How Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Business Intelligence (BI) Tools Can Improve Financial Management Analysis
Carolyn L. North, CPA, CGFM, CDFM/A, PMP
R. Ross Hosse, CDFM
Purpose of Business Intelligence
Consolidate complex data into simple displays
2Engility Proprietary Information
Situational Awareness
• Know your audience
– Immediate group
– Commander
• Consider your tool sets
– Boss hates canned report
– Boss loves bubble charts
3Engility Proprietary Information
Tool Sets
• Excel
• Accounting Reports
• Business Intelligence Tools
4Engility Proprietary Information
Creating Data Sets
• Certain reports, exported spreadsheets, or pivot tables have blank cells– Easy for reading
– Unsuitable for importing into other systems or Excel
• Steps to make more useful– Download data
– Remove any subtotals or totals
– Remove blanks
– Ensure each column has a title
• Example
• https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Supplemental– Table 9 Pivot Table
5Engility Proprietary Information
Creating Data Sets - Blanks
• Filling in blank space
– Select entire data range
– Press Ctrl + G – Displays the “Go To” dialog
– Choose Special
– In Paste Special dialog, choose “Blanks”. Click OK
– Type equals sign (=), then the up arrow
– Ctrl + Enter
– Select entire data range
– Ctrl C to copy
– Paste dropdown, select values
6Engility Proprietary Information
VLOOKUP Function
• VLOOKUP function
– Searches first column of a range of cells
– Returns value from any cell on the same row of the range
– 1st Step is to create your lookup table
– Ensure table is sorted in ascending order
7
Treasury CodeAppropriation
(Short)Appropriation (Long)
0100 O&M, DWOperation & Maintenance,
Defense-Wide
1106 O&M, MCOperation & Maintenance,
Marine Corps
1804 O&M, NOperation & Maintenance,
Navy
2020 O&M, AOperation & Maintenance,
Army
3400 O&M, AFOperation & Maintenance,
Air Force
VLOOKUP Function
• Create the data set that will be looked up
• Go to the Home Ribbon
• Select Formulas
• Lookup & Reference
• Select VLOOKUP
8Engility Proprietary Information
VLOOKUP Function
• Fill in:
– Lookup_value: A2 (where you want lookup value inserted
– Table_array: Highlight range on lookup table
– Col_index_num: 2 (second column)
– Range_lookup: False
• Copy formulas down the entire column
– Can copy into blank rows
9Engility Proprietary Information
Pivot Tables
• Data summarization tool found in data visualization programs – Spreadsheets
– Business intelligence software
• Very versatile, one of the preferred ways for users • To explore data,
• Refine to show the insights
• Remove unneeded or irrelevant items with ease.
• Data stored in one table or worksheet – Automatically sort, count, total or average
– Displays the results in a second table or worksheet
• Useful for quickly creating unweighted cross tabulations– Does not change underlying data
• User sets up and changes the summary's structure – Dragging and dropping
– This "rotation" or pivoting of the summary table gives the concept its name
10
Pivot Tables – Basic Directions
• Insert
• Pivot Table
• Select the range of your data
• Choose New Worksheet or Existing Worksheet
• Pivot Table Fields menu will display
• Filters – down select data
• Columns – displays data elements horizontally (least used)
• Rows – data elements
• Values – numeric data
• Click inside Pivot Table
• Right mouse click
• Select Pivot Table Options
• Totals & Filters – Select Show grand totals for columns
• Display – Select Classic PivotTable layout
11Engility Proprietary Information
Pivot Table Slicers
• Slicers are visual filters.
• Quick way to filter your data
– Do not have to drag and drop fields on pivot
tables
• Create a slicer in an existing PivotTable
12
Pivot Table – Excel Slicer
• Place cursor inside a Pivot Table
• Go to the Pivot Table Tools Ribbon at the top of the file and Click the Analyze Tab
• Click Insert Slicer
• Select the dimensions you want to filter
• Click the filter values
• Select multiple dimensions by holding down the Ctrl and selecting
• For a good reference, go to Microsoft Support online: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us and under “What can we help you with?” type in Create a Slicer in an existing PivotTable
13Engility Proprietary Information
Charts in Excel
• A simple chart in Excel can say more than
a sheet full of numbers
• Tool in Excel to communicate data
graphically
• Allow your audience
– To see the meaning behind the numbers,
– Shows comparisons and trends easily
14
Creating Charts in Excel
• Create the data set that will be made into the chart
• Go to the Insert Ribbon
• Select the type of chart required
• Right Click -> Select Data
• Either select the entire data set or individual series
• Format as needed – Mouse over and click on data which needs to be
formatted
– Right click on the data and scroll down to “Format XYZ”
• Change the colors of the bars or line
– Right click on the bars or lines and scroll down to “Add Data Label”
• Format Data Labels to add Series Name and Value
15Engility Proprietary Information
Creating Charts in Excel
• Creating a Pie Chart
• Creating a Pie Chart follows the same
procedures as outlined above
• *NOTE* Pie Charts can only use 2
columns of data
• Doughnuts are a variation of a pie.
– Often more eye catching
16Engility Proprietary Information
Applying 3-D Effects
• Select the series you want to format
• Right Click-> Format Data Series
• Click the Effects Icon
• Pick 3-D Format
• Adjust the beveling as necessary
17Engility Proprietary Information
Business Intelligence Tools
• Application software
– Retrieve, analyze, transform and report
data
– Read data that have been previously
stored
• Does not have to be in a data warehouse or
data mart
• Various types of Business Intelligence Tools
• Each has its own pros and cons
• Understand capabilities of each type
18Engility Proprietary Information
Types of Business Intelligence Tools*
• IBM Cognos Business Intelligence
• Information Builders WebFOCUS
Platform
• Microsoft – SQL Server, Sharepoint,
Power BI
• MicroStrategy Analytics Platform
• OpenText Actuate IHUB
• Oracle BI Foundation Suite
19Engility Proprietary Information
Types of Business Intelligence Tools*
• Qlik Sense, QlikView
• SAP BusinessObjects BI
• SAS Enterprise BI Server
• Tableau Software, Desktop, Server
• TIBCO Spotfire
20Engility Proprietary Information
Demonstration
• Demonstration of one of the tools from
the previous list
• Data set
– http://comptroller.defense.gov/BudgetMate
rials.aspx
• Data normalized to give common fields
21Engility Proprietary Information
Summary
• Purpose of Business Intelligence
– Consolidate complex data into simple displays
• Know your audience
• Consider your tool sets
22Engility Proprietary Information
Questions?
Engility Proprietary Information 23