Financial consolidation for IBM Planning Analytics (TM1)
Every consolidation entry posts as a system journal you can trace to its balances.
CorClose runs your group consolidation inside your existing or new TM1 database. Companies submit and lock their numbers through a guided workflow, and the group sees what is outstanding before it runs.
System journals
Eliminations, currency translation, NCI and equity accounting post as journals you can trace to their balances.
Submission workflow
Companies clear intercompany differences, then submit and lock. Only the consolidator can unlock.
A maintained product
Built and supported by Cortell. Model Updates add new versions to a live model without a rebuild.
- Submissions - 7 of 9 submittedCompany submissions
- Journals to submit - All submitted
- Translation rates - Rates present for every company currency
- Intercompany differences - 2 out of balanceRecon report
- Intercompany eliminationsDone · 6 Oct 14:15
- Minority interestDone · 6 Oct 14:16
- Investment eliminationsDone · 6 Oct 14:17
- Currency translationDone · 6 Oct 14:12
- Full consolidationDone · 6 Oct 14:17
| 2026-09 | 2026-08 | |
|---|---|---|
| Intercompany | 3,612,300 18 jnl | 3,409,120 17 jnl |
| Minority interest | 301,880 3 jnl | 289,211 3 jnl |
| Investment | 2,700,000 2 jnl | 2,700,000 2 jnl |
- Consolidation checks1 of 14 failing· 6 Oct 14:18
- Retained earnings brought forward
- Consolidation proofs6 passed · 6 Oct 14:18
20+ years helping large organisations with planning, reporting and consolidation, including on IBM Planning Analytics (TM1).
Cortell's Planning Analytics experience at cortell.co.za →- IBM Business Partner, Partner Plus Silver
- IBM certified: Planning Analytics
- Chartered Accountant-led delivery
Already on Planning Analytics, or not
Add consolidation to the model you have
CorClose maps to your dimension names and adds the consolidation cubes and rules beside what is already there.
- No rebuild and no data migration
- Your planning models keep working as they are
- No second system to reconcile against TM1
Planning and consolidation in one database
Cortell builds your planning model; CorClose consolidates on the same cubes. Two products, licensed separately, one set of numbers.
- Budget versus actual comes from one database, with nothing to reconcile between systems
- Budget versions consolidate with the same eliminations and translation as actuals
- One Cortell team implements both
Each subsidiary's month-end, on one dashboard
Each company imports its trial balance, clears its intercompany differences and submits. Submit stays locked until the checks above it are clear.
Three differences from the usual options
| Separate platform | Built in TM1 yourself | Spreadsheets | CorClose | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audit trail for eliminations | Journals in a second system, reconciled back to TM1 | Calculated in rules, with no journal behind them | Prepared by hand, no trail in the system | Every entry posts as a system journal traced to its balances |
| Collecting company results | Loaded into both the plan and the consolidation system | TI processes load the numbers; review and sign-off happen by email and spreadsheet | Email and spreadsheets | Companies clear intercompany differences, then submit and lock |
| Keeping the logic up to date | A second data model to keep in line with the plan | Depends on the developer who wrote the rules and processes | Depends on the few people who know the workbook | A versioned product; Model Updates upgrade a live model |
The detail, when you need it
What the consolidation calculates
- Intercompany eliminations. Matched by partner and posted at the lowest common parent of the two companies.
- Currency translation. Closing and average rates by account method; historic accounts held at their locked values.
- Minority interest and equity accounting. NCI from ownership per company and period, including sub-groups. Associates and joint ventures in the same run.
- Investment eliminations. Cost of investment against the subsidiary's equity.
- Company and group journals. Draft, submit, post and reverse, with an optional approval step per journal type.
- Checks and proofs. Checks flag missing rates and blank attributes before a run. Proofs recalculate the consolidated figures from TM1 for any period and show which line does not balance.
Tracing a number, and the optional AI assistant
- Journal drill-down. Click any consolidated value to see every journal behind it. Standard in CorClose.
- Optional AI assistant. Explains how a figure was calculated from the records CorClose keeps for each run. Read-only: it cannot write to TM1, post journals or run a consolidation.
- Your choice of model. Claude, Gemini or a model you host yourself. Everything else works without it.
Setup on an existing or new TM1 model
- Existing model. CorClose validates your dimension mapping and adds only what consolidation needs. Your names stay.
- New model. It builds the dimensions and cubes for you.
- Automated setup. Rules, attributes, periods and currency rate measures are created automatically, around 80% of the setup work.
- Your part. Master data. Provisioning creates the attributes; your team fills them in, and the checks list any still blank.
- Upgrades. Model Updates push new rules, subsets and attributes to a model that already holds data. No re-provisioning mid-year.
Deployment, security and audit
- Deployment. On-premise, as Docker containers on your own server. Users work in the browser.
- TM1 connection. Your Planning Analytics instance, over the TM1 REST API with SSL.
- Sign-in. Local accounts, or single sign-on through your identity provider (OIDC).
- Audit trail. An activity log of sign-ins and changes, submission locks per company and period, and optional journal approvals where an author cannot approve their own journal.
- Your data. Financial data stays in your TM1 and your network.
- Licence check. An outbound HTTPS check-in that sends user counts, plus usage and error counts only if you opt in. No financial data.
Moving from another consolidation system or Excel
We load your entity and account structures and your historical results into Planning Analytics, consolidate them in CorClose, and reconcile the output against the figures you previously reported. You move across once the two agree.
Who implements and supports it
Cortell installs CorClose, connects it to your model and supports your finance team through the first month-end closes. The same team, which includes Chartered Accountants who build in Planning Analytics, supports you after go-live.
Questions finance and IT teams ask us
Is CorClose part of IBM Planning Analytics?
No. CorClose is a separate application built by Cortell. It runs on IBM Planning Analytics and keeps its consolidation data in your TM1 database. The two are licensed separately, and Cortell can supply both.
How is this different from other consolidation add-ons for Planning Analytics?
Most ship a predefined model and ask you to move your data into it. CorClose maps to the model you have, then runs the full consolidation on it, from each subsidiary's trial balance to the consolidated result.
What does setup not do for us?
Your accounting decisions. Account codes for the translation reserve, retained earnings and NCI, ownership percentages and exchange rates are yours to supply. CorClose never guesses an account code, and its checks list whatever is still missing.
We are reworking our reporting for IFRS 18. Is this the right time?
IFRS 18 applies to annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, and most listed groups are re-cutting their reporting layer now. If the consolidation process is being opened up anyway, it is a sensible moment to fix how it runs. Talk to us about both together.
How long does implementation take?
Setup is fast. The automated setup handles around 80% of the work: connecting to TM1, mapping your model and building the consolidation structures. The rest differs from client to client, depending on your requirements. Most of that time goes into master data, attributes and a parallel close, so it depends on the size of the group and the state of the data.
What if IBM changes Planning Analytics?
CorClose writes ordinary TM1 cubes, rules and attributes, and talks to TM1 through its REST API. Your consolidation stays readable in TM1 with or without CorClose, and Cortell tracks IBM releases as an IBM Business Partner.
Does the AI assistant change any numbers?
No. It is read-only and optional. It explains figures from the calculation records CorClose keeps, explains failed checks, and answers questions from the user guides. It cannot write to TM1, post journals or run a consolidation. You choose the provider: Claude, Gemini, or a model you host yourself if no data may leave your network.
See CorClose on a working model
Thirty minutes with a consultant who has run a Planning Analytics close. We reply within one business day to find a time.
Book a 30-minute demo
Thirty minutes with a consultant who has run a Planning Analytics close, on video or by phone. We reply within one business day to find a time.
- We ask how your close runs today and where it stalls
- We show the company and group dashboards on a working model
- If it is not a fit, we will say so
Thank you. We have your request.
Someone from the CorClose team will reply within one business day to arrange a time.
