Working with Different File Types in Financial Package

How to Attach a Microsoft Word Template to a Financial Package Report?

To attach a Microsoft Word Template to a Financial Package report, perform Template setup in the Word application.

1. Open Microsoft Word and click the Insert tab.

2. Click Cover Page and customize as needed.

3. Place your cursor at the end of the cover page and click the Page Layout tab.

4. Click Breaks and select the Next Page option under Section Breaks.

5. Right-click on the header area in the document and select Header.

6. Go to the Section 2 header area.

7. Unselect the Link to the Previous one and uncheck the Different First Page under Design (Header & Footer Tools).

8. Select a header from the predefined headers in Microsoft Word (from the Header option under the Design tab) or define a custom header as needed.

9. Go to the Section 2 Footer area.

10. Unselect the Link to the Previous option.

11. Select a footer from the predefined footers in Microsoft Word (from the Footer option under the Design tab) or define a custom Footer as needed.

12. Click Close Header and Footer.

13. Save the document and upload it as the template to your Financial Package report.

14. Click Preview. The Financial Package report will be generated using the uploaded document as the source for formatting the Financial Package report.

Creating Table of Contents

You can create a Table of Contents (TOC) for output in a Microsoft Word document using the Table of Contents, Content Type.

Use this feature to create a TOC versus creating one in the template that is used to create the Financial Package Word document. The Word document will not create a proper TOC if it was previously added to the Template.

Working with PowerPoint files

When using PowerPoint as the Document Type and an uploaded Template for the generated Financial Package report, ensure you can customize the look and feel of the generated Financial Package report for all slides in a single location. For example, you can add background images (such as the Corporate logo), change color schemes, or apply different fonts and bullet styles. Financial Package uses the Slide Master from the uploaded template to generate the Financial Package (in PowerPoint, select View from the Ribbon and then select Slide Master). Therefore, you do NOT need to add any slides to the template to reflect the different styles to use during Financial Package generation (a template can be blank, saved successfully, and loaded to the Financial Package). The one exception is a Cover Slide, which is discussed below. Control the Cover Slide through Slide Master and the Slide Layouts contained within.

The Slide Master is usually made up of several different Slide Layouts which represent Title slides, Content slides, or different slide orientations. The following Slide Layouts are used by the Financial Package to generate Financial Package reports in PowerPoint.

• Title Slide Layout – Used to generate the Financial Package report level slide (for example, the root level Financial Package member)

• Section Header Layout – Used to generate the Group sections from the Financial Package report

• Title and Content Layout – Used to generate all other sections within a Financial Package report (Text, Document, and Financial Report, for example)

Attaching a PowerPoint Template

Perform Template setup in the Microsoft PowerPoint application using the concept of a Slide Master. A Slide Master is the top slide in a hierarchy of slides. It contains information such as slide layout, font, and background. It also may contain placeholders (for titles for example) based on the setup. The benefit of using Slide Master is that you can make changes to the style of one slide and it will affect all slides in the group or hierarchy. The following items can be set in the Slide Master and the Financial Package will not change them during report generation.

• Font color and size

• Bullet styles – Such as circle or square

• Background style – Such as image or color

• Theme – Packaged set of formats including background style, bullet styles, and font colors and sizes

• Slide Orientation – Portrait or landscape

• Slide Layouts – Different slide types used depending on whether you are displaying content, images, or titles/section headers for example

The Slide Layouts that are created in a Slide Master in PowerPoint have a particular “signature”. This signature is a Microsoft identifier that can’t be modified. This signature is used by Financial Package Publisher to determine an appropriate template for generating Financial Package reports. Therefore, it is recommended to use a Microsoft Slide Master that has not been modified as the baseline for creating your PowerPoint template. More specifically the Slide Layouts mentioned above should not have the following alterations made otherwise it will impact the produced Financial Package.

• Slide Layout Name – This should NOT be changed. For example, Title Slide Layout, Section Header Layout, and Title Content Layout

• Placeholders – These are items such as text boxes, images, pictures, tables, and charts. These items should NOT be removed from the default Slide Layouts mentioned above because they will impact the placement of text and objects coming from the Financial Package. These can be modified in terms of size and placement on the slide.

• Do not create your own Slide Layouts with the names mentioned above as they will not have the appropriate signature for use by Financial Package Publisher

The recommended approach to working with Slide Masters is to start with the default PowerPoint Slide Master and add items to customize. For example, a background color or image can be applied to the Slide Master, which means that all Slide Layouts will inherit this color or image. In addition, items such as footers with page numbers and dates can be defined in the Slide Master and applied to all slides. You can control the use of items in the footer by selecting Insert > Header & Footer in PowerPoint. You can control which items you want included in the template. For example, you can control whether to include the date, slide number, or footer for example. You can format these objects in the footer by selecting View > Slide Master.

Adding a Cover Slide to a PowerPoint Presentation

Add a Cover Page to a presentation when the first page needs to be formatted differently from the other Slide Layouts in the Slide Master. A Cover Slide can be added to a template as an actual slide in the Normal View of PowerPoint. This Cover Slide can be formatted in any way. You can add images, background styles, text, and titles. When the template is used to generate the Financial Package, the Cover Slide is inserted as the first slide in the PowerPoint presentation with the formatting applied in the template (ignoring the Slide Master formatting). You can have more than a single Cover Slide. The Report Title slide will follow the Cover Slide(s).

Slide Master Setup Options

Your Financial Package report is displayed based on the set up of your master slide in Slide Master. To access Slide Master, open Microsoft PowerPoint, click View, and select Slide Master.

Setting Up a Slide Master with a Cover Slide

In this example, a Financial Package report will be produced with a cover page that is different from the title slide and subsequent pages. The remainder of the pages may contain different reports, however, all reports will have the same layout.

The cover slide is set up as a slide in the PowerPoint template itself (not within Slide Master).

If this template is selected as the PowerPoint template in Financial Package Publisher and the Cover page is the page, then the Title page will contain the title of the Financial Package report and the remainder of the report pages will be displayed on the Financial Package Template designed.

Now, return to the Planful application and select the PowerPoint Template as the Template for a Financial Package report.

Add a section to the Financial Package report.

The Slide Title checkbox is selected so that the Name of the report (called Finance Report) appears on the generated slide in the report output.

Setting Up a Slide Master without a Cover

Sometimes you do not want a cover page. In this case, the Slide Master setup will be the same as the setup in Example 1, but the cover page will be deleted. Therefore, you would have a PowerPoint template that is blank, there will be no slides.

When Example 2 (without a cover page) is selected as the PowerPoint Template, the Financial Package report is generated without the cover page; only the Title page and the Financial Package template are generated for the text section.

Emailing and Report Attachments

An error will occur when you open a Microsoft PowerPoint file attached to a generated email. Set component security settings back to defaults to avoid the error.

1. Open the Windows Control Panel.

2. Open Administrative Tools.

3. Open Component Services and expand the tree under Console Root to Computers, My Computer.

4. Right-click on My Computer and select Properties.

5. Select the Default Properties tab and set the following values:

• Default Authentication Level: Connect

• Default Impersonation Level: Identify

Working with Excel files

The following suggestions are provided to allow you to use the Document Content Type to attach Excel files.

• Do not open the files on your local machine while they are being attached to a Financial Package section.

• Print setup is applicable only for Dynamic Reports. All artifacts are added as a single-page image. Excel is added as a single-page table.

• When the data in the attached Excel file is spread across multiple columns, you can use options such as Landscape and Portrait to better display the data. To ensure the embedded sections are displayed appropriately, use Page Break settings for the Content-Type (i.e. Document) to fit sections into a single page.

• When data from Excel files is used in Financial Package sections, you can ensure that tables are designed to fit within a Financial Package Word document. Create your Excel tables with no more than 4-6 average-sized columns (width = 26 pixels) so that the data displayed in the Word preview will display the data as desired. The maximum number of rows is 60.

• Keep the length of text in any cell to a minimum for the best display in the Financial Package Word document. Try to avoid using long labels or providing textual explanations within the Excel grid. As an alternative, you can use the Text Content Type to provide textual explanations for an embedded Excel grid.

• Excel files that contain macros are not supported. For files that contain macros, save a version without the macros. Use that saved version in a Financial Package.

  
  

• Excel files that contain links to external sheets are not supported. Save a version with the actual values. Use that saved version in a Financial Package.

• The Chart worksheet type is supported only with Financial Package Output files when the source data is not hidden or deleted from the workbook. Alternatively, create a worksheet and copy and paste the content. Use that version in a Financial Package.

• To display Excel objects, frame your print area chart/table/content by hiding any unused rows or columns. To ensure that there is no additional data that exists in extraneous cells, either delete or clear the content of contiguous rows or columns to ensure the report is rendered as desired. Excel uses the entire range when embedding an object into Word.

• Excel sheets that have subtotals opened on rows or columns will not be rendered correctly. Remove the subtotals and upload that version of the document.

• Excel Page Breaks are not retained when rendering an embedded Excel object. All of the data will be rendered in a single Excel object. Remove Excel Page Breaks from the file and then upload to the Financial Package.

Attaching Multiple Excel Sheets in a Financial Package

To attach a single Excel workbook and associate one or more sheets with a Financial Package Document section:

1. Select a Financial Package section.

2. Select Document as the Content Type.

3. With the File Type set to System, click Choose File.

4. Once you select an Excel workbook, the Worksheet Selection pane is opened.

   

5. The sheet selected in the first row will be the “Active” sheet (the sheet that was open when you last saved the Excel workbook).

6. Select sheets from the workbook to associate with your Financial Package report. Click the list box to display all sheets in the workbook.

7. Reorder the display of sheets in the generated report.

8. Click the Delete icon to delete a selected sheet. The first row cannot be deleted. If there is only a single sheet included in the attached Excel file, Delete will not be available.

When the Financial Package is generated, all of the Excel sheets will be included under the single Section Name as identified for the Document section. If you would like to name the Excel sheet, add the name within the Excel sheet you are referencing.