I’ve attached a PDF file of several of the most requested reports that I see in FRx implementations.
I’ve created or modified these using the sample company that comes with FRx. There are lots of different ways to go with any monthly reporting package; these may give you a leg up on deciding which way to go. Each is easily modified.
Here they are, with my comments on each.
Balance Sheet—Comparative: compares this year to last year for the current month.
Consolidating Balance Sheet: companies side by side with eliminations.
Income Statement: for current and year to date with separate percentage columns. I usually see percent of sales all the way down, but this report also uses operating expenses as a break.
Income Statement—Budget Variance: with favorable and unfavorable variances. Note the correct signs for favorable and unfavorable in both revenue and expense sections. This particular example is for the Denver Region.
Income Statement Trend: very popular. January through December side by side. I usually end up creating a year to date version for the balance sheet as well.
Full Year Forecast: for a P&L, uses actuals through the current period, then budget for the remainder of the year, totals to a full year forecast.
Income Statement Comparisons: compares actuals to budget and last year both for current period and year to date. Budget variance is favorable/unfavorable while last year variance is increase/decrease.
Income Statement—Quarter To Date: this is only one of several QTD variations possible.
Statement of Cash Flows: for the current period and year to date. Will normally need to link to Excel for this one unless you want just a balance sheet change for internal use.
Gross Profit Per Unit: true confessions, I usually see this added to the bottom of one of the P&Ls instead of a standalone report.
Variance Analysis: this report handpicks a few accounts, calculates the budget variance, and sorts on first the MTD, then the YTD variance.
Here’s a link to the file. This is a sample monthly reporting package. I usually like to add Excel charts using FRx with the technique I’ve described in an earlier post, but haven’t done that here. Enjoy, so to speak!
Jan,
If this is a typical list of reports, can you give me an idea as to how much time you would need to create these reports? Can I assume that once you complete this group the client then expands the list.
Thanks for the insight!
Wayne Eichler
Hi Wayne,
How much time is a tough question and is influenced by many factors, the biggest of which is the chart of accounts. If it’s well designed then these types of reports are intuitive and go pretty quickly. A well designed chart seems to be something of a rarity though. And something I’ve seen more and more recently is mixing department data with natural account data on the row. Unless it’s completely consistent, and it almost never is, that can take a while.
Other factors:
1. Do I need to dig account mappings out of Excel financials?
2. Are budgets in Excel or in the GL?
3. How involved is the cashflow (link to Excel for note proceeds, repayments, asset dispositions, etc)?
4. Am I teaching someone what I’m doing while I’m doing it?
5. Notice that I’ve used the same row for all the P&Ls. Most companies want different levels of detail.
6. How involved are calculations with statistics going to be?
7. Do all companies use the same chart of accounts and have the same fiscal year?
8. Is there anyone on staff who can save some time by helping me tie out (if needed)?
So a time estimate could range anywhere from 3-4 days to 2-3 weeks, depending on the above answers. I’m really pretty good at coming up with an accurate range after hearing answers to the above questions.
And yes you’re exactly right on expanding the list! Once people see the capabilities, it’s only natural to want more, although budget constraints normally come into play.