Knowledge is Power

Introduction:

Understanding your important business data within Function Point is what gives you the power to grow. With BI Reporting, you can analyze data from across your entire FP system in one place. You also have the ability to customize reports, create report templates and choose how you want to visualize your data.

Watch us walk through the report in The New Business Intelligence Reporting Webinar. 

Standard Reports:

• To get you started, there are 26 built-in reports based popular use

• The original Function Point Reports you’re used to using are still available. Hover over the “Reports” drop-down in the main navigation bar and select “Standard Reports”

• To access BI Reporting, select BI Reports
  
  

Generate a Report:

• Select All in the left margin to view all available pre-defined reports under section “Standard Reports”. Your saved reports can also be found here under Saved Reports dropdown (explained in later section within this article).

• Select a report in the Choose a Report panel
• Select your report parameters in the Define Your Data column

Each dropdown field allows multiple selection. Select one at a time. The list will build up and appears like this:

• To remove your entry, click on x individually within a selection, or remove all on the x next to the dropdown arrow
• Leave all parameters blank to include everything. If you have been on the system for multiple years, this can be a big report, some delays may occur and restrictions may apply
• Select Continue at the bottom of the parameters
• How do you want to see your data? Select from the list in the “Pick a Visualization” column
• Select Table and choose which columns you don’t want to see by unchecking the blue box. Select Pivot Grid Premium to pick and choose to show in column or row
  For a graphical report, select:
  Bar Chart Premium
  Line Chart Premium
• Change your mind? You can always switch views and modify the data you have chosen

• Adjust Data dropdown will give the report parameters to modify. Click Apply to change the report setup.  

Navigating the Report:

Table View:
This view is ideal for presenting data in a 2-dimensional view in rows and columns.

1. Modify the parameters just like the previous page

2. Drag and drop columns to arrange how you want to view the data by holding down the click and drag to the ideal position

3. Sort by the selected column by clicking on the arrow left of the column or right-click the column header

4. Rename the column

5. To remove a column, use the eye icon on the left margin
   

6. Select the number of rows to view on one page in the number dropdown. Click the arrow beside the dropdown to scroll through the records.
   “of 61” is the total number of records in the report. In this example, there are 61 records within the report. Because the view is showing 100 rows, I can see all on one page
   
   
7. Looking for more? For premium users, Add New Columns feature allows you to add any related data field from Function Point into your report
   
   
   
8. Add a Calculated Column Premium - create a column with a formula calculating over multiple columns within the report.
   
   
   
   1. Enter your choice of name for your calculated column and its format from the dropdown.
   2. Here, you are writing the formula for the calculation.
      Select the column to include in the first part of your equation
   3. Type in the Operator. On the right margin shows the available operators. As you create the formula, you will see an error message like this:
      
      The system is constantly performing a validation check. As an operator is added, the system sees it as an incomplete formula, hence giving an error. Just keep going!
      
   4. Repeat step 8-1 and 8-2 until your equation is complete
   5. You will see a message in green in your formula is correct

For premium users, don’t worry. Your work in #4 to #8 will not go to waste. There is a Save the report function for future use. Select Menu to Save the report. Make sure to use a unique name. Include your own description. The report is now available under “Saved Reports”

Pivot Grid (Premium)

This view is ideal to group or summarize data. The Pivot Grid provides a way to summarize the data by summing the selected data set and arrange them by choosing the data field to be in rows or columns.

For example,
I want to know a company’s YTD invoiced amounts.

1. Select any report listed. For the purpose of the example, select “Invoice Data Report” from Pre-Defined Reports list.
2. Filter the data to include on the report. If all data should be included, leave the field blank.
3. Select date range
4. Click Continue at the bottom of the page
5. Select Pivot Grid in the far right column
6. Click Build Report
7. In the new pop-up window, select the fields to include in the pivot grid report.
   
   
8. Expand Misc. menu, select Total and Balance and add to data in a similar fashion.
   
9. Click Confirm. The data can be adjusted even after the Grid is created.
10. To add more columns or fields, select the setup (first) icon under Options. This will bring up the pop-up window in the previous screen.
    
    
    
11. Select Menu at the top right corner, click Export to save this report in Excel. 
    Note: the export will reflect the current view. If the expectation is to see the grid all expanded, expand before exporting.
    Right-click on the dropdown arrow to expand or collapse all.
    
    
    
12. Click Refresh at the upper right corner to update the report with the most up-to-date data. This is a good idea if the report is generated during office hours while the current date is included in the report.
13. Save As Premium to save this view for future uses. This report will be found in BI Report main page, Saved Reports list.
14. Hover over Exit to see 3 options.
15. Select New Report to bring you back to step 1
16. Back to Dashboard to go back to Function Point
17. Log out of FP to log out of Function Point completely

Bar Graph (Premium)

This view is best used when for comparisons. Let’s use the example of a report showing Invoiced 2018 Q4 by Client

1. Like the Table View, select the most relevant report. For this example, select Estimated vs Invoiced vs Actual
2. Select the date range.
   Where the date filter is Data date set range, the data will include Jobs that contains activity (invoice, timesheet, etc.) within the range. Note that there is limited space. If the date range is too wide resulting in too much data, the graph may not be as meaningful
3. Select Bar Graph
4. X-axis = only categorical columns like dates or names/status etc.  For this example, add Company Name to the x-axis.
   
   
   
5. Y-axis = numerical values are preferred but you can also add categorical columns.
   For this example, add dollar amounts Invoice
   
   
6. Add the Job Status column to the report and then add it to Color By. 
   Note: This function only works with one column on the y-axis and only with the date and category data. Hover over the question mark for guidance.
   
7. The graph is now colour coded by Job Status. Each colour (Color By) representing a Job Status and the Invoiced amounts (y-axis) within each Company (x-axis).
   
   
8. Graph customization
   1. Click this button to see Graph properties
   2. Input Graph Title. Note that this is independent of the Report name at the header.
   3. Click on the data colour square to change bar colour
   4. Click on the 3 dots for each column to rename the column
   5. You could even choose Stacked Bar view, to see a different representation of the Color By.
   6. Choose from Display All to show the labels (invoiced amount for each company) or Display None
9. Instead of knowing the total invoiced amount, I want to know how many Jobs make up the total invoiced amount
   1. Click on the 3 dots next to SUM (Invoiced)
   2. Hover over Aggregate > select COUNT. If I want to know the average invoiced amount, select AVG.
      
10. Try adding another column to the y-axis.
    The error message will indicate that the Color By option cannot be used for when there are multiple columns in the y-axis.
    
    
    
11. Switch to Stacked Bar (like pie chart) from the graph properties.
    1. Open graph properties
    2. Select Stacked Bar from the Graph Type dropdown
    3. Option to turn off the value label for a better view of the stacked bars
    4. Hover over the category for data
       
       
12. Remove Color By and proceed to adding Actuals Total to y-axis.
13. The graph is now showing two scales for y-axis. Note the label on each side.
    
14. Hover over Menu > Export will export the graph as it appears within BI Report page to PDF, PNG or JPEG.
15. Hover over Menu > Export Raw Data will export the data that was used to build the graph to Excel.

Line Graph (Premium) 

This view is most effective to analyze trends over time. Let’s use the example of a report showing Job count by month to see which is the busiest months. 

1. Select the most relevant report. For this example, select Job Data Report
   
   
2. For line-graph, having more historical data will provide better insight into trends over time. For this view, leave date blank to analyze data across all date. 
   
   
3. Select Line Graph
   
   
   This graph tells me the busiest month for delivering Jobs is October and November in 2018.
    
4. To dive one level deeper, we can find out whether Job Type has any relation with the time of the year so we can better prepare resources.
   Add Job Type to Color By
   
   
5. Each Job Type is a separate line. Tip: Filter to remove any Job Type that seems irrelevant information to the trend analysis
   
   In 2018, October has mostly Website Jobs. In June 2018 and 2019, Event Planning was the most popular. 
   
   
6. To have a clearer view of a selected line, simply click on the one of interest. The other lines will fade. 
   
   
7. To add a different dataset (example: SUM Invoiced) to compare to Job Count, remove Color By. The Color By function can only be used with a single y-Axis dataset.  

[NEW Share Report Functionality, March 2020]

Effective March 2020,  you can share your reports with other users in your FP system.  

1) Under your BIR Report,  select Menu - Share

2) Select the persons you want to share the report with
3) Press Share

The persons whom you have shared your report with will see the report when they login to the system under their credentials and select BIR - Saved Reports.

Please note, any changes you make to a shared report will only apply to your reports. You would have to re-share any changes.