Frequently Asked Questions (Physicals)
Physicals Trading
| 1 | How do we indicate but not exclude from Position Reporting that these goods are subject to Quality assurance, Insurance Claim, being analysed etc? In TRADE, recall the contract part and edit using the traffic form, before specifying main editing (right-click menu or tool-bar icon). The field with the label 'goods' is the supplementary shipping status, i.e. content is from a table in PHYSCODES/Goods Status. The TRADE code is shown on some TRAFREP reports and can be used as a filter and included in any TRADE oriented procedures. The PHYSCODES/Goods status maintenance allows the user to specify that a code is to handled in TRADE to indicate that the tonnage can not be used because the goods are subject to Quality Approval. |
| 2 | Where can we enter/view 'sampling information'? There are 2 options available in ITAS.
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| 3 | How can we view individual tonnage risk/P&L ? In TRADE, use the financial tab and before any edit mode, click on ‘Calculate P&L’ button with the summarised results displayed alongside. To view the content of the P&L click on button below named ‘View P&L’ and a full report will be shown ready for printing if needed. A copy of the report can be secured in the DOCMAN subsystem for retrospective viewing of why a trade was executed; use Save P&L button alongside the View button. When a company is operating terminal based hedge trading, there will be 2 forms of management P&L; financial and trader's. |
| 4 | How do we enter FX hedge/cover and what determines the P&L currency to be used? FX cover can be applied for any currency, which is specified using the TRADE/financial tab. It is the P&L currency code that is used to calculate all management P&L valuations. If there is no exchange rate, ITAS will use SPOT rates or special month-end frozen rates when specified. The exchange rate can be manually entered or linked to the TRS/Fx procedure which is the full ITAS management of bank/broker deals. If the physical deal is not fully covered by the FX hedge, you can enter the amount in traded currency units that is covered, unless the Operating company is applying strict FX cover procedures. This can be updated manually in TRADE or indirectly using the TRS procedure. TRADEQ report style 15 will list uncovered FX requirements |
| 5 | How are Price fixing details maintained, including DEOs? The full audited method is to enter the future trade in TERM, either as the market deal or an Internal trade, and specify under the heading ‘physical’ the contract reference and in the next box named Fix tick that box to request a Price fixation to be generated. Various checks are performed to ensure that the contract reference is correct for the market/prompt month/buy-sell and sufficient lots remain unfixed. In TRADE, using mouse right-click, you can select ‘price fix’ to view and if sufficiently CMP privileged you can amend the pricing details. This is the manual alternative to pricing that can be used if no future trade is available… This method is used for the other pricing methods available e.g. price on a daily average. See the HELP in TRADE/Setting-up-a-contract for more detail on how the pricing operations are fulfilled. DEO's are operated in the same manner but fixings are applied to two markets and this 'premium' is automatically added to the fixing price on completion of pricing. If the user is CMP privileged (TRADE/Reassign), F&O deals can be re-assigned from one TRADE family to another by using the manual ‘price fix’ process. However the number of ‘lots-to-fix’ will need to be adjusted on the pricing tab, for both the subject and target TRADE splits. For the situation where the Contract Currency is different to the Market/Instrument currency being price-fixed, the user can maintain in TRADE the mutual agreed Exchange Rate for conversion e.g. USD to GBP. This FX Rate is applied when the TRADE is fully fixed/priced. |
| 6 | We know the contract reference but are not sure which tranche/shipment/allocation we need to view/amend. What is the quickest way of searching? In TRADE, the <find> button at top left allows filter search on all information. Alternatively if you enter the contract reference and then depress <find> you can view and select from all the sub records for that contract. |
| 7 | Where can Purchase/sale allocations be viewed and maintained? In TRADEQ, style 3 the P+S summary provides a sectioned (by Position Period) report showing P+S side-by-side. Tonnages already allocated will show a financial P&L estimate. Use TRADE to allocate/de-allocate (mouse right-click or tool-bar button ‘procs’). Note there is a feature in TRADE to nominate a purchase contract with a pre-allocation coding of a CLIent, using the Miscellaneous tab. This allows for exclusion filtering in various procedures. |
| 8 | How can we find out which sales contracts need invoicing? How can we find sales contracts that need final invoicing? Use TRADEQ and either style 17 or use style 1 with the Physicals filters. Use style 1 which can easily be modified by you to report any information from the retrieved contracts. The filters to use for ‘sales not invoiced’ are:- P/S = S ; Invoice doc Reference = Null ; Allocation = <>null ; shipment period = <DEC2000 where DEC2000 is relevant to current operational date The filters to use for ‘outstanding final invoices ’ are:- P/S = S ; Waiting Final = Y. You can also use INVOICING; do not make any filtering selections and the procedure will scroll through the entire database and show the outstanding tonnages available for invoicing. |
| 9 | Where can we view sales contracts that have not been marked as fully delivered from warehouse? Use TRADE/Reports for your own style of report with the special SQL command built into Report generator of ‘phsy01_conquan not equal phys01_discharge‘. Then apply the Physicals filtering of P/S = S; shipment period =<DEC2000 where DEC2000 is relevant to current operational date. |
| 10 | How can we determine which purchase and sale contracts need their commission notes raised? Use TRADEQ/style 6 and physicals filtering of; shipment period =<DEC2000 where DEC2000 is relevant to current operational date or alternatively you can retrieve items where invoicing has been completed for the sale/purchase by using the filter; Invoice Ref = Not null. |
| 11 | How can we view a consolidated summary of any P/S contract? Use TRADEQ/style 7 and any physicals filtering |
| 12 | Can we view a list of ‘missing/unused’ contract references? Use TRADEQ/style 8 and physicals filtering of; Contract reference = between 07000 and 079999 for example |
| 13 | What is the best way to see a summarised list of costs associated with any contract(s)? Use TRADEQ/style 9 and any physicals filtering |
| 14 | How can we find out which Documents remain with our bank/brokers? An effective method is to set-up a PHYSCODES/Shipping status code to represent ‘goods are scheduled for delivery’ e.g. SD. Use TRADE to update the relevant purchase tonnages that have their documents lodged at bank with this code and it’s estimated delivery date. When the goods are delivered, update (TRADE) the sale/purchase shipping status to reflect now delivered. Use TRADEQ/style 1 and physicals filtering of; P/S = P, Shipping status = SD, and any other restrictive filtering wanted. The report style 1 can be modified to show relevant information from it’s own report build. |
| 15 | Are Cocoa products handled for Position and Hedge evaluations? The product code (PHYSCODES/Commodity) e.g. Butter, Liquor, Cake needs to be setup with ‘Use Ratio’ ticked. Optionally a default ratio setting can be set e.g. Cocoa Butter = 2.65 whereby ITAS evaluates 1mt of Cocoa Butter = 2.65MT of Cocoa Beans Hedge (paper); this default ratio is only used to suggest what Tonnage Basis is to be applied. Each TRADE can maintain it’s own Price ratio. The Price ratio (multiplier) is used to calculate the final TRADE price on F&O fixations and is also used to default the number of Lots to be hedged/fixed. The Market Price can be similarly adjusted by use of Prem/Disc being applied as a multiplier. There are a number of reports e.g. GENENQ that enable the user to apply ‘Use Ratio’ to show the Bean Equivalent positions. Note: the same processes can be applied for Refined Sugar equivalence. |
| 16 | How do we indicate and view which specific warehoused goods are tenderable to the market? In TRADE, recall the contract and edit using the traffic button and the weights tab. If the tonnage needs to be split enter the split tonnage here with the correct pack units etc and the residual tonnage will be placed on a new sub-record. You will note that sample details can be entered and the tenders information e.g. Certificate number, date of expiry are available for maintenance. Hivedome will have set-up a simple report style in ReportWriter named as 'Tenderables' which can be the basis report for your administration There is a B2B subsystem for GATS. |
| 17 | Where can miscellaneous traffic/logistics information such as Customs clearance, FDA clearance be maintained in ITAS? In TRADE, use Traffic tool-bar and the Miscellaneous and Customs (S01 activation) tabs. The list is not extensive but the traffic miscellaneous text can be used for any annotation. |
| 18 | Why are there several different modes of splitting a contract into sub-records and how can the sub-records be merged? The modes for splitting a contract are primarily to either:- a) tranche for the condition where the contract is a composite with either different products, different pricing but not different shipment periods b) split a contract for vessel nomination c) allocation generates sub records where the back-to-back is for different weights d) Traffic/weight adjustments for under/over shipped or returns also generate split tonnage, especially to identify weights that will not be shipped or delivered or weight-loss If sub-records need to combined, recall the TRADE and use mouse right-click and the 'merge' feature. Various criteria are applied to inhibit merging tonnage that has been invoiced, allocated etc and meaningful messages are displayed |
| 19 | Is there an easy method for updating several contracts with the same shipment/traffic information? Use TRADE and the traffic button on the tool-bar BEFORE entry of a contract reference, make your filtering selections and a grid of contract references will be presented. Choose which sub records are to be included and depress the OK button. The shipping , warehouse and miscellaneous tabs are then available for group update of the selected contracts. Note that allocated details are automatically updated from either the Purchase or Sale, according to how company database was set-up. |
| 20 | Is there a system for monitoring Trade / Contract Confirmations being sent and returned? Use TRADE and the 'forms' procedure to create/send the confirmation (style has been previously setup in DOCDES). When you have completed the printing/sending depress the button 'confirm sent' and today's date will be used to update the database record. This date and associate information can be viewed/maintained on the TRADE/Miscellaneous tab, including Date Signed/Returned. There is also a ReportWriter style named 'Outstanding Confirmations' which can be used with simple filtering to view contracts sent but not marked as returned. There is an administration tool CONTMAN that is an useful global review. |
| 21 | Can Quotes, Bids, Offers be entered and subsequently confirmed as executed business? Quotes,Bids,Offers can be entered using either TRADE and ticking the box on the main form called ‘quote contract’ or using TICKETS which is designed for maintenance of Quotes only. To create a quote you can use either:- ‘recall a favourite’ and amend the forms, enter new details, or image an existing contract. All TRADE records marked as ‘quote’ will be excluded automatically from most reports, especially Trade Positions. You can use the ‘docs’ button on the tool bar to produce forms to be emailed, XMLd. When the trade is agreed for execution, recall the TRADE and mouse right-click to confirm the business. You can remove the quote by mouse right-click and ‘archive’. Archived quotes can be viewed in several ITAS procedures, so enabling historical review. A special range of contract references is used for quotes, and if a quote is confirmed it is assigned a number in the standard P/S sequence and is cross-referenced to it’s quote number. There is a feature (S01 activated – ctrl30_comodemail and ctrl30_splitticket) that will allow the user to send a Request for Approval email to nominated personnel and the Confirmation process will produce a return email and other emails to nominated parties. The email addresses are maintained in PHYSCODES/Commodity on the Primary Commodity Umbrella records e.g. set commodity code RAW (with no sub codes) and attach the emails and Product Line Position Limit to that code. There are several rules in the TICKETS/Submission-Approval process that stop traders submitting or authorizing their own business. Quotes can be tranched/split but will only be confirmed in their entirety and if they are allocated the entire combination of buy and sale records will be confirmed. There is an alternate Approval Process, see item 46 below. |
| 22 | Can Brokerage business be administrated in ITAS? Brokerage business can be entered into the database using TRADE where the dropdown on 'contract type' has the facility 'brokerage'. The default setup is to operate 2 records with the S01 alternative feature (ctrl30_singlebrokerage=Y) which will only setup 1 TRADE record. The System Manager must ensure the 2 brokerage prefix codes are setup as consistent e.g. both = ‘B’ when singlebrokerage. The TRADE is maintained the same as any other buy/sell except the buyer and seller are both 3rd Parties. Splitting, tranching, traffic are the same processes. Logically there is nothing to allocate. One party usually pays the Op Company commission, which is setup in TRADE/Commission grid with counter party as Agent. The rate/amount is a receivable to the Op. Company and accounting/documentation is executed using COMNOTE. There are no procedures for producing Sales, Purchase invoices on behalf of the counter parties but other forms (DOCDES) can be created |
| 23 | Can 3rd party tonnages be administrated in ITAS, i.e. trading stocks and deliveries 3rd Party business can be entered/maintained in TRADE. There are several report features available to track in/out These details can update INVENTORY stock and will not be included in the Operating Company position reports nor P&L. |
| 24 | Image/favourites/internals/Edit for Image. Any existing TRADE records can be secured as a favourite templates (Hivedome setup the template content in conjunction with Op. company). In TRADE, you can use any of the templates by mouse right-click before OK for new contract. You then complete the TRADE entry either as Quote, executed deal, 3rd party etc. Any TRADE record can be recalled and mouse right-click will provide an option to create imaged copy(s), especially useful for back-to-back business where need to change counterparty and terms, price on the imaged copy. Internal contracts can be created in TRADE and WIP whereby linked buy and sell contracts with specified price are generated. You can also use image to create an internal pair of contracts. The specialized Edit For Image is very useful where recall TRADE, appropriate edit command (S01 activation) , change the fields necessary and Save as new contract. |
| 25 | What facilities are available for automated prices/rates collection ? Settlement Prices for F&O, CFD and FX can be collected from various web sites and Hivedome can set-up the required links and automated processes (SPAN_NOW) to fulfill the daily/nightly process. If ‘live’ prices are needed, Hivedome can provide an online procedure for collecting prices from the Bloomberg price feeds, and will investigate other feeds e,g, Reuters at the client’s request and cost. There is a specific RUBBERIMP process that will collect a spread sheet from SICOM exchange with their rubber market prices e.g. 20FOB, RSS3 and import direct into TPRICE. There is also a manual .csv Import process activated by right-click on entry to TPRICE, this process can be setup by Hivedome for automated overnight collection from a pre-determined source file e.g. c:\itas\exec\s\t47 MenuBatch gf DEP /IMPORT /PATH=i:\itas\TPRICE\whatever.CSV. TOCOMIMP is a similar process to RUBBERIMP except accesses the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TCE) website (http://www.tocom.or.jp/data/yakujou/ ) to get their prices. The link to locating the correct prices for the various instruments e.g. Palladium, Rubber is the TCCM Price Feed code (3rd party - tcy20_feedcode) i.e. Paladium = 13, Rubber = 81. BMDIMP is a similar process to RUBBERIMP except accesses the Bursa Malaysia Exchange (BMD) website (http://www.bursamalaysia.com/website/bm/market_information/market_statistics/derivatives/historical_data.html) to get their prices. The link to locate the correct prices for the various instruments e.g. Crude Palm Oil Futures, USD Crude Palm Oil Futures is the TCCM Price Feed code (3rd party - tcy20_feedcode) i.e. Crude Palm Oil Futures = FCPO, USD Crude Palm Oil Futures = FUPO. There is a FX automated import (XO – but needs registration and fees paid to XO). FXR does allow a .csv to be imported manually. |
| 26 | Are there any process/washing/toasting type factory procedures in ITAS? There is a feature in TRADE (Process) designed to administrate purchase tonnage being factory processed (toasted, washed etc) whereby actual weight loss is recorded, process costs are added and the out-turn can be any number of different products. The WIP accounting allows consolidation of origin costs (and any FX), the factory processing costs and the sales proceeds and thereby the current value of stock. TRADE records are marked as being the out-turn of a PROCESS for ease of data filtering. Another TRADE feature (Refine) is designed to link the Raw tonnage to the factory results of a refine/process contract. The results from the factory are entered as a new purchase TRADE (i.e. the refined product) and this feature is activated to operate in reverse by attaching the origin goods to this result. Any number of RAW contracts are assigned and eventually allocated to the new contract. Another TRADE feature is Mixing (Hivedome activation ctrl30_mixingout) where warehoused unallocated purchase tonnages can be assembled (conforming with a PHYSCODES/Commodity B.O.M) to create a new warehoused TRADE record with weight gain/loss, accounting movements between stock units, the automatic creation of a Q.A. (LABIN) record and a record of the mixing for the on-request Process/Mixing report. |
| 27 | How can a Toll/Mixing process be reversed? A Toll process, whereby a purchase tonnage is ‘sold’ to another purchase can be reversed by ‘de-allocation’ from the ‘new’ TRADE record. If automated internal accounting has been produced, those details may need to be reversed by TRADE and DOCENT/EJL. |
| 28 | How are 3rd Party consignments handled 3rd Party Consignments. Create a TRADE purchase with 3rd party ticked. No pricing is needed but any costs for the services being provided should be entered in the Costs grid and marked as receivable to the Operating Company. Use TRADE for processing and mixing (ensure when Mixing that the out-turn is marked as 3rd party consignment). Use TRADE to call-off deliveries with production of Delivery Notes etc (use the specific 3rd Party templates). When the delivery is completed, use TRADE to mark the call-off accordingly and produce the service charges invoice using INVDIRECT. |
| 29 | Is there a feature for simple delivery into Spot purchases ? Spot deliveries into Stock. The initial TRADE record is setup as a purchase from supplier x and marked as ‘spot’. When a delivery into stock is made, recall TRADE record and mouse right-click to use the ‘add tonnage’ feature, a window of all previous deliveries–in is shown ready for the latest in-take to be entered. If an audit of the specific parcel is required, tick the column for ‘create sub-record’ and enter the warehouse reference. If no audit is required, the result is increased stock on the ‘header’ record for the contract, ready for subsequent allocation to sales deliveries, processing etc |
| 30 | Is there a feature for Insurance Declarations? Individual declarations can be applied on a TRADE tonnage, after recall of contract split use right-click. Group Declarations can be actioned by use of mouse right-click before selecting a specific contract. The basic details entered can be used to produce a form(piece-of-paper) using a DOCDES template, which needs to be designed by the user company. Separate procedures are available for Vessel Declaration and Warehouse Declarations. The PHYSCODES/Insurance Groups will need to setup with codes to represent the different Insurance rates the company can apply e.g. M1 = marine ins = 0.25%. Accounting documents can be created, if the relevant S01 parameter is setup i.e. Insurance Co (ctrl30_inspremclient) where credit CLI account and debit WIP account with EXP code located from EXP/maintain control assignments. When a Vessel Declaration is being entered, over age premium and war risk selections are enabled. The defaults derive from VESSEL for the over-age premium and the TRADE /Port of Destination for War Risk (gf/COUNTRIES) where the Risk Premium is located. There is a TRAFREP report (style 12) that lists the monthly declarations and there is a control system for production of audited reports to the Ins Company. The results of an Insurance Declaration are also shown on the TRADE/status page. |
| 31 | Is there an Insurance Claims subsystem? TRADE/Traffic/warehouse can be used to enter some of the essential information for a Quality or Weight claim e.g. Damaged, Missing and Slack bags/weight. Other claim details e.g. Insurance Company, amount being claimed/received are entered via a window opened from TRADE/Traffic/right-click. An effective method to control tonnage that is subject to a claim and is not required to be seen in the position lists is to split the TRADE for that quantity/bags and mark it as a weight-loss (PHYSCODES/Shipping status) and use the TRADE/Traffic/Goods status code to identify Quality Claim or Weight Claim. Alternatively keep the tonnage in position lists and mark with a shipping status of Quality Claim or Weight Claim. Rebagging and salvage proceeds can be administrated separately. Any user defined DOCDES forms (phys20) can be produced/emailed etc. Similarly any simple report (phys20) can be built using the ReportWriter, and default filters can be maintained to only locate the active outstanding claims. |
| 32 | Can a formal list of DOCDES forms be assigned to individual Counter-parties? Use CLI/View/Forms to maintain a list of DOCDES templates that needs to be produced for the counter-party. This list is assigned to a Menu option either INVOICING or TRADE. When a Sales invoice is being produced and the counter-party has a forms list setup, that list will be suggested to the user for document creation. A reconciliation between the required list and what has been completed can be viewed in INVOICING and TRADE. |
| 33 | Can ITAS track numbers of packing and pallets used for Deliveries? Use TRADE/Process-Mix to handle the repacking processes etc see more details on FAQ No 26. To track usage of packing, setup Spot Purchases for each of the packaging units that need to be monitored, with their commodity code indicting Packing type. Use ’add tonnage’ feature to update spot delivery-in to the Stock purchases. The packing product codes are included in the BOM for the Sales products and the administrator of the completed delivery will enter numbers of packs and pallets used. This provides a full audit of these ancillary products. Re-order levels can be maintained on the TRADE stock record and a simple ReportWriter layout can be produced to indicate status of the packaging materials. |
| 34 | Can ITAS track the application of Milling/processing costs i.e. where Op Co has negotiated a contract with a Mill? Use TRADE to enter the contractual committment (Purchase contract) e.g. 100 Mt @ USD 100 per ton with ancillary costs etc. The commodity needs to be setup with the special type code Milling in PHYSCODES. When using TRADE/Mix to create manufactured goods, include the Milling contract and it’s usage in the in-turn grid. The milling price will be included in the out-turn value and the Milling contract extra costs will also be transferred (pro-rata) to the out-turn contract. |
| 35 | Can Intra Company and InterCompany Physicals trades/contracts be easily entered? Definition of Inter-Company trading is one ITAS entity/company sells/buys with one of it’s group companies. Definition of Intra-Company trading is a department/business sector/Profit centre in a company sells/buys with another department/business sector in the same company. ITAS handles intra-company trading with the setup in TRADE of a fully linked Internal trade. See Related Topic 'Intra Company Trading' for more detail. There are several modes of Inter Company process, see S01 - ctrl30_intercompstyle. #1 Standard (‘ ‘): Allows copy of a contract record between two ITAS companies, if the main TRADE codes are consistent between the 2 companies. The TRADE Counter Party must be setup as a control Counter Party for the target company. The user must have access rights to that company. If there is more than one match, the user selects the target from a drop down option. The user also chooses whether to create a target Sale or Purchase. If the origin company has a sale where the counterparty is company 2, this feature can create a matching purchase in company 2. The validation rules are extensive to ensure that the copy of the TRADE does support all the codes being transferred; an error report will be shown with any inconsistencies. The target TRADE dept code is the company’s default (S01) dept. The dept code will, however be superseded by the CLI x dept code (if setup) for the target counter party (mycli). The Price is transferred, there is a notation on both TRADE in the internal memorandum to indicate origin/destination of copy. There is a control (optional) to block re-use of a TRADE to replicate on another Company #2. Novation Style (‘N’): Novation is the transfer of rights for a TRADE to another entity, in this situation another ITAS company. This style is similar to Standard i.e. checking of codes in target company. In TRADE, the right-click ‘Contract Novation’ will enable selection of target company, the compensatory currency and value and new contract date. The details of origin purchase are copied to target, including the counter party and pricing basis. #3. Whole Contract Style (‘W’): Transfer is only allowed from the TRADE header (.000). The process will transfer every split and tranche record. The TRADE Counter Party must be setup as a control Counter Party (MYCLI) for the target company. The control list (gf/INTERCO) maintains which company combinations can apply the transfer process. If there is more than one match on Counter Party & MYCLI, the user will need to select the target from a drop down option. The user does NOT choose whether to create a target Sale or Purchase; it is automatically the opposite convention to the origin TRADE The validation rules are extensive to ensure that the copy of the TRADE does support all the codes being transferred; an error report will show any inconsistencies. The target TRADE department code is specified for the entire server (S01/empty/right-click). The qualities and pricing method are copied. The origin contract stores (phys01aa_itx..) the destination company, contract ref, date and user’s initials and may not be transferred again. Email notifications (S01) can be activated for the target/receiving company administrators. #4. Simple Contract Style (‘S’): Transfer is only allowed from the TRADE header (.000). The process will transfer every split and tranche record. The trade Counter Party must be setup as a control Counter Party (MYCLI) for the target company. The control list (gf/INTERCO) maintains which company combinations can apply the transfer process. If there is more than one match on Counter Party & MYCLI, the user will need to select the target from a drop down option. The user does NOT choose whether to create a target Sale or Purchase; it is automatically the opposite convention to the origin trade. The validation rules are extensive to ensure that the copy of the trade does support all the codes being transferred; an error report will show any inconsistencies. The qualities and pricing method are copied. The origin contract stores (phys01aa_itx..) the destination company, contract ref, date and user’s initials and may not be transferred again. On confirmation of the subsequent Shipping Instruction (TRADE/Forms from the Shipping Instruction Folder) selected Traffic information is copied between the Inter-Company contracts as listed below:- Ports of Origin and Destination Shipping Status Vessel Shipping Line Shipping Memo Booking No. Date of Shipping Instruction Confirmation ### As at 1Q16 this is the only automated transfer of traffic data between ITAS entities. ### ### See F&O Frequently Asked Questions for options for Inter Company F&O trading ### |
| 36 | Does ITAS handle products that are usually expressed in volume e.g. Litres, US gallons and an exact MT equivalent is needed? A company can be setup to maintain Multi Weights with the feature to automatically setup the MT equivalent weight for any product/weight using the PHYSCODES/Commodity conversion factor. This results in a MT equivalent weight being maintained for each TRADE for the benefit of some calculations and reporting needs. The default equivalent can be maintained in TRADE/Traffic/Weights when the precise equivalent has been notified via shipping instructions etc. Some products e.g. Alcohol, Fats operate in this manner. Programs ITOP, ITURN and ReportWriter utilise these Multi Weights. |
| 37 | Where can I see ‘how many tons were traded from what origin’ etc? The programs CLI + GENENQ show Contract History analysed in various forms. You can pick in GENENQ/Contract History any number of different data sequences and styles of summary tonnages either by shipment period or invoice period. These same programs will allow you to view tonnage by counter-party, by commodity, by destination etc. |
| 38 | Is there a Tolling process, i.e. combining several purchase contracts/splits into a single purchase? In TRADE, before entry of Contract ref, use right-click and the Toll process. Use the filter to restrict the list of unallocated purchases (not 3rd party) that are shown in the in-turn grid for selection. The out-turn details must be entered before the selection of in-turn tonnages. The out-turn can be any target currency with Spot exchange rates applied, where necessary. The accounting document (IT type) will transfer the values between the in-turn WIP accounts and the newly created out-turn WIP account. |
| 39 | Is there a report to identify where stock transfer values are now inconsistent with the current in-turn values? Tolled, Mix TRADEs and STOCK transfers (MATPRO) can be verified with the TRADEQ/style 18 report. This report lists the TRADE records where there is a difference in value from IT accounting value and current TRADE/Fincalc value. |
| 40 | Can bulk allocations be entered? There is a SSU setting that will enable Group Allocation and Group De-allocation in the program TRADE. Before entry of a contract reference, use mouse right-click to locate the feature(s). Entry of filters on both or either of sales and Purchases will provide 2 picking grids. You can pick 1 Sale and many purchases or 1 Purchase and many sales. |
| 41 | Is there a estimated weight loss feature? In TRADE, on the pricing tab you can enter a percentage for the expected weight loss. This factor is used in financial calculations and is useful where weights are on a basis of wet weight and values are based on dry weights e.g. Iron Ore. |
| 42 | What Limit checks are available for TRADING? There are several reports that provide limit checking at counter-party, country, commodity level i.e. CPRISK, CLI/Risk, CCR. TRADE can be activated for the following checks on ENTRY of new business:- a) Compare the Counter-Party commitment limit for quotes(optional) and executed business. The limit will be checked with the total of ALL un-invoiced contracts, irrespective of their shipment/delivery dates. The total of the contract value of all the Purchase contracts will be checked with the limit and correspondingly the Sales total will be checked. The limit is checked with the FULL contracted value, i.e. not the risk exposure. The limit checking will produce a screen display, if exceeded limit, to the user and the same information can be directed to a nominated list of email addresses. The checking is only a WARNING. b) Compare the Counter-Party Spot/Market risk limit with the VM of ALL contracts for the counter-party. The limit will be checked with the NETT of ALL un-invoiced contracts, irrespective of their shipment/delivery dates. The limit checking will produce a screen display, if exceeded limit, to the user. The same information will also be sent to a nominated list (ctrl30_limitemail) of email addresses. The checking is only a WARNING. |
| 43 | How does ITAS handle Franchise/Tolerance Weights? The basis of the tolerance is maintained in TRADE on the Franchise tab, the access to this maintenance is controlled by its CMP privilege. Some commodities default a standard e.g. Min/max 5% and the PHYSCODES/Commodity can be setup with a Product line default tolerance%. Every TRADE needs to be maintained with its criteria. The checking on weight adjustments is applied with the header details using the actual weights shown in the TRADE record i.e. minimum and maximum for the contract or tranche. Weights adjustment in WIP/CHARTERS and Group Weights in TRADE will warn the user if the change to the contract weight is greater than the tolerance. The option to include franchise quantity for valuation exists in the VALUATION reports. The option to include franchise for risk analysis is provided in the CPRISK reports. Where the option to include or exclude franchise quantity does not appear the franchise quantity will be excluded by default. S01 configuration (ctrl30_franchise = E) will apply some franchise enforcement rules in the programs TRADE, INVOICING, CHARTERS. The control of how the enforcement is applied is the TRADE field (phys01_enforcefran) which specifies whether by Header, Tranche or the individual split. The enforcement regime will NOT permit quantity to outside the tolerance.! |
| 44 | How can users be restricted from viewing non-privileged TRADE records? There are 4 access methodologies all of which are controlled by CMP. The 4th mode is to enable 3rd Party operations to access selective TRADE records e.g. a Rep Office of the ITAS entity and this requires CLI interface data. Style 1 is to assign specific DEPT codes to a user profile and thereafter all ITAS applications will restrict viewing according to the TRADE dept coding and accounting transaction dept coding. Style 2 is to assign specific TERMINAL/Depot codes to a user profile and thereafter all ITAS applications will restrict viewing according to the TRADE Terminal code. Not every ITAS option has this restrictive logic applied, so please contact Hivedome to confirm the processes that the management wish to operate for restrictive access. As at 4Q15 the following programs apply this override; A10/A29/E33/E34/E66/E68. Style 3 is used to restrict the user to operating/viewing data in selected warehouses (CLI format i.e. XXXX.P, YYY.P). This feature is applied for the ITAS Entities that have been ticked as being access restricted, S01 main page {ctrl02_deptsrestricted}. Leave blank to allow all warehouses to be accessed, else enter a valid warehouse list, separated by commas. The maximum size of the list is 500 characters. This process is applied only in PROSCHED/PROSTORE for ITAS Entities with S-1 configuration ctrl02_deptsrestricted = Y Style 4 is designed for an Agent/Rep office to have access to selective TRADE records. The TRADE Counter Party needs to nominated with the Introductory Broker as the user profile e.g. CLI introductory broker profile setup as INDIAREP.P and CMP user is INDIAREP. Any number of CLI profiles can have their introductory broker code setup with INDIAREP.P The end result of this setup is that when INDIAREP user accesses TRADE , they will only be able to view TRADE records where the Counter Party is services by INDIAREP.P |
| 45 | Are there any special processes for Grains handling? Yes, there are many procedures for handling Grains & Oils trading from receipt into warehouse(s) and subsequent distribution, especially the PROMAN and GPLREP procedures |
| 46 | Alternate Approval Procedures 1. Standard is to create Bids/Offers/Quotes i.e. not marked as executed business. The process is then to modify the quote until ready to be marked as executed by user secure action, usually an authorised CMP privileged user. 2. ctrl30_approval=Y to operate specialist Approval process for Trades and Price Fixations in TRADE. All new TRADE and any Pricing Fixations will be considered unapproved until user with appropriate CMP privilege authorises said new business and amended records. Trades that are NOT approved cannot be allocated. There are additional controls for which fields are to be checked in the TRAE de-approve process. The controls are maintained in S01/view/auto amendment parameters. Changing of the relevant TRADE field un-approves all the splits of the TRADE. There are special Group processes for approval of‘Spot Purchases’ and ‘Fixations‘ The following controls on contracts and fixations are applied when ctrl30_approval = Y Inventory (A94/ A99) only approved contracts can be allocated to inventory J05, J06 – only approved fixations can be included in pricing. J08, J12 – Only approved contracts can be invoiced. A01 - TRADEQ FAS Report only includes approved contracts A02 – NEWBIZ only includes approved contracts A10 – Only approved contracts can be allocated Price fixations require approval before use (see ctrl30_approvalextra) Call offs are blocked until contract has been approved Contract Advices cannot be created unless the user has privilege TRADEAPPROVAL A30 – Bales by prompt report only shows approved contracts NotaFiscal – Only includes approved contracts E33 - STKMAN– Only includes approved contracts Ctrl30_approvalform = D; create dealing ticket (specific fields) which is the alternative of Estimates vs Actuals report. Ctrl30_approvalextra = Y Configuration to compliment ctrl30_approval = ‘Y’ a) ‘LH’ = Hard Limit Check (block approval on limit breach) when approving contract b) ‘LS’ = Soft Limit Check (warn on limit breach) when approving contract c) ‘C’ = Approve Contracts only (no fixation approval required) d) ‘CH’ = Approve Contracts only (no fixation approval required, block on limit breach) with Hard Limit Check e) ‘CS’ = Approve Contracts only (no fixation approval required, warn on limit breach) with Soft Limit Check Limit checking will be the same as used in Contract creation 3. CFI Approval Process 1) Tickets are created 2) Submitted for approval If limit checking controls set (ctrl30_forwardlimit, ctrl30_marketlimit, ctrl30_positionlimit) limits are checked prior to submit for approval Cannot be approved by the trader CMP account Finds approver from list taken from commodity static and sends an email requesting the user approve the ticket. 3) Approver recalls the ticket in trade and approves or rejects. Limits are checked again if approved. Ctrl30_ticketauto = Y When tickets are imported (TICKETIMP), there is no submit for approval process and the trader can confirm their own tickets. |
| 47 | Rubber Pricing Formula The pricing methods are basically the same as for all other Hedge based commodities i.e. Fixed price or F&O basis. The differences are in F&O Pricing, i.e. the Markets they price with, how the Rate of Exchange is agreed (where applicable) and the Differential can be entered as a % of the contract value. To use the % feature, need to setup a PHYSCODES/PriceCode of ‘%’ (which is immediately Frozen) and the differential entered can be +/- but the currency must be the same as the TRADE currency. The Exchange rate is entered on Pricing page, when known/agreed. To assist recognition of the agreed Rate to be used, the user can optionally enter a code to identify the source of the ROE e.g. REUTER, NAGARRA. The Markets to be priced need to be setup in TCCM. The standard SICOM codes of RSS1, RSS3 and 20FOB will be immediately available as will the capture of their daily prices issued by the Exchange. If other instruments are needed e.g. Malaysian Index @ midday, then will need to create a TCCM code and collect their settlement prices in TPRICE either manually or by the TPRICE/Import of .csv process. |
| 48 | Finance Calculator There are several ITAS variations for calculating Financing Costs. (A) The simplest is to use the TRADE/Costs and maintain a cost type with the Rate Type of ‘Daily Percent’. The % is entered as the per annum and a number of days is calculated or maintained (according to S01 setting ctrl30_dailyratecost). The standard method is to calculate number of days on Purchase TRADE records from the Purchase Invoice date until today or the Sales Invoice date (if completed). This calculation is shown in full in TRADE/FinCalc enquiry. Alternatives in TRADE/Costs are to maintain the number of days and apply the days/360, rate and the Contract Value to get the estimated cost. (B) When the S01 feature (ctrl30_interestcalc) is activated, the user can enter in TRADE the date that CASH was passed (or estimated) for both the Sale and Purchase, TRADE/Financial/Trust due date). When these dates are in-filled and the TRADE is allocated, a special Cost type is setup in the PURCHASE cost grid reflecting the calculated amount. The calculation is based on TRADE Purchase value and currency, unless company is a CFI operation when the Sale value and currency are used. The IBR rates with a code name of TRADEF for the relevant currency must be setup. If the operating company wish to use different interest rates for Income and Expense, also setup IBR codes for TRADEI to represent Income i.e. receivable. The PHYSCODES/cost types/nominated (ctrl07_interest) must also be maintained. Explicit failure messages will be displayed if any of the constituents are missing for the calculation. There are automated processes in the ITASxDEP overnight to populate the trust/cash dates from the matched accounting data and to also generate the COSTS, where all the data is available and the COST had not been previously created. There is a simple REPORTwriter scheme named ‘Finance Interest’ that show the details of all the generated Cost estimates. (C) When the S01 feature ctrl30_valuationinterest is activated, the procedure VALUATION will enable the Interest calculation process. This is very specialist and more details can be found in the S01 help?. This process operates from cash matched items in NOM only (ctrl02_matchwipfromcash). |
| 49 | Metals Trading (A) ITAS includes some very specific processes that originate in traditional Metal trading and some LME procedures. For LME commodities, TCCM needs to be setup with the correct Period type i.e. Date/period so that the daily settlement prices can be secured. A background process for automated Price collection is to derive Monthly average prices for all the prompt months for which there are quotations. ITAS parameters specify that daily settlement prices are collected for 3 months forward and thereafter prices are issued for 3rd Wednesday. This enables TPRICE to derive monthly average prices for valuation procedures and unrealised P&L/Risk calculations. There is a TPRICE maintenance process for entry of the LME Official price whereby user makes their entry and the monthly average price is also recomputed. (B) There are some specialist Fixation processes (TRADE) that are required for these type of markets where daily prices are issued for the prompt month and average price or daily settlement price are needed to create fixations. Tech Note: LME (use LME Official) and Rubber Index (day specific). The different Fixation styles are:- MAV = Month Average, whereby one Fixation record for the total tonnage is created with a price being the average for the prompt month i.e. sum the last quoted price for each of the Settlement dates for that month and divide by number of day records MDY = Month Average with Day records, whereby a Fixation record is created for each Settlement day with pro-rata tonnage with a price being the average for the prompt month i.e. sum the last quoted price for each of the Settlement dates for that month and divide by number of day records. DAY = Fixation for each Settlement day with pro-rata tonnage with a price being the DAY Settlement price for the prompt month. This is probably the most favored style being that there then exists a complete audit of what price was used for each Settlement date i.e. the Official LME price. As a part of the ITAS overnight procedures, every DAY nominated TRADE with it’s applicable start and end fixing dates will be processed to create a daily fixation, if the Official LME price is available in TPRICE. (C) There is a specialist Metals Position Report in TOPEN, LME Month/Day Summary. Can apply standard filtering BUT will only report the FUTURES for TCCM codes that are setup to collect prices as a date or date/period (this indicates that the instrument is Settlement date basis e.g. LME). The report style is a grid of net summary positions (Client/House only) with ‘x’ representing Delivery/Prompt Months and the ‘y’ is the Settlement DAY. |
| 50 | F&O Tenders, Delivery Notices If tendering to/from the Market e.g. F&O Position is L5 +5 mar09 @ $400/PMT a) Need to square the position with broker @ market closing settlement price e.g. L5 -5 lots @ $410 and also create a Long 5 trade @ $410 with the special F&O code = TDR (this is a standard code used in ITAS reports which will enable the trade to be excluded from TOPEN/SETTS processes by filtering) b) The F&O continues to be margined until physical delivery when the F&O (TDR) trade needs to be DELETED from the position, using TERM/amendment/delete c) The physicals warrants can be entered manually in TRADE e.g. Purchase of WHT sugar 250 tons with the relevant traffic/warehouse details. There is a specialist Warrant Import process in TRADE/Traffic/Right-click (Hivedome will need setup – see FAQ 66) d) The Invoice(s) are received and will need to update the TRADE record(s) using standard ITAS procedures, so total eventually the 250 tons x $400 is represented by corresponding accounting entries i.e. inclusion of settlements and invoices. e) To facilitate the correct VM for the Futures trades, ITAS needs the day price that the market either publishes or can be derived by specialist ITAS process (see help? on TCCM/Derive Tenders Prices from Spot) |
| 51 | Can a set of Costs be applied automatically when TRADE are allocated? There is a S01 control (ctrl30_allocate_matrix) that in TRADE /allocation will prompt for the updating of the costs on the PURCHASE contract using the SALE counter-party as a lookup for costs matrix i.e. PHYSCODES/Matrix could be set up with a code for SMITH which has a fixed set of costs for delivery to company SMITH.P and these would be applied in TRADE after the user has ticked the TRADE box to transfer Costs. The process is brutal, it will remove the previous costs from the Purchase before applying the selected matrix of costs. |
| 52 | What email alerts exist in ITAS? The email alert addresses are maintained in S01: -Creation of a CHARTER account -Request Budget for a CHARTER -Mark a CHARTER as complete -TRADE limits exceeded; commitment, risk, tonnage, (Counter Party, Family of CP, Country, Commodity) -Counter Party Credit/Payment Limits -new TRADE entered -ETA change on TRADE, subsequent to Sales Invoicing -FX deal creation from TRADE or TRS -F&O documentation creation -F&O new business entered, condition is CLI oriented |
| 53 | Is there any capability to monitor ‘Joint Venture’ relationships. There are limited procedures which focus on identification of current P&L per TRADE per counterparty. The process commences in TRADE when maintaining the .000 /Franchise-JV page. Maintain the CLI code (Joint Partner) and the percentage attributed to the Operating Company. Controls can be activated (S01) to ensure that a Purchase and Sale allocation is consistently coded. The TRADE/FinCalc will illustrate current P&L status as 100% and as Op Company %. The WIPACCRUE process will assignment the relevant JV accrual value to a nominated suspense account (NOM). The WIP/Liquidate process enables a preview of how the JV values will be posted before the actual close/liquidation. |
| 54 | Is there any capability to monitor Trading by Strategy There are several forms of administrating Strategy analysis, they all commence with setup of various codes in TERMCODES. TRADE / Miscellaneous page is where the Strategy code is maintained. Controls can be activated (S01) to ensure that a Purchase and Sale allocation is consistently coded. There is a mode of DAILYPL illustrating positions/movements by strategy. TRADE being assigned to a CHARTER are checked for same Strategy coding. |
| 55 | Is there a Refinery tolling procedure i.e. process raw goods and handle deliveries out There is a process that operates in the procedural world of ITAS. a) Purchase TRADE is negotiated by 3rd party or by the Refinery on behalf of 3rd party. This TRADE is marked with Invoice Type = ‘Tolling’. This is shipped and brought into Inventory using STOCKS/ITP b) Setup Sale TRADE marked with invoice type = ‘Tolling’ c) assign the Sale TRADE to a 3rd Party Inventory e.g. WHT.HED using WIP/contracts/assign. d) Invoice via SINV whereby Sale Invoice will debit AR and credit the 3rd party Inventory account [EXP = SALE] e) Deliveries are then applied in ERPIMPDEL which will create the –ve inventory tonnage in WHT.HED. Accounting will be Credit the Op. Company Inventory e.g. WHT.DOM [expense = SALE] and Debit the 3rd party Inventory e.g. WHT.HED [EXP = STOCKO] f) the RAW inventory (Operating Company) is then melted/transferred to WHT.HED, can be before deliveries or after! |
| 56 | What accreditation checks/data can be enabled for good practices, free trade, EU-BIO, FTO-ID Product ratings e.g. GMP, FTO-ID, EU-BIO can be setup in CLICODES and assigned to CLI supplier profiles. TRADE will then check that the suppliers are nominated as compliant for the commodity being traded e.g. fair trade. . This accreditation checking is always actioned in TRADE for all Purchases whereby the commodity code is checked to ascertain if any further checking of Seller is required i.e. the Rating column in PHYSCODES/Commodity has content. Another process is to maintain Certification codes in PHYSCODES/Quality and in TRADE maintain Cert Code, premium and the originating Grower (CLI code). This information is then available for DOCDES forms to utilize whereby can find the growers’ EU-BIO and FTO-ID registration data from their CLI profile. |
| 57 | How does ITAS handle Sugar ‘White Premiums’ calculations The TRADE is usually a White Sugar contract to be priced against Raws with a White premium. The TRADE needs to be setup with F&O pricing and the pricing method = ‘DEO’ (Double Executed Order). The hedge/fixation is applied as standard e.g. NY11/Jul16 with it’s number of lots to fix. The White Premium parameters are to specify the TCCM market and Prompt month for the Premium and Lots to fix. The sequence of events would be to buy/sell paper Raws and Whites to establish the premium and then trade the Raws to establish the fixation price. ITAS handles this with some extra codes in TRADE but mainly through TERM when the futures trades are being entered. TERM trades must be correctly coded (TERMCODES/Codes) else the TRADE/Price Fix determination of the price becomes confused, especially if there are real buy-backs and re-pricings and switches. E.g Purchase of 1000MT of WHT, DEO is 20 lots NY11/Jul16 and White element is L5/Aug16 for 20 lots. The paper trades to establish the White Premium (WP) are buy 20 lots NY11 and sell 20 lots L5; the fixation price is sell 20 lots NY11. The TRADE/Price Fix sub screen shows all the computed details , especially relevant prior to full pricing the DEO. As previously mentioned, the TERMCODES/Trade Codes need to be configured correctly for application in Pricing i.e. the codes to be used in establish the White Premium need the tick 'DEO premium'; buybacks in the DEO process are also handled. |
| 58 | How does ITAS handle Out-turn weight Invoicing ? Scenario is : 10,000mt, of purchases allocated to 10,000mt of sales. Action a provisional invoice. Outturn 9,900mt Need to final invoice just the 9,900mt but have the 100mt outstanding and uninvoiced, ready to be used again. Use TRADE/Traffic /Adjust Weights to reduce the 10,000 to 9,900 AND create Write-off. This results in all the Invoicing marking remaining with the 9,900 trade record If the 100mt is to be used again, then change Shipping status of 100mt to unshipped The Invoicing subsequently on 9,900 will recognise previous 10,000 and debit/credit accordingly |
| 59 | What ITAS processes exist for Trade Confirmation documentation 1. TRADE allows DocGen for templates maintained in the DOCDES folder 'Contract Advices'. There is also a TRADE/Group process using the same templates. 2. CONTMAN enables advice creation/emailing etc 3. TRADE/Docs/Business Confirmation is a process to use a nominated template and rules (S01) to populate an email, already addressed and subject line with content extracted from TRADE by use of DOCDES rules. Business Confirmation is always available BUT some ITAS infrastructure needs to be setup initially. DOCES/folder Contract Advices needs to nominate the template to be used by this process. S01/View/Email parameters needs to maintain 'Email Configuration' (see help? on grid for full explanation). The result is a pre-configured email is shown to the user for final OK and despatch. The result is secured in DOCMAN. |
| 60 | How does Beyond Basis operate in ITAS The purpose of this process is to allow a Cost that needs to be applied with a Sale Trade and will be Invoiced before the Sale is assigned to it's WIP account. The process is only enabled when the Operating ITAS entity is applying Auto-WIP creation for Purchases. The cost estimate is setup on the Purchase with code Beyond Basis ticked and optionally Inc P&L unticked. The Purchase trade is used as temporary storage for the actualized cost until the purchase is allocated whereby the actualized detail is transferred to the Sale. A de-allocation subsequently will return the actualization detail to the purchase. |
| 61 | Is there a Warrants subsystem Yes, see help Related Topics 'Warrants'. This document provides both business and technical description. |
| 62 | Is there a Container subsystem Yes, see help Related Topics 'Containers'. This document provides both business and technical description. |
| 63 | What features exist for Physicals Logistics TRADE/Traffic has several data collections of logistical information e.g. Shipment, Warehouse details. The TRADE/EXPED and PROSCHED/Routing procedures enable transport data to be maintained for planning/documentation requirements. The transport data content is controlled by S01 configuration (ctrl30_transport); there are 3 options available with the most sophisticated being the multi stage planner. |
| 64 | Is there a simple feature to produce Warehouse Releases ? 1. DOCDES, setup a directory/folder with the Release Note template(s) and assign its' Category = Release Note (RD). 2. TRADE /Forms + Group Forms will be used to create the piece-of-paper AND update the trade DELIVERY date (phys01_deliverydate) and Release Number (phys01_releasenr) on the trades. 3. The Release Number/Delivery Ref can then be used for subsequent Logistics update, if applicable/wanted. Invoicing can also use the filter of the Release Number to locate appropriate trade records. |
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