Once you have entered all of your data, created a cost plan and defined a report order you are ready to generate a Report.
To access the Reporting Menu:
Click on the view icon to the right of the Cost Plan menu item in the navigation menu.
Locate the Cost Plan card for which you would like to access the Reporting Menu and click the Generate button.
The Reporting Menu includes three sections: Generate Report, Error Check and View Past Reports.
Generate Reports - Choose options which will determine the type, layout and format of the report.
Error Check - Identifies any problematic areas in your data as well as outlines what those issues are and where they can be corrected in the tables.
View Past Reports - Collects all the reports that have been previously generated from the cost plan currently selected.
In the Reporting Menu you must select a Cost Plan and a Fiscal Period before utilizing any of the sections in the Reporting Menu.
Cost Plan - In the Cost Plan drop down, select which of the Cost Plan’s you would like to use for this report. The report that is generated will use the Report Order and Details from the Cost Plan that you select in this drop down.
Fiscal Period - In the Fiscal Period drop down, select the fiscal period that you would like to use for this report. The Fiscal Period you choose will affect the Functions, Expenditures, Labor, Incoming, Allocations, Direct Bill and Revenue Reconciliation that appear on the generated report.
Generate Report Section
This is where you can choose the different report options to generate the report that you need.
Report Type:
Full Cost Report - The Full Cost Report is the basic report that you would use for your agency wide cost plan. Choosing this option will ignore the “Include in CFR” checkboxes on the Functions and Expenditures tables.
2 CFR Report - The 2 CFR Report includes all of the required elements needed for compliance with the OMB’s regulations. This report includes the Certificate of Fiscal Officer, the Roll Forward Exhibit and the Revenue Reconciliation Schedules. Only Functions and Expenditures marked “Include in CFR” will be spread if this option is chosen. All others will not be allocated in the cost plan.
Report Format:
Printer Friendly - This report option paginates the resulting report so that it can be printed without any modification to the excel.
Contiguous Tables - This report option shows the tables unbroken so that they are more easily viewed on a computer or can be more easily uploaded into a financial system.
Once you have chosen a Cost Plan, Fiscal Period, Report Type and Report Format, you can now click the Generate Report button. Allocate will then think for a second as it compiles the excel with all the calculations. Once the report is fully complied the Click Here To Pick Up Report button. This will take you to the View Past Reports tab where you can download you new report (see the View Past Report section of this article for more details).
If you have selected the a Cost Plan, Fiscal Period, Report Type and Report Format, but the Generate Report button is grey out, then there are Errors in the Fiscal Period data that must be resolved before the plan can be generated. You can see the errors that have occurred in the Error Check section (see the Error Check section of this article for more details).
Error Check Section
Now that you have selected a Cost Plan and a Fiscal Period, you can now use the Error Check to make sure that your Report will generate successfully. Navigate to the Error Check by clicking on the Error Check header. The Error Check displays any errors currently present within the Fiscal Period selected. There are four pieces of information provided with every error, presented in their respective columns:
Type - There are two types:
Error - An Error occurs when critical data is missing or features are not properly utilized and the calculations are not able to be generated.
Warning - A Warning occurs when data is missing or a recommended feature is not utilized but the calculations are still able to be generated.
Report Item - The Report Item identifies the Central Structure Item in which the error occurs. (Example: Finance & Budget Department)
Location - The Location identifies the table within the Report Item in which the error occurs. (Example: Expenditures)
Error - Description of what is preventing the calculations from being generated. (Example: No defined incoming distribution.)
If you have any errors that break the calculations than you will not be able to click the Generate Report button in the Generate Report section.
View Past Reports
In the View Past Reports section you can see the Reports that have been generated, when they were generated and you can download any of the previously generate reports:
File - The name of the File as will be seen when the Report is downloaded.
Date Created - The date and time that the Report was generated.
Download Link - Click the DOWNLOAD button to download the excel file into your browser.
You can also sort your Past reports by ascending or descending values by clicking on the File or Date Created headers.
Once you have downloaded the report, if you need assistance reading the Report please see the following article How To Read A Report.