Reporting Dashboard

The Reporting Dashboard, under Dashboards > Reporting on an initiative's side menu, is a table of the raw benefit and cost values of the initiative and every initiative beneath it — one row for each value, in each period. Filter, group, and pivot it, like a spreadsheet pivot table, to build the report you need, then save it as a view or export it to Excel.

This article covers both the Advanced and Simple Models. The dashboard is available where it's enabled for the initiative's classification, or the project type — see Standard Dashboards. Depending on your instance, benefits may be called impacts, including in the dashboard's labels.

What the data looks like

Before it's pivoted, the table is a flat list. Each row is one value: one series, such as a benefit's plan or a cost's budget, for one period. For example, a benefit with a monthly plan for two years has 24 plan rows, one for each month.

The columns describe each value:

• What it belongs to — Initiative, Initiative Classification, Name (the benefit or cost category), Classification, and, for costs, Cost, Cost Category, and Cost Group.
• Which series it is — Step 1 - Dataset, such as Plan, Actual, Forecast, or Budget, and Baseline, for values from the active baseline.
• When it's for — Step 2 - Desired Resolution, whether the value is monthly, quarterly, or yearly, and its Date, Month, Quarter, and Financial Year.
• The value — Value, with its Unit and Unit Type.

Custom fields can be added as columns, listed under the item they're mapped to, such as initiative or benefit. Click an initiative's or benefit's name to open it.

Each benefit's values are in its own reporting periods — a benefit reported quarterly has a row for each quarter. Values are for each period on its own, not running totals.

Benefits and costs together

Benefits and costs can be reported on separately, or together. Together, cost values are shown as negative, so adding up the Value column gives the net value — benefits less costs. Reporting on both is only available in the financial unit, and isn't available on the enterprise.

Setting up a report

The data is chosen with the Filter button on the toolbar, which sets the filters on the Step 1 - Dataset, Unit, and Baseline columns for you. Work through it in order:

1. Click Filter. The filter options open.
2. Under Properties, choose the Type: Benefit, Cost, or All for both. Changing the type clears any series already chosen.
3. For benefits, choose the Unit — only benefits in that unit are included. With All, the unit is the financial unit.
4. Under Benefit Series or Cost Series, check the series to include — Plan, Actual, and Forecast for benefits; Budget, Actual, and Forecast for costs. Check Baseline to add the values from the active baseline, too.
5. Click Apply Filter. The table reloads with the data chosen. The Filter button shows what's selected, such as Filter Benefit - AUD.
6. Where benefits are reported at different resolutions, filter the Step 2 - Desired Resolution column to one resolution, such as monthly, so values for different lengths of period aren't mixed together.
7. Filter, sort, or hide any other columns, then group or pivot the table — see Building a pivot table.

Building a pivot table

A pivot table turns the flat list into a summary — for example, totals for each cost category, by quarter. To build one:

1. Open the Columns panel at the side of the table, and check Pivot Mode. The panel shows boxes to drag columns into.
2. Drag the columns that should make the rows, such as Cost Category, into Row Groups. Add several to nest them; their order decides which is grouped under which.
3. Drag the columns that should make the columns, such as Financial Year then Quarter, into Column Labels.
4. Drag Value into Values. The values are added up in each cell. Click the value to choose another function, such as average or count.

Drag columns into Filters in the panel to narrow down the whole table. Uncheck Pivot Mode to go back to the flat list. For working with table columns, see Table View.

An example: budget costs by category

To show each cost category's budget, for each initiative, by quarter and financial year:

1. Click Filter, choose the Cost type and the Budget series, and click Apply Filter.
2. Turn on Pivot Mode.
3. Drag Cost Category, then Initiative, into Row Groups, so each category lists its initiatives.
4. Drag Financial Year, then Quarter, into Column Labels.
5. Drag Value into Values. The budgets are added up for each initiative, in each quarter.

Saving and exporting

Save the table as a view to come back to it — its filters, columns, and pivot layout are all kept. Shared views set up by an administrator are offered too, and can be changed and saved as your own. For saving and managing views, see Register Views. Administrators manage Reporting Dashboard views under Administration > User Views — see User Views.

Export the table to Excel, as it's shown, with its values formatted in the unit chosen. Use the full-screen button to see more of the table.

For the other standard dashboards, and choosing which are available, see Standard Dashboards.