Report Definition

Before you start

• You must know the purpose of the report and what information the report is to display. This requires good knowledge of your company's chart of accounts and financial system.
• Financial data, results and budget must be entered and updated in the balance file.
• Balance key(s) must be defined in 'GL Balance File Key. Open' (GLS690). The key(s) is specified per report and, if necessary, per report line. The key(s) determines the information to be retrieved for the report.

Follow these steps

1. Definition of Report Header

   The report header is defined in 'Report. Open' (RGS600). The header contains general information, such as name and balance key to be used, definition of the layout, how the report will be printed, the contents of the page header and page footer and general selection of what information to be included in the report.

2. Definition of Lines

   Lines are defined in 'Line. Open' (RGS620). Lines are the horizontal blocks in a report and for each line you define what values are to be selected and how they are to be displayed in the report.

   You can define:

   • Text lines, that is, a line with text instead of numbers, used for example to insert a heading line between two lines.
   • Detail lines, displaying different types of values.

     Example: You can define a line to display revenues for Europe.

   • Calculation lines, displaying the result of a calculation. The calculation can retrieve values from both detail lines and other calculation lines.

     Example: If two lines are defined to display the revenues for Europe and Asia respectively, you can define a calculation line to display the total revenue for both areas.

   • External lines, that is, a line that displays values from a line in a different report.

3. Definition of Columns

   Columns are defined in 'Column. Open' (RGS610). Columns are the vertical blocks in a report and for each column you specify what values are to be selected and how they are to be displayed in the report.

   You can define:

   • Text columns, displaying text. When a report header is defined, a text column '00' is automatically created. It is placed furthest to the left in the report and automatically contains the line text (line headers) specified for each line in the report. This column can be moved if necessary.
   • Detail columns, displaying different kinds of values, for example, the results of the line definition.

     Example: If two lines are defined to display revenues in Europe and Asia respectively, the column can be defined to display the result for the respective area for a certain period of time.

   • Percentage columns, displaying line values in a column, as the percentages of the value on a specified line in the same column.

     Example: You can define a column that displays the percentage of revenue in Europe and Asia respectively (using the value from a third line displaying total revenue for both areas).

   • Calculation columns, displaying the result of a calculation. The calculation can retrieve values from both detail columns and other calculation columns.

     Example: If one column displays the revenue for period A and another column displays the revenue for period B, the calculation column can display the difference in revenue between the two periods.

4. Definition of Cells

   Cells are defined in 'Cell. Open' (RGS630). A cell is an individual block, a combination of a certain column and line in the report.

   You can define:

   • Calculation cells, displaying the value of a calculation. The calculation can retrieve values from other cells
   • Text cells, displaying text.

5. Check Report Layout

   When a report is defined you can check the layout of the report, to ensure it looks the way you want it to. You print a report preview in 'Print Layout Proposal' (RGS650), reached by selecting option 21 = 'Layout proposal' in 'Report. Open' (RGS600) for the report you want to check. Once the report is printed you can check the line text, column headings, column width and the general format.

Tips

• Copy a Report between Companies

  You can copy a report from one company to another, or from one division to another. This will save you a lot of time if different companies/divisons use the same report.

  The copying is done in 'Report. Open' (RGS600) by using pressing key F14 = 'Rtr report'. F14 starts (RGS600/I) where you specify a name for the report, what report to copy and from where. When copying you can also change data in the report, which is useful if the new company, for example, uses other balance keys. Note that the copying must be done in the company where you want the copy to be saved.

• Print Definition of Reports

  You can print the definitions that make up a report. This is useful if you want to review report definitions on paper while designing reports.

  The printing is started in 'Report. Print Definitions' (RGS640), reached by using option 6 = 'Print' in (RGS600). In (RGS640) you make a selection, both of which reports you want to print and what information in the reports you want to print. You can select to print the following information: E = General information about the report, F = Definition of the form and print parameters, G = Information on page header and page footer, H = Preselected values for printing, 1 = Column definitions, 2 = Line definitions and 3 = Cell definitions.

• Renumber Lines in a Report

  If you define new lines in an existing report, and these new lines are placed among already existing lines, you may want to renumber all lines. You renumber lines in 'Line. Open' (RGS620), by using function key F10 = 'Renumber' and specifying the range value. Note that when renumbering, lines included in line and cell calculations are also automatically renumbered.

  Example: A report contains lines 10, 15, 20, 22, 25, 30, where line 22 is new. In (RGS620) you can specify range 10. The new line numbers will then be 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70.

• Create an Alternate Line

  Sometime you may want a line to be printed in different places, that is, on different lines in a report depending on the line's value. You can achieve this by defining an alternate line.

  You create an alternate line in 'Line. Open' (RGS620) by selecting the Open option for the line you want to be flexible. On panel E, you specify the alternate line number in the field with the same name and also the condition for the alternate line number to be activated.

  Alternate lines can be used in a checking account, when the balance is to be displayed under credit and debits depending on whether it is positive or negative. Inter-company transactions can also be displayed in this way.

• Create a Note Reference

  It is possible to define a chain of reports that will be processed and printed automatically once you start printing the base report. You enable this function by specifying the report you want to be printed automatically in the 'Note reference' field in 'Line. Open' (RGS620/E) in one of the lines in the base report.

  You also have to activate the note reference function for reports that include external lines. This is due to the fact that for the external line function to work the report with the information used by the external line must be processed before the report with the external line. You specify the report with the external line in the 'Note reference' field for the report with the information.