Microsoft FRx Report Design Essentials I
Course 8399: Two days; Instructor-Led
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Introduction
The two-day Report Design Essentials - I course covers the basic report design skills you need to create, maintain and distribute presentation quality reports using Microsoft® Business Solutions for Analytics - FRx. It also includes coverage of additional functionality designed to help you create new reports, and distribute and analyze your company's financial information. You learn about basic foundational skills, complex calculations, drag and drop reorganization, rounding adjustments and account sets.
A thorough understanding of these topics allows you to easily design and maintain standard and essential reports your organization needs to understand its financial position. You learn how to use templates or create customized report designs as well as how to setup self maintaining reports that will dynamically include newly added GL accounts and newly closed periods. This course also teaches you how to generate and electronically distribute reports using your in-house email system. These skills enable you to take control of the financial reporting process, allowing you to be more productive and efficient in the way you create, generate and distribute financial information, which in turn help you to enable internal and external stakeholders to make well informed decisions to positively impact your organization as a whole.
Audience
This class is ideal for:
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• | Novice FRx users
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Intermediate and experienced FRx users who would like to refresh their skills or develop broader product proficiency
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FRx Software product resellers |
At Course Completion
After completing this course, students should be able to:
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• | Understand basic navigation and report creation in FRx
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Drill down, analyze, print and export from the FRx® Drilldown Viewe™ | |
• | Efficiently create and distribute many financial reports including:
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Trial balances | |
• | Balance sheets
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Transaction detail reporting | |
• | Trended reports | |
• | Side-by-side presentation | |
• | Actual vs. Budget | |
• | Rolling quarters
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• | Know some tips and tricks for increasing speed and accuracy of month-end close
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Create presentation quality reports | |
• | Understand security settings within FRx
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Understand many ways to improve your company's financial reporting package |
Prerequisites
Before attending this course, students must have:
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• | General knowledge of Microsoft® Windows® | |
• | Basic knowledge of accounting principles |
Studet Materials
The student materials includes a comprehensive workbook and other necessary items for this class.
Course Outline
Chapter 1: Overview and Introduction
This chapter gives students a general overview of the features and benefits of using FRx for financial statement design. It also introduces the demo company that will be used in the course exercises.
Main Topics
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• | About FRx Software products | |
• | Terminology | |
• | Demo company account structure | |
• | Sample report demonstration |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Understand the terminology used in class | |
• | Have a high level understanding of rows, columns, trees and how they relate to each other in the catalog | |
• | Generate a catalog to the DrillDown Viewer and navigate to the various reports and drill down levels |
Chapter 2: Creating a Trial Balance
This chapter focuses on one of the most basic and essential reports, a trial balance, that shows the general ledger activity for the month and/or year. A trial balance is a starting point for analyzing and reconciling account balances and activity. Once your trial balance is in balance, Income Statements and Balance Sheets, which group together certain natural or main accounts to report assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses, may be created.
Main Topics
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• | Using the "Add Rows from Chart of Accounts" feature to automatically populate the row format with account numbers and descriptions | |
• | Using wildcards or ranges to summarize data | |
• | Using the Normal Balance field and how C's affect the account presentation | |
• | Using underscores and totals | |
• | Using Header Codes to automatically update column headers each month | |
• | Use of the BASE Period and Year in the Column Layout to ease maintenance | |
• | Setting the Report Date to an option that automatically progress through the year for ease of report maintenance | |
• | Defining a detail level in the catalog | |
• | Introduce the default Formatting options | |
• | Using existing building blocks to speed setup time | |
• | Using the View, Subtotals function in the DrillDown Viewer |
Labs
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• | Detailed Trial Balance | |
• | Summary Trial Balance |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Create a new Row Format either manually or with Add Rows from Chart of Accounts | |
• | Add format codes and related information to a row | |
• | Create a new Column Layout designed for current and year to date results | |
• | Add column headers, using either header codes or text | |
• | Create a new catalog, defining the detail level, report date, building blocks and formatting as desired |
Chapter 3: Creating an Income Statement
This chapter focuses on another primary financial statement, the Income Statement. Income Statements may be detailed or summarized and may also compare current performance to budgeted projections or previous results.
Main Topics
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• | Using the Add Rows from Chart of Accounts function to quickly create a basic template | |
• | How proper placement of C's in the Account Balance column of the Row Format will flip the balance of an account for presentation | |
• | How the presentation of the accounts included determine the math for related TOT or CAL formulas | |
• | How to use a Special Format Mask on a row formula to determine display | |
• | Using system defined or custom fonts for emphasis | |
• | Working with rounding options |
Labs
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• | Detailed Income Statement |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Understand the use of "C" in the Row Format | |
• | Add a TOT or CAL format code and related information to a row | |
• | Add a Special Format Mask to a row | |
• | Define the font for a given row | |
• | Edit the report header using either codes or text | |
• | Define a font for a report header | |
• | Define rounding options |
Chapter 4: Reporting Trees This chapter examines Reporting Trees, what they are, why to use them and most importantly, how to create and maintain them.
Trees are created by defining a number of related attributes, such as the company name and account mask. Tree depth and complexity is up to the report designers needs and may include security items, email addresses, links to external spreadsheet data and more.
Main Topics
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• | Characters used with Add Reporting Units | |
• | Segment hierarchy | |
• | Defining a segment range | |
• | Adding custom units to a tree | |
• | The default Reporting Tree | |
• | Relating Reporting Trees to Row Formats | |
• | How trees define multiple reports in a single catalog | |
• | Using check rows to insure all accounts are included | |
• | Rounding options and how they relate to calculations | |
• | How to relate description or underscore rows to other rows | |
• | Exception reports and how they work |
Lab
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• | Creating Reporting Trees | |
• | Departmental Income Statement |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Understand the symbols used in Reporting Trees | |
• | Create a basic tree using Add Reporting Units from Chart of Accounts | |
• | Define the hierarchy when building a tree on multiple segments in the account mask | |
• | Limit the range of a segment when building a tree | |
• | Add new units to a tree | |
• | Modify the hierarchy of a tree | |
• | Understand how Reporting Trees relate to the Row Format | |
• | Relate rows in the Row Format | |
• | Add a check row or exception report to verify report accuracy | |
• | Define rounding in the catalog |
Chapter 5: Review This chapter allows students to review the concepts learned thus far in class by correcting some errors or omissions in a report.
Main Topics
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• | Review basic report design concepts |
Lab
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Recognize common errors in reports | |
• | Correct errors in report design |
Chapter 6: More on Reporting Trees
This chapter continues with the concepts learned thus far, and expands that knowledge with more complex building blocks and catalog settings.
Main Topics
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• | How to create a Column Layout based on current and prior results | |
• | Defining unit hierarchy when building a Reporting Tree | |
• | How to split a segment to create a virtual segment in trees | |
• | Adding custom units to a tree | |
• | Generating specific tree units | |
• | Using header and footer codes in the Catalog |
Lab
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• | This year vs. last year Income Statement | |
• | Income Statement by location |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Create a multiple year Column Layout | |
• | Add column header text that will span multiple columns | |
• | Dynamically print the year in the column header | |
• | Define the account segment hierarchy when building a Reporting Tree | |
• | Add custom units to a Reporting Tree | |
• | Create a Reporting Tree containing a virtual reporting segment | |
• | Set specific Reporting Tree units to automatically generate | |
• | Understand the difference between using Save As and Clone to copy an existing catalog |
Chapter 7: Transaction Detail Reporting
This chapter looks at transaction details and the specific columns that work with them. These allow for reporting on such items as source journal, transaction date and transaction reference number. Common column restrictions are also introduced.
Main Topics
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• | Creating a transaction detail Column Layout | |
• | Restricting a column to either debit or credit activity | |
• | Restricting a column to display beginning balances | |
• | Generating a catalog to the Excel output option | |
• | How report presentation varies between Excel and the DrillDown Viewer |
Lab
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• | Cash Transaction Details | |
• | Debit/Credit Details |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Understand how wildcards in the Row Format display multiple accounts | |
• | Add transaction details to the Column Layout design | |
• | Restrict a column to include debit or credits only | |
• | Define a column to present beginning balances for the period | |
• | Generate a report directly to MicrosofT® Excel | |
• | Understand how the 'format as Excel outline' option affects the output |
Chapter 8: What we Know This chapter allows students to review the concepts learned so far by taking a concept quiz and modifying an existing report.
Main Topics
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• | Review basic report design concepts |
Lab
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• | Modifying Building Blocks |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Modify an existing report |
Chapter 9: Using the DrillDown Viewer
This chapter shows students some additional functionality available within the DrillDown Viewer.
Main Topics
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• | Printing reports from the DrillDown Viewer | |
• | Using the Send function | |
• | Export options in the DrillDown Viewer |
Lab
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• | Viewing/Printing Account Detail | |
• | Using the Send feature | |
• | Export options |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Print a financial or detail report from the DrillDown Viewer | |
• | Send a report from the DDV | |
• | Export a report using Formatted Excel | |
• | Export a report using standard Excel | |
• | Export a report to an HTML format |
Chapter 10: Working with Specification Sets
Specification sets contain all the building blocks created during report design.
Main Topics
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• | Understand the specification set (.F32) in the Company Information settings | |
• | Learn to "save as" between spec sets | |
• | Learn to export and import between spec sets |
Lab
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• | Saving between Spec Sets | |
• | Export and Import between Spec Sets |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Assign a specification set to a company | |
• | Create a new spec set | |
• | Move building blocks between spec sets |
Chapter 11: Practice This chapter allows students to review the concepts learned so far by; creating a new summarized Income Statement Row Format, modifying an existing Column Layout and defining the Reporting Catalog. Part 2 of the exercise allows students to continue the practice by creating and adding a Reporting Tree that details departments by location.
Main Topics
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• | Practice the report design concepts learned thus far in class |
Lab
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• | Create a Summary Income Statement | |
• | Departmental Summary Income Statement |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Create a summarized Row Format | |
• | Modify an existing Column Layout | |
• | Work with catalog settings | |
• | Create a Reporting Tree using the split function |
Chapter 12: Balance Sheets This chapter focuses on Balance Sheet design, another primary financial report. Students learn about Account Sets and how to create them, as well as functionality designed to keep Balance Sheets in balance.
Main Topics
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• | Account Sets | |
• | Presentation of Balance Sheet accounts (using C in the Normal Balance) | |
• | Defining Year to Date Income in the Balance Sheet | |
• | Using the XD code to suppress drill down on specific rows | |
• | Using the Rounding Adjustments function |
Lab
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• | Detailed Balance Sheet | |
• | Comparative Balance Sheet |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Create a variety of Column Layouts for use in Balance Sheet reporting | |
• | Define or modify Account Sets | |
• | Understand data presentation in Balance Sheet reporting | |
• | Suppress a row in the Row Format from drill down to account or transaction details | |
• | Understand Rounding Adjustments and how to work with them |
Chapter 13: Income Statement Variations
This chapter introduces several variations of the standard Income Statement.
Main Topics
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• | Trended Income Statement design | |
• | Using conditional statements in the Column Layout | |
• | Using Account Modifiers in the Row Format to override the Column Layout | |
• | Variance reporting ( Over/(Under) and Favorable/(Unfavorable) methods | |
• | Sort commands |
Lab
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• | Trended Income Statement | |
• | Current & YTD Trended Income Statement | |
• | Over/(Under) Budget Income Statement | |
• | Favorable/(Unfavorable) Budget Variances |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Create a trended Column Layout | |
• | Define conditional print controls in the Column Layout | |
• | Use Account Modifiers in the Row Format to override Column Layout definitions | |
• | Add a variance calculation to the Column Layout | |
• | Understand XCR and how it is used for variance reporting | |
• | Add a sort format code and its related information to a Row Format |
Chapter 14: Practice This chapter allows students to once again practice new concepts that have been introduced.
Main Topics
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• | Practice the report design concepts learned so far in class |
Lab
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• | Divisional Income Statement - Part 1 | |
• | Divisional Income Statement - Part 2 | |
• | Divisional Income Statement - Part 3 |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Add a sort command to a Row Format | |
• | Use Account and/or Book Code Modifiers in the Row Format | |
• | Modify an existing Column Layout | |
• | Understand how modifying a Column Layout may require changes in the related Row Format |
Chapter 15: Side by Side Reporting
This chapter continues working with Income Statement designs by introducing a side by side presentation of departmental data.
Main Topics
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• | Using Account Filters in the Column Layout | |
• | Restricting columns to specific Tree Units in the Column Layout |
Lab
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• | Side by Side Reporting with Filters | |
• | Side by Side Reporting with a Tree |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Create a Column Layout using Account Filters | |
• | Create a Column Layout using the Reporting Unit restriction | |
• | Understand how these two methods of side by side reporting differ and when to use each |
Chapter 16: Report Distribution This chapter introduces a variety of topics related to report distribution.
Main Topics
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• | Naming conventions | |
• | Chain to Catalog ID functionality | |
• | Report archive options | |
• | E-mail distribution methods available in FRx | |
• | WebPort distribution | |
• | Report Manager Demonstration |
Lab
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• | Chaining Report Catalogs |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Chain catalogs for easier report generation | |
• | Understand the common methods for creating an archive of reports | |
• | Distribute reports via E-mail | |
• | Have a high level overview of WebPort and Report Manager, optional components available with FRx |
Chapter 17: What's Wrong? This chapter gives students an opportunity to correct a report containing some basic report design flaws.
Main Topics
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• | Importing a .tdb file | |
• | Troubleshooting a report |
Lab
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Troubleshoot an existing report |
Chapter 18: Troubleshooting This chapter shows students how to perform basic maintenance within FRx.
Main Topics
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• | Rebuilding the GL Index (.G32 file) | |
• | Compacting the FRx Databases | |
• | Getting additional help | |
• | Report Design Guidelines |
Lab
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• | Rebuilding the GL Index | |
• | Compacting the FRx Databases |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Delete the .G32 file, forcing it to rebuild | |
• | Compact the FRx Databases | |
• | Understand where to get additional help | |
• | Understand basic report design guidelines |
Chapter 19: Advanced Concepts This chapter introduces some creative uses for FRx reports.
Main Topics
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• | Adding an FRx report to MicrosofT® Outlook® | |
• | Adding FRx report information to Excel and Microsoft® Word documents | |
• | Overview of the Report Design Essentials II training class |
Appendix A: Solutions This appendix contains solutions to quizzes and tutorials completed during class.
Appendix B: Using Report Launcher
This chapter covers the features and functionality of FRx® Report Launcher. Report Launcher is a separate FRx component that allows users to generate reporting catalogs that have been created with Report Designer.
Based on student needs, this chapter is optional for classroom presentation.
Main Topics
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• | How does Report Launcher differ from Report Designer | |
• | What are the functions available in Report Launcher |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Use Report Launcher to generate a catalog |
Appendix C: Working With the Catalog
In this chapter we look at each tab within the Reporting Catalog and look at the various settings and options for each.
In addition, we look at chaining reports together to facilitate hands-free generation of multiple Reporting Catalogs.
Main Topics
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• | New Catalog Default Settings | |
• | Building Block Solutions |
Appendix D: Concept Review This chapter is intended for future reference and contains a recap of the functionality discussed in class.
Main Topics
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• | Row Formats | |
• | Column Layouts | |
• | Reporting Trees | |
• | Catalog of Reports |
Appendix E: Security This chapter provides an overview of the security options available in FRx Report Designer.
Main Topics
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• | Network security | |
• | Padlock security | |
• | How to activate security in FRx | |
• | How to create FRx users and groups | |
• | How to apply component security within FRx |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Use the padlock to secure a component | |
• | Activate FRx security and create users and groups | |
• | Assign users or groups to FRx components |
Appendix F: Report Manager This chapter introduces the five simple steps to Report Book creation and covers Report Manager functionality.
Main Topics
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• | Report Book design | |
• | Properties - General | |
• | Headers and Footers | |
• | Security | |
• | Distribution | |
• | Publishing | |
• | File or Report Properties | |
• | Report Options | |
• | DrillDown Viewer display |
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
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• | Create a Report Book using Report Manager |
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