Consolidation in SAP: B/S and Income Stmt

Hello Gurus,

I would greatly appreciate it someone could shed some light on the following questions. Points available.

I am currently working on ECC 6.0. My client has 2 CoCd's (One US and the other UK) both under the US COA. The client has asked that want the funtionality to see a consolidated Balance sheet and Income stmt for the entire company after they go live.

I have heard that Consolidation in ECC 6.0 is <b><u>obsolete</u></b> and that it must be done in BI-SEM. <b>Is this true?</b> As I mentioned earlier, my client is implementing 6.0 and will only be implementing BI well after the go live date (probably 2-3 months after ECC 6.0 goes live). <b>If that is the case, how would my client be able to do Consolidations in the interim?</b>

<b>Also, what does SAP mean when they say Consolidation is "obsolete" in E 6.0?</b> <b>Because I can still see the configuration steps in IMG?</b>

Thanks in advance!