirst completes Association core financial statements, including:

The balance sheet.
Income statement.
Statement of comprehensive income.
Statement of changes in shareholders’ equity.
Cash flow statement.
Supporting footnote documentation files, including loan, employee benefits and fair value information.

AgFirst provides these documents to Associations for review and approval. Once approved, AgFirst uses this documentation to populate footnote information in the shareholders’ report and performs a complete review, including reconciliation, cross-referencing and footing. This allows Associations more time to focus on the management discussion and analysis section of the report.

Printing and posting

AgFirst provides final formatted reports, ensures that Association shareholders’ reports are posted to websites in accordance with FCA regulations, and on an annual basis provides the reports to the outside printer. AgFirst also provides graphic design and creative writing services to assist Associations in producing a visually impressive annual report that highlights current topics of interest unique to each Association.

Audit guidance

AgFirst assists with annual external audits of Associations by centrally providing standard Association general ledger and loan system reports to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), as well as coordinating timetables, report changes and final report approval. AgFirst also coordinates required internal controls reporting and certification and provides common guidance to Associations regarding the management of internal controls systems, including implementation, standardization, documentation and testing.

On-demand automated reports

Automated reports, which populate approximately 80% of Association quarterly Call Reports, are available to Associations on demand. These reports are maintained and updated by AgFirst as Call Report requirements change. Automated reports, which provide the basis for calculating regulatory capital ratios, are also available on demand and are updated and maintained by AgFirst.

Centralized back-office processing

AgFirst provides centralized back-office processing of required detailed loan data reporting to FCA on a quarterly basis. The supplied data highly leverages our Enterprise Data Warehouse, using District standardized definitions. Each quarter, Associations are provided:

A pre-quarter-end report two weeks prior to quarter end for data validation.
A pre-certification report by the fifth business day following quarter end.
The ability to request corrections and adjustments.
A final certification report by the 18th business day following quarter end.
Electronic signature workflow for report certification.
Archived reports and data upon request.

AgFirst provides the data extract in Microsoft Excel format, allowing Associations the ability to query and validate data in a standard, user-friendly tool. In addition, AgFirst provides a summary report that balances to Call Report equivalent schedules and data quality reports to identify missing data in key fields.

Continual improvements

The AgFirst District has established a Data Stewards Workgroup, which consists of a representative from each Association. This workgroup meets quarterly to discuss process changes and enhancements, discuss data quality improvements, share best practices, and build relationships across the District in order to find opportunities to gain efficiencies in the reporting of required detailed loan data to FCA.

Budgeting

AgFirst uses Hyperion Planning to meet the District’s budgeting needs. Two planning applications within Hyperion are currently available: Workforce Planning for budgeting salaries and benefits, and Budget Planning for all non-salary-related financial accounts.

Workforce Planning: This dynamic tool that allows for budgeting at the employee or general ledger account level and is integrated with AgFirst’s Human Resources Oracle Human Capital Management system for employee information. Salary and benefit values from Workforce Planning are passed to the Budget Planning application at a summary level.
Budget Planning: This application allows for detailed income statement and balance sheet input at the general ledger account level. Associations can choose to have AgFirst prepopulate the current budget with prior year financial information and anticipated depreciation. AgFirst maintains a variety of input forms that allow for flexible methods of entry by Associations, including direct input, driver-based input and allocations. The input forms can be accessed through a web interface called Workspace or through Smart View. Currently, the creation of plan Balance Sheet values (i.e., loan volume, allowance, etc.) and related expenses occurs outside of Hyperion, either through an Association’s internally built Excel models or third-party software, and these values are uploaded into Hyperion.

Stress Testing

AgFirst has contracted with Moody’s Analytics to utilize their Capital Risk Analyzer (CRA) platform to perform Association, Bank, and District stress tests. A CRA incorporates stress testing and accounting requirements in order to project important capital ratios and credit metrics, and visualize an institution's performance under different economic scenarios. CRA is a web-based application that provides flexibility and accessibility to users. In addition, it produces exportable output and streamlined presentations for use in Board and Management reports.

The CRA's top-down forecasting model uses historical financial data from the Farm Credit Administration, as well as macroeconomic variables to forecast balance sheet and income statement line items. A bottom-up approach is also available through CRA based on portfolio data from Moody's ImpairmentStudio, which integrates loan-level data used in the CECL process.

Timeframes for stress tests can be adjusted along with starting balances, forecasted items, and scenarios based on the institution's specific needs. Comparative analysis of multiple scenarios, including those developed by the Federal Reserve, can be carried out simultaneously.

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Financial Reporting and Analysis

Enterprise Resource Planning