Getting Started with FRx 6.7 for Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains (SQL Server\MSDE) 7.5

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1 Getting Started with FRx 6.7 for Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains (SQL Server\MSDE) 7.5 Copyright 2004 FRx Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

2 Revision History Document Number Document Date Software Release RD-GSG January 31, Legal Notices FRx Software Corporation makes no representations or warranties with respect to the contents of this manual and specifically disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. We welcome user comments and reserve the right to revise this publication and to make improvements or changes to the products and programs described in this publication at any time without notice. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior written consent of FRx Software Corporation. Copyright and Trademark Notice Copyright 2004 FRx Software Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, FRx, instant!olap, and FRx Drilldown Viewer are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation or FRx Software Corporation or their affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other registered trademarks and trademarks are property of their respective owners. FRx Software Corporation is a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation.

3 Contents Preface... iii Who Should Read this Guide... iii What s New in Report Designer Version iii Improved in FRx iv Available Product Documentation... v Other Documentation... vi Conventions Used in this Guide... vi Unsupported Characters... vi Supported Terminal-Emulation Software Programs... vii How to Contact Us... vii Software Licensing... vii Chapter 1: Setting Up and Configuring Microsoft Business Solutions for Analytics FRx... 1 Prerequisites...2 Install and Configure an ODBC Driver...2 Starting FRx Starting the FRx Client...3 Starting the Report Server...4 Registering FRx...5 Creating Your Companies in FRx...6 Chapter 2: Using Great Plains-Specific Features... 8 FRx Terms and Corresponding Great Plains Terms...9 Using FRx with Great Plains Security...9 Reporting on Inactive Accounts...9 Using the Multidimensional Analysis (MDA) Features...9 Specifying Account Activity in a Report...12 General Ledger Books...13 Using Multicurrency Features...13 Currency Translation...15 Creating Reports Using Transaction Detail Codes...15 Viewing Transaction Details in FRx...16 Reporting Adjustment Periods...17 i

4 Contents Performing Consolidations...18 Using the Normal Balance Column in a Row Format...18 Negative Debits/Positive Credits...19 Viewing FRx Sample Reports...20 Index ii

5 Preface Who Should Read this Guide Welcome to Microsoft Business Solutions for Analytics FRx. This guide is designed to help you register the product and configure FRx version 6.7 to use with Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains (SQL Server\MSDE) 7.5. It is important to remember that the FRx application must be installed and running properly before you can complete the tasks described in this guide. This guide is written for users of the FRx Report Designer application who are responsible for registering the product, setting up company information, and creating reports in the Report Designer. The information in this guide assumes that the user has a working familiarity with Report Designer. This guide is intended to be used in conjunction with the FRx Report Designer 6.7 User s Guide and the FRx Report Designer 6.7 Administrator s Guide. See Available Product Documentation on page v of this Preface for a complete listing of available documentation for the FRx products. What s New in Report Designer Version 6.7 This version of the software includes the following new features.! Product name and logo We have introduced a new product name, logo and demonstration data that aligns the FRx product and FRx Software's ownership with one of the most recognizable brands in the industry- Microsoft Corporation. Through this association, existing customers and prospective buyers will know how we're evolving. While staying true to the trustworthy roots of our heritage, we are backed by the seasoned and insightful strength and vision shared by our parent company. And we will continue to reflect these ideals and live up to the standards set by our brand.! FRx Report Manager Report Manager is a powerful optional module that makes it easy to pull together FRx reports with the other information end-users need to do their work, all delivered in one, comprehensive report book. It automates the time consuming and manual process of producing report books containing many different types of documents and files. Report Manager helps users present information in a manner that is logical, organized and relevant. Finally, Report Manager allows users iii

6 Preface to create report books with information specialized to the needs of each individual user, then streamlines the printing and distribution of the complete presentation. Report Manager allows:! Multiple output types including FRx DrillDown Viewer TM files, Microsoft Office documents and other reports produced from diverse reporting packages to be packaged together for posting to a network or Web site, or for delivery via or print! Recipients to view all documents contained in a report book using an enhanced version of the DrillDown Viewer software! Headers, footers and consecutive page numbering throughout the entire book! Report generation locally or via the FRx Report Server! On-demand reference guides Comprehensive User Guides in a bound format are now available on-demand as a helpful reference for common tasks and troubleshooting. The information has been reorganized into soft cover books, which include: FRx Report Designer 6.7 User s Guide, FRx Report Designer 6.7 Administrator s Guide, FRx Report Server 6.7 User s Guide, FRx DrillDown Viewer and FRx Report Launcher 6.7 User s Guide, FRx Report Manager 6.7 User s Guide, FRx WebPort 6.7 User and Administrator s Guide, and FRx Report Designer 6.7 Sample Reports A useful document designed to help customers determine which User Guides to obtain is included with each product shipment. Additionally, all User Guides are included on the FRx 6.7 product CD. Improved in FRx 6.7 Microsoft Excel graphing via FRx instant!olap software instant!olap is now included in every edition, from FRx Desktop through FRx Enterprise. Additional functionality includes the ability for users to utilize the instant!olap software output format and export a report directly into a pivot table for automatic graphing in Excel. XBRL Remaining at the forefront of advances in Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) technology, the support of the 1.0 taxonomy has been upgraded to the 2.0 standard. FRx Software understands the need for users to transfer complex, highly confidential corporate financial information to regulators, banks, investors and boards of directors using a trusted standard of financial communication. Because of this, we will continue to make advances in the XBRL compatibility of FRx, ensuring functional compliance as XBRL is further adopted by corporations and consumers of sensitive financial data. FRx Currency Translation The Currency Translation module has been enhanced to allow for greater flexibility in the calculation of translation rates. There are now two ways to calculate monthly average rates. Additionally, annual average rates can be calculated, thereby streamlining the maintenance necessary for Column Layouts when creating FRx reports. Users can now translate individual layers that represent transactions while comparing the total amount in the historical rates table to the appropriate general ledger total. This ensures that all iv

7 Preface transactions have been accounted for when converting data at the appropriate historic rates. Finally, we have addressed several software modification requests to improve the Currency Translation product module as a whole. FRx WebPort FRx WebView has been consolidated into FRx WebPort to form a single product module that is available to all FRx users regardless of product edition or general ledger. Users can quickly publish Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel documents with their FRx reports for easy access by others on a secure Intranet site. Stability and Performance Improvements to FRx 6.7 allow for faster report generation and quicker export of reports to the FRx DrillDown Viewer and printing options. Additionally, FRx has been upgraded to support Microsoft Access 2002 and changes have been made to the database access technology. These enhancements ensure a more stable environment. In addition, improvements to the way the general ledger index (G32 file) is built will reduce the likelihood of database corruption. Available Product Documentation The following documentation is available for this product.! Getting Started with FRx 6.7 for Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains (SQL Server\MSDE) 7.5 The guide you are reading. This guide helps FRx users and administrators understand how to set up and configure Report Designer for use with their company's specific data.! FRx 6.7 Installation and Configuration Guide This guide helps system installation personnel install Report Designer through hands-on instructions.! FRx Report Designer 6.7 User s Guide This guide helps users apply the Report Designer components to design and generate reports.! FRx Report Designer 6.7 Administrator s Guide This guide helps system, database, web, and application administrators successfully plan, deploy, and maintain Report Designer.! FRx DrillDown Viewer TM and Report Launcher User s Guide This guide helps users display, print, and export FRx financial reports from the FRx DrillDown Viewer, and generate reports from the FRx Report Launcher.! FRx Report Server 6.7 User s Guide This guide helps users manage reports running on the FRx Report Server and use the Scheduler to create, revise, and manage report schedules and exceptions.! FRx Report Manager 6.7 User s Guide This guide helps users generate, display, print, subscribe to, export, save, and send reports that were created and saved using Report Designer.! FRx WebPort 6.7 User and Administrator s Guide This guide helps authorized users send FRx report output to the FRx WebPort repository and view reports via a Web browser, and helps WebPort administrators manage report files and folders and user access in the WebPort. v

8 Preface Other Documentation! FRx Report Designer 6.7 Sample Reports This guide provides users with examples of key reports using a demonstration database and Report Designer. Some components of the FRx product include online help that is installed with that component. The following online help volumes are available:! FRx Report Designer Online Help! FRx DrillDown Viewer TM Online Help! FRx Report Launcher Online Help! FRx Report Server Online Help! FRx Report Manager Online Help! FRx WebPort Online Help Conventions Used in this Guide The following conventions are used through this guide. Convention Bold Italics Command Note Tip Caution Warning Description Used in procedures to indicate an on-screen item, such as a button name. Used to indicate emphasis. Used to indicate a command, file name, or path. Used to indicate information that supplements the main text. Used to indicate information about how to use the application in a different way. Used to indicate that a specific action or lack of a specific action could result in the loss of data. Used to indicate that a specific action or lack of a specific action could result in physical harm to your computer or the server. Unsupported Characters FRx does not support the following characters in any field that connects with your chart of accounts and general ledger. / [ ] ; = \ :,! - ( ) * & ^ _ $ %? + { } < >. ~ vi

9 Preface Supported Terminal-Emulation Software Programs How to Contact Us FRx 6.7 is supported for the following server-based, super-thin client to the Windows operating system family product line:! Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, Terminal Server Edition! Microsoft Windows 2003 Server, Terminal Server Edition! Citrix MetaFrame for Microsoft Terminal Server If you require specific instructions for installing applications using these programs, please refer to the documentation that accompanies your terminal emulation software. Mailing Address: Microsoft Business Solutions One Lone Tree Road Fargo, ND Telephone: Global Support Web Site: Addresses: esupport: Documentation Training: General information: Product suggestions: Software Licensing FRx Report Designer software is licensed to our customers with specific configurations and capabilities for each installation. The software license controls the number of licensed concurrent users, expiration dates, and version-specific features available under the terms of your license agreement. See the FRx 6.7 Installation and Configuration Guide on your FRx Software CD-ROM for more information about adding features under your FRx Software license agreement. vii

10 Setting Up and Configuring Microsoft Business Solutions for Analytics FRx Chapter 1 Prerequisites Starting FRx Registering FRx Creating Your Companies in FRx This chapter describes the following processes:! Prerequisites! Starting the FRx Report Designer! Registering FRx! Creating a company in the Report Designer After installing Microsoft Business Solutions for Analytics FRx 6.7, you can start the FRx client from your workstation and the FRx Report Server from the report server computer. You then complete the prerequisites, as described under Prerequisites on page 2. The next step is to register your FRx product. Once the prerequisites are complete and the product has been registered, you can begin to create records for your companies in the system. Finally, you are ready to learn about and use the variety of FRx features that apply to your Great Plains product. 1

11 Setting Up and Configuring FRx Prerequisites Prerequisites Before you set up and use FRx you must complete the prerequisites described below. These steps are required for report generation with this product. Install and Configure an ODBC Driver To set up the FRx client, you need to install and configure an ODBC driver. You must have already installed the ODBC driver and defined the data source before creating your companies, which is described later in this guide. Your database administrator typically handles the ODBC installation. If you are using the Report Server, you must also install and configure an ODBC driver on the report server computer. IMPORTANT: Be sure to define the same data source name on all client workstations and the report server computer. 2

12 Setting Up and Configuring FRx Starting FRx 6.7 Starting FRx 6.7 You can start FRx products from the FRx 6.7 program folder or the Report Server program folder. To start a product, click its icon. The icons are described in the following list. Note The following instructions assume you installed the Report Designer, FRx Report Launcher, FRx DrillDown Viewer TM, and the Report Server. If you did not install all FRx products, refer only to the applicable instructions. FRx Program Icon Descriptions Table 1-1: FRx Program Icons Starting the FRx Client After you install the FRx client, you can start the Report Designer, Report Launcher, or DrillDown Viewer programs from your workstation. To start the FRx client The Report Designer icon starts the report creation tool, which you use to create and generate reports. For more information about creating and generating reports, see the FRx Report Designer 6.7 User s Guide. The DrillDown Viewer icon starts the DrillDown Viewer. With this product you can view the reports that were created with the Report Designer. For more information about the DrillDown Viewer, see the FRx DrillDown Viewer and FRx Report Launcher 6.7 User s Guide. The Table of Contents icon opens a list of documents included with FRx. These documents contain all the information you need to install, configure, and use the software. The Report Launcher icon starts the Report Launcher. With it, you can generate FRx reports without opening the Report Designer. For more information about the Report Launcher, see the FRx DrillDown Viewer and FRx Report Launcher 6.7 User s Guide. The FRx Report Server icon starts the Report Server. You can generate reports from your workstation to the Report Server; this frees your workstation from the report-processing task. For more information about the Report Server, see the FRx Report Server 6.7 User s Guide. 1 Click the Start button, and point to Programs, then select FRx 6.7 or the program group where you installed the FRx client. 3

13 Setting Up and Configuring FRx Starting FRx Click an FRx program icon. 3 If you clicked the Report Designer icon, the Select a Company to Work With dialog box appears. 4 Use one of the following options to select a company: To Use the demonstration data Use your company s data Do 1 Select one of the sample companies, FW or FWC. 2 Click OK. Go to Creating Your Companies in FRx on page 6 for instructions about setting up a company in Report Designer. Starting the Report Server After you install the Report Server, you can start the program from the server. To start the Report Server 1 Click the Start button, point to Programs, and then select Report Server or the program group where you installed the Report Server. 2 Click the Report Server icon. You can now generate sample reports on your workstation and send them to process on the Report Server. 4

14 Setting Up and Configuring FRx Registering FRx Registering FRx Before you can use FRx, you must register it. You will need to obtain registration keys to register FRx Financial Reporter. Keys may be obtained from CustomerSource. Contact your reseller for specific instructions. You will need the following information to register FRx:! Organization name! Serial number! Number of maximum users! Authorization number! Registration number Once you have obtained this information, complete the following steps to enter it into FRx. To register FRx 1 Start the Report Designer. 2 From the Admin menu, select Organization. The Organization Information dialog box appears; keep this dialog box open while you call to register your software. 3 In the Organization Name box of the Organization Information dialog box, enter your company name. Note: Enter the Organization Name, exactly as you received it, including spaces and capitalization. 4 In the Serial Number box, enter the serial number. 5 In the Maximum Users box, enter the number of users. 6 In the Authorization box, enter the authorization number. 7 In row 1 of the Accounting Systems cell, make sure that Great Plains - SQL Server\MSDE displays. 8 In the Registration Number cell next to it, enter the registration number. 9 Click OK. FRx is now registered. If after registering you receive an invalid authorization number message, the organization name, serial number, maximum users or authorization number might not be entered exactly as directed. This screen is case, space, and punctuation sensitive. 5

15 Setting Up and Configuring FRx Creating Your Companies in FRx Creating Your Companies in FRx FRx includes demonstration data and sample reports for the fictitious companies called Fabrikam Works, Inc. (FW) and Fabrikam Works, Inc. Canada (FWC). From the Report Designer demonstration data, you can view the sample building blocks (row formats, column layouts, reporting trees, and catalog IDs) and generate reports for Fabrikam Works, Inc. (FW) and Fabrikam Works, Inc. Canada (FWC). Before you can use Report Designer to build your own reports using your company information and actual data from your general ledger, you must create an FRx company for each of your Great Plains companies. You create these companies in the Company Information dialog box. By completing the boxes in this dialog box, you provide FRx with the information it needs to read your general ledger data. To create a company in FRx 1 Start the Report Designer. 2 From the Company menu, select Information. The Company Information dialog box appears. 3 Click New to clear the boxes in this dialog box. 4 In the FRx company code box, enter a unique code that describes the company and corresponds with your Great Plains general ledger name. The first five characters of this code are used to build the index file name for the company. They should be unique and not include any spaces. 5 In the Company name box, enter a description that corresponds with your Great Plains general ledger name. This name will also appear on your reports by default, so enter your description with this in mind. 6 In the Accounting system box, select Great Plains - SQL Server\MSDE. 7 In the Specification set box, choose from the following options:! If you have not created a a specification set, leave the Default option selected.! If you previously created a specification set based on your Great Plains accounting system, you may select it here. Note: For more information about specification sets, see the FRx Report Designer 6.7 User s Guide. 8 In the Import and export path box, accept the default IO_Data subdirectory or enter a new path for imported or exported files. Note: This path identifies where FRx stores and searches for the DrillDown Viewer (.frb,.frd,.frv, or.frz), Microsoft Excel (.xls), and Lotus (.wk1) files. 9 In the Amount and date format box, select an international format or leave this box blank. FRx defaults to your computer setting if an option is not selected. This setting applies only to this company and the reports associated with this company. You can override this setting for individual reporting units in a reporting tree. 6

16 Setting Up and Configuring FRx Creating Your Companies in FRx 10 In the Functional currency box, select the functional currency for this company. 11 In the Rates database path box, click the browse arrow and select the correct Rates.DAX file and path used for this company. 12 In the Period description box, accept the default Month Ending. If your periods are not full months, change the default description to Period Ending. This description is used on column headings in your FRx reports. 13 In the Plural Description box, accept the default Months Ending. If your periods are not full months, change the default description to Periods Ending. The text that you enter in this box is used in your report headings. For example, if you enter Months Ending in this box, the report heading for a quarterly reporting period generated for March 2004 will read For the 3 Months Ending March 31, Click the Include adjustments in last period box to include adjustment amounts in your reports. 15 Click the System Specific Information tab. 16 Click the Data source name arrow and select the data source name that you defined when you configured the ODBC driver. You can only select previously defined data sources from this list. If you have not set up your ODBC data source, click Define to access the ODBC Data Source Administrator, or consult with your database administrator. 17 In the Great Plains System Database box, enter DYNAMICS. DYNAMICS is the name of the Great Plains system database. 18 In the Company database box, enter the name of the Great Plains company database. 19 The Use server GL index check box is selected and locked, and cannot be changed. 20 Click Save. 21 Click Set as Default to save this company as the default company. The default company is automatically used when you open Report Designer. The Database Login dialog box appears. 22 In the Login ID box, type your Great Plains user name. 23 In the Password box, type your Great Plains password. 24 Click OK. 25 Click Close. You must repeat the previous steps for each company that you will use in FRx. 7

17 Using Great Plains-Specific Features Chapter 2 FRx Terms and Corresponding Great Plains Terms Using FRx with Great Plains Security... 9 Reporting on Inactive Accounts Using the Multidimensional Analysis (MDA) Features Specifying Account Activity in a Report. 12 General Ledger Books Using Multicurrency Features Currency Translation Creating Reports Using Transaction Detail Codes Viewing Transaction Details in FRx Reporting Adjustment Periods Performing Consolidations Using the Normal Balance Column in a Row Format Negative Debits/Positive Credits Microsoft Business Solutions for Analytics FRx is a multi-system financial reporting tool that provides cross-system and cross-platform consolidations. It performs consistently across different accounting systems while using each accounting system s features and capabilities. If you use multiple accounting systems and want to consolidate your reports using FRx, each accounting system must be licensed and registered. This section describes information about how FRx works with Great Plains. The FRx features listed below are supported for Great Plains. Refer to your FRx Report Designer 6.7 User s Guide for information about using these features.! Currency Translation! Account Types! OLAP MS Local Cubes! OLAP MS Server Cubes! Unposted Transactions! Transaction Dates The features in this section describe information that is not included in your FRx Report Designer 6.7 User s Guide unless otherwise noted. Viewing FRx Sample Reports

18 Using Great Plains-Specific Features FRx Terms and Corresponding Great Plains Terms FRx Terms and Corresponding Great Plains Terms The following table lists some of FRx terms and their corresponding terms in Great Plains. FRx Terms Parent/Child or GL Tree Book Code Attributes Account ID Segment Code Bucket Code/Amounts Natural/Originating Currency Home/Functional Currency Reporting Currency Balance History Transaction History Great Plains Terms Parent/Child Budget/Actual Attributes Account Number Segment ID Bucket Code/Amounts Originating Currency Functional Currency Reporting Currency Account History Transaction History Table 2-1: FRx and Great Plains Terms Table Using FRx with Great Plains Security FRx security conforms to and relies upon Great Plains security to restrict access to the companies and accounts that are established in the Great Plains security definition for each user. For example, if your GL account access is limited to Company 01 and accounts , you can see only those accounts for Company 01 and a range of accounts in the zoom to GL Links within a row format. This restriction also applies to building an FRx reporting tree. Your tree build is restricted to the companies and accounts available to you according to your Great Plains security profile. Reporting on Inactive Accounts Inactive accounts are included in FRx reports. Using the Multidimensional Analysis (MDA) Features FRx supports Great Plains Multidimensional Analysis. Use Multidimensional Analysis to create and generate reports that separate your company's costs and profits into product category and project code. You can use the the MDA Groups/Codes either in the row format or in the column layout, but not in both for the same report. 9

19 Using Great Plains-Specific Features Using the Multidimensional Analysis (MDA) Features To restrict a row format to product category and project code 1 Open a new or existing row format. 2 Locate the row that you want to restrict to a product category and/or project code. 3 In the Link to General Ledger cell, type the account code that you want to restrict. 4 Type a comma followed by the product category and/or project code. For example:! To restrict the row to the product category, type: 1100,[GROUP.]! To restrict the row to the project code, type: 1100,[.CODE]! To restrict the row to the both the product category and the project code, type: 1100,[GROUP.CODE] 5 Repeat steps 2 through 4 for each row that you want to restrict to a product category and/or project code. 6 Save the row format. To restrict a column layout to product category and project code 1 Open a new or existing column layout. 2 Locate the column that you want to restrict to a product category and project code. 3 In the Account Filter cell, type the full account code that you want to restrict. 4 Type a comma followed by the product category and/or project code. For example:! To restrict the column to the product category, type: ,[GROUP.]! To restrict the column to the project code, type: ,[.CODE]! To restrict the column to both the product category and the project code, type: ,[GROUP.CODE] 5 Repeat steps 2 through 4 for each column that you want to restrict to a product category and project code. 6 Save the column layout. 10

20 Using Great Plains-Specific Features Using the Multidimensional Analysis (MDA) Features The following tables include the various formats that you can use to restrict your row formats and column layouts to the product category and project code. Restrict the... row format or column layout To the product category using... full account code By following this format ,[GROUP.] row format natural account code 1100,[GROUP.] row format multiple account codes ,[GROUP.] row format wildcards 11??,[GROUP.] 11??+12??+13??,[GROUP.] column layout wildcards 11?? ,[GROUP.] Table 2-2: Restricting Rows and Columns to the Product Category 11

21 Using Great Plains-Specific Features Specifying Account Activity in a Report Restrict the... row format or column layout To the product category using... full account code By following this format ,[.CODE] row format natural account code 1100,[.CODE] row format multiple account codes ,[.CODE] row format wildcards 11??,[.CODE] 11??+12??+13??,[.CODE] column layout wildcards 11?? ,[.CODE] Table 2-3: Restricting Rows and Columns to the Project Code Restrict the... row format or column layout To the product category using... full account code By following this format ,[GROUP.CODE] row format natural account code 1100,[GROUP.CODE] row format multiple account codes ,[GROUP.CODE] row format wildcards 11??,[GROUP.CODE] 11??+12??+13??,[GROUP.CODE] column layout wildcards 11?? ,[GROUP.CODE] Table 2-4: Restricting Rows and Columns to the Product Category and Project Code Specifying Account Activity in a Report In FRx, you can specify the type of activity to include in the columns of your report. For example, in the first column of your report you can report on current activity, and then in the second column you can report on year-to-date activity. To specify account activity types 1 Open a new or existing column layout. 12

22 Using Great Plains-Specific Features General Ledger Books 2 Locate the column that you want to contain the account activity. 3 Double-click the TYPE cell of that column. The Select the Type of Column zoom box appears. 4 Select the GL option and click OK. This enters the default general ledger settings in this column. 5 Double-click the Current Per/YTD cell. The Select Bucket zoom box appears. Note: You can only access the Current Per/YTD cell in a column that uses GL as its column type. 6 Select an activity type and click OK. This column will display only the selected activity. General Ledger Books The general ledger books supported by Great Plains include the following:! Actual amounts from the general ledger! Budget amounts To use FRx Book Codes 1 Open a new or existing column layout. 2 Place your cursor in the column to link to a general ledger book. 3 Double-click the TYPE cell of that column. The Select the Type of Column zoom box appears. 4 Select the GL option and click OK. This enters the default general ledger settings in this column. 5 Double-click the Book Code/Attribute Category cell. The Select a Book Code zoom box appears. 6 Select a book code and click OK. This column will display only the selected book code. For more information about using FRx book codes, see the FRx Report Designer 6.7 User s Guide. Using Multicurrency Features All currency information and transactions are maintained in your general ledger. FRx supports the following currencies:! Functional Currency: A company reports its financial statements and conducts the majority of its accounting transactions in this currency. This is also referred to as the base, or home currency. To include the functional currency in FRx reports, use the FUNCT code. 13

23 Using Great Plains-Specific Features Using Multicurrency Features! Natural Currency: A company or subsidiary of a company might use this as its primary currency because this is where transactions originate. This is also referred to as the operational or originating currency. To include the natural currency in FRx reports, use the NAT code. Each balance and transaction is stored with the originating amount, or natural currency, and the amount in the functional, or home currency. Occasionally, you may wish to generate a report in a different, or reporting, currency. (You must have this reporting currency information stored in your general ledger.) For an overview of the available currency options, see the following chart. To display report totals in the... same currency as the originating currency In the Currency Code field.. Select the foreign currency In the Currency Display field, select... NAT functional currency Select the foreign currency FUNCT Table 2-5: Multicurrency Options Note: If both fields are left blank, the functional currency is used by default. The following section provides instructions for displaying totals in each currency type. To select multicurrencies in report columns 1 Open a new or existing column layout. 2 Locate the GL column to assign a specific currency. You can only assign currencies to GL columns. 3 Double-click the Currency Code cell of the column. 4 In the Select the Currency Key dialog box, select the currency to apply to this column and click OK. 5 Double-click the Currency Display cell of the same column. 6 In the Select the Currency Type to Display dialog box, choose from the following options: To Display the natural or originating currency Display the functional, home, or base currency Do this 1 Select the NAT currency type. 2 Click OK. 1 Select the FUNCT currency type. 2 Click OK. 7 Repeat steps 2 through 6 for each column to assign a specific currency. 8 Save the column layout. 14

24 Using Great Plains-Specific Features Currency Translation 9 Generate the report. For more information about using multicurrencies, see the FRx Report Designer 6.7 User s Guide. Currency Translation The currency translation feature in FRx is available for Great Plains. For instructions on using currency translation, see the FRx Report Designer 6.7 User s Guide. Please review the following items to understand how this feature works with your Great Plains general ledger:! The ISO Code field on the Currency Setup screen in Great Plains must be populated for currency translation to work properly.! When you select from the Functional Currency list on the Company Information screen in FRx, the code you select must match an ISO Code in Great Plains.! When you select the Currency Display code in an FRx Column Layout, the code must match an ISO Code in Great Plains.! FRx uses only one rate per day. If you have multiple daily rates in your Great Plains general ledger, FRx will use the last rate entered for that day when it performs currency translation calculations.! If a rate is not available for the beginning date of a date range, FRx will check for a prior rate and apply that rate for all dates in the range until a newer rate is found.! If a prior rate is not found, FRx will use the first rate it finds within the range and apply that rate for all prior dates.! FRx will perform conversions at the transaction level, but uses the same average or spot rate for all transactions.! FRx uses the functional currency, also referred to as the home currency, when it performs currency translation calculations. Creating Reports Using Transaction Detail Codes With the Report Designer, you can create reports that include transaction details such as batch codes and transaction apply dates. You assign the transaction detail codes in the column layout and specify the level of detail to include in the Catalog of Reports. To create a transaction detail report 1 Open a new or existing column layout. 2 In the column where you want the transaction detail information, double-click the TYPE cell. 3 In the Select the Type of Column dialog box, scroll down and select the transaction detail code and click OK. 4 From the File menu, select Save. 5 Open a new or existing catalog ID. 6 In the Detail Level box, select Transaction Only or Financial & Transaction. 15

25 Using Great Plains-Specific Features Viewing Transaction Details in FRx 7 In the Building Blocks tab, select the column layout that contains the transaction detail information. 8 In the Output tab, select one of the DrillDown Viewer options. 9 Click Generate Report. For more information about generating reports, see the FRx Report Designer 6.7 User s Guide. The following table lists the transaction detail codes that are specific to Great Plains products. Use this code... TDESC To include this information... Transaction line item description That maps to this field in your Great Plains general ledger... DSCRIPTN TJDESC N/A ORGNTSRC TAPL Transaction apply date TRXDATE TDOC Source document code (Doc#) SOURCDOC TSDOC N/A ORDOCNUM TREF N/A REFRENCE TTYP N/A ORTRXTYP TSID Source ID (Module) TRXSORCE TBAT Batch number JRNENTRY TCUR Currency code CURNCYID TCURX Currency exchange rate XCHGRATE TPROJ Transaction project category REFRENCE Table 2-6: Transaction Detail Code Mapping Viewing Transaction Details in FRx In the Report Designer, you can view transaction level details in two ways. You can view:! The transaction detail report from the DrillDown Viewer! The selected account transactions from your general ledger To view account details 1 From the Report Launcher or the Report Designer, generate a transaction detail report to the DrillDown Viewer. 16

26 Using Great Plains-Specific Features Reporting Adjustment Periods 2 From the DrillDown Viewer, double-click the row to view. 3 Choose from the following options: To View the transaction details in your general ledger Do this 1 From the View menu, select Transaction in GL. 2 Double-click the account to view. 3 From the Database Login dialog box, enter your Great Plains user name in the Login ID box. 4 In the Password box, enter your Great Plains password and click OK. This launches the Great Plains general ledger and displays the transaction details associated with the selected account. View the transaction detail report in the DrillDown Viewer 1 Select View. 2 Clear the Transaction in GL command. 3 Double-click the account to view. This opens the transaction detail report in the DrillDown Viewer. Reporting Adjustment Periods FRx has three different settings for adjustment period reporting. You can assign year-end adjustments to companies, and you can restrict a report column to include or exclude yearend or period adjustments. To assign year-end adjustments to a company 1 From the Report Designer Company menu, select Information. 2 Click Find. 3 Select a company and click OK. 4 Click the FRx System Information tab. 5 Select the Include Adjustments in Last Period box. 17

27 Using Great Plains-Specific Features Performing Consolidations 6 Click Save. 7 Click Close. When you generate reports for this company, FRx includes the Year-end adjustment periods in the column associated with the last general ledger period. To restrict columns to include or exclude adjustments Note: The Include Adjustments in Last Period check box must be selected on the FRx System Information tab in the Company Information dialog box to enable this function. 1 Create a column layout as described in the FRx Report Designer 6.7 User s Guide. 2 In a GL column, double-click the Column Restrictions cell. 3 Choose from the following options: To Include only the yearend or period adjustments Exclude the year-end or period adjustments Do this 1 Select ADJ. 2 Click OK. Note: If the selected base period goes beyond the year s end, FRx does not include the adjustments. 1 Select XAD. 2 Click OK. For more information about selecting the base period, see the FRx Report Designer 6.7 User s Guide. Performing Consolidations There are two ways that you can perform consolidations with FRx and Great Plains. You can perform consolidations in Report Designer. Conversely, you can consolidate information in Great Plains into a separate set of books and then report them in FRx. Note If you use multiple accounting systems and want to consolidate your reports using FRx, each accounting system must be licensed and registered. Using the Normal Balance Column in a Row Format To reverse the sign of a row or if the normal balance of an account is a credit, enter a C in the Norm Bal column. When you build a row format for a Great Plains company in Report Designer by selecting Add Rows from Chart of Accounts on the Edit menu, no accounts will have a C in the Norm Bal field. For more information about Normal Balance Column, see the FRx Report Designer 6.7 User s Guide. 18

28 Using Great Plains-Specific Features Negative Debits/Positive Credits Negative Debits/Positive Credits In contrast to some accounting systems that treat a negative debit as a credit and a positive credit as a debit, Great Plains supports the use of negative debits and positive credits, which are defined as follows.! Negative Debit: A reversal of a debit entry by posting a negative value in the debit section of the general ledger! Positive Credit: A reversal of a credit entry by posting a positive value in the credit section of the general ledger Great Plains supports reversal entries that cancel out debit or credit postings made in error, such as to the wrong general ledger account. In effect, the reversal entry makes it appear as if the posting never occurred. The following examples illustrate the difference between offsetting debit and credit entries and negative debit/positive credit entries. Example 1: General ledger that does not support negative debits/positive credits. An account is credited for $100,000. After posting, it is determined that the entire amount should have been posted to another account. To remedy the situation, a debit in the amount of $100,000 is applied to the account, netting out the credit. Account Type Debit Credit Net Result Cash 100,000 (100,000) 0 Table 2-7: General Ledger that Does Not Support Negative Debits/Positive Credits In FRx, if a report was designed showing separate debit and credit columns, this transaction would show amounts of $100,000 in both the debit and credit columns. This would inflate the amounts of the respective columns. An analysis of the account and transaction detail for the account would show that, although the account nets to zero, the activity for the period has a $100,000 debit and $100,000 credit. Example 2: General ledger that supports negative debits/positive credits. In this situation, the user posts a positive credit of $100,000 to the account to cancel out the original credit (negative) journal entry. Account Type Debit Credit Cash (100,000) Cash 100,000 Net Result 0 Table 2-8: General Ledger that Does Support Negative Debits/Positive Credits 19

29 Using Great Plains-Specific Features Viewing FRx Sample Reports In Example 2, an analysis of the account detail for the specific account shows that the account nets to zero. The difference is that debit activity is zero, while credit activity nets to zero (a result of the positive credit and negative credit of $100,000 offsetting.) FRx supports this functionality and will automatically recognize the different signs within respective posting types (Debit versus Credit). Viewing FRx Sample Reports FRx includes sample reports for the fictitious companies called Fabrikam Works, Inc. (FW) and Fabrikam Works, Inc. Canada (FWC). From the Report Designer demonstration data, you can view the sample building blocks (row formats, column layouts, reporting trees, and catalog IDs) and generate reports for Fabrikam Works, Inc. (FW) and Fabrikam Works, Inc. Canada (FWC). To see the demonstration company setup 1 Start the Report Designer. 2 From the Company menu, select Information. 3 Click Find. 4 Select FW or FWC. 5 Click OK. For instructions on generating the FRx sample reports, go to the documentation Table of Contents and click on View Sample Reports, or refer to the printed FRx Report Designer Tutorial book. If you would like to generate reports of your own using the FRx sample data, refer to the following table that lists financial information about the Fabrikam Works companies. Year Date 2003: December Posted only; beginning balances available 2004: Full year of data Posted 2005: Full year of data March only: unposted/posted All others: posted only Table 2-9: Fabrikam Works, Inc. Financial Information To open and view the sample building blocks 1 On the Company menu, click Select Default. 2 From the Select Default Company dialog box, select FW or FWC and click OK. 3 From the Control Panel, click Row Formats, Column Layouts, Reporting Trees, or Catalog of Reports. 4 In the dialog box that appears, select the sample building block to view and click OK. The sample building block appears on your screen. 20

30 Index A account activity 12 adjustment periods 17 assigning year-end adjustments 17 B base currency 13 book codes 13 C company, creating 6 consolidations 18 creating companies 6 reports using transaction detail codes 15 sample reports 20 currency translation 15 D data sources 2 DrillDown Viewer icon 3 E excluding adjustments 18 F Fabrikam Works 6, 20 features 8 FRx client, starting 3 FRx Report Server icon 3 starting 4 functional currency 13 FW 6, 20 G general ledger books 13 H home currency 13 I inactive accounts 9 including adjustments 18 installing ODBC driver 2 M multicurrency 13 N natural currency 14 negative debits 19 new company, creating 6 normal balance column 18 O ODBC driver, installing 2 opening FRx 3 operational currency 14 originating currency 14 21

31 Index P product categories 9 project accounting formatting 11 using 9 project codes 9 R registering FRx 5 Report Designer icon 3 Report Launcher icon 3 reporting adjustment periods 17 reporting currency 14 S sample reports 20 starting FRx 3 FRx client 3 FRx Report Server 4 supported terminal emulation software vii T Table of Contents icon 3 terminal emulation software vii terms 9 transaction detail codes 15 V viewing sample reports 20 Y year-end adjustments 17 22