Volume 2 — Governance and ControlsGovernance and Controls © Copyright 2002, All rights reserved 37 Key Reports • Rating agency reports. • P&L reports. • MTM reports. • A/R aging reports. • Credit limit compliance reports. • Credit VaR reports. 1.4 Settlements and Accounting Close 1.4.1 Actualization Process Overview Actualization is the process of truing up any volumetric or pricing estimates to the actual amount before invoicing the customer. Invoice items are also confirmed with the counterparty as part of a monthly invoice checkout process. Any discrepancies should be brought to the attention of the appropriate front-office personnel for timely resolution. This process should be performed independently of deal execution and logistics. Objectives • Ensure that the physical estimated volumes, as recorded in the system, are adjusted for the actual volumes provided by third-party statements. • Load settlement prices into the system. • Resolve any discrepancies between the counterparties regarding actual volumes and prices to be invoiced. • Record resolutions. • Track causes of variances by counterparty, location, and transport contract. • Communicate variances, resolutions, and trends to appropriate personnel for active management. Best Practices and Controls • The back office should reconcile scheduled volumes with actual volumes flowed via third-party statements and should update the system as necessary. • The system should have the ability to retain the scheduled and actual volumes as a trail. • Price feeds should be linked to the system to update index prices when published. • To confirm that the current month’s activity is accurately captured on the invoice, the counterparty should be contacted as part of the monthly invoice checkout process.