ArticleOracle EPMMonthly UpdatePublished September 18, 2026Updated September 22, 2026

Oracle EPM 26.09. What Matters in the September Update

This one is later than I wanted. Test environments have had 26.09 since September 4, and production got it on September 18. I still wanted to publish my version, because two items in this update need an admin before the year end close, and one of them looks small right up to the day it stops your scheduled jobs.

Same format as every month: what changed, why it matters, what to do. Short sentences, no filler. If you have two minutes, read the list below and the calendar at the bottom. The rest can wait for a quiet afternoon.

In 30 seconds
  1. 26.09 is in production, so the EPM Automate work is due now. Oracle lists two steps: upgrade the client to 26.09, then run encrypt again. Old password files stop working in 26.12.
  2. The predefined dashboards in the Planning modules, Sales Planning and Strategic Workforce Planning switched to Dashboard 2.0 on their own. Open them in test before your users do.
  3. A one off patch or a skipped update now comes with a six month clock. If you are on one, plan the way back.
  4. A slash in a folder name stops the daily backup for everything inside that folder. Rename those folders today.
  5. The one to try: the Consolidation Assistant in Financial Consolidation and Close. A chat that diagnoses a slow or failing consolidation. Enable Generative AI first.
Oracle EPM 26.09 September 2026 update. Feature summary and deadline calendar
10:37

The video version of this review, 10 minutes. The page has everything in it, plus the checklist. Watch on YouTube.

Coming up
26.10Original PCM agent removed; Account Reconciliation renames
26.11accountName.userName login stops working
26.12Old EPM Automate password files and old clients stop
Full deadline calendar belowAll monthly update reviews
What is inside. Click any item to jump to it.

Act now 4

EPM Automate: new password file format. Upgrade the client, run encrypt again26.09Predefined module dashboards became Dashboard 2.0 without asking26.09Six months. That is the new limit for one off patches and skipped updates26.09Two silent breakers: a slash in a folder name, hidden spaces in member names26.09

Worth a look 10

Consolidation Assistant: a chat that diagnoses a slow or failing consolidation26.09Consolidation Approvals Assistant, built in AI Agent Studio26.09Generative AI in Data Discovery: trace files you can read26.09Consolidation settings for concurrent jobs and queues26.09EPCM: parallel calculation for three allocation rule types, cleaner batch clears, trace in the agent26.09runApplicationDiagnostics: the health check from the command line26.09Data Integration: SQL mappings now work in Quick Mode26.09Tax Journal Assistant: consolidation journals from tax data26.09Role and group audit reports: 14 days for some data, 120 for the rest26.09A new Implementation Success Program for conversational interfaces26.09

Good to know 12

Set a Dashboard 2.0 as your landing page26.09Attach several files at once26.09First name is optional for users26.09Calculation Manager: filter by Graphical, Calc Script or Groovy26.09simulateConcurrentUsage writes output and error files26.09REST APIs regrouped by business process; Get Insights accepts both label and enum26.09Operations Guide: how to avoid block contention in business rules26.09Narrative Reporting audit logs include Books26.09FreeForm: one place to create an application, and the success program covers it26.09Advanced Predictions: fitted values for dynamic calc members26.09Administering AI chapters in every guide, AI chapters in the Center of Excellence guide, and AI in the OC2 and OC3 realms26.09Enterprise Data Management: fifteen changes26.09

Act now

4 items

Action required. These changes can break something, or already did.

EPM Automate: new password file format. Upgrade the client, run encrypt again

EPM Automate26.09AdminDev
What changed
26.09 changes the encrypted password file (.epw) format. Environments on 26.09, 26.10 and 26.11 read both the old and the new format. From 26.12 only the new format works, and EPM Automate clients older than 26.09 stop working with it. One exception: the EPM Integration Agent keeps using files made with EPM Automate 26.08 or earlier until the agent itself is updated in 26.10.
Why it matters
Almost every scheduled job signs in with one of these files: data loads, backups, cube refreshes, exports. If the file is still in the old format in December, the job stops, and December is close season.
What to do
Upgrade the EPM Automate client to 26.09 on every machine that runs scripts, then run encrypt again to regenerate each password file. Leave the Integration Agent on its current file until 26.10.
My take
I would do this now, not in November. It is one client upgrade per machine, then encrypt again for each password file that machine uses. Test and production are on 26.09 now, so the new files work right away. Ten minutes per machine, and it is the kind of task that only hurts when it is forgotten.

Predefined module dashboards became Dashboard 2.0 without asking

Dashboards26.09AdminUser
What changed
The predefined dashboards in the Planning modules (Financials, Workforce, Capital, Projects), in Sales Planning and in Strategic Workforce Planning are upgraded to Dashboard 2.0 automatically, at 26.09 or when a module is enabled. Oracle reviewed them and added newer chart types. Custom dashboards are not touched, including custom dashboards inside module cubes. Tax Reporting gets the same treatment.
Why it matters
Users will open a dashboard they know and see a different layout. Training material with screenshots of the old ones is out of date.
What to do
Open each predefined dashboard in test, check the numbers and the layout, and refresh the screenshots in your user guides. Tell budget owners before they find it themselves.
My take
The new versions are better. The surprise is the problem, not the dashboards. Five minutes of warning saves an hour of tickets.

Six months. That is the new limit for one off patches and skipped updates

Administration26.09Admin
What changed
An environment can stay on a one off patch for six months at most. If the fix arrives in a monthly update, Oracle moves the environment onto it; if not, onto a new one off patch built on the latest code line. For manual skips, the skipUpdate command still lets you skip up to three consecutive monthly updates yourself; after that you can ask Oracle to skip for at most three more months, then the environment merges back into the main line on its own.
Why it matters
Some teams park an environment on a patch and forget it. From now on the meter runs out, and the merge happens whether the team is ready or not.
What to do
If any environment is on a one off patch or has skipped updates, write down the date it went there and plan the regression test for the return now.

Two silent breakers: a slash in a folder name, hidden spaces in member names

Administration26.09AdminDev
What changed
Two items from Oracle's actions and considerations list. First, a folder whose name contains a slash cannot be backed up, so every artifact inside it is missing from the daily backup. Second, the system now trims invisible trailing Unicode whitespace from member and alias names during metadata validation and imports, and a snapshot import fails when a member or alias name is an Essbase reserved word, such as COUNT, or is no longer unique among its siblings after the trim.
Why it matters
The first one is easy to miss: nobody reviews folder names, and the artifacts inside are missing from the backup until someone does. The second one shows up on your next test to production migration, which is the worst moment to learn that a member name had a hidden space.
What to do
Search your library folders for a slash and rename them. Before the next migration, check member and alias names for trailing spaces, reserved words and near duplicates, and fix the metadata at the source.
My take
The hidden spaces usually come from copy and paste out of Excel. It is a two minute check that saves a failed migration.

Worth a look

10 items

Review for your environment. Useful if you run the module.

Consolidation Assistant: a chat that diagnoses a slow or failing consolidation

FCC26.09Admin
What changed
A generative AI assistant for Service Administrators in Financial Consolidation and Close. You describe the problem in a guided chat; it analyzes metric anomalies, gives a diagnosis summary and recommends a resolution. Needs Generative AI enabled under Application Settings.
Why it matters
Diagnosing a slow consolidation today means Activity Reports, job logs and settings in different places. This puts the first pass in one window.
What to do
Enable Generative AI in test and ask it about the consolidation you already know is slow. See if it finds what you know.
My take
This is the one I would try first. An assistant that reads the diagnostics for you is the most useful kind of AI in the close, because it does not touch a number.

Consolidation Approvals Assistant, built in AI Agent Studio

AI26.09AdminUser
What changed
An agent that retrieves approval unit status and performs approval actions through a chat. Delivered as a ZIP with three JSON files to import and publish; two helper agents come along in draft mode. Service Administrators need access to Fusion AI Agent Studio.
Why it matters
Approvals are click heavy in the last two days of the close. A chat that answers what is still open and moves units along shortens them.
What to do
If you have AI Agent Studio, import the three files in test and let one reviewer use it for a cycle.

Generative AI in Data Discovery: trace files you can read

FCC26.09User
What changed
In Data Discovery, Generative AI can now summarize and format Notes and trace files into one HTML dashboard attached to the cell: single run traces as a table, multi run traces as an expandable list, notes as a list. Same switch: Generative AI under Application Settings.
Why it matters
Reading a raw trace file is slow. A formatted view of the calculation path is what a reviewer needs when a number looks wrong.
What to do
Turn it on in test and open a trace on a cell you have questioned before.

Consolidation settings for concurrent jobs and queues

FCC26.09Admin
What changed
Three new settings: maximum concurrent consolidations and translations, maximum queued jobs, and a per user or per group limit. All default to -1, no limit. Set a positive number to turn one on. Jobs above the queue limit fail with a clear message.
Why it matters
Ten people launching consolidations at 5 PM on close day slow everyone down. A queue keeps the system responsive and the order fair.
What to do
Set the overall limit and the per user limit in test, watch one close cycle, then change production.

EPCM: parallel calculation for three allocation rule types, cleaner batch clears, trace in the agent

PCM26.09AdminDev
What changed
Rules that use Same as Source, Different Dimension, Allocate to Parent, or Allocate to Sibling now calculate in parallel instead of one after another. Multi period Clear POV and Clear Calculated Data requests are consolidated into the batch job, with the clear steps reported inside it, and the batch is included in migrations. The enhanced PCM agent now supports trace commands. The original agent is removed in 26.10.
Why it matters
Models with many rules of those three types get a shorter calculation with no redesign. Batch history becomes readable: one parent job, its clears and its reruns in one place.
What to do
Time a full calculation in test before and after 26.09 and keep the numbers. Move anyone still on the original agent to the enhanced one before 26.10.
My take
Allocate to Parent and Allocate to Sibling are common in shared services models. If your calculation window is tight at month end, this is time back for free.

runApplicationDiagnostics: the health check from the command line

EPM Automate26.09Admin
What changed
A new EPM Automate command runs the Execute Application Diagnostic job and produces the Application Diagnostics report: how the application follows Oracle's best practices for metadata, forms, rules and other components. Download the report from the environment when it is done. No setup.
Why it matters
Until now the diagnostics report was a click in the user interface. As a command it can run on a schedule and be compared month over month.
What to do
Add it to your monthly maintenance script and keep the reports. Anyone reviewing a struggling application, including in a rescue assessment, starts with this report.

Data Integration: SQL mappings now work in Quick Mode

Integrations26.09AdminDev
What changed
Quick Mode integrations can use #SQL mappings and SQL target expressions: CASE logic, character functions, conditions on several source columns. A source dimension is referenced as $ACCOUNT$, $ENTITY$ or $UD1$.
Why it matters
The most common reason an integration stayed in Standard mode was a complex mapping. That barrier is gone, and Quick Mode is the faster path.
What to do
List the integrations that stayed in Standard mode because of a SQL mapping and move one in test.

Tax Journal Assistant: consolidation journals from tax data

AI26.09User
What changed
An agent in Tax Reporting that builds consolidation journals from TAR Journal Posting data. You give it scenario, year, period, entities and jurisdictions in plain English; it extracts the data by your mapping, asks for approval and creates the journals in Financial Consolidation and Close. Every step is audited in Tax Reporting. Enable Generative AI, then Journals Assistant under Configuration.
Why it matters
The tax to consolidation hand off is manual in most shops. This removes the retyping and keeps the audit trail.
What to do
Tax teams on Tax Reporting: enable it in test for one entity and compare its journal with the one you post by hand.

Role and group audit reports: 14 days for some data, 120 for the rest

Security26.09Admin
What changed
roleAssignmentAuditReport and groupAssignmentAuditReport, and their REST APIs, now follow Oracle Cloud Identity Service retention: application role changes and IDCS group changes are available for 14 days, granular role changes and EPM group changes for 120 days.
Why it matters
If your auditors ask who was given a role in March, a report you run in June will not have it.
What to do
Schedule both reports every 14 days and archive the files outside the environment.

A new Implementation Success Program for conversational interfaces

AI26.09AdminDev
What changed
Oracle's Cloud EPM development team now runs an Implementation Success Program for conversational interfaces on Planning and FreeForm: prompt design, conversation design, and the REST API gaps that block the experience you want. Open to new customers and to existing ones using ChatGPT, Codex, Claude or their own agents. Enrollment is in the Operations Guide. The program now covers FreeForm implementations too.
Why it matters
If your team connects an AI agent to Planning, this is a direct line to the people who own the REST APIs. That is rare.
What to do
If you have an agent or an MCP server talking to Planning or FreeForm, enroll before you design the next set of prompts.
My take
Oracle naming Claude and ChatGPT in a program document is the signal. Conversational access to EPM is now expected, not a side project.

Good to know

12 items

No action needed. Read once so nothing surprises you or your users.

Set a Dashboard 2.0 as your landing page

Dashboards26.09User

From the Dashboards card, Actions, then Set Default. The dashboard opens at sign in. Dashboard 1.0 cannot be set as default. Clear Default removes it. Tell power users. Nothing for admins to do.

Attach several files at once

Administration26.09User

Task Manager, Supplemental Data Manager, Enterprise Journals and Alerts accept several files in one attachment action, with drag and drop where the workflow supports it. Reconciliation Compliance in Account Reconciliation gets the same. Nothing to do.

First name is optional for users

Security26.09Admin

Users can be created and updated without a first name, in the identity console, the IDCS API, the addUsers command and the REST API. Nothing to do, unless your user scripts validate the first name.

Calculation Manager: filter by Graphical, Calc Script or Groovy

Groovy26.09Dev

A new Rule or Template Type filter with three values. Handy when the rule list has three hundred entries.Nothing to do.

simulateConcurrentUsage writes output and error files

EPM Automate26.09AdminDev

Two optional parameters, outputFile and errorFile, save every passed and failed entry and the simulation errors as CSV. If you use the command for load tests (my walkthrough), add both files to the script and keep the results.

REST APIs regrouped by business process; Get Insights accepts both label and enum

AI26.09Dev

The REST API guide now organizes calls by function and maps them to business processes, with a Cloud EPM REST APIs at a glance table. Oracle says this is for people building automation and MCP servers. Get Insights and Get Insight Summary accept display labels or internal enum names for the type filter, so existing integrations keep working. Nothing to do. Bookmark the table.

Operations Guide: how to avoid block contention in business rules

Groovy26.09Dev

New guidance on block contention: what happens when two operations want the same Essbase block, why it slows rules down, and how to design around it. Read it before the next rule rewrite.

Narrative Reporting audit logs include Books

Reports26.09Admin

System Audit Logs now record Book executions next to reports, report packages and PDF files, so weekly utilization reporting covers Books too. Nothing to do.

FreeForm: one place to create an application, and the success program covers it

FreeForm26.09Admin

FreeForm applications are created only from the FreeForm option on the landing page, and Remove Application returns you there. The Implementation Success Program now accepts FreeForm implementations. Nothing to do.

Advanced Predictions: fitted values for dynamic calc members

AI26.09User

The Model Estimates line in the Explainability chart now works for dynamic calc members, in Planning and FreeForm. Only in the chart; an ad hoc grid cannot show these values. Most totals and ratios that finance forecasts are dynamic calc, so the fit is now visible where it matters.Open a prediction on a dynamic calc account and compare the fitted line with actuals.

Administering AI chapters in every guide, AI chapters in the Center of Excellence guide, and AI in the OC2 and OC3 realms

AI26.09Admin

Each business process guide has an Administering AI chapter: which AI features exist and how to enable them. The Center of Excellence guide adds Working with AI, an AI maturity assessment, and a chapter on which industry use cases to prioritize. Generative AI is now available in the OC2 and OC3 realms. Nothing to do. Read the chapter for your product before enabling anything.

Enterprise Data Management: fifteen changes

Administration26.09Admin

The longest list this month is in EDM: run and monitor Oracle Integration Cloud processes from EDM, contextual properties for nodes in viewpoints, default property groups, Pillar Two tax allocation properties for Tax Reporting applications, a REST API for the system events audit, an OAuth 2.0 access token URI for Cloud EPM connections, and more. Nothing to do unless you run EDM. Then read the full list in Oracle's document.

Dates to put in the calendar

The keeper section. Screenshot it or bookmark this page.

WhenWhat changesWhat to do
26.10 (October)Original PCM agent removed; Account Reconciliation renames Data Loads to Balance Loads and Invalid Mappings to Missing Profiles; Transaction Matching audit table moves to numeric codes; EPM Integration Agent updated for the new password file formatSwitch to the enhanced agent, update runbooks and custom SQL reports, then regenerate the agent's password file
26.11accountName.userName login format stops working for EPM Automate and the REST APIsSwitch scripts to the plain user name
November 2026EPM Skills for Oracle Digital Assistant are de-supportedMove to AI Agent Studio if you used them
26.12Only the new password file format works; EPM Automate clients older than 26.09 stop workingClient upgraded and password files regenerated before year end close
Q4 2026Legacy Workforce and Strategic Workforce Planning rules deprecatedRepoint action menus in pre December 2024 applications to the 2.0 rules
Six month clockOne off patches and manual skips merge back to the main code linePlan the regression test for the return
Not announced yetIP addresses in connection URLs stop workingSwitch connections to hostnames now
Not announced yetPower Users need write access to a folder to create forms and dashboards in itReview folder security assignments
Not announced yetCalculation Manager enforces its Errors and Considerations diagnostic; a Rule Status column appears on the rules listClear errors before opening rule SRs with Oracle
Not announced yetASO grids from Groovy and the REST API decide on MDX by suppressMissingRows instead of suppressMissingBlocksCheck grids where the two suppress flags differ

The 26.09 checklist

Click an item to mark it done. Progress saves in your browser.

Upgrade EPM Automate to 26.09 on every scripting machine and rerun encrypt for each password file
Leave the Integration Agent on its current password file until the agent update in 26.10
Open every predefined module dashboard in test and refresh the user guide screenshots
Search library folders for a slash and rename them
Check member and alias names for trailing spaces, reserved words and duplicates before the next migration
Note the date of any one off patch or skipped update and plan the return to the main line
Schedule roleAssignmentAuditReport and groupAssignmentAuditReport every 14 days and archive the files
Enable Generative AI in an FCC test environment and try the Consolidation Assistant
Add runApplicationDiagnostics to the monthly maintenance script
Move anyone still on the original PCM agent to the enhanced agent before 26.10

Sources

Everything on this page comes from Oracle's release documents. Read them for the full detail.

Oracle What's New: 26.09 (September 2026)docs.oracle.com/.../epm-sep26/Oracle 26.09: IMPORTANT Actions and Considerationsdocs.oracle.com/.../26sep-epm-wn-t77898.htmOracle EPM Cloud Readiness Hubdocs.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas/readiness/epm.html

Questions people ask

What changed in Oracle EPM 26.09?

The September 2026 update makes the new EPM Automate password file format live, upgrades the predefined module dashboards to Dashboard 2.0, sets a six month limit on one off patches and skipped updates, and adds three AI assistants for Financial Consolidation and Close and Tax Reporting. Enterprise Profitability and Cost Management gets parallel calculation for three allocation rule types, Planning gets the runApplicationDiagnostics command, and Data Integration Quick Mode accepts SQL mappings.

What do I have to do about EPM Automate in 26.09?

Upgrade the EPM Automate client to 26.09 or later on every machine that runs scripts, then run the encrypt command again to regenerate each password file. Environments on 26.09 to 26.11 accept both formats; from 26.12 only the new one works. The EPM Integration Agent keeps using the old file until the agent is updated in 26.10.

Which dashboards changed automatically in 26.09?

The predefined dashboards in the Planning modules (Financials, Workforce, Capital, Projects), Sales Planning, Strategic Workforce Planning and Tax Reporting are upgraded to Dashboard 2.0 at 26.09 or when the module is enabled. Custom dashboards are not changed, including custom dashboards inside module cubes.

What is the Consolidation Assistant in Oracle EPM?

A generative AI assistant in Financial Consolidation and Close for Service Administrators. Through a guided chat it analyzes metric anomalies, summarizes the likely causes of a consolidation performance or system health problem, and recommends a resolution. It needs Generative AI enabled under Application Settings.

What is the six month limit on one off patches?

From 26.09 an environment can stay on a one off patch for at most six months. If the fix ships in a monthly update the environment moves to it; otherwise it moves to a new one off patch on the latest code line. The skipUpdate command still lets you skip up to three consecutive monthly updates yourself; after that you can ask Oracle to skip for at most three more months, then the environment merges back to the main line automatically.

When is the next Oracle EPM update?

26.10 follows the usual pattern: test environments on Friday, October 2, 2026 and production on Friday, October 16, 2026. It removes the original PCM agent and renames two Account Reconciliation features. I cover every monthly update on this site and channel.

Reading every release against client environments is part of my managed services work. Which of these will you use first? Tell me on LinkedIn. I read every comment.

Get the monthly edition on LinkedIn: fm.epm.

Fred Mamadjanov is an Oracle ACE Pro and EPM Solution Architect based in Toronto. He runs FMEPM, a consulting practice for Oracle EPM, NetSuite Planning and Budgeting, and Vena Solutions.