PeopleSoft nVision - Overview

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PeopleSoft nVision - Overview

• Finance Network
• Chuck Axthelm
• March 16, 2006

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What is nVision

• nVision is
• PeopleSoft reporting tool
• Excel add-in
• Extracts cost, lien effort data from FMS tables
• Inserts this data into a pre-formatted Excel
  spreadsheet
• Most divisions are using nVision to generate
  standard financial reports

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Advantages

• Provides timely, accurate data
• No re-keying of FMS data into Excel
• Downloads complete quickly
• Report formats easily edited and can be saved,
  updated and reused
• Excel formats and formulas are applied to
  downloaded data

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Disadvantages

• Can only access data in FMS
• Funding and budget data must be manually entered
  and maintained in Excel report layouts
• nVision language can appear cryptic hard to
  interpret
• User must make and save format/formula changes in
  the layout not in the output
• Not recommended for on the fly reports

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nVision Reporting 3-Step Process

• Modify Save Format
• Update Report Request
• Run Report

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nVision Home Page
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nVision Process Components

• FMS Query
• Specifies generic financial data related
  dimensions
• Contain very little restrictive criteria
• Layout contains
• Excel logic Formats and formulas
• nVision logic of what data to download and where
  to insert it
• Non-FMS data such as budgets and funding
• Report Request specifies
• Name of Report Output
• Name of the Layout to use
• As of date for financial information

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How it Works

• nVision criteria added to an Excel spreadsheet
  transforms it into an nVision report layout
• Note Only 1 layout per Workbook
• Cell A1 typically specifies the source FMS query
  applies to entire layout
• Costs, liens or hours are retrieved at the
  intersection of row and column criteria

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Getting Started with nVision

• Must have installed the client version of PS
  nVision (contact Aurora Pecoraro)
• All users copy and modify existing nVision
  layouts
• Very few create layouts from scratch
• Dive in and try it
• Worse thing that can happen is you dont get the
  results you want

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Public nVision Layouts How To

• Go To OCFO Website/Financial Policy and
  Training/Training Materials

Note Save layouts to your desktop
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nVision Overview

• Reference Materials

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Decoding nVision Criteria

• - designates the start of an nVision command
• ATT, designates that a description field to be
  inserted column is resized for longest value
• C query results column (Resource Amount,
  Resource Quantity, or Lien Amount)
• F what follows in the data source field name
• N what follows is a specific tree node
• Q what follows is the source query name
• S what follows designates a time span eg year
  to data, period 1, etc.
• T what follows is an FMS tree name
• V what follows is the specific value of the
  source field (multiple values can be listed
  separated by commas and each preceded with the V
  prefix)

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Time Span Codes

• YTD
• Current fiscal year thru the last hard close
• PER1, PER2,PER12
• Fiscal accounting period where PER1 represents
  October
• ALLYEAR-1
• Total of 12 months from prior fiscal year

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Query nvZW_PC_RU_RC

• Used for Project One-Line Layout
• Fields
• Project ID
• Project Status
• BR
• Resource Category
• Fiscal Year
• Accounting Period
• Resource Amount Effort Hours
• Criteria
• Analysis Type ACT

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Query UK_BUDGET_MANAGEMENT_COSTS

• Used for BMR Layout
• Fields
• Resource Category
• Resource Amount Effort Hours
• Criteria
• Analysis type ACT
• Note The layout summarizes res cats using the
  FMS res cat hierarchy