Agility by Design - eprentise Blog

In the second tip of the Financial Statement Generator (FSG) report series, we continue to explain how FSG reports can be created that are reusable and easy to maintain. The FSG's are powerful tools that can be used to produce a variety of traditional reports such as balance sheets, profit and loss statements, income statements, expense analyses and gross margin reports.

Standards

Develop master report components that can be combined and reused for generating different reports. Use meaningful names that describe the contents of the component by the row set name. These do not print on the report.

1. All names must be unique. For example, do not have a row set named "Balance Sheet" and a report named "Balance Sheet".
2. Do not use names such as "Test Row Set" or Test 1.
3. Row Set Names identify which rows are included in the row set. For instance, a row set name might include "Summary of Revenue and Expense Accounts". The Row Set Name should be followed by an "R" to distinguish it from the report name.
4. Column Set Names indicate the type of report such as "Company Consolidation", "Rolling Monthly", or "Budget/Variance Comparison".
5. Content Set Names should identify the sort criteria, such as "Cost Centers 100-500" or "Company 01".
6. Row Order Names should state which row order display characteristics will be used, such as "Cost Center and Account Values" or "Account Descriptions".
7. Report Names should be similar to the row set name ("Balance Sheet," or "Expense Analysis"). Report Set Names should reflect when the group of reports are usually run, such as "Month-end Closing", "Yearly Audit", etc.
8. Row and Column Names do not print on the report. They are used primarily for identifying the row or column when doing calculations. Therefore, the row name should be descriptive of the type of row (assets header, cash title, A/R detail, shares outstanding hidden, equity calculation, expenses total) or the type of column (Q1, Company 02, YTD, total, etc.)

Learn to create Financial Statement Generator (FSG) reports that are reusable and easy to maintain. The FSG's are powerful tools that can be used to produce a variety of traditional reports such as balance sheets, profit and loss statements, income statements, expense analyses and gross margin reports.

There are many time-saving ways to construct and test the reports. Once the "standard" reports are developed, more sophisticated reports can be generated.

Overview

Each report is made up of several components. Each component is featured on a screen and has many fields that allow for a great deal of flexibility. Each screen allows the user to input display characteristics, state override segments, input offsets, and add levels of detail. In order to successfully create uniform, reusable reports, it must be determined where and how the different features of the FSG will be used.

Financial Statement

Here is the breakdown of a financial statement:

• Rows – Detail of the report (row headings, accounts or flexfield assignments, calculations, totals)
• Columns – Different periods, companies or consolidations. Usually, pre-defined column sets work with minor modifications.
• Report – A single combination of a row set and column set with an optional content set and an optional row order.
• Content Sets (optional) – Grouping of the same row sets and column sets sorted by a flexfield segment.
• Row Order (optional) – Display and sorting characteristics of rows in a report. Used primarily to insert the segment value (like account number) or to utilize the description of the segment value.
• Display Set (optional) – Used to block out ranges of rows or column sets simultaneously.
• Report Set – A group of reports that are run together. 

Read more: How To Generate FSG Reports - Part I