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Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence

Analysis

STUDENT WORKBOOK

Notice This document and the Sage Accpac ERP software may be used only in accordance with the accompanying Sage Accpac ERP End User License Agreement. You may not use, copy, modify, or transfer the Sage Accpac ERP software or this documentation except as expressly provided in the license agreement.

Visit our Web site at www.sageaccpac.com, or call 1-877-920-9600 to learn about training classes that are added throughout the year.

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11/2010

Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis Contents

Copyright 2010 Sage Software, Inc. Student Workbook 3

Contents Contents ..................................................................................................................................................3

Welcome ..................................................................................................................................................5 Course Objective ........................................................................................................................................................6 Course Outline............................................................................................................................................................7

Lesson 1 – Overview of On-Line Analytical Processing .....................................................................9 On-Line Analytical Processing (Analysis).................................................................................................................10 Types of Reports ......................................................................................................................................................11 What is OLAP? .........................................................................................................................................................12

Lesson 2 – Intelligence Components..................................................................................................15 Modules ....................................................................................................................................................................16

The Connector Module .........................................................................................................................................16 The Analysis Module ............................................................................................................................................17 The Report Manager Module................................................................................................................................18

Lesson 3 – Setup ..................................................................................................................................19 The Analysis Module ................................................................................................................................................20

Setting up an Analysis Report ..............................................................................................................................22

Lesson 4 – Cube Components ............................................................................................................23 Cube Components....................................................................................................................................................24

More on OLAP Cubes...........................................................................................................................................27 The Date Dimension Tool .....................................................................................................................................29

Lesson 5 – Using the Analysis UI........................................................................................................31 Layout of the Analysis Manager Interface ................................................................................................................32

Object Window......................................................................................................................................................33 Properties Window................................................................................................................................................34 Show Advanced....................................................................................................................................................35 Functionality Navigation........................................................................................................................................36 Toolbar Menu........................................................................................................................................................37

Lesson 6 – Report Creation .................................................................................................................39 Standard Report Creation.........................................................................................................................................40 Report Creation Structure.........................................................................................................................................41 Using Pivot Tables in Excel ......................................................................................................................................42 How does Analysis fit in with other solutions?..........................................................................................................44

The Advantages of Analysis with other solutions .................................................................................................44 Analysis Browser Options.....................................................................................................................................45

Terms and Definitions...............................................................................................................................................46

Contents Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis

4 Student Workbook © 2010 Sage Software, Inc.

Hands-on Exercises..............................................................................................................................49 Exercise 1 – Using the Sales Analysis Cube........................................................................................................50 Exercise 2 – Using the Financial Analysis Cube ..................................................................................................54 Exercise 3 – Using the Inventory Analysis Report ...............................................................................................58 Exercise 4 – Creating a new Analysis Cube and Report......................................................................................61 Exercise 5 – Use Excel to Browse an Analysis Cube File....................................................................................67

Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis Welcome

© 2010 Sage Software, Inc. Student Workbook 5

Welcome Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence or Intelligence is an exciting new product within the Sage Accpac Extended Enterprise Suite that empowers managers to quickly and easily obtain the information they need from their Sage Accpac solution for improved operations and strategic planning. Based on the familiar Microsoft® Excel® application, Business Intelligence lets managers effortlessly create reports and analyze data. Managers can spend more time focusing on information analysis and interpretation and less time pulling the data together. Furthermore, the product ships with Report Manager, Report Viewer, Connector, and the Analysis tool.

The Business Intelligence functionality allows users to:

• Work with several of the shipped reports and customize them to meet your needs

• Work with the drilldown functionality of Intelligence

• Apply report security to Intelligence reports

With your Sage Accpac Certified Trainer’s assistance and your efforts, you will become familiar with this Sage Accpac product through either online training or “hands on” training in a class environment. Although this Workbook provides a great deal of information, you should also consult the manuals and online Help documentation as needed.

Welcome Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis

6 Student Workbook © 2010 Sage Software, Inc.

Course Objective The objective of this course is to enable you to build more advanced custom reports using Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence. Intelligence is a business reporting tool that incorporates a number of innovative features. It enables you to connect to any supported ODBC compliant database and extract the data into Microsoft Excel where the data can be summarized and analyzed using Microsoft Excel’s extensive data analysis tools.

The Microsoft Excel workbook and its workings are then linked to Intelligence to create a permanently linked template. This enables you to extract the data to a Microsoft Excel workbook in the way you want it to be presented.

Through the course instruction you will learn to:

• Build more advanced database connections to a database

• Build Containers and Expressions using Advanced Techniques

• Use Existing Analysis reports to gain valuable insight into your company

• Build Analysis cubes using the Analysis module from the ground up for additional analysis and reporting

Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis Welcome

© 2010 Sage Software, Inc. Student Workbook 7

Course Outline The Intelligence course is divided into six basic lessons and one exercise section. Each lesson is designed to provide you with practical knowledge and experience that can be applied to your specific needs.

This course includes the following lessons:

Lesson Purpose

1: Overview of Analysis This lesson explains On-Line Analytical processing and how it can be best used for managing multidimensional data for analysis.

2: Intelligence Components This lesson reviews the various modules available in Intelligence.

3: Setup This lesson provides an overview of the Analysis module and further explains how to setup an Analysis report.

4: Cube Components This lesson will discuss Cube Components and its functionality.

5: Using The Analysis UI This lesson reviews the Layout of the Analysis Manager Interface.

6: Report Creation This lesson discusses how to create a Standard Report in Intelligence.

Hands-on Exercises This section provides hands-on exercises for reviewing Analysis reporting.

Welcome Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis

8 Student Workbook Copyright 2010 Sage Software, Inc.

Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis Lesson 1 – Overview of On-Line Analytical Processing


Lesson 1 – Overview of On-Line Analytical Processing

This lesson will provide you with an understanding of On-Line Analytical processing and how it can be best used for collecting, and managing multidimensional data for analysis and management purposes.

In this lesson, you will learn about:

• OLAP Reporting

• OLAP Cubes, Analysis Views, Analysis Hierarchy, and Terminology

Lesson 1 – Overview of On-Line Analytical Processing Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis


On-Line Analytical Processing (Analysis)

OLAP is more than an acronym that means Online Analytical Processing. OLAP is a category of software tools that provides analysis of data stored in a database. With OLAP, analysts, managers, and executives can gain insight into data through fast, consistent, interactive access to a wide variety of possible views. Stated another way, OLAP is a category of applications and technologies for collecting, managing, processing, and presenting multidimensional data for analysis and management purposes.

A widely adopted definition for OLAP used today in five key words is: Fast Analysis of Shared Multidimensional Information (FASMI).

• Fast refers to the speed that an OLAP system is able to deliver most responses to the end user.

• Analysis refers to the ability of an OLAP system to manage any business logic and statistical analysis relevant for the application and user. In addition, the system must allow users to define new ad hoc calculations as part of the analysis and report without having to program them.

• Shared refers to the ability of an OLAP system being able to implement all security requirements necessary for confidentiality and the concurrent update locking at an appropriate level when multiple write access is required.

• Multidimensional refers to a concept that is the primary requirement to OLAP. An OLAP system must provide a multidimensional view of data. This includes supporting hierarchies and multiple hierarchies.

• Information refers to all of the data and derived data needed, wherever the data resides and however much of the data is relevant for the application.



Types of Reports Organizations generally require two types of information:

• Fixed Format Reporting (Intelligence Standard Report Templates)

• OLAP (Intelligence OLAP manager).

Fixed Format Reporting is less presentable, but contains rich information that can be analyzed in various ways to establish trends and statistics which may not become instantly apparent in the fixed format reporting.

OLAP requires information to be presented neatly, formatted and presentable. This is applicable for financial reporting, board packs, management dashboards, or similar fixed format intelligence.

As the diagram above illustrates, the best approach for Business Intelligence for Subject Matter Experts lies somewhere between OLAP and Reporting. OLAP most commonly deals with greater volumes of data than fixed format reports. The Analysis tool has the ability to deliver multi-dimensional results (as opposed to a single “flat sheet” dimension). It also provides analysis graphing, charting and more.



What is OLAP? OLAP stands for On Line Analytical Processing, and supports multi-

dimensional analysis of information. It is the process of extracting information from a data source (this could be a transactional system, or a data warehouse), and compressing it into a format that is optimized for multi-dimensional analysis.

An Analysis database allows business decision makers to analyze data that has been sorted into hierarchical structures. The data is static so all mathematical aggregations can be built into the database query, thereby providing a more efficient and resource friendly means of reporting. This data warehouse can then be pulled into a pivot table within Excel, where the user is able to drill down into the report, using the hierarchical dimensions built into the query.

The Analysis Module allows the user to define the dimensions and measures required and then create the .cub file, which will then become a data source for reporting within the Report Manager module. As the data remains static, the .cub file should be rebuilt daily, to ensure that the data remains relevant.

OLAP Cubes

OLAP cubes can be considered an extension to the two-dimensional array of an Excel spreadsheet. A company might wish to analyze some financial data by product, by time-period, by city, by type of revenue and cost, and by comparing actual data with a budget. These additional methods of analyzing the data are known as dimensions and an Analysis cube allows for the presence of be more than three dimensions for more powerful information analysis.

Functionality

An OLAP cube consists of numeric facts called Cube Measures (or measures) which are categorized hierarchically by Cube Dimensions (or dimensions).

OLAP Views

A business owner may want to view or "pivot" the data in various ways, such as displaying all the cities down the page and all the products across a page. This could be for a specified period, version and type of expenditure. Having seen the data in this particular way the business owner may then wish to view the data in another way. The view could effectively be re-oriented so that the data displayed now has periods across the page and type of cost down the page. Analysis allows users to pivot data very fast and very efficiently.



OLAP Hierarchy

Each of the elements of a dimension could be summarized using a hierarchy. The hierarchy is a series of parent-child relationships, typically where a parent member represents the consolidation of the members which are its children. Parent members can be further aggregated as the children of another parent.

For example May 2005 could be summarized into Second Quarter 2005 which in turn would be summarized in the Year 2005. Similarly, cities could be summarized into regions, countries and then global regions; products could be summarized into larger categories; and cost headings could be grouped into types of expenditure.

OLAP Terminology The user driven process of creating different views, is sometimes called "slice and dice". Common OLAP functions include slice and dice, drill down, roll up, and pivot.

• Slice: A slice is a subset of a multi-dimensional array corresponding to a single value for one or more members of the dimensions not in the subset.

• Dice: The dice operation is a slice on more than two dimensions of a data cube (or more than two consecutive slices).

• Drill Down/Up: Drilling down or up is a specific analytical technique whereby the user navigates among levels of data ranging from the most summarized (up) to the most detailed (down).

• Roll-up: A roll-up involves computing all of the data relationships for one or more dimensions. To do this, a computational relationship or formula might be defined.

• Pivot: This operation is also called rotate operation that rotates the data in order to provide an alternative presentation of data.



Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis Lesson 2 – Intelligence Components


Lesson 2 – Intelligence Components This lesson will provide you with an understanding of the several modules that are available in Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence.


• The Connector Module

• The Analysis Module

• The Report Manager Module

Lesson 2 – Intelligence Components Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis


Modules Intelligence has several modules available but it is important to understand the

relationship between the following three Intelligence modules to understand how the Analysis module functions in order to deliver analysis on your data:

• Connector Module

• Analysis Module

• Report Manager Module

The Connector Module Main Functionalities:

This module provides a skilled IT user with a powerful and cost effective report writing solution, capable of delivering Microsoft Excel reports from any ODBC compliant data source:

• Create links to databases

• Create containers (tables) and expressions (fields) for reporting

• Is the gateway to databases to create relevant meta data for all reports

Key Components:

• Connect to various available data sources using the existing ODBC connections

• Create and maintain Containers

• Create additional Expressions using either MSSQL or Microsoft Excel as the Expression source

• Access the Report Download Community to download additional pre-formatted reports

Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis Lesson 2 – Intelligence Components


The Analysis Module

An OLAP (On Line Analytical Processing) database allows business decision makers to analyze data that has been sorted into hierarchical structures. The data is static so all mathematical aggregations can be built into the database query, thereby providing a more efficient and resource friendly means of reporting. This data can then be pulled into a pivot table within Excel, where the user is able to drill down into the report, using the hierarchical dimensions built into the query.

Main Functionalities: The Intelligence Analysis Module allows the user to define the dimensions and measures required and then create the .cub file, which will then become a data source within the Report Manager Module, as the data remains static, the .cub file should be rebuilt daily, to ensure that the data remains relevant.

• Define date Dimension Table

• Define dimensions and measures

Key Components:

• Creates a .cub file

• Data remains static

Lesson 2 – Intelligence Components Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis


The Report Manager Module

This module provides you with a pre-formatted, intelligent Microsoft Excel reporting tool for your data. You can use the base of reports to create new reports or even write your own reports in Microsoft Excel.

Main Functionalities: Selections of pre-formatted standard Intelligence reports are provided. In addition to these reports the following main functionalities are also available:

• Creating new reports using existing Containers

• Customization of existing pre-formatted reports

Key Components:

• Organize your reports into folders

• Create new reports

• Select additional reporting Fields

• Add Filters, Parameters or Aggregates to your report

• Manage report templates

Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis Lesson 3 – Setup


Lesson 3 – Setup This lesson will provide you with an overview of the Analysis Module and the setup of an Analysis Report.

In this lesson, you will review:

• The function of the Analysis Module

• How to Setup an Analysis Report

Lesson 3 – Setup Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis


The Analysis Module A cube is a data structure that aggregates data by the levels and hierarchies of

each of the dimensions that you wish to analyze. Cubes combine several dimensions, such as time, geography, and product lines with summarized data, such as sales or inventory figures.

Cubes are not “cubes” in the strictly mathematical sense because they do not necessarily have equal sides.

The Analysis Module is an additional module that functions between the Administrator Module and the Report Manager module. The purpose of the Analysis Module is to use an existing connection to a database provided by the Administrator to access data and create an offline .cub file. This .cub file is then in turn used by the Report Manager module to create reports and finally Microsoft Excel is used to browse this cube data and create an output that can be linked to and refreshed as and when required.

In short, the use of the modules for data analysis purposes is summarized in sequential order as follows:

Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis Lesson 3 – Setup


Connector Module Connects to the underlying database and publishes metadata from source data.

Analysis Module Creates a .cub file off the metadata made available by the Connector Module.

Report Manager Module Creates a report of the .cub file established by the Analysis Module.

Microsoft Excel Used as the browser interface to analyze the data in the report created by the Analysis Module.

Create and Link Template

When a final layout is concluded the normal “Create and link” function within Report Manager is used to create a template of the final analysis output in Microsoft Excel.

Lesson 3 – Setup Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis


Setting up an Analysis Report 1. In the Connector module, create new connection (if necessary).

2. In the Connector module, create new containers.

3. In the Connector module, create data expressions in containers.

NOTE: In many instances, particularly where Intelligence ships solution sets for specific install bases, the first steps would already be in place. If this is the case, then start here at the next step.

4. In the Analysis module, create a cube definition file.

5. In the Report Manager module, create a new cube report.

6. In Excel, configure the report. Use a Pivot Table to drag and drop the fields defined in your cube to view the same data in various ways. If you get to a point where a specific layout that you have created serves a specific need in your business and you want to keep this layout, you can do this by creating and linking your Excel layout with the report in the Report Manager. Each time you run this report after performing a create and link process, your most recent layout will automatically be displayed when you re-run the report.

Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis Lesson 4 – Cube Components


Lesson 4 – Cube Components This lesson will provide you with an understanding of Cube Components and its purpose and functionality.


• Date Dimension Table

• Cube Dimensions

• Cube Measures

• .cub File

Lesson 4 – Cube Components Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis


Cube Components The Analysis Module uses already created data connections, containers and

expressions from the Connector module. When creating the .cub file you are required to specify the following:

Database Date Dimension Table (using the Date Dimension Tool) The Date Dimension tool allows you to specify the dates that are applicable to

your dataset. You specify your financial year start date as well as the number of years of data that you have in your dataset. The date dimension table should go back as far as is required to analyze prior year’s data. The Date Dimension Tool then generates a “date dimension table” for you to use when creating reports.

This table includes the following fields:

• Date

• Financial Year

• Financial Quarter

• Financial Period

The Date Dimension tool allows you to set fiscal year parameters, account for specific holidays and non-working days that are applicable to your dataset.

You can launch the Date Dimension tool from the Connector or the Analysis Modules.



Cube Dimensions A dimension is a set of one or more organized hierarchies of levels in a cube

that the user understands and uses for data analysis purposes. These dimensions facilitate the drill down functionality. Dimensions represent the variables by which measurement is performed, such as date, location, and product code. Dimensions can be arranged in hierarchies, allowing users to drill down through the data.

For example, a “service date” dimension which could contain the hierarchy of YEARS drilling down to QUARTERS, and then to MONTHS.

Another example would be a “region” dimension which could contain the hierarchy of COUNTRY, drilling down to STATE, and then to CITY.

Careful design of the hierarchy in a dimension facilitates drill-down reporting by designing the hierarchies to be intuitive and to follow the thought process of the analyst.

Cube Measures Measures are a set of values in a cube that are based on a column in the cubes

dimensions. Measures include a variety of key performance indicators, and may include "simple" measures (amounts paid to suppliers, stock days, etc.) as well as computed measures or ratios, such as cost per member per month. Measures can be presented at various levels of summarization or drilldown, depending on how the dimensions of the analysis are displayed. The numbers in the Analysis spreadsheet are called measures. When setting up Analysis cubes, these values are also often called facts.

Typical measures or facts would be:

• Sales Dollars

• Sales Count

• Profit

• Hours of Work



The location of the .cub file When the Analysis cube is generated it is generated to a file with the .cub

extension, you need to specify the location of this file. This local cube file (.cub file) is stored in a single, portable file that can be stored on both server and non-server environments. The default file location is \program files\sage\sage accpac\bxdata\SQL\Cubes\<COMPANY_ID>\. End users can browse local cubes without the need for a connection to a Microsoft Analysis server. Local cubes are the only variety of cube that provides this capability. After a local cube is created, if its source data changes, the local cube can be refreshed to incorporate the new version of the source data.



More on OLAP Cubes The OLAP cube provides the multidimensional way to look at the data. The

cube is comparable to a table in a relational database.

The specific design of an OLAP cube ensures report optimization. The design of many databases is for online transaction processing and efficiency in data storage, whereas OLAP cube design is for efficiency in data retrieval. In other words, the storage of OLAP cube data is in such a way as to make easy and efficient reporting. A traditional relational database treats all the data in a similar manner. However, OLAP cubes have categories of data called dimensions and measures.

In the figure below; time, product and location represent the dimensions of the cube, while 80 represents the measure.

NOTE: A dimension is a category of data and a measure is a fact or value.



Dimensions Dimensions are broad groupings of descriptive data about a major aspect of a

business, such as dates, markets and products. Each dimension includes different levels of categories.

For example, your OLAP cube could have a time dimension. This time dimension could be further categorized into year, quarter, and month. These levels of categories, (hierarchies) are what provide the ability to drill-up or drill-down on data in an Analysis cube.

Measures Measures are actual data values that occupy the cells as defined by the

dimensions. Measures are typically stored as numerical fields. For example you are a manufacturer of calculators. The question you want answered is how many of ABC model calculators (product dimension) a particular plant (location dimension) produce did during the month of April 2011 (time dimension). Using Analysis, you find out that a plant produced 4500 ABC cell phones in April 2011. The measure on this example is the 4500.



The Date Dimension Tool The Date Dimension tool allows you to specify the dates that are applicable to

your dataset. You specify your financial year start date as well as the number of years of data that you have in your dataset. The Date Dimension Tool then generates a “date dimension table” for you to use when creating reports.

This table includes the following fields:

• Date

• Financial Year

• Financial Quarter

• Financial Period

The Date Dimension tool also allows you to specify holidays and non working days that are applicable to your dataset.



Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis Lesson 5 – Using the Analysis UI


Lesson 5 – Using the Analysis UI This lesson will provide you with an understanding of the Intelligence interface and its functionality.


• The Layout of the Analysis module

Lesson 5 – Using the Analysis UI Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis


Layout of the Analysis Manager Interface To effectively use the Analysis Module, you need an understanding of the

interface and how to perform actions.

The software layout is divided into 2 main areas:

• The Object Window

• The Properties Window



Object Window You are able to select objects using your mouse from the object window in

order to either view the objects' properties or perform a task with the object. For example, you are able to select an object in the object window and rename the object just as you would rename a file in Windows Explorer.

Activity

From the Object window, double click on the desired object to expand to show details or collapse the Objects.



Properties Window You are able to view and update the properties of a selected object using the

properties window. For example, you are able to add your own custom description of the object in the object's properties window.

Activity

From the Object window, select the desired Object, then From the Properties window, view the desired Properties.



Show Advanced By clicking the check box next to Show Advanced, additional options will

become available in the Properties window.

• Default Cube File Path: The file location of the saved cube file. The file has the extension .cub

• Cube File Name: The name of the cube file

• Last Refreshed: Shows the time and date that the cube was rebuilt

• Cube Definition Locked: Lock the cube definition so that it cannot be edited



Functionality Navigation In addition to using the Object and Properties windows you can also use the

Menu Bar, Toolbar and Shortcut menu to navigate around the Analysis Module.

Most functionality is generally shared between the Analysis module’s Menu Bar, Toolbar and Shortcut menu. However, this section focuses on the Toolbar and Shortcut menu functionality options as most options on the Menu Bar items are also included in them.

Option availability is dependent on where the current focus is.

MENU Commands

There are three ways to access menu commands within the Analysis interface:

1. Using the Menu bar - Use your Mouse or Keyboard shortcut to select a task from the menu bar.

2. Using the Toolbar - Use your Mouse to select a task from the toolbar.

3. Using the Shortcut menu - Right-click an object in the object window and you will be able to select a command from the shortcut menu.

To view an object's associated elements, double click on the object. This action is called drilling down. To drill down is to show additional information. To hide an object's associated elements, double click an open object again. This action is called drilling up, thereby hiding the additional information.



Toolbar Menu All of the Toolbar icons below have their own Tool Tip that is displayed when you hold your mouse over:

Add Enables the user to add a Data Connection, Data Container or a Data Expression

Delete Enables the user to delete their selection

Properties Displays context specific field properties

Refresh Refreshes on screen properties of the selected object

Copy Copies the selected object to the clipboard

Paste Paste an object from the clipboard into the selected object

Move to Moves a connection or a container

Check / Test Checks that the object will function correctly

Run This is the play or generate button, it generates the .cub file as well as runs the reports

into Excel

Create PR0 file Creates a report viewer instance go be run off the computer desktop

History This keeps track of the run instance history

Help Launches the Intelligence Help file

Export Cube Definition This allows you to generate cube definition file

Generate Scheduler Command

This allows the generation of the cube file to be linked to a scheduler command



Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis Lesson 6 – Report Creation


Lesson 6 – Report Creation This lesson will provide you with an understanding of the process of creating a Standard Report in Sage Accpac Intelligence.

In this lesson, you will learn:

• How to Create a Standard Report

• The Report Creation Structure

• How to Use Pivot Tables in Excel

• How Analysis Fits with Other Solutions

Lesson 6 – Report Creation Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis


Standard Report Creation The following diagram provides a step-by-step explanation of the standard

report creation process i.e. creating a report that extracts directly from the source database and renders directly to a pre-configured Excel Template.

The component steps include:

• Database Connection

• Creation of a Container based on database Tables and Fields

• Creation of SAI reports

• Saving the report output into Excel Templates



Report Creation Structure The following diagram provides a step-by-step explanation of the Analysis

report creation i.e. creating a report that extracts from a local cube (.cub file) as opposed to directly from the source database and renders directly to a pre-configured Excel Template.

The component steps include:

• Database Connection

• Creation of a Container based on database Tables and Fields

• Create a Date Dimension table

• Creation of Dimensions and Measures

• Creation of the .cub file

• Creation of BI reports

• Saving the report output into Excel Templates



Using Pivot Tables in Excel Use Microsoft Excel to create a link to your Analysis cube report, by using an

Excel Pivot Table to browse the cube and define the layout as you would like to see it in an Excel pivot table.

The dimensions and measures that you used to create your .cub file are available on the Pivot table field list when you have run your report into Excel.

Using Excel as your cube browser allows you to drag and drop the fields defined in your cube to view the same data in various ways. If you get to a point where a specific layout that you have created serves a specific need in your business and you want to keep this layout, you can do this by creating and linking your Excel layout with the cube report you created in the Report Manager module. Consequently, each subsequent time you run your cube report after performing a create and link process, your most recent Excel layout will automatically be displayed.



You are now able to perform data analysis on the data in the .cub file.



How does Analysis fit in with other solutions? Microsoft Analysis Services cubes may have already been created. Sage

Accpac Intelligence allows you to connect to these cubes so you can use the rest of the SAI interface to create a report off this cube, and browse it using Excel. The advantage of this is that you now have one common interface for all your organizations reporting, whether it is fixed format reporting or analysis.

The Advantages of Analysis with other solutions Business Intelligence tools like Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence transform data

into knowledge. It is worth considering what local cube technology offers an organization as an extension to Microsoft Analysis Services as an OLAP tool. SAI offers functionality to build and maintain Local cubes.

So why would an organization want to do this?

• A local cube file can be loaded on a laptop, so that a user can browse multidimensional data while disconnected from the network

• A local cube can be e-mailed to a remote user who does not have access to the Analysis Server

• Local cubes can be downloaded from web sites, so that remote users can be given access to multidimensional data

• Different local cubes can be created and distributed to different users, with each cube containing only the information the person is authorized to see

• Local cubes can be created that have a subset of the Analysis Server cube's data. This can greatly increase convenience and browsing speed for the user

• When a cube only contains the subset of information that the user wants to use, they can browse more quickly and more efficiently



Analysis Browser Options Microsoft Excel is one of the many cube browsers that exist. SAI supports this

strategy because most data users in the world use Excel every day to present and share information, so it makes sense to use this as not only a browsing platform for cubes, but also for delivery of fixed format reporting.

Pivot table and chart functionality is the basis for cube browsing using Excel. It is a very powerful facility, and many users don’t get the opportunity to really understand it. Intelligence supports better and smarter use of Excel to create operational efficiencies within organizations.



Terms and Definitions

Analysis

Analysis stands for On Line Analytical Processing, and supports multi-dimensional analysis of information. It is the process of extracting information from a data source (this could be a transactional system, or a data warehouse), and compressing it into a format that is optimized for multi-dimensional analysis

DSN

File used by various database client programs to connect to a database; describes properties, such as the data source name and directory, the connection driver, the server address, user ID, and a password; used by ODBC drivers to connect to a specified database, such as a SQL Server or Microsoft Access database.

Connector Module

The Connector provides the facility to connect to all ODBC compliant data sources e.g., SQL Server, Oracle, Access, and Pervasive using a windows explorer look and feel for simple administration of all data connections. All data containers are created in the Connector module.

Report Manager Module

The Report Manager provides access to the data as defined in the Connector, and empowers the user to customize their reports for Microsoft Excel. Filters, Parameters and Aggregates can be added to your report, new reports can be created and reports can be organized in folders.

Analysis Module

The Analysis Module allows the user to define dimensions and measures required and then create the .cub files, which will then become a data source within the Report Manager Module. As the data remains static, the .cub file should be rebuilt daily to ensure that the data remains relevant.

Data Connection

A Data Connection holds the relevant connection information to connect to a supported ODBC or OLEDB compliant Data Source. This Data Connection object is then used for all connections to this Data Source. By Adding a Data Connection, the Connector can make data available from this Data Source.

Data Container

A Data Container is a set of data which is made available (published) by the Connector Module and allows users access to the data using the Report Manager Module. The source of this data can be a Database Table, View or Stored Procedure, or a custom Join based on two or more Tables/Views. Once you have configured data connections you will need to select your data containers which contain your source data.



Data Expression A Data Expression the administrator to choose the data fields (publish) from the Data Container(s) which are available through the Report Manager.

OLAP Cube An OLAP cube is a data structure that allows fast analysis of data providing the capability of manipulating and analyzing data from multiple perspectives.

Cube Dimensions

The organized hierarchy of categories, known as levels, that is used to define the structure of a cube or data warehouse.

Cube Measures The raw data summarized and totaled. For example: On our Sales cube we would like to show the total sales value for our chosen dimension Sales.

.cub File

Local Cubes (.cub file) A local cube is stored in a single, portable file that can be stored on both server and non-server computers. End users can browse local cubes without a connection to an OLAP server. Local cubes are the only variety of cube that provides this functionality

Cube Browser A Cube Browser is any application that allows users to query an Analysis cube. Sage Accpac Intelligence uses Microsoft Excel as its cube browser.



Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis Hands-on Exercises


Hands-on Exercises The following exercises will review how to create various cub reports in Analysis.

Hands-on Exercises Sage ERP Accpac Intelligence Analysis


Exercise 1 – Using the Sales Analysis Cube

Exercise Objective This cube report analyzes sales quantities, gross profits and amounts by customer, product and sales rep over multiple fiscal or calendar years and enables multi-level drill downs into the required level of detail. You should be able to use the Sales Analysis report to be able to answer the following questions:

i. In which quarter in 2019 did Ronald Black have the highest level of sales?

ii. Who is Bill Bhiasson’s best customer in 2020?

iii. Which salesperson had the highest amount of sales in the 3rd quarter of 2019?

iv. Which location had the highest amount of sales in 2019? In 2020?

v. Which month had the highest sales in 2019? In 2020?

vi. Which customer group had the lowest sales in 2020?

Instructions: Create the Cube

1. Start Accpac, and log into the Sample Company, Inc. database using a data of June 30, 2020.

2. Launch the Analysis module from the Intelligence program group. If necessary, enter the appropriate credentials to login into the database.

3. Expand Home | Sales Cubes. The Sal Anlys 3-0 (AE-SQL) cube should be visible. Right-click on the cube, then select Run.

If a cube report has not been run before the following message will appear:

4. Click Yes.



A window similar to the one depicted on the next page will appear:

5. In the From Date (should be the first day of a financial year) field, enter 01 January 2019.

6. In the Number of Years field, enter 2.

7. Click Generate. The appropriate table will then be created in the database, and the following message will appear:

8. Click OK. Then click Close.

9. Expand Home | Sales Cubes. The Sal Anlys 3-0 (AE-SQL) cube should be visible. Right-click on the cube, then select Run. The Enter Report Parameters dialog box will appear, as shown:



10. In the Fin Year – Greater Than Or Equal To field, enter 2019.

11. In the Fin Year – Less Than Or Equal To field, enter 2020.

12. Click OK. A message stating that the cube has generated successfully will appear. Click OK again.

13. Close the Analysis window.

Launch the Report

14. Launch the Report Manager module from the Intelligence program group.

15. Expand Home | Analysis.

16. Right-click on Sales Analysis Cube 3-0 (AE-SQL), and click Run. The connections to the cube will be created, and the data will be presented in Microsoft Excel. In the default view, the values for the customer and date dimensions will be visible.

17. In the pivot table, expand the years 2020 and 2019 (C14 and B14). It will now be possible to view the sales amount by customer based on both year and quarter.

18. In the pivot table (in Row Labels), expand <customer name> | <item number> | <location code> | <document number>. Note that it is now possible to view document numbers and their respective amounts, grouped by location. The locations at which the items were sold ‘roll up’ into the item number hierarchy. Finally, the items roll up into the customer dimension.



19. Click the go to Trend Analysis hyperlink. The Trend Analysis worksheet will now be active. Observe the chart depicted on the worksheet.

20. Click the go to Sales Analysis hyperlink to return to the Sales Analysis worksheet.

21. Click anywhere on the pivot table. Click the Options ribbon under PivotTable Tools, and select Field List from the Show group. The field list will be visible on the right-had side of the page.

22. In the Pivot Table field list, remove the Customer (Multi-Level) field from Row Labels.

23. In the Pivot Table field list, move the Sales Rep field from the Report Filter to the Row Labels area. Observe how the information presented in the pivot table changes.

24. In the Pivot Table field list, add the (Customer (1-Level)) field to the Row Labels area, beneath the Sales Rep field, as shown:

25. Again, observe how the information presented in the pivot table changes.

26. Apply techniques, as described above, to answer the questions presented at the beginning of this exercise.



Exercise 2 – Using the Financial Analysis Cube Exercise Objective Be able to use the Financial Analysis report to be view the following:

i. Trend analysis of a particular group (or groups) of a particular group (or groups of accounts).

ii. Budget vs. Actual values for any given account.

iii. Variance amounts between budget and actual values.

iv. Comparison of account balances over periods across multiple fiscal/calendar years.




3. Expand Home | Financial Cubes. The Fin Anlys 3-0 (AE-SQL) cube should be visible. Right-click on the cube, then select Run.

If a cube report has not been run before the following message will appear:

(If this window does not appear, proceed to Step 7.

4. Click Yes.



A window similar to the one depicted on the next page will appear:

5. In the From Date (should be the first day of a financial year) field, enter 01 January 2019.

6. In the Number of Years field, enter 2.

7. Click Generate. The appropriate table will then be created in the database, and the following message will appear:

8. Click OK. Then click Close.

9. Expand Home | Financial Cubes. The Fin Anlys 3-0 (AE-SQL) cube should be visible. Right-click on the cube, then select Run. The Enter Report Parameters dialog box will appear, as shown:



10. In the Fin Year – Greater Than Or Equal To field, enter 2019.

11. In the Fin Year – Less Than Or Equal To field, enter 2020.

12. Click OK. A message stating that the cube has generated successfully will appear. Click OK again.


Launch the Report



16. Right-click on Financial Analysis Cube 3-0 (AE-SQL), and click Run. The connections to the cube will be created, and the data will be presented in Microsoft Excel. In the default view, the values for the balance sheet/income statement account and date dimensions will be visible.

17. In the pivot table, expand the years 2020 and 2019 (C14 and B14). It will now be possible to view the sales amount by customer based on both year and quarter.

18. In the pivot table, expand QTR1. Note that it is now possible to view the account balances based on month.

19. In the pivot table (in Row Labels), expand account group Cost of Sales | Cost of Goods Sold. Note that it is now possible to view the departmentalized account balance. These individual balances ‘roll up’ into the appropriate account segment. The account segment rolls up into the account, which ultimately rolls up to the account dimension.



20. Click the go to Trend Analysis hyperlink. The Trend Analysis worksheet will now be active. Observe the chart depicted on the worksheet.

21. Click the go to Financial Analysis hyperlink to return to the Financial Analysis worksheet.


23. In the Pivot Table field list, add the BUDGET field to the Values area.

Observe how the information presented in the pivot table changes.

24. Use the skills that you have learned to achieve the objectives listed at the beginning of this exercise.



Exercise 3 – Using the Inventory Analysis Report Exercise Objective This cube report analyzes year to date stock on hand quantities, purchase and

sales order quantities, and actual stock values by inventory group, inventory code and location and enables multi-level drill downs into the required level of detail. You should be able to use the Inventory Analysis report to be view the following

i. Stock level of all items in all warehouses, by warehouse

ii. Stock levels of all items in all warehouses, by item

iii. Top 10 stocked items

iv. Item’s cost information, by warehouse




3. Expand Home | Financial Cubes. The Fin Anlys 3-0 (AE-SQL) cube should be visible. Right-click on the cube, then select Run.

Note that this report does not reference the alch_date_dim table, so you will not be required to generate the values for this table as was required in the previous two reports. Click OK.

4. A message stating that the cube has generated successfully will appear. Click OK again.


Launch the Report



8. Right-click on Inventory Analysis Cube 3-0 (AE-SQL), and click Run. The connections to the cube will be created, and the data will be presented in Microsoft Excel. In the default view, the Item Category codes dimension and some dimensions from the I/C Locations Detail will be shown.



9. In the pivot table, expand the segment code Accessories. Note that the items belonging to the Accessories category group will be displayed under this dimension. The relevant Locations Detail information (Qty on S/O, P/O, O/H) as well as the cost information is displayed.

10. Click the go to Top 10 Stocked Items hyperlink. The Top 10 Stocked Items worksheet will now be active. Observe the chart depicted on the worksheet.



11. Click the go to Inventory Analysis hyperlink to return to the Inventory Analysis worksheet.


13. In the Pivot Table field list, add both the BUDGET field to the Values area.

Observe how the information presented in the pivot table changes.

14. Use the skills that you have learned in the previous two exercises to address the questions listed at the beginning of this exercise.



Exercise 4 – Creating a new Analysis Cube and Report Exercise Objective In this exercise, you will generate a new cube report from the ground up. This

exercise includes creating a new connection, containers, and building the appropriate cube. Finally, you will create a new report from the cube file that you have generated. You will use this report to address the following questions

i. Stock level of all items in all warehouses, by warehouse

ii. Stock levels of all items in all warehouses, by item

iii. Top 10 stocked items

iv. Item’s cost information, by warehouse

Instructions: Create a new Connection

1. Start Accpac, and log into the Sample Company, Inc. database using a date of June 30, 2020.

2. Launch the Connector module from the Sage Accpac Intelligence program group. If necessary, enter the appropriate credentials to login into the database.

3. Expand Sage Accpac, then right-click on ODBC Driver SQL Server and select Add Connection. A window similar to the one depicted below will appear.

Enter the appropriate values into the above fields, and then click Add. A connection called SAMINC should now be visible on the left-hand pane.



Add new Container

A container should be created that links the ICILOC, ICITEM, and ICATG tables together.

4. Right-click on the Connection that you created in Step 3, and select Add Data Container. Select SQL Join, then click OK.

5. In the Specify a name for the Container field, enter Inventory Analysis, then click OK.

6. Highlight the container that was created in Step 5. In the right hand pane, click the area in the Source Container (Join) field, then enter:

[ICITEM] LEFT JOIN [ICLOC] ON [ICITEM].[ITEMNO] = [ICILOC].[ITEMNO]) LEFT JOIN [ICCATG] ON [ICITEM].[CATEGORY] = [ICCATG].[CATEGORY]

Click Apply when you have finished.

7. In the right-hand pane, click right-click on the Inventory Analysis container, and then click Check/Test. A message should appear stating that the check succeeded.

Add Expressions to the Container

8. Right-click on the Inventory Analysis Cube container, and select Add Expressions. Then select the Data Field(s) – A field(s) from a table radio button. Select all three tables, then add the following fields to the container:

i. ICILOC.LOCATION ii. ICILOC.QTYONHAND iii. ICILOC.TOTALCOST iv. ICITEM.ITEMNO v. ICITEM.DESC

vi. ICCATG.CATEGORY vii. ICCATG.DESC

Click OK when finished entering the fields.



Create a new Cube


10. In the Home folder, create a new folder called Analysis Training.

11. In the Analysis folder, right-click on the Analysis Training folder, and create a new cube called Inventory Cube.

12. Create a new dimension Location (Multi). Add the hierarchies Category Description (CATDESCR) and Item Description (ITEMDESCR) to this dimension, as shown below

Click Apply.

13. You will then be required to select the measures. Select TOTALCOST (Total Cost) and QTYONHAND (Quantity on Hand), as shown below.

Click OK.



14. You will be required to determine how the measures will be calculated. Select the Sum radio button, as shown below

Click OK.

15. Add another dimension, ItemCategory(Multi), to the cube.

Right-click Inventory Cube, and select Properties. Click the Dimensions tab, and click Add. Configure the dimension as follows:

Finish creating the dimension using the techniques as discussed in the previous section.



16. Create a third dimension, Location

Generate the Cube

17. In the left hand pane of the Analysis window, right click on Inventory Analysis, and click Run. The cube will be generated.

18. Open Windows Explorer, and browse to the \sage Accpac\bxdata\SQL\Cubes\SAMINC folder. Verify that the Inventory Analysis.cub file exists.

Create a report that queries the cube

19. Launch the Report Manager.

20. Create a new folder in the Home folder called Training.

21. Add a new report. The report type of this new report should be Cube Report. Name the report Inventory Analysis – Training.

22. Attach the report to the Inventory Analysis container that you created in Step 5.



Run and format the report

23. From the Report Manager, run the Inventory Analysis – Training report. Excel will launch, and a blank pivot table will appear in Sheet 1.

24. Click anywhere on the pivot table. The PivotTable Field List should appear on the right hand side. If it does not appear, click the Options ribbon, and select Field List from the Show area.

25. Drag the Category (Multi) field to the Row Labels section.

26. Drag both the QTRYONHAND and TOTALCOST fields to the Values section.

27. Finally, drag the Location field to the Column Labels section.

28. Examine the information presented in the pivot table.

29. Format the pivot table so that it looks professional and easy to read.

30. Create and link a template for this report.

31. Use the report to address the questions at the beginning of this exercise.



Exercise 5 – Use Excel to Browse an Analysis Cube File Exercise Objective In this exercise, you will learn to use Microsoft Excel to browse the cube file

This can be very useful if you want to be able to view the data in the cube while not connected to the network or live data.

Instructions: Copy the cube file to a new location

1. Star Windows Explorer.

2. Browse to the \sage Accpac\bxdata\SQL\Cubes\SAMINC\ folder.

3. Verify that the cube file, Inventory Cube.cub exists.

4. Copy this file to a different location, e.g. My Documents

Create a connection to the cube file in Excel

5. Start Microsoft Excel

6. Select the Data ribbon, then click Connections. The Workbook Connections window will appear.

7. Click Add. The Existing Connections dialog box will now appear.



8. Click Browse for More.

9. Browse to the folder that contains the Inventory Cube.cub file, and select this file.

10. Click Open. The window should similar to the one depicted below:

11. Click Close to return to Excel.



Insert a Pivot Table to browse the cube file

12. Click the Insert ribbon, and insert a new pivot table. Click the Use an external data source radio button (shown below)

Click Choose Connection.

13. Select the Inventory Cube connection, then click OK. Click OK once more.

14. It is now possible to create the appropriate pivot table. Create a report similar to the one in Exercise 4.



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