POL00021847
POL00021847
Receipts/Payments Mismatch issue notes
FUJITSU
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Attendees
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Antonio Jamasb (AJ) Service Delivery
Emma Langfield (EL) Service Delivery
Alan Simpson (AS) Security
Jutia Marwood (JM) Network I
fan Trundell (IT) IT I
Andrew Winn (AW) POL Finance
Mike Stewart (MS) Fujitsu SOM
John Simpkins (JS)
Fujitsu Sécurity
Gareth Jenkins (GJ)
Fujitsu Technical Specialist
Mark Wright (MW)
Fujitsu Technical Specialist
What is the issue?
Discrepancies showing at the Horizon counter disappear when the branch follows certain process steps, but will still show within the back end branch
account. This is currently impacting circa 40 Branches since migration onto Horizon Online, with an overall cash value of circa £20k loss. This issue will
only occur if a branch cancels the completion of the trading period, but within the same session continues to roll into a new balance period.
At this time we have not communicated with branches affected and we do not believe they are exploiting this bug intentionally
The. problem occurs as part of the process when moving discrepancies on the Horizon System into
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When Discrepancies are found during Stock Unit rollover into a new Transaction Period, then the
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‘Local Suspense.
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User is asked if the discrepancy should be moved to
Local Suspense. If the branch presses cancel at this point the Discrepancy is zeroed on the Horizon System.
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POL00021847
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Receipts/Payments Mismatch issue notes
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Note at this point nothing into feeds POLSAP and Credence, so in affect the POLSAP and Credence shows the discrepancy whereas the Horizon
system in the branch doesn’t. So the branch will then believe they have balanced. I
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If at the next screen the rollover is completely cancelled, then no harm is done. However if the Rollover i is re-attempted at this point, the rollover will
continue without any discrepancy meaning Horizon doesn’t Match POLSAP or Credence I
This has the following consequences: {
= There will be a Receipts and Payment mismatch corresponding to the value of Discrepancies that were “lost”
Note the Branch will not get a prompt from the system to say there is Receipts and Payment mismatch, therefore the branch will believe they have
balanced correctly..
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= When the Branch begins the new Branch Trading period the discrepancies will show at Zero, however the Receipts and Payment mismatch will carry
over into the next period. I
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Impact
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The branch has appeared to have balanced, whereas in fact they could have a loss or a gain.
e Our accounting systems will be out of sync with what is recorded at the branch
If widely known could cause a loss of confidence i in the Horizon System by branches
Potential impact upon ongoing legal cases where branches are disputing the integrity of Horizon Data.
{t could provide branches ammunition to blameI Horizon for future discrepancies I
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Identifying the issue and forward resolution
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" Receipts/Payments Mismatch issue notes
FUJITSU
The Receipts and Payment mismatch will result i in an error code being generated which will al tow Fujitsu to isolate branches affected this by this
problem, although this is not seen by the branches. We have asked Fujitsu why it has taken so long to react to and escalate an issue which began in
May. They will provide feedback in due course.
Fujitsu are writing a code fix which stop the discrepancy disappearing from Horizon in the future. They are aiming to deliver this into test week
commencing 4‘" October. With live proving at the model office week commencing 11" October. With full roll out to the network completed by the 21° of
October. We have explored moving this forward and this is the earliest it can be released into live.
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The code fix will on stop the issue occurring in the future, but it will not fix any current mismatch! at branch.
Proposal for affected Branches I
There are three potential solutions to apply to the impacted branches, the groups recommendation is that solution two should be progressed.
SOLUTION ONE - Alter the Horizon Branch figure at the counter to show the discrepancy. Fujitsu would have to manually write an entry value to the
local branch account. I I
IMPACT - When the branch comes to complete next Trading Period they would have a discrepancy, which they would have to bring to account.
RISK- This has significant data integrity concerns and could lead to questions of “tampering” with the branch system and could generate questions
around how the discrepancy was caused. This solution could have moral implications of Post Office, changing branch data without informing the branch.
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SOLUTION TWO - P&BA will journal values from the discrepancy account into the Customer Account and recover/refund via normal processes. This will
need to be supported by an approved POL communication. Unlike the branch “POLSAP” remains in balance albeit with an account (discrepancies) that
should be cleared. I I
IMPACT - Post Office will be required to explain the reason for a debt recovery/ refund even though there is no discrepancy at the branch.
RISK - Could potentially highlight to branches that Horizon can lose data. I
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SOLUTION THREE - It is decided not to correct the data in the branches (ie Post Office would prefer to write off the “lost”
IMPACT - Post office must absorb circa £20K loss I
RISK ~ Huge moral implications to the integrity of the business, as there are agents that were potentially due a cash gain on their system
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I COMMEDCIAL IM-CONEINENCE
POL00021847
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Receipts/Payments Mismatch issue notes
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FUJITSU
Audit accounts
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Audit of Credence and POLSAP to check both systems match, I
gh October
investigation
[isolate branch issues I Provide list of Horizon Desk calls made by affected branches to see if any other issue 8" October MS
impacting branches I
Forward Fix plan Provide timeline for permanent for fix introduction to branches I 6" October MS’
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Branch Performance I Confirm with Shaun Turner any future audits for Branches and any performance i issues 8" October JM
review flagged I I
Branch Investigation I Confirm any existing of future investigations for impacted branches I 8" October AS
review
NBSC Script Confirm NBSC scripts for receipts and payments 6" October TJ
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HSD Script Confirm Horizon System Desk script for receipts and payments I 6" October MS
Branch weekly report I Fujitsu to provide a weekly report updating the affected Branches until migration of fixis I 8" October GJ
completely rolled out I I
Further Branch Provide Fujitsu a list of branches to carry out further investigations I 6" October EL
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~ Receipts/Payments Mismatch issue notes
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Fujitsu Fujitsu to supply output of further investigations i 8" October
investigations
Communications Engage Post Office Communication teams to understand what should be shared with 6" October TJ
Branches i
Stakeholder Produce report for Post Office Stakeholders I 6" October TJ
Report H .
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I COMMEDCIAL AM-COMEINENCE