EY Helix Data Extraction Utility

User Guide

EY Helix Data Extraction Utility

User Guide

EY Helix Data Extraction Utility (the Utility) is a solution for extracting data from different ERP
systems by utilizing predefined data request packages.

The Utility is developed and supported by EY and has been certified by the EY InfoSec team (GIS
certifications team).

The Utility is a self-contained and fully portable Microsoft .Net application which does not require
installation.

This document is a user guide that explains the functionality of the tool.

Table of Contents

1. What does the Utility do? ............................................................................................... 2

2. How do I obtain the Utility? ............................................................................................ 3

3. Requirements................................................................................................................. 4
4. Database connection ...................................................................................................... 5

5. Security and encryption ................................................................................................. 6

6. What does the Utility package contain? .......................................................................... 7
7. User Interface layout ..................................................................................................... 8

8. Landing screen ............................................................................................................... 9

9. Selection screen........................................................................................................... 16
10. Extraction screen......................................................................................................... 19

1 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

1. What does the Utility do?

To meet the requirements of the evolving Digital Audit, a broad spectrum of analyzers have been
develop by EY (EY Helix) and the data required for these analyzers resides on one or various ERPs. It
is important to be able to capture the necessary data, in the right format and using a repeatable
method.

EY Helix Data Extraction Utility has been developed to help you extract the necessary data for EY
Helix in an easy and repeatable way.

2 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

2. How do I obtain the Utility?

EY personnel will provide the Utility package (.ZIP file) using a secure data transfer method. (Note: if
you have already used this tool before please check with the EY Audit team that you have the latest
version of the tool)

The Utility does not require installations as it is a self-contained .Net application.

The Utility does not record information other than the extraction parameters selected, this
information will be shown in the Word document that is generated once the extraction has been
successfully done

The image below shows, at a high level, the process that you will follow to execute the Utility once
you have received the ZIP file containing the Utility.

3 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

3. Requirements
The Utility requires certain machine prerequisites in order to run successfully and access to the ERP
data.

Requirements Details
Operating system Windows 7 and above
Memory 4 GB RAM
Free disk space is required for the files that are
Hard drive going to be saved. We recommend a minimum of 10
GB.
.NET Framework .NET framework 4.x and higher
Microsoft Office Microsoft Word is required
Username and password to connect to the server is
required. The user requires only read only access
to the database tables
Authorized user
The Utility can also connect to the ERP database
through Windows authentication

Other requirements: these parameters will be provided by EY Audit team and will drive the scope of
the extraction

Parameters Details
This relates to the nature of the data that will be
extracted, the analytics to be performed by the
Scope of the extraction audit team will drive this parameter (example: GL,
this selection will only select General Ledger data
like Journal entries, trial balance)
Audit Start Date Start effective date
Audit End date End effective date
List of entities within the scope of the analysis to be
Business Unit
extracted
Any additional parameters to be considered for the
Any additional requirement
extraction, for example a special file delimiter

4 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

4. Database connection
The Utility is able to connect to the following databases:

1. SQL server: connects using SQL Client provider

2. Oracle: connects using Oracle Managed Data Access provider

To enable the connection to the database two types of authentication are available: Windows
authentication and Database authentication.

• For Windows authentication, the user uses their own windows credential.
• For Database authentication, a valid username and password is required for the ERP.

Both types of connection require read-only access to the database. If you need more information on
which option to choose please direct your question to your database administrator or to IT personnel.

5 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

5. Security and encryption

Encryption is the process of converting plain “unhidden” text to a cryptic “hidden” text to secure it
against cyber threats.

The Utility has a combination of AES* (Symmetric) and RSA* (Asymmetric) Cryptography algorithms
for encryption of data using a public key. The encrypted data is decrypted once in the EY IT
environment.

(* - AES=Advanced Encryption Standard, RSA=Rivest, Shamir and Adleman.)

6 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

6. What does the Utility package contain?

The Utility package is shared in a ZIP file. The full content of the package must be unzipped in a folder
on the computer where the extraction is going to be performed. The content of the ZIP file is as
follows:

1. “Files” Folder: contains all the encrypted xml script files with the queries used for extraction,
Microsoft Word ‘Extraction Memo’ template and this User Guide.
2. “Logs” Folder: Contains all the log files. These files will help identify issues that occur in the
tool. (Note: Do not open these files while the Utility is executing because this can cause a
malfunction of the Utility).
3. EY_Helix_Data_Extract_UI.exe.config: Configuration file of the Utility
4. EY_Helix_Data_Extract_UI_exe: the executable to run the Utility. By double clicking this
executable, the Utility is launched.

Note: For the correct execution of the Utility it is important that the full content of the ZIP file is
unzipped and you do not execute the Executable file from the ZIP file).

Note: do not open any log file while the Utility is being executed, this may cause the malfunction of
the Utility not allowing the extraction of the data.

7 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

7. User Interface layout

The general layout of the Utility screen is detailed below:

6

2
5

1. Branding — The top ribbon in the screen with the Utility name.
2. You are here/Outputs — The highlighted tab shows the stage of extraction. Output icons will be
displayed when the extraction is finished to guide you directly to the relevant documents
(Microsoft Word extraction memo, technical log file, output folder where all the saved files will
be available).
3. Selections/Progress — This section will vary depending on the stage of execution. It could show
available selections like parameters, the tables available for extraction, the progress of the
extracted tables, etc.
4. Actions — This section contains the actions available, e.g.: going to the next screen,
confirmation button.
5. Summary — the summary displays the key selections and information of the extraction.
6. Help — selecting the Question Mark icon will display this User Guide.

8 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

8. Landing screen
When double clicking on the executable file, the landing screens appears. At this point some
information is required.

1. Displays the current system date, no entry required by you.

2. Enter Your Name: Enter the name of whoever is performing the extraction.
3. Enter Company Name: Enter the name of the company for which the extraction is being
completed.
4. Click on the Enter button to continue to the connection screen.

Note: User and company name cannot be changed after this screen, if there is a need to modify them
you will need to close and open the Utility again.

9 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

1.Connection screen: How to connect to the ERP

database?
The connection screen allows you to select the ERP system, the corresponding version and enter the
credentials for connecting to the required database. This is necessary for extracting the right data:

1. Select the ERP from the displayed list. If your ERP is not in the list please contact your EY
contact for further guidance.

10 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

2. Once the ERP is selected, the next screen with allow you to select the ERP version

11 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

3. Once the ERP selection is complete, you can enter the database and server details:
1. Server name (host name/IP)
2. Database name
3. Port

These details will be provided by your IT department.

12 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

4. You must then select the authentication method by selecting an option: database authentication
or Windows authentication.
a. If database authentication is selected as in the below image, your username and password
entry is required.
b. If it is Windows authentication, the database user login will be your Windows credentials,
which will be auto populated.

For both the options, you should have read only access to the database.

The Utility does not record the user name and password details.

5. After entering the required details, click on the “Test Connection” button to test whether the
database connection is successful or not.

13 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

6. Below are a number of pop-up messages that could appear when the connection to the database
has not been successful. If this occurs click on the “Close” button. This means that one or more
of the connection details is incorrect.

The following popup messages are displayed for the following possibilities of incorrect connection
parameters

a. Incorrect Server name

b. Incorrect Port name

c. Incorrect Database name

d. Incorrect Username or Password

14 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

7. Check the data information and re-test the connection. Once the connection is successful as in
the below screen, you can now proceed to select the scope and business parameters by clicking
on the “Next” button. If the problem persists, contact your IT department to ensure that the
information you have is correct. If the information is correct but the Utility still fails in
connecting with the database contact your EY contact.

15 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

9. Selection screen
The selection screen will allow you to select the different parameters or filters to be applied. These
parameters will be provided by the audit team based on the scope of their analysis.

2
3
1

1. Select the extraction scope from the dropdown.

2. Specify the date range for the data extraction by including the start and end date.
3. If the extraction is an incremental extraction, check the incremental extract box and select the
“last extract date.” If the “incremental extract?” box is not selected, “last extract date” icon
will not be visible.

4. Click the “Select” button to proceed to business parameter selection screen.

16 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

5. Business parameter selection screen allows you to select the entire ledger and organizations
listed using the “Select All” functionality or select individual ledgers/organizations. The
selected ledgers and organizations will be listed in the preview pane on the right side of the
screen. You have a choice to select both the ledger names and organization names or one of
these two.

Note: Depending on your ERP we will be referring to ledger or entity or business unit.

6. Once the selection is completed, click on “Finalize selection” button to proceed to extraction
parameter input. The main screen now displays the number of ledgers and organizations
selected.

7. Extraction parameter will allow you to:

a. Enter output file path. This is where you will be saving the extracted files to. You can either
browse for the output path or can paste the path here.
b. Select output delimiter. Choose the delimiter required for the output files. A list of standard
delimiters is already provided. In case a custom delimiter is required click the “customize”
link to enter the custom delimiter (up to three characters can be utilized, for example #EY).

17 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

c. Use slider to set the maximum rows per extracted file. This option can be used to restrict
the number of rows to be extracted in one file. If you have a time out message when
extracting the files we recommend you decrease the number, if the problem persists contact
your IT personnel for guidance.
d. Select the file encoding from the drop down list. Three type of encoding are available in the
dropdown. Choose from UTF-8, ANSI or Unicode. Our EY preferred encoding method is
UTF-8.

A B

C
D

8. Once all the parameters are entered/selected click on the “Finalize parameters” button to
proceed to extraction screen.

18 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

10. Extraction screen

Based on inputs to the Selection Screen, certain files will be listed on the extraction screen. You can
either select all files or some. When executing the extraction there are two options, do a sample
extraction or full extraction.

1. To select entire file list, click the “Select all” link or select the files individually by clicking on the
tick mark at the left side of the file name.
a. By clicking on the “View scripts” link you will be able to see the SQL queries used to extract
each table in the list. This information is populated from the XML encrypted files stored in
the files folder of the unzipped file. These files can only be modified by EY personnel.

19 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

2. When you are executing the Utility for the first time or the scope of the extraction has been
changed, it is strongly recommended that you do a sample extraction. This will test that the
extraction output is as expected. The following steps are needed to generate a sample extract:
a. Select the files you want for sample extraction.
b. Click on “Sample Extract” button.
c. Sample extract pop-up window is shown with the option to select 10 or 20 rows as the
sample. Select the required row count.
d. Data extracted using the “sample extraction” feature will not be encrypted. A warning
message will appear saying that you are responsible for securing this unencrypted data.
Select this disclaimer to proceed with the sample extraction.
e. Click on “Proceed” button to generate sample extract.
f. Use “Cancel” button to quit sample extraction process and go back to the extraction screen.
g. Click “Edit Parameters” button to modify any parameters selection in the previous screen
if you want to modify the parameters before or after executing the extraction again.

F E

G B

3. For each file, progress is shown along with the number of rows and estimated time.

a. Click on “Cancel Extract” to abort the extraction process

b. Click “Pause” button to halt the extraction process and “Resume” button to continue the
extraction process

20 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

Once extraction is complete, a pop-up appears with the extraction summary. The pop-up
shows the number of complete and incomplete files. Completed files refers to the files
that were successfully extracted.

c. Click “OK” to go back to the extraction screen

If any files are shown incomplete, please refer to the technical log to understand the
issue.

A B

21 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

4. Use the icons in the screen to navigate to tech log and output folder.

a. Click on the “Tech Log”’ icon to get the technical log of extraction. This log captures the
extraction process from start to finish. Any issues during extraction will be tracked in this
log.
b. Click on the “Output” icon to see the extracted files. When clicking you will be automatically
redirected to the output folder. The output folder refers to the folder in the output location
which has been added in the connection screen.

A B

22 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

5. Open the corresponding file to view the sample extract content.

23 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

Full Extraction

6. To complete a full extract, you will follow the same steps as for a sample extraction steps (1 to
5 above) but this time click the button “Extract” button (rather than the “Sample Extract”
button) after selecting the required files from the file list.
7. Use “Select all” option to select the all files or select files individually by clicking on the
corresponding select boxes.

8
10

8. Once the “extract” button is clicked a pop-up screen with approximate file sizes and time will
appear. Click on “Proceed” to initiate the extraction process.

9. Click the “Cancel” button to quit extraction process and go back to extraction screen.

10. The option for processing multiple files at once (multiple threads) will be automatically checked
to save processing time. This option will download up to four files in parallel. If you expect to
have very large files please unselect this option, then files will be downloaded one by one.

24 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

12 13 11
0

14

11. Once extraction is complete a pop-up appears with the extraction summary. The pop-up shows
the number of complete and incomplete files. Completed files refers to the files that were
successful in extraction. Click “OK” to go back to extraction screen. If any files are shown
incomplete, please refer to the technical log to understand the issue.

12. Click on the “tech log” icon to get the technical log of extraction. This log captures the
extraction process from start to finish. Any issues during extraction will be tracked in this log.

13. Click on the “output” icon to see the extracted files. When clicking you will be automatically
redirected to the output folder. The output folder refers to the folder in the output location
which has been added in the connection screen. It is advisable to open the files and validate the
number of rows against the number of rows shown in the Extract screen.

14. The “Memo” icon (not available when doing a sample extract) leads you to the extraction memo
document which contains details about the extraction process performed including the
extractor name, extraction parameters, etc. This document should be provided to your EY
contact along with the extracted files.

25 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

Sample Memo

Sample Memo.docx

26 User Guide
 EY Helix Data Extraction Utility
User Guide

EY | Assurance | Tax | Transactions | Advisory

About EY

EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and
quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in
economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises
to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for
our people, for our clients and for our communities.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst
& Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a
UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information
about our organization, please visit ey.com.

© 2018 EYGM Limited. All Rights Reserved.

EYG no. 000376-19Gbl

ED None

This material has been prepared for general informational purposes only and is not intended to
be relied upon as accounting, tax, or other professional advice. Please refer to your advisors for
specific advice.

ey.com

27 User Guide