Optional Data Tables


You may have noticed in the last lesson that there were three data tables for the structure items which were not covered: The Labor table, the Direct Billed table, and Reconciliation table. 


The Labor Table


The Labor table is where you can use the breakout of employee salaries across the functions in order to create proportions to distribute your expenditures across the functions on the Expenditures table. For more information on using the Labor table, please see our article and video on the Labor table here.


The Direct Billed Table


The Direct Billed table allows you to give credit for costs that have already been billed for throughout the year. This is only used when you have already collected the money for indirect service. The Direct Billed table allows you to reduce the charges for a particular department because they have previously been charged for those services. For more information on using the Direct Billed table, please see our article and video on the Direct Billed table here.


The Reconciliation Table


The Reconciliation table is only used for 2 CFR compliant plans. Even then, it is not necessary for all Central structure items. The Reconciliation table is used to call out any Revenue accounts for the Central structure items. The data on this table DOES NOT affect any of the calculations in the Cost Plan. It is simply to call out the revenue accounts for an auditor to see in the 2 CFR compliant reports. For more information on using the Reconciliation table, please see our article and video on the Reconciliation table here.






Error Check & Generating A Report






Error Check


When you have completed entering the data in the Central structure items, you can now run a report. Before doing so, you will want to check to see if any errors have been identified on the Error Check. To locate the Error Check, follow these instructions:

  1. In the Navigation menu, locate the Cost Plan menu item and click the Eye Icon to the right.

  2. Locate the Cost Plan card you created in Lesson 1 and click the Generate Report button.

  3. When the Reporting menu opens, Allocate should automatically select the Cost Plan and Fiscal Period you have select in the Navigation Menu in the Cost Plan and Fiscal Period in the drop-downs at the top of the Reporting menu. If these are not populated, simply click in and select the Cost Plan and Fiscal Period for which you would like to view the Error Check.

  4. Next, click on the Error Check tab (the middle tab in the window).

  5. Once on the Error Check, you will see the following field about the errors:

    1. Type - There are two types of Errors:

      1. Warning - Warnings are errors which do not affect the calculations, however, they are best practices which we advise. With warnings, you can still generate a report as these errors will not break the calculations.

      2. Error - An Error is caused when there is something in the data which is preventing the calculations from completing properly. You will need to correct these errors before generating a report.

    2. Report Item - This field tells you in which Central structure item the error is occurring in.

    3. Location - This field tells you in which table within the Central structure item the error is occurring in.

    4. Error - This field tells you what error is actually occurring so that you can correct the error in the Report Item and Location defined.

  6. Once you are done viewing the errors you can click the Close button in the bottom right corner to close the Reporting menu and return to the tables to correct any errors.



Generating A Report


Once you have completed correcting any Errors that you have found on the Error Check, you are now ready to Generate a Report. To locate the Reporting menu:

  1. In the Navigation menu, locate the Cost Plan menu item and click the Eye Icon to the right.

  2. Locate the Cost Plan card you created in Lesson 1 and click the Generate Report button.

  3. When the Reporting menu opens, Allocate should automatically select the Cost Plan and Fiscal Period you have select in the Navigation Menu in the Cost Plan and Fiscal Period in the drop-downs at the top of the Reporting menu. If these are not populated, simply click in and select the Cost Plan and Fiscal Period for which you would like to Generate a Report.

  4. Before you generate your report, you will need to make some selections about the type of report you would like to generate.

    1. Report Type -

      1. Full Cost Report - This is the most basic report. The Full Cost Report is for running your internal cost allocation plan for budget purposes. This report is not compliant with the 2 CFR guidelines.

      2. 2 CFR Report - This report is formatted to be compliant with the 2 CFR guidelines and includes the Signature of Fiscal Officer, the Roll Forward calculations, and the Revenue Reconciliation schedules. The calculations are the same as the Full Cost Report, however, it has all of the other necessary items to be compliant with federal guidelines.

      3. Function Summary - The Function Summary shows the totaled allocate costs by Function within each Central Department. This report is for your own educational purposes, or to import into a financial system.

    2. Exhibit Layout -

      1. Standard Layout - On the Standard Layout the Central structure items will appear as rows along the left of the Exhibits, with the Receiving structure items as columns along the top of the Exhibit.

      2. Transposed Layout - On the Transposed Layout the Receiving structure items will appear as rows along the left of the Exhibits, with the Central structure items as columns along the top of the Exhibit.

    3. Report Format -

      1. Printer Friendly - The Printer Friendly format segments the Exhibits and Schedules so that they can be printed without any modification made to the report.

      2. Contiguous Tables - The Contiguous Tables format shows the Exhibits and Schedules unbroken, so that they are easier to view on a computer, or to upload into a financial system or any other program.

  5. Once you have completed making your report selections, click the Generate Report button.

  6. The system will think for a second as it puts together the excel file. When it has completed creating the report a button will appear saying “Click Here To Pick Up Report”. Click this button. This will take you to the View Past Reports tab.

  7. In the View Past Reports tab, you can see all of the reports generated for the selected Cost Plan and Fiscal Period combination. This means that you will have a history of the reports you have generated. You can sort the report list using either the File field or the Date Created field by clicking on the arrows to the right of the field name. You can Download a report by clicking the “Download” button, or Delete a report using the “Delete” button.

  8. When you click the Download button, a new tab will appear in your browser, from which the file is downloaded. If this is your first time downloading a report and you do not see the report download you may need to Allow Pop-Ups from Allocate. 



How to Read a Report




To learn how to read a report please see the How to Read a Report and Sample Plan documents that were attached to the Lesson 4 email. The How to Read a Report document will walk you through how the different data points in the Cost Plan relate to each other. The examples in this document are pulled from the Sample Report so you can follow along with the document in the Sample Plan to learn how to trace the number yourself. 



This completes your Allocate Lessons!