Team, I am new to cognos and need someone who can spend couple of hours with me to show how to create a link to a database, how to design a query, and how to develop a report. or you if you have better suggestions?
Sorry I cannot help you on the 'functional' questions (how to develop the financial system inside Controller).
However, I can help with 'technical' questions. For people new to Controller, I recommend that they read my 'best practice' documentation that I have written and hosted here: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21608353 (http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21608353)
For your specific question, the instructions on creating new databases/connections are on pages 52/53/54 of "Installing & Configuring IBM Cognos Controller 10.1.1 server - Proven Practice".
Good luck!