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Accessing Financial Information for Reporting Purposes - Web and Crystal Report Templates

Running WEB Reports

If you are having issues running WEB reports using IE, please try Chrome or Firefox.

Reporting

Accessing financial information for reporting purposes can be done in several different ways. The easiest and most recommended method to use is Minerva Financial Statements. More information about financial statements is available (view the How to Use Minerva page).

Report templates are another way of accessing financial information. In order to run these reports, you must meet two criteria:

  1. Be a Fund Financial Manager (FFM) or Principal Investigator (PI)
    OR
    Have query access to funds/grants (more information)
  2. Have data warehouse access (more information)

The templates available in this section have been designed using Crystal Reports software and query data from the data warehouse. The data warehouse:

  • Can only be used for querying (not updating).
  • Is Fund/Org secure. If you do not have access to the fund you will not be able to view the results.
  • Is updated daily from the Banner database - when you run a report it will not include transactions posted "today", but, will include all transactions posted up to "yesterday" (depending on the entered search parameters).

Data warehouse users can run either the Web Report Templates or Crystal Report Templates.

Note: Web reports generate exactly the same data as the crystal reports.

Web Reports

  • Allow you to print or export generic reports using your web browser.
  • Cannot be manipulated in any way (what you see is what you get).
  • No license is required to run the Web Reports as they run in your web browser.

Crystal Report Templates

  • Are exactly the same as the Web Reports, with the added value of allowing users to manipulate the reports to suit their needs.
  • Require a Crystal Reports license in order to be able to run the reports. (There is currently a shortage of crystal report licenses. All inquiries/requests should be sent to software [at] mcgill.ca.)
  • ICS offers an introductory course on how to use Crystal Reports software.
Login instructions for running these reports is available on the Running Web & Crystal Reports page.

Report Help

Help documentation for reports and views are available on the actual Reporting webpages. Report titles are followed by the following information:

  • Last modified date
  • Report description
  • Link to a report help pdf
  • Prompting query fields
  • View name (for Crystal Reports only)
  • Link to a view help pdf (for Crystal Reports only)

All questions regarding Report and View help should be directed to the Finance Service Desk.

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