Cognos Reporting FMS111

Accessing and Running Reports in Cognos

This is a training guide to step you through accessing Cognos, navigating and running reports.

Before you begin . . .

When is this used? The Cognos tool is used to report against data entered into InfoEd, NUFinancials and FAMIS applications. Who has access? Central Offices; Department Administrators; Research Administrators; Business Administrators; Deans Offices / School Administrators Where to get help? For assistance, contact NUIT Support Center at 847-491HELP (4357), or email consultant@northwestern.edu

Upon completion of this guide, you should be able to:

Login and navigate through Cognos Run a report in Cognos using prompts (filters) Print, email and change report formats

Additional Resources For additional training materials visit Project Cafe website at http://cafe.northwestern.edu/training/materials.html

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2011 Northwestern University FMS111

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Step 1a: Log in to the NUPortal

https://nuportal.northwestern.edu

Step 2a: Cognos Navigation

Cognos will open in a new window.

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Step 2b: Cognos Navigation (continued)

You will never access the blue folders.

In the Project Caf Reports folder, you will only see subfolders based on your security.

In this example we will run the GL005 report.

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Step 2c: Cognos Navigation (continued)

You will only see subfolders based on your security.

Select the report you want to run by clicking on the report name.

The report names begin with a two letter prefix: FM (Facilities Management), GL (General Ledger), GM (Grants Management), SC (Supply Chain)

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Step 3a: Enter Prompts

A prompt is used to filter data.

Some reports have required prompts which are indicated by an *Orange Asterisk next to the prompt.

Date Options You can also select an accounting period from the following three choices: Current Period: the current calendar month Previous Period: the previous calendar month User Defined Period: specify the Fiscal Year and Accounting Period (useful for prior periods) Note: When there are multiple accounting periods open at the same time, pay close attention to the calendar to know which accounting period data will be retrieved. When in doubt, click the date option link for specific date definitions:

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Step 3b: Enter Prompts (continued) Department Tree

There are two ways to locate the department(s) you want to include in the report; Tree Search and Department Search and Select. Use the tree to drill down to the division, subdivision, department and units you want to include. As you drill through the tree, you will only see departments that you have access to view based on security.

NOTE: Multi-year reports cannot use multiple trees. Only one tree may be used per report. All years in the report will conform to financial structure used within the selected tree.
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Step 3c: Enter Prompts (continued) Department Search & Select

Department Search and Select allows you to type in values and search for results. It is recommend that you click the Options link and select contains any. Select the department(s) from the results list to include in the report.

NOTE: The more prompts selected the more refined the report. For example, if you select a Fund, Dept ID and Project, that Project will be the only thing that appears in the report. If you only select Dept ID, then all funds and projects belonging to that department will appear in the report (based on security). If non-required prompts are left blank, the system will search by all data which could increase processing time.
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Step 3d: Enter Prompts (continued) Manager/Reviewer

The Manager/Reviewer prompt allows you to run a report for a specific Manager/Reviewer. For example, if Professor Smith has grants across several departments or schools and wants to run a report of all of his chart strings, he (or anyone else) could do so by selecting his NetID in the Manager/Reviewer prompt. It is recommend that you click the Options link and select contains any.

Note: This prompt ONLY functions if the Manager/Reviewer information has been entered into NUFinancials. For instructions on how to enter a designation of Manager and Reviewers, refer to job aid: http://cafe.northwestern.edu/documents/training/cognosreporting/111/ChartfieldManagers.pdf You must have ChartField Manager Entry security access to enter and update managers, and reviewers (obtainable on the Caf Systems General Security Access Form).

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Step 4: Changing the Report Format

Select the appropriate format option from the drop-down. For most reports HTML is the default.

HTML PDF XML Excel 2002-2007 Excel 2000 Excel CSV

Allows you to click on embedded hyperlinks to drill into transaction details in the report. Allows you to easily navigate report pages and print. Select the PDF format for printing. Allows you to upload the report data in other databases and applications. Raw data. Allows you to view each unique chart string in your report on separate tabs in the spreadsheet. Allows you to view each unique chart string in your report on one tab in the spreadsheet. Allows you to view the report data in comma, separated values in a spreadsheet. Raw data.

Note: Before running a report in Excel, read Setting Security Options for Excel for important pop-up blocker information. http://cafe.northwestern.edu/documents/training/cognosreporting/111/SetSecurityExcel.pdf

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Step 5: Email Report (optional)

The Email Report option only works well with the PDF format. To email other formats (HTML, Excel), save the report to your desktop and send using your Northwestern Email (Outlook, Webmail, etc.)

Notes: The To field is pre-populated with your name and is linked to your Northwestern email address. You must manually type in additional email addresses in the Cc field. The Subject line is also prepopulated and may be changed as you wish. Make sure Attach is checked and Include is unchecked.

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Step 6: Change Prompts (optional)

Step 7: Exit the Report

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