Report Specifications

Report specifications come in two flavors. Financial reports are described here. Non-financial reports are called Other Reports.

To view a Report Specification, rather than viewing the content of the report itself, you must right-click on the Report in the navigation panel and select "View Report Specification".

Financial Report Specifications define content (what's in the report) and Frameworks define how the content is to be viewed. A financial report is generated from a combination of a Report Specification and a Framework.

Legacy Model The original model with a predefined set of FO Types and Groups suitable for most organizations.s have three initial report specifications:

Financial Statements - Includes the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Statement. Each of these reports is called a Table, to distinguish it from the report as a whole.
Local (FO) Report - The default report for all FO Instances, accessed either by right-clicking on the FO Instance and selecting "Local Report" in the Model Content section of the Navigation Tree under the appropriate group (e.g. "Revenue") or by clicking the "Local Report" button in the FO Instance panel. The Local Report for the FO Instance and will display a report for all parameters of the FO Type.
Group Report - The default report that is displayed for any Group that includes all of the group's elements. The Group Report is accessed by right-clicking on the group name in the Navigation Tree under the Model Content section or by clicking the "Group Report" button in the FO Group panel.

The Financial Statement report specification includes three frameworks by default:

All years by Period
Annual
First year

As you create new frameworks you can apply them to any report specification you create.

Report specifications are constructed as a hierarchy. The report spec is at the top of the hierarchy. Within the report, you can have any number of tables, and a table can contain as many elements as desired. To summarize, a report might be structured as:

Report Spec
1. Table 1
  1. Element 1 (Element Title, Groups, Line items, Line Item Set)
  2. Element 2
  3. Element 3
  4. Element x
2. Table 2
3. Table x

Creating a Report Specification

There are three fundamental ways to create a report specification:

Copy an existing report specification
Copy Report Spec to Sandbox directly from the report
Create 'from scratch'

Copying a Report Specification

Go to Report and Chart Specifications

Navigate the tree structure to the report you want to copy e.g. Standard Reports/Financial statements

Right-click on the report specification in the navigation panel, and select Copy. A copy will be made, titled Copy of <name of original report>

Creating a Report Specification from Scratch

Go to Report and Chart Specifications

Navigate the tree structure to the report group that you want to have contain the report

Right-click on the rgroup in the navigation panel, and within the Copy menu select Report Specification.A new blank report spec will be created. You can also add Other Reports and groups.

Title the report specification

Select the frameworks you want to apply to this report. To multi-select, hold down the Ctrl key as you make selections with your mouse.

Select how you want to Show column titles (e.g. Years, Months) to appear when there is more than one table:
First Table only
All Tables

Show Currency Symbols

None (Default)

First Row

First Column

First Row and Column

All

For Currency Scale, select how you want the report to be displayed:
Default (units)
Thousands
Millions

For Currency Precision, select how you want the report to be displayed:
0 - Units - Whole units
1 - Tenths
2 - Hundredths
3 - Thousandths
4 - Ten Thousandths
5 - Hundred Thousandths
6 - Millionths
7 - Ten Millionths
8 - Hundred Millionths
9 - Billionths

For computation mode, select how you want the report to be displayed:
Accurate - rounding occurs at the very end of the computation
Pedantic - rounding occurs for each number in a group sum

For Hide Zero Lines, select how you want to handle lines that display or total zero in a report:
None (default)
Only Line Items
Sub Groups and Line Items
Groups and Line Items unless in selected Parts Dimension
All Groups and Line Items

Show Explanations in Slide Decks Select "Yes" unless explanations have private information that should not be shown.

Style Parameters Adjust Styles (optional, see Styles for more information)

Adding Tables to a Report Specification

From the report spec's Add button at the bottom of the panel, click and select from the following:
1. Blank Table
2. Income Statement (Legacy Model The original model with a predefined set of FO Types and Groups suitable for most organizations.s only)
3. Balance Sheet (Legacy Model The original model with a predefined set of FO Types and Groups suitable for most organizations.s only)
4. Cash Flow Statement (Legacy Model The original model with a predefined set of FO Types and Groups suitable for most organizations.s only)
5. Copy a table from another report
The middle three items are pre-built tables (available in Legacy Model The original model with a predefined set of FO Types and Groups suitable for most organizations.s). Select Blank Table to create your own.
The table will open below
Re-title the table if desired
If there are text parameters, select which Text Parameters you wish to appear as footnotes. Hold down the Ctrl key to multi-select.
Change the Title Style of the title by clicking Edit (see Styles for more information)
Add a Footnote to the table by clicking its Edit button. Select Custom HTML and enter the footnote.

Adding Elements to a Table

From the table's Add button, select Element. The details for the element will open below.
By default, the title will be [Default Title]. This instructs the software not to change the title for any item you will select in the following steps. You can override this functionality by replacing the title with one of your own.

Tip: If you're not sure if you want to change from [Default Title], or just want to experiment, copy and paste or re-type [Default Title] into a note in Annotations and save it so you can easily remember what was there before.

Select the Kind of elements you want to add:
1. Title - This choice allows you to add a subtitle to the report. There are two ways to enter a title
  1. Change the title of the element from [Default Title] to the subtitle you want
  2. Click Edit for Line Item Label Style and select Custom HTML and enter a title there.
2. Line Item - Drill down to the Line Item or Group you want to include in the report. Selecting a group will automatically include all of its elements.
3. Line Item Set - Select a Line Item Set from the list.
4. Case Parameter - Select a case parameter from the list.
5. FO Parameter (for FO reports) - A specialized Kind, used primarily for FO Instance An FO Instance inherits all parameters and any logic(formulas) contained in the FO. Any change in the FO is immediately updated in all instances. reports.
6. Group Parameter (for Group Reports) - A specialized Kind, used primarily for Group reports.
7. Set Parameter (for Set Reports) - A specialized Kind, used primarily for Line Item Set and FO Set reports.
8. Text - Can be used for embedding text blocks in a report such as might be used for annotations.
9. Blank Row - An empty row which you can position in the report as desired.
Reorganize gives the option to reorganize the line item set or group
Options You can add a Double Underline if you wish.
Indent Level Allows you to indent elements from 0 (no indent) to 9. Each level increases indent 3 spaces.
Style Parameters A collapsible section that gives you the option to change styles (See Styles for more information on styling reports):
1. Line Item Label Style - Style the line item label (title) only.
2. Open Group Title Style - When a group is expanded using plus and minus buttons, it has a title next to the minus. You can style this title.
3. Open Group Total Title Style - When a group is expanded using plus and minus buttons, it has a total line at the bottom. You can style this Total title.
4. Row Style - Style the values in the element.

Moving, Copying, and Deleting

Report specs, tables, and elements can all be moved, copied, or deleted. Moving, copying or deleting a report moves, copies, or deletes all tables and elements within it. Moving, copying or deleting a table moves, copies, or deletes all elements within it.

Moving

Report specs can be moved from one group to another, as well as moved up or down within its group. Tables can be move up or down within a report. Elements can be moved up or down within a table. To move these objects, drag and drop within the navigation panel (for report specs) or within the Report panel and sub-panels (for Report tables and elements) to the desired location.

Copying

Right-click on the report spec in the navigation panel and select Copy. A copy will be made and re-titled Copy of <name of original>.

Deleting

Right-click on the report spec in the navigation panel and select Delete.

Exporting, Saving and Comparing Zipped files of Reports

Zipped files of Reports can be exported using both HTML HyperText Markup Language and/or CSV Comma Separated Values. The export function can be invoked either from the report view or from the report editor or a group of reports.

From the Report Specification or Group of Reports

From the Export menu:

Select Zipped file of reports or Save zipped file to annotation

If not saving, A pop up box will appear. Select from the list (not all options are available depending on context)
All - All report-framework combinations are placed in a single HTML files
First level groups - All report sliders in the first level of groups are put into separate HTML files
Second level groups - All report sliders in the second level of groups are put into separate HTML files
Report - Each report is placed in a separate HTML file.
Framework - All report sliders associated with a framework are placed in a separate HTML file
First Slider - Each slider value will create an individual HTML files.
Second Slider - Each slider value will create an individual HTML file.
None - Every report tab (and sub-tab combination, if any) is placed into an individual HTML file

Select report specs and frameworks. You may add additional reports, other reports, or group of reports to the zipped file. You may also select exactly which frameworks to use.

Select any additional features
Include csv files - exports the selection in 2 above into csv files in addition to HTML.
Export Model (SQL format) - include a copy of the model as a set of SQL Structured Query Language is a database computer language designed for managing data in relational database management systems. commands.
Show all lines - Expands all groups

Click Go!

From a Report View

If only one slider is present, the report can be exported directly to CSV or HTML. If multiple sliders exist, they will be exported in zip format. Only the current framework will be exported.

Select the report's Export menu:

Select Zipped file of reports

A pop up box will appear. Select from the list:
All - All report-framework combinations are placed in a single HTML files
First Slider - Each slider value will create an individual HTML files.
Second Slider - - Each slider value will create an individual HTML file.
None - Every report tab (and sub-tab combination, if any) is placed into an individual HTML file

Select any additional features
Include csv files - exports the selection in 2 above into csv files in addition to HTML.
Export Model (SQL format) - include a copy of the model as a set of SQL Structured Query Language is a database computer language designed for managing data in relational database management systems. commands.
Show all lines - Expands all groups

Click Go!

Comparing Reports with Previously Saved Zipped File

If you have previously saved a zipped file of reports, a new export command will appear in the Export menu which allows you to compare current reports with previously saved reports. Saved zipped files are stored as attached documents and will appear in the annotations of the report or group of reports. To perform a comparison, select Export / Compare with previous saved reports. A zipped file of the comparison will be exported. Extract the zipped file to a new folder and browse index.html. You will see a list of reports and for each report a green label "Identical Content" will be shown, or if there are content differences, then you will have access to 3 files: the current report, the previous report, and a difference-report. The difference report will show the combined report, highlighting the differences between the two reports, using tan to highlight those sections in the old report that are not in the current report, and sky blue to highlight the those sections in the current report that are not in the previous report. Style differences are ignored. The difference report works best when there are no structural changes in the report (e.g. different columns or reorganized rows).

Tip: Zipped files can become very large very quickly. It doesn't take too many combinations of reports and frameworks and sliders and you may encounter various system limitations including those built into the software, as well as database limitations or Internet bandwidth limitations. To reduce the size of a zipped file consider removing reports or frameworks and not showing all lines.