The October 2026 update for Oracle EPM Cloud introduces several enhancements designed to strengthen security, simplify administration and improve the use of reporting and generative artificial intelligence tools. The new features notably cover integrations with Oracle Fusion Applications, EPM Automate, task management and Narrative Reporting.
Security at the heart of the enhancements
Among the announced changes, Oracle is introducing the ability to configure EPM Cloud access to the Oracle Fusion Applications REST APIs using OAuth 2.0. This enhancement aims to provide a more secure authentication mechanism for integrations between the two environments.
Credential protection is also evolving at the EPM Agent level. New direct credentials now use AES-GCM, including for cloud passwords, database credentials and OAuth 2.0 tokens. However, legacy credentials will remain readable during a transition period to give administrators time to migrate them.
Oracle is also strengthening EPM Automate security. Starting with version 26.09, the format of encrypted password files .epw is changing. Companies will need to have migrated to EPM Automate 26.09 or a later version before the 26.12 update to avoid potential authentication issues.
A progressively improved user experience
The update also brings changes to the Oracle EPM Cloud interface. In particular, the home page is being updated with a new organization for announcements and improved adaptation to different screen sizes, resolutions and zoom levels.
The task scheduler is also getting a new tab-based interface. It will also become possible to define date ranges for scheduled tasks, providing greater flexibility in managing processes.
On the data loading side, Quick Mode Data Load now supports mappings related to sign changes. This enhancement can facilitate the management of data from systems that use different accounting or financial conventions.
Reporting gains analytical capabilities
The announced enhancements particularly concern reporting. The Reporting Agent can now use causal analysis to identify the main contributors to a variation, whether they are the items that contributed most positively or negatively to a result.
Narrative Reporting is also receiving a significant enhancement with the ability to include up to ten artifacts in a single bursting definition. It will therefore be possible to distribute multiple reports or books in a single operation, which can simplify certain financial information distribution processes.
Enhancements for generative AI
Generative artificial intelligence continues to be integrated into reporting features. AI-generated narrative summaries can now be configured to display line breaks between the results corresponding to the different members defined in the analysis criteria.
This enhancement mainly concerns the readability of generated content. Instead of presenting all results as a single block of text, users can obtain a more structured presentation.
Oracle also reminds users that an upgrade to Cloud EPM 26.08 or a later version will be required to continue using GenAI features from the end of January 2027. This change concerns several modules, including Planning, Financial Consolidation and Close, Narrative Reporting, Account Reconciliation and Enterprise Profitability and Cost Management.
An update that continues to modernize EPM Cloud
With this October 2026 release, Oracle is continuing several initiatives in parallel: securing connections, modernizing administration, improving reporting and expanding the use of generative AI.
The updates will be deployed to test environments starting October 2, 2026, and then to production environments starting October 16. For companies using Oracle EPM Cloud, however, certain enhancements, particularly those related to EPM Automate and GenAI, require the upcoming technical deadlines to be anticipated.
source: Paul Lewis, Expert Consultant Orace EPM
