Optimise Month End Reporting Processes

With all or a majority of their reports built with Solver Reporting, organisations typically find that they can complete 80% of their analysis and reporting, with 20% of the effort previously required.

The author of this page: Deirdre Lysaght
Deirdre Lysaght, Marketing Executive Apr 01, 2021

Solver Reporting consists of a modern Web Portal where users can run and view reports in their web browser, along with a flexible Excel add-in where power users design and edit reports. The latter has been designed with the latest Microsoft technologies and follows Microsoft best practices for interface design and usability.

Using Solver’s modern, cloud-connected Excel add-in, power users (Designers) open and edit reports directly in Excel from the Solver Web Portal. While many CPM suites have two report writers, one in their web portal and one in Excel, Solver has a single report designer in Excel with a single web portal where end-users access reports and where power users manage, run and publish reports. This provides Solver users with the “best of both worlds” by combining the unprecedented formatting, familiarity and formulas of Excel for report template design, with the ease-of-access, control and zero-footprint of a web portal where end-users can run and view reports.

Solver Reporting is a powerful solution for financial reporting and consolidations, as well as operational reporting, giving your managers one single location to access all key critical business information.

With all or a majority of their reports built with Solver Reporting, organisations typically find that they can complete 80% of their analysis and reporting, with 20% of the effort previously required. In other words, some of the key reasons for implementing Solver Reporting are:

  • Cloud-based with automated updates.

  • Single report designer replacing many internal reporting tools.

  • Excel report designer interface that business users are comfortable with.

  • Easy to build reports with drag and drop wizards and pre-built formulas.

  • Reporting on General Ledger (GL), sub-ledgers, as well as other data sources.

  • Reporting on Solver’s Data Warehouse (data can come from any data source).

  • Optional reporting live on ERP databases.

  • Consolidations across companies.

  • Currency conversion.

  • Handle special needs such as allocations and reconciliations.

  • Eliminate any manual exports to Excel for formatting, printing, etc.

  • Design of Solver input forms (for budgeting, forecasting, elimination entries, consolidation adjustments and other types of data entry).

  • Ad-hoc reporting for quick answers.

  • Automatically integrate reports to PowerPoint and Word using Microsoft 365 integration

Solver Reporting is one of the main modules in the Solver suite. The other two main modules are:

  • Solver Data Warehouse – configuration and management of data sources. The Solver Data Warehouse allows you to integrate data from different systems across the organisation, into one single database for reporting, planning and dashboards.

  • Solver Planning – input and workflow for budgeting, forecasting and other data entry needs (e.g. financial adjustments, allocations)

Additional module features:

  • Dashboards – Optional use of Excel charts, graphs and conditional formatting by using Solver Reporting, or for professional dashboards with advanced visualisations, Solver integrates directly with Microsoft Power BI.

In summary, Solver Reporting serves as a report writer, report viewer and report analysis solution for any type of data populated in the Solver Data Warehouse. In addition, it offers real-time (live) reporting on a number of popular ERP systems, for example, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Here are some scenarios for when to use Solver Reporting with the Data Warehouse:

  • Reporting across multiple source systems (like multiple ERP systems or ERP and CRM data).

  • Advanced currency conversion.

  • Consolidations and eliminations.

  • Allocations.

  • Performance (faster reporting without slowing down the source ERP system).

  • Budget and forecast reports (either for Solver’s Planning module or for another budget system).

  • Designing budget templates and other business input forms (with Solver’s Planning module).

For users, typically accountants, requiring real-time reporting on their ERP database, Solver has a technology referred to as Hybrid Cloud that provides real-time access from the cloud and into a select number of pre-integrated on-premise ERP systems.

The Hybrid Cloud integration has a metadata layer that displays user-friendly field names. These shields users from complex technical field and table names within the ERP by translating them into plain English business terms. This provides Solver with major advantages over standard query tools and report writers that connect directly to a data source without any form of metadata translation. More importantly, Solver has already pre-defined important logic such as time logic, which then can eliminate the use of otherwise complex period formulas when users design reports.

To learn more about how your business could benefit, register your interest for our upcoming webinar 'Streamline Month End Reporting Processes' on Thursday 29th April at 11am via Microsoft Teams.

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