VU Financial Reporting Application
Selecting Report Criteria
In addition to selection
of accounts, sub accounts, etc., there are various other options that can be
used to customize a report. <top>
Using the Drop Down Boxes:
There are 6 drop down boxes, for Chart, Account, Sub Account, Report Code,
Manager
and Fund Type. Activating the drop down will display a scrollable list of
available values
for that item. Typing one or more character(s) into the text box will scroll the
list to a
matching value. A selection can be made by a mouse click on a value in the drop
down list,
or by typing a valid value in the text box. The selection will be made
immediately in the
case of a mouse click, or in the case of typing directly, the selection will be
made upon
pressing enter or activating any other control.
When a selection is made, several things happen. The list on the right side of
the
form is updated to show what chart/account/sub accounts would be included in a
report, given
the selections made. All of the drop down boxes are filtered to only include
values that
are valid given the selections already made. Selections made are displayed in
the text
boxes of the drop downs. When appropriate, the tree structure will be expanded
and scrolled
to show the location of the selection (or the first element of a selection) in
the
hierarchical structure.
Pressing the "Clear" button will remove all selections, or an individual
selection
can be removed by choosing the option "<all>" from the drop down list.
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Using the Tree Structure:
Nodes of the tree can be expanded or collapsed by clicking on the plus and minus
signs in boxes to the left of the nodes. Drilling down into the tree reveals
finer levels
of detail. Any node can be selected with a mouse click on the text of the node.
The
selected node is highlighted, the account/sub account combinations that roll up
to that node
are displayed in the list to the right of the form, and when possible, the
values in the
drop down list are also updated to match the selection.
Choosing the root node of
the tree, the top VPIT node, will clear all selections. If you wish to
report on all of UITS, click on the second node, the VPIT Sub Accounts node, and
select the Include radio button in the Report Code Hierarchy box. Be aware
that running a report or a query on all UITS sub accounts will take about 3
minutes.
The tree can also be expended or collapsed by use of the buttons located lower
left,
or from the Tree menu. Each selection from the tree completely supersedes previous
selections, unless the selection "lock" box is checked.
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Other Selection Options:
Clear and Lock Options:
The "Clear" button at the top right of the form clears all selections, and
resets
all the drop down boxes. If the "Lock" check box is checked, then "Clear"
retains the
current selections, and only resets the drop down and the tree. The "Lock"
option can be
used to create more complex reports, by choosing some selections, locking them
in place, and
then adding additional selections. Only unique selections will be added to the
list.
When using the Lock feature to add multiple selections, remember to use the Clear button to reset the dropdown boxes between selections. If you try to clear a dropdown box by selecting <all>, you will add unwanted items to your selection criteria.
Direct Editing of Selections:
The selection list to the right of the screen is normally read only. In unusual
cases where there may be no other alternative to create the combination of
selections for a
desired report, the list can be made editable by right mouse clicking and
choosing "Editable"
from the pop-up menu. Other pop-up options allow the export and import of
selection lists.
Running the Report:
Two buttons midway down the right side of the form allow you to select either
the
print image report, or the interactive drill-down report. Either choice will
open a new
window where the data can be viewed, printed or exported.
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Other Report Criteria:
Time Period:
A time period must be selected for the report. The default is the current month
and
year. The month and year can be selected from drop down lists to the right of
the form,
just below the selection list. Months are fiscal months, so July is month 01 and
June is
month 12. 00 and 13 are also valid selections, representing beginning budget
(00) and Year
End (13). Month 13 may contain adjustments made beyond the end of June.
Active Sub Accounts:
Radio buttons near the bottom right of the form can be used to select only
active,
only inactive, or all sub accounts. The default is active only. Sub accounts may
be
inactivated once they are no longer used, but it is still possible for activity
to hit
inactive sub accounts. Keep in mind that there is no effective data on sub
account inactivation, subs currently flagged as inactive may have been valid in
prior periods. When running historical reports, select all sub accounts to
be sure to capture all activity.
Report Code Hierarchy:
Radio buttons near the bottom right of the form can be used to include or
exclude
account/sub account combinations that roll up to reporting codes which report to
the
selected level. Choosing the "Include" option will select the current level and
all lower
levels, choosing the "Exclude" option will select the current level only.
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Report Options:
Report options can be selected from the "Options" section of the main menu.
There are nine user-selectable options that determine how data will be presented
in the requested report. A check mark displayed in the menu to the left of
an option indicates that option is selected or active. There are also menu
options to save your options, as selected, to be your default, to be reloaded
each time you use the program, or to reset all options to the program's default
value. The options and their meanings are as follows:
Force 0110 Income - Cash carried forward from a previous fiscal year can be budgeted as income (offset by an expense budget) so that it can be seen in current year financial reports. This budgeted income does not clear, since the funds are already on the balance sheet as cash. In our reports, we can "force" this income to appear as cleared, so that we do not show a false income shortfall. The default value is "Y".
Exclude Salary Accruals - At year end, an entry is made to show accrued vacation liability as an expense. This option, if selected, excludes this liability from year end balances. Default value is "Y".
Transfers as Inc/Exp - Reports can show two main categories of Income and Expense, or three categories of Income, Expense and Transfer. If this option is selected, transfer income will be included in the income section, transfer expenses included in the expense section. If unselected, all transfer activity will be isolated in a separate Transfer section.
Report Base Budget - Budget adjustments can either be "base", meaning that they will are intended to be a permanent change to the budget in future fiscal years, or "current", meaning they are adjustments only for the current fiscal year. This option selects base budget for reporting. Default value is "N".
Report Current Budget - Mutually exclusive with "Report Base Budget". Default value is "Y".
Divide Budget Monthly - If this option is selected, the annual budget will be divided over twelve months, and only the portion allocated to the portion of the fiscal year selected will be presented in reports. If this option is unselected, the full annual budget will be presented. The default value is "N".
Include Encumbered - Some expenses, specifically non-hourly compensation and purchase orders, are said to be "encumbered". This means that although these expenses have not actually been paid, funds are shown as committed to these expenses so as not to overstate available funds. If this option is selected, encumbrances will be included in reports, if unselected, encumbrances will be omitted. Default value is "Y".
Include Forecast - Beginning in December and continuing through April, the UITS FO enters monthly forecasts for income and expenses through the fiscal year end. This is to provide a monthly report which is as close as possible an accurate projection of the year end position. If this option is selected, forecasts will be included in reports, if unselected, forecasts will be omitted. Default value is "Y".
Include Sub Objects - In some cases, sub object codes are utilized to differentiate between sub categories within a single object code. Object codes are an additional three character alphanumeric field. If this option is selected, sub object codes will be included in reports. If unselected, object codes will be the final level of income or expense detail. Default value is "N". <top>
Other Features, Other Information:
Status Bar:
The status bar at the bottom of the screen contains 4 panels. Each panel
displays
some aspect of the applications status. The leftmost or first panel displays the
applications current task. If there is no current task, it displays "ready". The
second
panel displays the time in milliseconds required to run the last completed task.
The Third
panel displays the currently logged in user. The final panel displays the server
connection
status.
Server Connect/Disconnect:
If the application is not connected to the server, the Server "Connect" button
and
menu items are active. You can choose these options to establish or re-establish
a
connection. <top>