Fall 17 Release Notes

Reporting

Dashboards

Dashboards is a self-service Host Analytics data visualization product. It provides modern, interactive, flexible, and easy-to-use visualization capabilities.

Create interactive dashboards based on your financial, workforce, and scorecard data. Data security is ensured across all devices (phone, Ipad, and so on) and platforms. Dashboards is available with responsive design meaning that the user-interface displays appropriately no matter the type of device used and screen resolution applied.

The Dashboards product is used to access your data in Host Analytics for meaningful interpretation. Once your data is loaded to Host Analytics, and the appropriate data security is applied, users can build dashboards using charts, tables, and filters to interpret data for forecasting and budgeting purposes.

For information on administering Dashboards, in addition to Dashboard access and security, see the Dashboards Admin Guide.

For information on creating and working with Dashboards, see the Dashboards End-User Guide.

Code -Name - Label Display Options in Dynamic Reports

You now have the option to display Dynamic Report members by Name, Code, or Label (name+code). Access the Dynamic Reports interface by navigating to the File Cabinet and selecting an existing Dynamic Report or adding a new Dynamic Report. This feature is available for all reporting areas; financial, sales, scorecard, and workforce.

Contact Support to enable this feature if you are an existing customer. If you are new to Host Analytics, this feature is enabled by default.

Drag and drop dimensions to the page level axis, click the dimension and select members. Similarly, you can drop and drop dimensions in addition to report sets to the row and column axis, then select members.

On the Members pane, a Label selection is available as shown below in the selection pane on the left and the mapped members pane on the right.

Prior to this release, the application page did not have these selections shown below.

Click Label in the left pane to display a list-box where you can select to display the Label, Code, or Name for the dimension members listed.

Whatever label you apply here (Label, Code or Name) will also display in Dynamic Report output. By default, Label is selected and displayed.

This selection applies to Dynamic Reports added to a Report Collection or Financial Package.

Additionally, we've added an Index button in the upper right-hand corner of the pane. Select the Index button to toggle the Index on and off. The Index number (also referred to as IDX) can be displayed in the Dynamic Report if toggled on.

Report Sets - Separate Formatting for Headers and Data

Apply formatting separately to report set headers and data. This feature allows you to build more highly formatted report sets and is available for reports sets where modern features is enabled.

Access a Report Set by navigating to Reports and select an existing Report Set in the File Cabinet, or select Add, Report Set. Select a line and click the Format button. Click the Line tab at the top of the Format pane. Select the option called Separate Header & Data.

When this option is selected, it is applied to the formatting on the Data tab in the formatting pane. When you run a Dynamic Report with the Report Set, the formatting is retained.

Consolidation

Dynamic Journal and Partial Ownership Rules - Copy from Scenario to Scenario

Copy Dynamic Journals and Partial Ownership Rules from one scenario to another within the Consolidation Control Panel. Performing a copy includes all associated entries/lines and MDX formulas/rules. This automated functionality eliminates the need to recreate dynamic journals and non controlling interest for a different scenario.

In Practice

Copy a Dynamic Journal from one scenario to another:

1. Access the Consolidation Control Panel.

2. Select the scenario you want to copy the Dynamic Journals from. In the image below, the scenario is Actual.

3. Select the Dynamic Journals process and click the checkbox next to the Dynamic Journal you want to copy as shown below.

4. Click the Copy button. The Copy Dynamic Journal page appears as shown below.

5. Enter a Code and Name and select period dates.

6. Select the Target Scenario (scenario you want to copy the Dynamic Journal to). In this case it is 2016 Plan.

7. Click Next or select the Journal Entry tab. Entries for the Dynamic Journal are displayed and will be copied to the target scenario.

8. Click Save.

9. Select the 2016 Plan scenario and select the Dynamic Journals process. Notice the copied Dynamic Journal.

Open the Dynamic Journal in Edit mode to view entries. Click the Journal Entry tab to view the copied journal lines.

Copy a Partial Ownership Rule from one scenario to another:

1. Access the Consolidation Control Panel.

2. Select the scenario you want to copy the Dynamic Journals from.

3. Select the Partial Ownership Rules process and click the checkbox next to the entry you want to copy.

4. Click the Copy button. The Copy Partial Ownership Rule page appears.

5. Enter a Code and Name and select period dates.

6. Select the Target Scenario.

7. Click Next or select the Relationship tab. Continue through the Income and Investment tabs.

8. Click Save.

CTA Sets for Reporting Currency

Determine the impact of each account on the total CTA (Currency Translation Adjustment) and post CTA (calculated on a selected set of accounts) to a different set of target accounts. For example, you have CTA defined on the Fixed Assets Account where calculations will be performed, but posting will be to the Fixed Assets CTA Account.

This functionality allows you to create a CTA Set with the following:

• Source accounts on which CTA needs to be calculated

• Target account to which CTA needs to be posted

• Base rate to calculate the CTA on the Source accounts

In Practice

In the image below, source and target CTA accounts are selected for the CTA Set.

The default CTA is overwritten for a Reporting Currency member in the Hierarchy Management screen.

Sets are selected that the CTA will post to.

CTA Detailed Report - Coming Soon!

More granular control over how currency translation adjustments are posted within your account structure. For example, you might set up a CTA (Currency Translation Adjustment) Set to account for the gains or losses solely related to changes in exchange rates, then run the CTA Detailed Report to view information on gains and loses by account.

This standard report will be available in a future release. If you are interesting in more information, please contact the Product Manager, Naren Nimmagadda, at nnimmagadda@hostanalytics.com

Common

Employee Data Load Rule Enhancement

Change the scenario selection retaining the scenario's properties when loading HR data. Additionally, attribute and load columns can be loaded and are displayed based on scenario selection.

In Practice

Access the Data Load Rules page by navigating to Maintenance, DLR, Data Load Rules. A data load rule with the HR Data Load Item and the Detailed HR - Employee Data Load Sub Item is selected for this example. Click the Define Overall Rules Settings tab. A scenario called BVT_ForecastScenario is selected.

Click the Load Columns button to launch the Load Columns dialog page where you can select additional columns to load for this data load rule.

The Bonus attribute column is selected on the Load Columns dialog page and then displayed on the Define Overall Rule Settings page as shown below.

Move the order of the Bonus column as needed. Delete existing columns if needed and continue with the editing of the data load rule.

Select a different scenario. The Bonus column remains.

Currency Property Change Reflected in Planning Templates

In the past, when you changed currency properties for an account dimension member, for example, in the Hierarchy Management screen, the changed properties did not reflect in the Planning template where the dimension member is used. Now, currency property updates to dimension members done in Hierarchy Management result in template updates when the template is opened and closed (or processed via Simulation Engine) and the cube is processed. This means, the template data is recalculated according to updated properties. And, you no longer need to use a data load rule to load data with updated currency properties.

In Practice

The template below has an account dimension member (1010). The currency for this member is EUR.

When this account member (1010) is opened in Hierarchy Management (accessed by navigating to Maintenance, Hierarchy, Hierarchy Management), the properties are:

• Credit/Debit = Debit

• Currency Type = EOM

• Normal Data Input Type = YTD

When the Currency Exchange Rate page is accessed and the EUR currency is selected, the EOM currency type exchange is set up to exchange at a 4 to 1 rate as shown in the page below

Let's say you want to change the account member from Debit to Credit, the Currency Type from EOM to Avg, and the Normal Data Input Type from YTD to MTD. And, you want the changes reflected in templates with this account member.

Access the Hierarchy Management screen and select the account member (1010). Change the Debit to Credit as shown below.

Change Currency type to Avg and change Normal Data Input Type from YTD to MTD as shown below

Once the hierarchy is saved, it is submitted for publishing. Once published, open and save the template. This action recalculates the template data based on the modified member properties. You must reprocess the cube in order for changes made to display in templates.

Because the property was changed from debit to credit, a negative balance is now shown.

After Changing Properties

Prior to Changing Properties

Notice the amount for Feb-16 is -2000 versus 4000. This is because the exchange rate for Avg is 2 versus the exchange rate for EOM, which is 4.

Currency Exchange Rates Data Load Rule Enhancement

When you load currency exchange rates via Data Load Rules, you no longer need to select the Currency Conversion checkbox (on the Exchange Rates Data Load Rule - Define Overall Rule Settings page) for Budget and Forecast scenarios. Currency Conversion is now applied by default for Budget and Forecast Scenarios. This means that local currency is now automatically converted the common currency. This does NOT apply to the Actual scenario.

As soon as the Data Load Rule is complete, associated reports are updated immediately without the need to run the Reporting Scenario/Cube.

Mass Load for Currency and Calculation Exceptions

Mass load currency and calculation exceptions directly from the respective application pages.

Currency exceptions are used when you need to convert accounts with different currency types for legal entities and hyperinflationary economies. For example, you have an Venezuelan entity with a dozen accounts that need to be mapped to a currency exception rate. Prior to this functionality, you would have had to open the Currency Exception Setup page and copy the currency exception for the Venezuelan entity one-by-one for each of the 12 accounts. Now, you can mass load the exceptions for the accounts without having to map each account individually.

Calculation exceptions can be defined for a reporting currency when you need to calculate currency for certain account members of an entity at a special rate and generate reports.

Currency Exception Mass Load - In Practice

In this use case, a currency exception is defined for the 034 Hot Venezuela entity and mapped to accounts 11001 and 11002. Realistically, if you only had two accounts to map, you would use the Copy To action on the Currency Exception Setup page, but this is for demonstration purposes only.

As shown in the image below, account 11001 is defined with an EOM currency type. The same holds true for account 11002.

The exchange rate for Avg is two times of that for EOM as shown below. A currency exception needs to be created for the Venezuelan entity and accounts 11001 and 11002, which need to be mapped to Avg.

1. Access the Currency Exception Setup page by navigating to Maintenance, Currency, Currency Exceptions.

2. Select a Reporting Currency. Reporting currencies are available based on what you've defined in the Hierarchy Management screen for Reporting Currency.

3. In the right pane, click the Add button and select the 034-Hot-Venezuela company.

4. For Currency Exception, select Avg.

5. Click Save. The set up so far is shown below.

6. Instead of clicking the Copy To option and selecting account 11001 and then repeating for account 11002, click the Mass Upload icon shown below.

7. The Mass Load page appears as shown below. Select a file to load by clicking the ChooseFile button. The .xlsx file selected for this example is shown below.

You can upload XLSX file types only with a maximum size of 10MB! See Understanding File Formatting for Currency and Calculation Exception Mass Load.

8. Select Append or Override. Selecting Append adds the data uploaded to existing data. Selecting Override replaces the existing data with uploaded data.

9. Click Submit to perform the upload.

A message will appear indicating the upload processed and you can check the status in the Detail Log. Click the Output All icon to export the currency exception details to Excel. In the export below, accounts 11001 and 11002 appear for company 034 with an Avg currency exception.

Understanding File Formatting for Currency and Calculation Exception Mass Load

When you upload a file, Host Analytics validates the Company and Account codes and the currency type. Once the upload is complete, an email is sent to the user that performed the upload. If the upload results in an error, an email is sent with an attachment that lists all errors and provides the reason why the file could not be loaded.

When you upload a file, Host Analytics validates the Company and Account codes and the currency type. Once the upload is complete, an email is sent to the user that performed the upload. If the upload results in an error, an email is sent with an attachment that lists all errors and provides the reason why the file could not be loaded.

Files must be formatted with Account Code in the first column preceded by JobLeafCode for each of the currency types. An example is provided below.

Calculation Exception Mass Load - In Practice

To mass load calculation exceptions, complete the following steps:

1. Access the Calculation Exception Setup page by navigating to Maintenance, Currency, Currency Exception, and click the Calculation Exception tab.

2. Select a Reporting Currency. Reporting currencies are available based on what you've defined in segment hierarchies. For example, because Constant Dollar is defined for the Reporting hierarchy in the Hierarchy Management screen, it is available for selection on the Calculation Exception Setup screen.

3. In the right pane, click the Add icon and select a company.

4. Select enter the Calculation Exception and click Save.

5. Click the Upload icon. The Mass Load page appears as shown below. Select a file to load by clicking the ChooseFile button.

You can upload XLSX file types only with a maximum size of 10MB! See Understanding File Formatting for Currency and Calculation Exception Mass Load.

6. Selecting Append adds the data uploaded to existing data. Selecting Override replaces the existing data with uploaded data.

7. Click Submit to perform the upload.

Global Search Enhancement

In addition to navigation links, Global Search now searches bookmarked Planning templates by name and supports type ahead and partial word input. As you type, relevant selections are displayed. Search results are displayed in addition to navigation path.

Planning

Entity Mapping API

Use this API to map templates to entities.

Sample Request

In this example an HR template is mapped to two entities "1000-USD" and "Test-New".

<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:ns="http://www.HostAnalytics.com/API/SOAP/StateFree/Common/2009/03/19">

<soapenv:Header/>

<soapenv:Body>

<ns:MapEntity>

<ns:TenantCode>WFPOnetimeGF</ns:TenantCode>

<ns:LoginName>schamarthi@hostanalytics.com</ns:LoginName>

<ns:Password>Host@1234</ns:Password>

<ns:ScenarioCode>Budget 2017</ns:ScenarioCode>

<ns:templateCode>HR</ns:templateCode>

<ns:budgetEntities>

<!--Zero or more repetitions:-->

<ns:string>Test-New</ns:string>

<ns:string>1000-USD</ns:string>

</ns:budgetEntities>

</ns:MapEntity>

</soapenv:Body>

</soapenv:Envelope>

To avoid duplicates, if you try to map the same entities again, the following message is displayed.

When an invalid entity is mapped, the following message is displayed.

Sample Response with Invalid Entity

<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">

<soap:Body>

<MapEntityResponse xmlns="http://www.HostAnalytics.com/API/SOAP/StateFree/Common/2009/03/19">

<MapEntityResult>

<Status>Fail</Status>

<MapStatus>

<string>asdfasdfasdfa-INVALID</string>

</MapStatus>

</MapEntityResult>

</MapEntityResponse>

</soap:Body>

</soap:Envelope>

For information on all Host Analytics APIs, see the Admin Guide to Loading Data to Host Analytics and open the API Calls section.

Subline Planning Template Validation Feature and Report

Eliminate discrepancies between sub lines and the main Planning template with the Subline Validation feature and report. These features are available in View and Input mode.

A discrepancy in the Subline occurs when the details are not in sync with the associated main template (subline template saved but the main template not saved).

• Subline Validation Feature

• Subline Template Validation Report

Subline Validation Feature - In Practice

Open a template, click the More list-box and select the Subline Validation option as shown below.

This feature checks every main template line against associated sublines and verifies the data matches. If the data does not match, template lines are highlighted in red as shown below.

Subline Validation Report - In Practice

Run the Subline Validation report to view all subline discrepancies between sublines and main lines for a template. To access the report, open a template in View or Input mode. Click the More list-box and select Validation Report.

The Subline Validation report is a Standard Report. Admin users can access Standard Reports by navigating to Maintenance, Reports, Standard Reports. Select the Subline Validation Report, click More and select Deploy to make the report available to users. You can run the report from this interface in addition to the Template interface.

When you run the Subline Validation Report, you will be prompted to select a scenario, entity, template and fiscal year. Sample report output is shown below.

Notice the Account (main line) total is displayed next to the Subline total for comparison purposes. The Var (variance) column displays the difference between the Account and Sublines.

Planning Template View Mode Feature and Messaging

To determine if there are data discrepancies for templates opened in View mode, we've added two options under the More menu accessed from the View template page.

• View Mode Validation

• Validation Report

• Application Messaging

View Mode Validation

With View Mode Validation, you can check if there are any values that have changed since the last time the template was saved. When a template is opened in View Mode, it retrieves the values for all cells based on the last time it was saved. So, if a formula is defined in a template cell that references accounts, opening a template in View mode will display the value that was calculated and saved in the prior template version. This means that if the values of the referenced accounts change after the last time the template was saved, and the template is opened in View mode, you will not see the impact of the change as the template is, essentially, out of date. But now, you can use View Mode Validation to check if there are any of these types of discrepancies.

View Mode Validation In Practice

Open a template in View mode from the Planning Control Panel. Click the More list-box and select the View Mode Validation option. The data in the template that is not up-to-date is highlighted in red as shown below.

Prior to View Mode Validation

After View Mode Validation

Validation Report

Run the Validation report to view all discrepancies between a View and Input template. To access the report, open a template in View mode. Click the More list-box and select Validation Report under View Mode.

Application Messaging

We've added application messages to help make users aware that data discrepancies might exist between templates opened in View mode and those opened in Input mode.

Subline Template Save Enhancement

Now, when you save the Subline Template, the main template is also saved. This eliminates the need to save the main template and ensures subline template data is retained should you navigate away from the main template without saving it.

Offline Planning Updates

Ability to Check Out Multiple Templates at Once

Check out more than one template at once. All templates checked out are in read-only mode. Click Enable Editing to edit checked out templates. As a best practice, do not open more than 5 templates in Offline Planning.

Version Upgrade

To support additional features in Offline Planning (discussed above), an upgraded version pf Offline Planning is required as the underlying dot net framework. If the upgrade is not performed, you will receive an error message (shown below).

You can download the framework from the following sites:

Offline Installer: https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=42642

Web Installer: https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=42643