USER MANUAL 5.0
Table of Contents Introduction... 2 Features and Benefits... 2 Overview... 3 Standard User... 3 Administrator... 3 Unconnected... 3 Connect or Connected... 4 Configuration... 5 Settings... 5 Registration Overview... 8 Add Users... 9 Repository... 11 Administrators... 13 Connection... 15 Definition... 19 Connection Assignment... 23 Field Mapping... 24 Lock Budgets... 28 Log Viewer... 29 Clear Log... 31 Export to Excel... 32 Process Batch... 33 Budget Maintenance... 35 Reference... 38 How it works... 38 Messages... 39 pg. 1
Introduction Full Circle Budget simplifies and automates budgeting and forecasting from Excel into Microsoft Dynamics. Financial budgets are updated directly back into Microsoft Dynamics GP or SL as they are entered or centrally via batch processing. Features and Benefits EASY FLEXIBLE CONFIGURABLE VERSATILE EFFICIENT DETAIL SECURE CONTROL MAINTAIN BEYOND BUDGETING Add or change budget entries directly in Excel in the format designed by YOUR company Structure data in rows, columns, or a combination of both Arrange Periods, Accounts and Budget IDs in almost any format imaginable Save budget entries in real time or in a batch mode Add and track new account numbers automatically (GP only) Support budget entries via comments or line item detail Disable and/or password protect Full Circle Budget definitions controlling budget updates Log all budget entries and retrieve previous versions of budget templates via workbook tracking Enter/update budget amounts directly in Full Circle Budget Consolidate small subsidiaries from Excel, trend unit values, or capture statistics and overhead rates pg. 2
Overview The Full Circle Budget ribbon will be different depending on your current state: Standard User, Administrator, or Unconnected. Standard User As a standard user the options available are: Reconnect, Process Workbook, and Configuration. Administrator As an administrator you see the entire Full Circle Budget ribbon bar. These are: Connected, Process Workbook, Process Batch, Budget Maintenance, Lock Budgets, Configuration, Connection, Definition, and Log Viewer. Unconnected When you are unconnected you will see Connect and Configuration buttons in the ribbon bar. pg. 3
Please note that the Connect menu option can appear either as a house or a globe. The house represents a connection thru your local area network whereas the globe represents a connection thru the web (if purchased and configured). Screens Connect or Connected The function tells Full Circle Budget to Connect or reconnect to its repository. 1. It is used if the connection is lost. 2. If you change your repository settings. 3. You can set Full Circle Budget to auto connect. If you have not chosen this option, you can use Connect. If there are any errors, they will be displayed so that is can be identified and corrected. pg. 4
Configuration Settings This screen is used to change all of Full Circle Budget's application parameters. Changing any values in this screen will have global affects to all registered users, they are not only restricted to the computer these changes were made. pg. 5
GENERAL AUTOLOAD ON STARTUP DISABLE ON SAVE AS LOCK BUDGET Full Circle Budget loads every time excel starts. However, this flag if not set will not attempt to connect to its repository unless you select Connect in the ribbon. This flag is useful if connection to the repository is slow or when you rarely use Full Circle Budget. When this option is selected, any workbook saved as another name will not be considered or disabled by Full Circle Budget. This flag is not implemented. AMOUNT ON COMPLETE FLAG BATCH PROCESSING SUMMARY ENABLE WORKBOOK PASSWORD Select a folder where you would like to save the log when using Full Circle Budget in unattended batch save and/or retrieval. This is the password Full Circle Budget will use to enable a workbook that has been disabled thru the File Save As option. pg. 6
LOGGING ENABLED CLEANUP LOGS Check this option if updates and any errors are to be logged. If this option is selected, old log entries will be automatically erased after a write back operation. If the option is not selected, logs will never be erased. Number represents number of days to keep in the log. WORKBOOK TRACKING If you are keeping logs and would like to keep a record of the original workbook for any logged entries, select this option. You need only select the folder that will contain the tracked workbooks. (The folder either must exist for every user or accessible to ever user during a write back. If not accessible, a message stating the workbook cannot be copied to the folder will be shown, but the processing will still continue) The TRACING BUTTON in the upper right hand corner will activate tracing to aid our development team in identifying any issues you may have encountered. pg. 7
Registration Overview This screen is where you can review all the users using Full Circle Budget as well as the features currently installed. It is also used to add users to Full Circle Budget. If this is an evaluation copy, you will see the number of days remaining in the features section. The green check mark next to version in the screen above indicates that you are currently running the latest version. If you see the following image, a new version is available. pg. 8
Add Users After selecting this option the following screen will appear. Enter the name of the user you wish to add. pg. 9
You can find the users in one of the following four ways: {USER LOGIN} {DOMAIN: USER It will find the user's login in all domains. This could take several seconds. It will find the user's login on the domain entered. This is the quickest. LOGIN} {DOMAIN:} EMPTY This will find all users in the domain entered. Please note the colon at the end. This will list all users in all domains. Once the users are listed, select all those that should have access to Full Circle Budget. pg. 10
Repository The repository is where Full Circle Budget maintains all of its settings, connections, report definitions and logs. It is centralized so that all workstations can share the same information. The information is saved in the PC's registry and is accessed thru this screen. DATABASE DESCRIPTION A description that was assigned to this repository when it was installed. pg. 11
PROVIDER SERVER DATABASE INTEGRATED SECURITY USERNAME PASSWORD TIME OUT Select the Microsoft SQL version you are using that will contain the repository. The name of the server this repository is installed. The name of the repository that Full Circle Budget will use. We recommend FullCircleBudget. Selecting this option will tell Full Circle Budget to connect to the repository using the windows user login. If this option is not selected, the User ID and password supplied will be used. User ID to connect to the repository. Password for the User ID. The number of seconds Full Circle will wait to establish a connection to the repository. WEB ACCESS (ONLY APPLIES IF YOU HAVE PURCHASED THE WEB PORTAL FEATURE) SERVICE URL TIME OUT The website URL where Full Circle Budget will connect to access the repository and all the data connections. The number of seconds Full Circle will wait to establish a connection to the repository using the URL. The EXPORT BUTTON will allow you to export these settings to a file of your choosing. This file can be copied and later used on other computers to hasten the installation process. pg. 12
Administrators Full Circle Budget administrators have full access to the system's settings, functions, logs and definitions. To identify these users as administrators, select the menu option Registration Overview under Configuration and you will see the screen seen here. Current Administrators are indicated by a check mark in the Admin section. To identify a new Administrator: Click the check box associated with the user s name Enter the password with a confirmation Once this is done, the user need only open excel and they will automatically be an administrator. pg. 13
If you log into a user's PC and must access Full Circle Budget's screens, you can select Administrator Login, this will grant you temporary access as an administrator. Be sure to log out once your work there is done. Administrator Login This feature is where an administrator can access Full Circle Budget's full features when they are on another's computer. The administrator need only access this option and enter their name and password. pg. 14
Connection The connection screen identifies all the parameters needed to connect to your accounting system. It also is used to identify the type and version you are using. NAME WORKSHEET PATTERN The name of the connection for information purposes only. In some cases a Definition can be mapped to several connections. When this happens, the pattern entered here will be joined with the pattern of the workbook. This will tell Full Circle Budget to use this pattern with that of the definition. This can be any valid excel formula that returns a True or a False. pg. 15
CONNECTION TYPE SERVER DATABASE Select the Microsoft SQL version you are using that will contain the repository. The name of your server including the instance name where your accounting system resides. The name of the database that was given when your accounting system was created. LOGIN TYPE USER ID PASSWORD Select the type of login to access the accounting system. There are two (2) ways to connect to your server. 1. Windows Authentication 2. Manually Supply Login Information User ID to connect to the accounting system. Password for the User ID ACCOUNTING SYSTEM ACCOUNTING Select the accounting system that you are using. SYSTEM VERSION REVENUE ACCOUNT Select the version for your accounting system. If your accounting system handles revenue accounts differently and need to flip the budget sign when writing back the budgets, use this field to enter a valid excel formula in here that will return TRUE or FALSE indicating if the sign is to be flipped. pg. 16
example: or (mid({account}, 4, 1) = "4", mid({account}, 4, 1) = "5") CLEAR BUDGET Select this option if the actual budget entry is Zero (0) and has no comments saved. ENTRIES pg. 17
For Microsoft Dynamics SL (Only) you will see a combo box listing all companies. Just select the company associated to this connection. The TEST CONNECTION button will attempt to connect to the server locally using the information supplied. Displays will be: Blue circle when not tested Green circle when the connection has been successful Red circle when a connection be made The DELETE button will not work if there are definitions currently using the connection. The COPY button will copy the current connection. It will immediately make a copy with NEW CONNECTION as its name. pg. 18
Definition This screen is used to define a report format to Full Circle Budget can both identify it for processing and either write back budgets and/or the comments as well. NAME The name of the definition. INFORMATION pg. 19
ACTIVE WORKSHEET WOKSHEET PATTERN FIRST ROW LAST ROW SHEET PASSWORD SAVE ON WRITEBACK LOCKED This option indicates if the definition is active. If it is not active it will be ignored in any processing. This must be a valid Excel formula that must return True or If If a pattern is entered here, then it will be used to evaluate if the workbook will be used for processing. If more than one (1) pattern tests True, then the sheet will not be considered and it will appear in the invalid sheets in the Process Workbook option. This can be any valid excel formula that returns a True or a False. These two options work in unison telling Full Circle Budget the extreme limits when it comes to processing the worksheet. If the Last row is not specified, the Full Circle Budget will process until the last used row. If the Last row is used, the option Skip hidden rows is ignored. When retrieval is made, the sheet password is used to LOCK all fields except those fields that are used to enter the budgets. When this option is checked, the workbook is saved automatically every time as the Process Workbook option is used. This definition has been locked with a password. Unselecting this option will unlock it. This flag is set when the budget itself should be locked to prohibit any other changes. CUSTOMIZATION Full Circle Budget allows all the page setup information to be saved with a definition. When retrieval is made, all page pg. 20
formatting can be preset and saved to allow a more uniform user experience. GET CURRENT Saves the current page setup that Excel has to this Definition. CUSTOMIZATION RESTORE Retrieves the current customization associated to the Definition and restores it to Excel. Once done, you can make changes to it then select the option GET CURRENT CUSTOMIZATION to save it. WORKBOOK DISABLED DISPLAY MESSAGE CELL MESSAGE Select this option is a message is to be displayed if the workbook is disabled due to "File Save As". Cell where the message will be saved Message to be used. If blank, a default message is displayed OPERATIONS ON WORKBOOK OPEN ON CHANGE DETECTED Three options are available when excel opens a workbook: 1. Never retrieve the comments 2. Ask to retrieve the comments 3. Always retrieve the comments When there has been a change to the workbook and Full Circle Budget is monitoring any Definitions associated to it then when a close or save is made, the following options are available: pg. 21
Prompt Default to Yes Default to No Ask if the budgets are to be written back Write back the budgets Do not write back the budgets AUTO CREATE ACCOUNTS SKIP HIDDEN ROWS Select this option if Full Circle Budget is to create any accounts that do not exist during the write back of the budgets. This option is only used for GP and the natural must already exist. Selecting this option will tell Full Circle Budget to skip all rows that are hidden. Grouped rows are considered hidden if they are collapsed! You will also see the following actions that can be performed on a definition: The DELETE will delete the definition. The IMPORT button will allow you to import a definition created elsewhere that will be used the same accounting system and version. The EXPORT button will export the definition so it can used at another location. The COPY button will copy the definition, keeping all the same values except for the worksheet pattern. pg. 22
Connection Assignment This screen is used to associate the definition to one of many connections. Once the connection is selected, the fields to be mapped will be populated. TEST field indicates if there is a worksheet pattern associated to it. If a definition is mapped multiple definitions, then a worksheet pattern is required for each definition used. This gives Full Circle Budget all the information it needs to identify a worksheet for processing. Changing the connection will reset the fields. pg. 23
Field Mappings This screen is where most of the work is done. It is here that you must map all fields. A section is a group of fields that repeat. They can repeat once or up to 9999 times. Clicking on a field on the left will refresh the information on the right. pg. 24
SECTION INFORMATION STARTS IN This identifies the column this section starts. COLUMN TOTAL COLUMNS IN REPEAT # SECTION TEST BUDGET This tells Full Circle Budget the number of columns in this section. When a section repeats it will know how many columns to move to the right. This identifies how many times this section repeats. This is a valid Excel formula what returns True or False. If it returns True, the entire section is processed. If false it skips it, saving processing time. If selected, comments will be included in this section. COMMENTS WRAP CELL If selected, the cell will have the format "Wrap text" set to True. COMMENTS READ ONLY UNPROTECT CELL TEST The sets the entire column as locked, if a sheet password is set. This is a valid Excel formula what returns True or False. If it returns True, the Cells identified in the four (4) CELL fields will be available for data entry. if A is entered, the all rows that have a budget entry will be unprotected. FORMATTING pg. 25
ENABLED Indicates that this section will have the following formatting assigned to it when retrieval is made. If it is not set, it will use the formatting defined in the Information Page of this definition. FIELD MAPPING INFORMATION FIELD CELL FORMULA CONTENTS REQUIERED EXCEL COMMENT The field you are currently on. This is the location where the data can be found. Any valid excel formula can be used. Full Circle Budget uses special ways to help it identify a cell in its formula: {X}, where X is a column A-IV or {9}, where 9 represents a row. What Full Circle Budget does is it replaces the {X} with the row it is currently on. {C} will be dynamically replaced to C14 if row 14 is the current row. The same can be said to {9}. What Full Circle Budget does is it replaces the {9} with the column it is currently on. {13} will be dynamically replaced to G13 if column G is the current column. Every other excel formula will work as planned and expected. Full Circle Budget has a number of fields in its definitions called Formula. When on a Formula field, this entry is enabled to allow you to enter any valid excel formula and place the results of this formula in the CELL (Identified above). This is for information purposes. It shows what the results of the Cell will be. Identify if this field is required. If it is and is blank, the data for this section/occurrence is skipped. This tells Full Circle Budget that the comment to be written back or retrieved is located in the cell s comment and not the cell s value. pg. 26
ROUND This will round the value of the budget to the number of places specified. Worksheet location explanation scenario. Sample Scenario Section starts in F 3 columns in every section and It repeats 12 times (This assumes that the Budget amounts are in F, I, etc... The comments are in G and H, J and K etc) {F} would be used for the Budget amount (it is the first column in the section) Full Circle Budget will add the row it is on and shift over as it processes the section. This means {F} will translate to F99 then to I99 etc. pg. 27
Lock Budgets There will be times when a budget related to one or more definitions must be locked for various reasons. A locked budget can retrieve comments without any restriction but when a write back is performed, a password will be required before any information is sent to the accounting system. The screen below shows one budget that is currently locked. Select the budgets you wish to have locked (or unlocked) and click on the action to perform in the upper right corner of the screen. Unlock the password from those budgets selected. Will remove Lock Will ensure that a password has been entered and confirmed and assign it to all selected budgets, including those already locked. There is only one locked password. It must be entered corrected for each definition that is locked so that is can be processed. pg. 28
Log Viewer With Full Circle Budget, all write backs are tracked and saved so that an administrator can consult them when needed. An administrator can customize two very important settings so that the logs can contain more or less information. For more information on this, refer to the Configuration Settings screen. Above, you can see an example of the log viewer. When you move from line to line in the grid, the information seen under it will change displaying more information concerning the log entry. The entries are originally displayed by date starting with the most recent followed by the user. You can see in the icon in these two columns the current sort order by the direction of the arrow. Note the five operations you can perform in this screen: 1. Clear Log 2. Erase Current Entries 3. Displayed Entries 4. Export to Excel 5. Open Workbook pg. 29
When you click on the arrow of any column you will see the screen to the left. Text filters allows you to search the column for patterns. Simply select the pattern you wish to use then type it in. Full Circle Budget will filter the results in the grid shown. pg. 30
Clear Log When you select this operation, you will be asked to confirm your action. The log and all its entries along with all tracked workbooks, assuming you have this option enabled, will be deleted. When the process has completed, the screen will close automatically. This option would normally be used if you need to restart your logging as of now. It is also a faster alternative to the other operation Erase Current Entries. You can also disable logging in the Configuration Settings screen. Erase Current Entries Sometimes you may want to erase only those entries listed in the screen. When you select this operation, you will be asked to confirm your action. All listed entries along with all tracked workbooks, assuming you have this option enabled, will be deleted. If a workbook that is being tracked still has entries present in the log, the workbook will not be deleted. Displayed Entries When Full Circle Budget is first installed, the displayed entries are set to include only those within the last month. This allows the administrator to see only a subset of his data allowing for a quicker retrieval. You have the option of setting displayed entries to a set period or custom range. pg. 31
The custom range will allow you to enter a beginning and ending date. This will allow you to review a specific time period for all transactions made. In the example seen here on the right, the dates specified are from January 1st, 2009 to February 28th, 2011. If you click on the month in the calendar, you can easily navigate to a different month or year. Export to Excel After you have filtered and sorted your log entries, you may want to further review them. Selecting the operation Export to Excel, Full Circle Budget creates a new workbook with all the fields from the log going into a new sheet. There, you can use Excel's powerful functionality to continue review the data or print it. pg. 32
You will also note that cell A1 contains the criteria used to filter the information shown Open Workbook If a workbook tracking is activated and the workbook still exists, the Open Workbook option is enabled, allowing you to open the workbook and have excel bring the active cell to the appropriate sheet and cell. Process Batch Full Circle Budget allows multiple workbooks to be processed at a time. This process can be run either thru the menu or unattended. In the screen below, you need only select the folder where your workbooks are stored and Full Circle Budget will list all the excel files in the directory. If you choose to limit the files you want to process, simply select a date at which you want to list to show. You can at any time uncheck those files you do not want to process. pg. 33
Once you are ready, simply click on Retrieve or Save to start your work. Unattended You can also launch this process with a few command line arguments to process these files on a schedule. Simply launch excel like so: 1) "C:\Program Files (x86)\microsoft Office\Office14\EXCEL.EXE" /FCB- R=C:\Users\Administrator\Downloads\FCB*Retrieve 2) "C:\Program Files (x86)\microsoft Office\Office14\EXCEL.EXE" /FCB- W=C:\Users\Administrator\Downloads\FCB*Save Please note the asterisk "*" in the folder names at the end of the command line. Since excel cannot process spaces embedded in the command line, every asterisk is interpreted as a space. In the two examples above, FCB*Retrieve and FCB*Save are folder names with a space instead of the asterisk. /FCB-R= Will launch excel and retrieve the comments for all workbooks in the folder following the equal sign "=" /FCB-W= Will launch excel and save back the budgets and/or the comments for all workbooks in the folder following the equal sign "=" If there is a folder specified in the Unattended Batch Processing field in the screen Settings, a summary file will be created showing all work that has been performed. pg. 34
Budget Maintenance When an administrator must make a few minor adjustments to the budget, simply click on Budget Maintenance and you will be presented with the screen the shown below. First you must select the connection, or accounting system, with which you wish to work with. pg. 35
Budget Maintenance Search After selecting the connection, the screen will change to that see here: See here above, this screen allows you to search for any account in your accounting system, either by number or description. By default, only the first ten (10) matching entries are returned. You can expand your search to up to one thousand (1000) results if you so desire. If more results are returned than shown, a message in the lower right of the screen (seen here) states "Only the first xx results are shown". pg. 36
After selecting the account, the screen seen here below is shown. Here you must select the budget and year after which all the budget amounts and any comments are shown in a grid like pattern. You can change the amount and the comments directly in the grid or in the area seen at the bottom of the screen. Any changes pending will be seen in bold. You will also be able to change the Unit Quantity and/or amount along with Completed, Approved 1 and 2 as well. (These are optional values used only for informational purposes) When done, click on Save and the budgets will be written back and logged pg. 37
Reference How it works Full Circle Budget connects to T3 Information Systems Product Licensing engine to determine if your product is a fully licensed product or verify that your evaluation copy has not expired. It also advises administrators if there is a new version available. Full Circle Budget also monitors every Microsoft Excel workbook to identify the patterns defined so that is can automatically retrieve comments or write back the budgets to a variety of support accounting systems. It logs all transactions and maintains its own security. When Excel launches, it will attempt to connect to the repository locally. If no connection can be established, it then tries the web service if one was purchased. Once connected, it monitors every workbook open and saves and takes appropriate action when needed. All information passed over the web is compressed and encrypted for security and speed issues. pg. 38
Messages The following section will list all the messages that Full Circle Budget has and possible actions or ramifications that can occur. Not all messages noted here will have any action associated to it. Some are for information only. Number Message Action / Reason See also 100001 800001 800002 800003 Workbook Tracking. If you select "yes" all files will be deleted from the You are about to tracking folder. disable workbook If you selecting "No", the files will remain untouched tracking. Do you want to delete all existing files? Activation request Your request was submitted. We will be contacting you shortly to discuss all related purchasing information. Upgrade request Your request was submitted. We will be contacting you shortly to discuss all related purchasing information. Request in Progress An upgrade or activation request has already been submitted and is currently being processed. An administrator has already made a request for either an activation or an upgrade. T3 Information Systems will contact you with the information provided to confirm the request and process the transaction. The moment the request is processed, your copy of Full Circle Budget will be automatically upgraded the next time it is launched from Excel. Configuration Settings Activating Configuration Registration Upgrading Registration Overview Registration Overview pg. 39