Level One: Stairway To MYOB Exo Reporting

The first segment of Kilimanjaro's new MYOB EXO Reporting series; looking at ExoGrids

Tuesday December 4th, 2012 Business Process Improvement, Support, Training

Introduction

In my role as an implementer I ask managers and key users of many organisations why they switch to a new ERP system. No two answers are the same, but almost every time I hear that the client wants better reporting. MYOB EXO Business has a multitude of options to deliver exactly that – “better reporting”.

I will run a series of posts on Kilimanjaro Consulting blog and share some of the “sherpa secrets” on reporting methods. We will not go into technical detail but rather cover what is available in the system. I hope this will be helpful to both new and existing users of MYOB EXO who look for ideas on structuring existing or creating new reports. For readers with technical background I will provide references to available documentation and further training options at the end of posts.

Posts will be organised as stairway levels taking us from basic and readily available methods to very complex ones. We will discuss the following:

Level 1: Introduction and Reporting off MYOB Exo Screens
Level 2: Clarity Report Writer
Level 3: GL Report Writer
Level 4: ODBC Reports (live feed to Excel)
Level 5: SSRS and 3^rd party report writers
Level 6: OLAP and BI (PowerPivot and SSAS)
Level 7: Conclusion and Summary

ExoGrids

Let’s start by looking at reporting from EXO screens. You may have noticed that most EXO screens have a similar look, with light blue headings and white grids underneath. This is called ExoGrid. Search screens (e.g. Debtor Accounts and Transactions) show data in ExoGrids.

Why we call it reporting – because we can see and use system data. In Excel, in emails, in PowerPoint presentations. Anywhere really… System data is just two clicks away: Right Click > Copy to Clipboard.

But there’s more to ExoGrids…

More Visible Columns

System “super-user” or EXO consultant can add more columns to most search grids. These can be data fields not displayed on grid by default or even dynamic calculations.

For example, a customer search screen can show aged balances breakdown (Current / 30 days / 60 days) and this year turnover (neither available in visible columns by default); also it can show a number of outstanding invoices for every customer (custom dynamic calculation).

Clarity Report Grid

Every Clarity Report has a grid where it displays technical data behind the report. In addition to a printer-friendly “Preview” tab we can explore a “Grid” tab. (NB: for complex reports we may not see all data, just the core data.)

Grid Widget (Dashboard)

In MYOB EXO Business v8.2 a new type of dashboard widgets was introduced – a Grid Widget. All this widget does is show an ExoGrid. It’s that simple. Grid widgets can query and display any data from MYOB EXO Business database. They are relatively quick to build as the only input they require is an SQL query. Below is a screenshot of a sample Grid Widget built in Clarity Advanced training course that shows customers who either exceeded their credit limit or are on stop credit.

In summary, EXO exposes data in ExoGrids on most search screens, Clarity reports and grid widgets in dashboards. Data from grids can be copied into Excel or any other program; wherever the user may need it. Grids are simple to use, can be customised and provide ad-hoc “screen based” reporting.

Next time we will look at Clarity report writer, an integrated tool in which most standard and custom reports are built.

If you would like to learn more about the report writing capability of MYOB Exo, please email training@k-c.com.au, or read the pdf below.