With Bi4Cloud Workbooks you can easily create custom tabular and graphical reports that can be shared with other users or send as scheduled emails.
To speed you along the reporting journey we have pre-built several workbooks for Sales Analysis, Profit and Loss, Account Receivable, Purchase, Inventory, Customer Card and so on. These can be copied and changed to your precise needs.
If you have already been using WorkBooks and just need fast help then use this link Quick Help
Workbook Selection Screen
Select Workbooks from the Bi4 Admin menu.
The exact WorkBooks that are available are determined against your Bi4Cloud user profile may be restricted to only information you are allowed to see.
Even if you have complete access rights in Bi4Cloud only relevant WorkBooks are displayed. The Workbooks available are also chosen based upon the data found in the connected data file.
For example
- if there is no Inventory then no Inventory WorksBooks will be shown.
- if there are Analysis Codes found ( Tracking Categories, Classes, Jobs) then Department Analysis WorkBooks are shown.
The yellow boxed text describes the major menu elements and functions.
Select Worbook Accounts Profit & Loss [base], then select the Overview - Year to Year tab / sheet. This will show a dashboard overview of the business.
Pressing the hamburger icon (yellow boxed icon on the left top above) will hide the slider panel and display a larger dashboard. When the slider is hidden it's useful to click the Filter function menu to display the filters above the report.
If you're just taking a look then you can open each workbook and click through the Tabs / Sheets. Sometimes a connected files doesn't have budgets or last year data or divisions or cost of sales and may not show the best outcome. So if the reports are not what you expect then in the Workbook Menu or Workbook / Info you can choose "more info ..." and that shows screenshots of reports of that you can expect.
This video introduces the important elements of a Workbook and how to use it.
Un-complicate Things
The Workbook has a lot going on. Let’s un-complicate this by simplifying it into sections.
The workbook consists of
- The Top Line
- The Slider Panel
- The Report Tabs or Sheets of a Workbook
- Function menus
The Top Line
The Top Line Section controls the side menu , displays and selects the current company, shows the Workbook name, has icons to see status of and to change View | Edit mode, Save and Undo Changes in the Workbook and an icon to show user details.
Slider Panel Section
The Slider Section is a multi-purpose panel.
In View mode (which is indicated by the Eye icon in the Top Line )
- The Filter tab shows all filters in the following sections:
-
Workbook Section
- It's filters apply to the entire Workbook across all Tabs
-
Report Section
- It filters apply to the current report Tab - a scope action can combines dates; or
-
Dashboard Section
- It's filters apply to the displayed Dashboard
-
Widget Section
- filters apply to the current Widget (Widgets combine to make up a Dashboard)
-
Workbook Section
- The Workbooks tab to the right of the filter shows a menu of other Workbooks - use to select another Workbook
Additional tabs are shown in Edit mode (which is indicated by the Pencil icon in the Top Line)
A Settings tab will contain further tabs
- A field dimension tab. It can be named Chart or KPI or Report depending on the what is on display
- A Properties Tab to control the reports properties
- A General Tab with colours, size and drilldown style control
The slider menu can be hidden / shown by pressing the 3-line icon (hamburger) in the Top Line
Report Tabs / Sheets Sections
The Report Tabs / Sheets Section is where the output displays. The tabs / sheet are shown at the bottom of the page. Each tab or sheet can contain reports, charts or a combination of these to form a dashboard. Dashboards can also contain KPI widgets that show KPI "Big Numbers" and trend charts as well as HTML pages. The filters of each Tab can be displayed in the Slider Panel or the Filter function menu. The Tab that is being displayed (in focus) has a green under-line under it’s name.
Function Menu Section
A set of function menu tabs is displayed under the top line of the workbook to provide additional functionality for the workbook. Some of these menus have different options in View vs Edit mode.
Home Tab
- Workbooks exits to the Workbook Menu. Also clicking the Bi4Cloud icon goes there as well.
- Formatting Rules opens an edit window of formatting icons and rules to control display of inline icon and colours.
- PDF templates display the available header and footer templates for PDF output and allows editing and creation of these
- Bottom (located in the far right) toggles the Report tabs to change from displaying at the bottom of screen to the top
Workbook Tab
View Mode
- View Mode slide changes the Workbook from View to Edit and duplicates the functionality of Eye/Pencil icon in top line
- Save will save the workbook and does the same as the disc icon on top line
- Save As is used to create a copy of an existing Workbook with a new name
- Default sets the current Workbook as the default workbook. Setting this will bypass the workbook menu.
- Undo bcks out all changes since the last Save. This is the same as the undo icon on top line.
- Scheduled Emails opens the scheduled email panel where reports can be set to email on particular days and times
- Share shares Workbooks with other users.
- Info shows workbook information and has links to how-to articles on the workbook. It also provides last database sync details
- PDF will create PDF of ALL the Tabs / sheets in this Workbook - use with care
- Email will email now ALL the tabs / sheets in this workbook - use with care
Edit Mode
To access Edit mode a user must have Editor access to the Workbook or use Save As to create a copy of a base Workbook. The function menu then has additional features when in Edit mode.
- + Report will create a new report based upon your selected dimensions
- + Dashboard opens the list of dashboard widget buttons that you use to create a new dashboard
- + Copy will show other workbooks based upon the same mapping and allow tabs / sheets to be imported from them.
Current Tab / Sheet
In a Dashboard both the dashboard and it's selected Widget will have a function tab. The Widget function tab has buttons to edit the widget.
If the tab is a full page report then there will only be one function tab, it will be named the same as the report tab and provide access to editting the report.
- PDF will create a PDF of the current tab / sheet
- Email will email now of the current tab / sheet
This function menu has additional features in Edit mode
- Settings and a selection of widgets that are possible to create a dashboard
- Copy From allows a copy of and existing tab / sheet to this dashboard
Drilldown
- Provides access and change the drilldown sequence and make changes the automatic filters created in a drill down. Filter changes in drilldown are not preserved when you leave the drilldown
Filters
- Provides access and change to filters and changing the filter values
In Edit mode the filters settings accessed in COG icon provide access to change the scope action which can combine with filters from a higher level. This permits one workbook filter for all sub-ordinate filters in the tabs / sheets
Go to the Bi4Cloud Knowledgebase to learn more about workbooks.