picor advanced financial reporting user guide 100600

Introduction...9 Chapter 1: The Advanced Financial Reporting Environment...10 How AFR Works...10 Primary Environment Requirements...12 Network Servers...12 AFR Installation Options...12

User Guide

Financial Reporting

Epicor Advanced

This document and its contents, including the viewpoints, dates and functional content expressed herein are theproprietary copyrighted property of Epicor Software Corporation, are intended for informational purposes only andare believed to be accurate as of its date of publication However, Epicor Software Corporation makes no guarantee,representations or warranties with regard to the enclosed information and specifically disclaims any applicable impliedwarranties, such as fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability, satisfactory quality or reasonable skill and care.

As each user of Epicor software is likely to be unique in their requirements in the use of such software and their businessprocesses, users of this document are always advised to discuss the content of this document with their Epicor supportrepresentative, account manager and/or consulting personnel All information contained herein is subject to changewithout notice and changes to this document since printing and other important information about the softwareproduct are made or published in release notes, and you are urged to obtain the current release notes for the softwareproduct The usage of any Epicor software shall be pursuant to an Epicor end user license agreement and the performance

of any consulting services by Epicor personnel shall be pursuant to Epicor's services terms and conditions Usage of thesolution(s) described in this document with other Epicor software or third party products may require the purchase oflicenses for such other products Where any software is expressed to be compliant with applicable laws or other statutory

or regulatory requirements in this document, such compliance is not a warranty and is based solely on Epicor's currentunderstanding of such laws and requirements All laws and requirements are subject to varying interpretations as well

as to change and accordingly, Epicor cannot guarantee that the software will be compliant and up to date with suchchanges All statements of platform and product compatibility in this document shall be considered individually inrelation to the products referred to in the relevant statement, i.e., where any Epicor software is stated to be compatiblewith one product and also stated to be compatible with another product, it should not be interpreted that such Epicorsoftware is compatible with both of the products running at the same time on the same platform or environment.Additionally platform or product compatibility may require the application of Epicor or third-party updates, patchesand/or service packs and Epicor has no responsibility for compatibility issues which may be caused by updates, patchesand/or service packs released by third parties after the date of publication of this document Epicor, Business Inspiredand the Epicor logo are trademarks of Epicor Software Corporation, registered in the United States, certain othercountries and/or the EU All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners Copyright ©

Epicor Software Corporation 2014 All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced in any formwithout the prior written consent of Epicor Software Corporation

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Revision: May 07, 2014 12:43 p.m

Total pages: 255

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Introduction 9

Chapter 1: The Advanced Financial Reporting Environment 10

How AFR Works 10

Primary Environment Requirements 12

Network Servers 12

AFR Installation Options 12

Report Server 13

Logon Server 13

Financial Data Security Manager 13

Workstation Environments 13

Epicor Applications 14

Advanced Financial Reporting Applications 14

License Requester 14

Replication Monitor 15

Report Designer 15

AFR Report Server 16

Viewing Reports 17

Financial Data Security Manager 17

Report Layout and Formatting Tools 18

Microsoft SQL Server Report Builder 18

SQL Server BI Studio 20

Summary 20

Chapter 2: AFR Data Replication 21

AFR Replication Monitor 21

AFR Replication Monitor Installation 21

Granularity 22

Replication Types 22

Operational and Setup Tables 22

Daily Balances Aggregation 23

Using AFR Replication Monitor 24

Launch AFR Replication Monitor 25

Create Replication Tasks with AFR Replication Wizard 26

Select ERP Source 26

Select ERP Database 27

Select Companies and Books to Replicate 27

Set Company and Fiscal Year Granularity 28

Set Daily Balance Aggregation and Task Prefix 29

Review Tasks for Creation 31

Enter Security Credentials and Create Tasks 33

Initialize Replication Tasks 34

Monitor and Change Replication Task Status 35

Summary 36

Chapter 3: Setup and Configuration 37

Configure Logon Server 37

Request License 41

Report Components Setup 42

Configure Report Designer 42

Create New Report Definition Database 43

Report Designer Settings 44

Summary 47

Chapter 4: Designer Settings and Tools 48

Report Designer Settings 48

General Settings 49

RDL Settings 51

Preview Settings 52

Default Formats 52

Export Report Elements 53

Import Report Elements 54

Import Management Reporter Reports 56

Import FRx Reports 57

Load Style Theme 58

Summary 59

Chapter 5: Row and Column Sets 60

The Epicor AFR Report Designer 60

Row Sets 60

Create a Row Set 61

Row Definitions 61

Use the List Sheet 61

Enter Row Definition Details 64

Create a Row Set Version 77

User-Defined Properties 78

Query 79

Create a User Property 79

Copy a Row Set 81

Copy and Paste Rows 83

Row Grouping 85

Renumber Rows 88

Row Set Wizard 90

Select Chart of Accounts 91

Set Partitions and Sections 92

Fill Sections 94

Set Row Formatting 96

Generate the Row Set 98

Column Sets 100

Create a Column Set 100

Establish Column Definitions 102

Create a Column 102

Unposted Balances 105

Set Column Numeric Format 106

Define Column Period/Date Filter 107

Report Parameters 108

Date Parameters 110

Define Column Account Filter 111

Define the Column Book Filter 113

Define the Budget Filter 116

Create a Column Expression 116

Row Properties 120

Cell Properties 121

Column Properties 121

Math, Constants, and Logical Parameters 122

References 123

Financial Data Fields 124

Dictionary Parameters 125

Column Expression Assistant 126

Generate Multiple User-Defined Columns 126

Select Fiscal Periods and Ranges 128

Select Fiscal Years 129

Review Columns 129

Generate Predefined Groups of Columns 131

Update Single Column 133

Launch Column Expression Assistant when Creating a New Column 136

Column Set Wizard 137

Copy the Column Set 140

Summary 142

Chapter 6: Report Design 143

Reports 143

Create a Report 144

Column Sets 145

Report Parameters 146

Available Parameters 149

Presentation Options 149

Book Selection Type 151

Period and Date Range Selection Type 152

Simple Currency Conversions 153

Options 154

Body 157

Headers and Footers 159

Define the Report Header and Footer 159

Header Footer Expressions 160

Report Preview 161

Preview the Report 161

Reporting Trees 164

Create a Reporting Tree 165

Create a Node 166

Define Child Nodes 169

Parent and Child Node Logic 170

Copy a Reporting Tree 171

Reporting Tree Wizard 172

Final Data Results 175

Dictionaries 175

Create a Dictionary 175

Create a Definition 176

Copy a Dictionary 179

Report Security 180

Security Setup 180

Assign View Rights 180

Assign Edit Rights 181

Report Element Security 182

Refresh the RDL List 195

Convert RDLs 195

Use the RDLs Sheet Functionality 196

Summary 197

Chapter 7: Report Layout 198

The AFR Report Project 198

Report Template Creation 198

Create a Report Template 199

Pre-Defined Reports 201

Microsoft Business Intelligence Studio 202

Report Items Design 204

Edit the Report Title 204

Add Text Boxes 206

Add a Company Parameter Box 206

Display the Modified Report 207

Data Regions 210

List Data Regions 210

Add a List 210

Add Text Boxes 213

Display the List Data Region 214

Changing RDL Project Properties 216

Deploy All RDL Files in the Project 217

Summary 218

Chapter 8: Report View and Use 219

The AFR Report Server 219

SSRS in AFR 220

SSRS Access Rights 221

Launch SQL Server Report Builder 222

Batch Report Schedule 223

Create Subscription in Reports 227

Report View 229

Navigate to the Report 229

Report Parameters 231

Modify Report Parameters 231

Modify Reports with Advanced Currency Conversion 232

Report Viewing Controls 234

Use Report Viewing Controls 235

Exporting Reports 235

Export a Report 235

Viewing AFR Reports in Excel 237

Generate a Report in Excel 238

Adjust Report Parameters 239

Chapter 9: Financial Data Security 242

The AFR Financial Data Security Manager 242

Launch the AFR Financial Data Security Manager 242

Log on to the Financial Database 243

Upgrade a Financial Database 243

Navigation 244

Navigate in the Application 244

Security Levels 245

Account Sets 245

Create an Account Set 246

Account Masks 246

Create an Account Mask 246

Users and User Groups 248

Assign a User Permission to an Account Set 248

Activate AFR Financial Data Security 249

Refresh Security Settings 250

Summary 250

This user guide is a reference book that explores the Epicor Advanced Financial Reporting (AFR) applications Theguide is aimed at use of the AFR application after installation, from preliminary configuration through reportgeneration and viewing It begins by describing the various components that make up the AFR environment,including data replication, which is required to make your financial data available to AFR, and some basic setupsteps to take when you first start using the AFR Report Designer

The user guide then examines the elements that make up an AFR report definition: row sets, column sets, reportparameters, reporting trees, drill-downs, and also looks at the expressions used to retrieve required data fromyou AFR financial database

Learn how to generate RDL files and view reports in a web browser using Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services(SSRS), or alternatively in Microsoft Excel The guide also touches on the third-party products you can use to finetune your report layouts, such as Microsoft® Business Intelligence Development Studio and Microsoft® SQLServer® Report Builder

Finally, the guide addresses how to set up data security and restrict access to confidential company financial datastored in AFR financial databases

Chapter 1: The Advanced Financial Reporting Environment

Epicor Advanced Financial Reporting, or AFR, is a complete toolset you use to create custom financial reports specific

to the needs of your organization The reports you build will contain financial information from various sources youdefine - you can set up each report to pull information from one or multiple general ledger (GL) books across multiplecompanies, from multiple ERP systems, for example, Epicor ERP, Prophet 21, iScala Through the AFR toolset, you firstlink to a Microsoft® SQL Server® database instance that contains current, regularly refreshed GL data from your Epicorapplication This instance must be a replicated database, based on SQL Replication, set up through Epicor’s AFRReplication Monitor

The AFR Report Designer is used to define the basic elements of the reports - row sets, column sets, report parameters,data filters, and formatting of the reports Each report row can also have additional drill-down reports defined for it -this feature enables report rows to link to another report, for example a report with more detail Using the ReportDesigner, you can build report definitions, preview them to verify current data displays as expected, and upload ReportDefinition Language (RDL) files, which enable users to view reports in a web browser, via SQL Server Reporting Services(SSRS) Once you set up your report, you can further refine the look and feel in either Microsoft® Visual Studio® orMicrosoft® SQL Server® Report Builder You can use these report layout and formatting tools to fine-tune the overalllook of each financial report

When you finish refining the layout of your financial reports, users can view them in a web browser or in Microsoft®

Excel® Reports can be printed, or exported in various file formats, or you can schedule a batch of reports to be created

at regular intervals Based on the report parameters you define in the report, users can filter data, or change theparameters to view different data, for example, change the report currency, change the report dates, or filter by GLaccounts

This chapter details the overall server environment you need to have in place before you can use the Epicor AdvancedFinancial Reporting toolset Besides the AFR applications and replication tools you install from Epicor, some Microsoft®

applications are also required for your environment to work properly This chapter describes these applications andtheir purpose within the environment, so you can be more familiar with the required AFR elements

How AFR Works

Epicor Advanced Financial Reporting interacts with an Epicor application through a report server This server pullsthe general ledger data from your active database to an AFR financial database via replication, and makes thisdata available for use within AFR You then create a report definition in the Report Designer This report definitionaccesses data replicated from the active Epicor financial database, selecting the data for display using the reportstructure and layout specifications defined on the report

The following illustration describes the Epicor Advanced Financial Reporting process:

multiple books and/or multiple companies, the report data is pulled from these multiple general ledgersources.

2 The financial data is replicated via SQL Replication tasks.

3 Use the separate AFR Replication Monitor to create the replication tasks.

4 The replicated general ledger data is copied to an AFR financial database in SQL Server, designed for use

with AFR The AFR financial database is configured specifically for AFR to display the data when the report

is activated at run time You can create this AFR financial database within the AFR Report Designer or theAFR Replication Monitor

5 The AFR Logon Server validates your license, and controls access to the AFR tools.

6 You create the financial report definitions within the AFR Report Designer Through this tool, you design

the row sets, column sets, report parameters, filters and drill down options for the reports These items arethe components that make up the report definition

7 The report definition data is stored in a Report Definition Database - separate from the AFR Financial

Database

8 You then upload a Report Definition Language (RDL) file to the SSRS server, to enable users to launch the

report in a web browser

9 When you launch a report RDL file, the AFR Report Server provides a web service which combines with

SSRS to enable users to view the report in a web browser The report that displays is effectively a combination

of the report definition and the AFR financial data, presented according to the RDL layout or template

10 The optional AFR Financial Data Security Manager, if activated, restricts access to specific databases,

companies, books, or accounts Access is granted based on Windows users or user groups

11 The AFR ODBC Driver enables you to generate a Microsoft® Excel® file for a report from the Report Designer,which contains a predefined connection to the AFR data sources You can change report parameters andrefresh the report in Excel to view the latest data.

Primary Environment Requirements

The following sections describe the applications that need to be installed within your network server environment.Once these applications are installed and configured to interact with your network, the Epicor Advanced FinancialReporting tools are ready for use

1 Epicor ERP Application Database Server – Users enter financial data into the Epicor ERP application

through this server This database contains the source data that needs to be replicated out for display withinthe AFR application AFR currently supports data replication from Epicor ERP, Prophet 21, and iScala

2 Report (AFR) Server – This server contains the Epicor Advanced Financial Reporting Server functionality.

You and other users link client machines to this server to create the AFR reports This server records thereport definitions within an AFR database This server requires Internet Information Services to be running

3 Microsoft ® SQL Server ® Reporting Services (SSRS) Web Site Server – Users log into this server to view

the available AFR reports in a web browser

4 Microsoft ® SQL Server ® , including SQL Server Replication, on the machine that will host the AFR

financial database

Notice that both the replicated database and the report definition database can be located within any of theseservers Likewise, some or all of these servers can be consolidated to run within a single server machine Set upthe server configuration that works best with the demands placed on your network

AFR Installation Options

You have the option to install advanced financial reports within just the server environment, or both server andworkstation environments You can create reports on workstations by installing the Report Designer on separateclient machines You can also install the Report Designer directly on the Report Server Regardless of where youplace these tools, you can then build, view, and print out reports directly from either environment You can

Report Server

The Report Server is the primary computer that contains the AFR environment This server processes the reportdata definitions and layout configuration you will define for each report It also typically handles the databasereplication tasks that run through the SQL Replication

The Report Server environment needs the following operating systems, applications, and available memory:

• Windows® 2008 or Windows® 2008 R2

• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (Standard or Enterprise) with Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

• AFR Replication Monitor

• AFR Report Designer– The Report Designer primarily functions as a workstation application on a separatecomputer; however, if you want to create reports on the Report Server, you need to install this application inthis environment

• At least 3 GB of RAM

Logon Server

The Logon Server controls access to the Epicor Advanced Financial Reporting tools You install this application

to validate your license from Epicor and activate the AFR tools The Logon Server environment needs the followingoperating system:

• Windows 2008 or Windows 2008 R2

Financial Data Security Manager

The Financial Data Security Manager enables companies to restrict which users can access financial data stored

in AFR financial databases, when creating or viewing financial reports This standalone program installs with themain AFR programs, namely AFR Report Designer and Report Viewer

Workstation Environments

As described previously, you can set up separate workstation environments to create advanced financial reports.These optional workstation environments are connected to the Report Server, so you will need to install theReport Designer on them You can then create the reports on these workstation environments and upload themfor use across your network The workstation environments can contain the following applications:

• Windows® 7 or 8

• Report Designer – Required to create advanced financial reports on the workstation

• Microsoft SQL Server BI Studio (SQL 2008 R2) or Data Tools (SQL 2012+) – This solution is an optional applicationyou can use to refine your report layout

• Microsoft SQL Server Report Builder 3.0 – This application is available for free download on the Microsoftwebsite This solution is also an optional application for refining your report layout

While the Microsoft SQL Server BI Studio and Microsoft SQL Server Report Builder are both optional items foryour AFR environment, it is recommended you use one of these tools to polish the final layout of your reports.These tools provide you with the advanced layout and formatting functionality useful for fine-tuning the finalpresentation of your reports

Epicor Applications

This section describes the Epicor applications you need to install within your server environment

Advanced Financial Reporting Applications

This section briefly describes the applications you should have installed for use in creating AFR reports You usethese tools to create the report data definition, organize the reports, and display the reports in a web browser.Each AFR tool has a unique function you use during the report creation process

This guide does not cover the installation of AFR tools or other related programs For details on installation ofAFR programs, refer to the AFR Installation Guide

The layout for the reports you create through this toolset can also be modified later in Microsot Visual Studio orMicrosoft SQL Server Report Builder These solutions are described in the next section

License Requester

Before you can use Epicor Advanced Financial Reporting, you must receive a license for the toolset from Epicor.You do this during installation of the Epicor Advanced Financial Reporting component tools by running the EpicorAFR License Requester from the installer This tool automatically generates the machine identifier you then emailback to Epicor Customer Service; an Epicor support representative will then generate your license key You enteryour name, the license duration you require, and how many concurrent users need access to Epicor AFR duringthe licensing period (The AFR Logon Server is licensed for a specific server machine; because of this, you need

to email the unique machine identifier (ID) back to Epicor Customer Service for verification and activation.)

Replication Monitor

The Epicor AFR Replication Monitor, together with the in-built AFR Replication Wizard, are programs designedspecifically to enable easy setup of SQL data replication from an ERP system database to an Advanced FinancialReporting (AFR) financial database The AFR Replication Monitor also provides subsequent monitoring of replicationtasks

The AFR Replication Wizard, which you launch from within the AFR Replication Monitor, creates SQL replicationtasks which provide data synchronization between the Epicor ERP and AFR databases, using a plugin specific tothe ERP system in question This program creates a publisher, subscriber, and job in Microsoft SQL Server Thewizard sets up SQL replication from the source ERP database to the target AFR financial database by creating apublication on the source SQL server and subscribing to it on the target SQL server Once the wizard completesthe setup, and replication is initialized, the replication continues by means of SQL server

The AFR Replication Monitor displays information about active replication tasks and their status, and enablesusers to activate, deactivate, reinitialize, edit, and delete replication tasks

Report Designer

Use the Report Designer to create financial reports In this application, you set up the basic report layout of rowsand columns, the report parameters, define data criteria to pull specific data into the report, and preview yournew financial reports

The advanced financial reports you create have three general report elements; these elements are rows, columns,and reporting trees Use this flexibility to develop each element individually and then combine the elements toproduce the various reports your end users need, without having to recreate these reports each time they areneeded For example, if you want to see comparisons of budget vs actual financial reports, you can combineone row set with two different column sets and generate separate reports Within each report, you can alsodisplay multiple general ledger books to immediately compare the results for the selected books

Reporting trees are hierarchies that use elements of GL account codes, and expressions based on database fields,that enable you to filter the data that display in a report

You can also create dictionaries In each dictionary you create, enter default data sets or common expressions

to use within row sets, column sets, and reporting trees The use of dictionary definition removes the need tore-enter complex expressions every time you need them

The available syntax you use for expressions on report items is

documented within the Row and Column Sets, and Report

Design chapters

The default dictionary definitions you create are typically made up of commonly used expressions, but theseexpressions can be used to pull in complex data results For example, a set of revenue accounts can be spreadacross multiple account numbers because of the chart of accounts structure; you can set up an expression thatautomatically pulls in all of these account numbers and name that dictionary definition “Revenue_Accounts”

By creating a data set, you avoid having to specify complex details each time you want to include the “RevenueAccounts” in a row set, column set, or reporting tree

Once you create a report definition, you can preview the report data and the report structure, upload ReportDefinition Language (RDL) files, and create drill down links from one report to another Drill downs are especiallyuseful for displaying more detailed reports directly from within a summary report

AFR Report Server

The AFR Report Server, part of the AFR installation pack, creates a web application which acts as an interfacebetween the AFR application and SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) This enables users to view AFR reports

in a web browser AFR thus works with SSRS to provide a place to organize, manage, upload, and view financialreports

You connect to the web service via the AFR Report Server option in the Windows Start menu This launches yourdefault web browser, and displays the SSRS Home page From there, you can access and view your AFR reports.The web service also launches when you click View Report in the Report Designer

Viewing Reports

While you design your reports, you can use the report preview to display the data results of your report Whenyou preview the report, you can also update parameters you defined on the report in the Report Designer Usethese parameters to determine what data displays on the financial report

Once you have uploaded an RDL file, you can launch the report in a web browser, via SQL Server ReportingServices (SSRS) This is how other report users will normally view reports If you are satisfied with the report dataand basic layout, you can further refine the final look of the report in either the Microsoft Visual Studio orMicrosoft SQL Server Report Builder

Financial Data Security Manager

To restrict unauthorized access to confidential company financial data stored in AFR financial databases, use theAFR Financial Data Security Manager This standalone program enables you to define permissions for certainusers or user groups to access restricted portions of financial data in reports If AFR Financial Data Security is

activated, and a user has not been explicitly granted permission to view restricted parts of a report, the user isnot able to view this confidential data.

Report Layout and Formatting Tools

Epicor Advanced Financial Reporting creates reports using Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) TheseSSRS reports leverage the functionality available through this powerful reporting engine There are two applicationsyou can use to refine the layout and formatting of your SSRS reports – Microsoft SQL Server BI Studio andMicrosoft SQL Server Report Builder This section describes each of these tools to help you decide which one youare more comfortable using with Epicor AFR You use the BI Studio and the Report Builder applications to completethe final polish of the report format after the basic report definition is completed in the AFR Report Designer,and the RDL file is uploaded

Regardless of the third-party application you decide to use, the report layout output result is the same - an RDLfile You can refine the report file created in Epicor AFR, and make it available for users to view via SSRS

Microsoft SQL Server Report Builder

Microsoft® SQL Server® Report Builder is the report layout tool included when you install Microsoft SQL ServerReporting Services Unlike Microsoft SQL Server BI Studio, this application is exclusively designed for use withSSRS reports If you are familiar with other report writers like SAP® Crystal Reports®, consider using this tool

instead of BI Studio The SQL Server Report Builder is an ideal layout tool to use with your advanced financialreports.

Chapter 2: AFR Data Replication

To make AFR compatible with multiple Epicor applications, data from the source general ledger tables must be replicated

to a target AFR financial database The AFR financial database requires only certain data from the ERP database, and

is structured to facilitate financial report creation in AFR

Replication to AFR is achieved via SQL Replication, which you set up and monitor in the AFR Replication Monitor Thisprogram incorporates specific plugins to setup replication tasks for different Epicor ERP databases, for example EpicorERP, Prophet 21, and iScala

By replicating financial data to a separate AFR database, probably on another server, you reduce the effect on theperformance of your ERP application(s) Because you are offloading report processing to a separate environment, youfree up the Epicor ERP server from the processing required to generate financial reports Data replication also ensuresyou can maintain your data; the replication process creates a separate instance of your basic financial data, away fromthe main Epicor ERP application database How often you replicate the financial data determines how current the datawill be in the AFR reports The data in the AFR financial database is used as a read-only data source, specifically used

by AFR to retrieve data for reports

This chapter describes how the AFR Replication Monitor enables setup of SQL replication tasks to transfer financialdata from an Epicor ERP database (or multiple databases) to an AFR financial database To set up replication tasks, youaccess the AFR Replication Wizard from within the Replication Monitor This chapter goes through the steps you take

in the wizard, from selection of source ERP database to initialization and verification of replication tasks The AFRReplication Monitor then displays information about active replication tasks and their status, and enables users toactivate, deactivate, reinitialize, edit, and delete replication tasks

AFR Replication Monitor

The Epicor AFR Replication Monitor, together with the in-built AFR Replication Wizard, are programs designedspecifically to enable easy setup of SQL data replication from an ERP system database to an Advanced FinancialReporting (AFR) financial database The AFR Replication Monitor also provides subsequent monitoring of replicationtasks

The AFR Replication Wizard, which you launch from within the AFR Replication Monitor, creates SQL replicationtasks which provide data synchronization between the Epicor ERP and AFR databases, using a plugin specific tothe ERP system in question This program creates a publisher, subscriber, and job in Microsoft SQL Server Thewizard sets up SQL replication from the source ERP database to the target AFR financial database by creating apublication on the source SQL server and subscribing to it on the target SQL server Once the wizard completesthe setup, and replication is initialized, the replication continues by means of SQL server This is not dependent

on the Replication Monitor Therefore, the Replication Monitor can then be closed

The AFR Replication Monitor displays information about active replication tasks and their status, and enablesusers to activate, deactivate, reinitialize, edit, and delete replication tasks

AFR Replication Monitor Installation

For details on how to install AFR Replication Monitor, see the AFR Replication Installation Guide

The Replication Wizard enables set up of individual data replication tasks for each company, book, and fiscal year

in your ERP database Equally, you can combine all company, book, and fiscal year data into one replication task.The separation of companies and/or books into separate tasks can be an advantage when large amounts of dataare replicated If it is necessary to reinitialize replication for just one company, it will be much quicker if thatcompany has a separate task If you have to re-initialize replication for all companies in the one task, it couldtake considerably longer

Replication Types

The Replication Wizard creates two types of replication task:

• Operational Data - Business transactions, GL daily/periodic balances, and so on

• Setup Data - Includes chart of accounts, chart of accounts segment values, company, GL book, fiscal periods,and so on

There is always just one Setup Info task created for each ERP database, which replicates date-independent setupdata for all the companies, books and fiscal years being replicated This task is separate, so if you need tore-initialize only setup data, it is not necessary to re-initialize operational data, which might take longer

Operational and Setup Tables

The operational and setup tables differ slightly according to the ERP system from which you replicate

The following table lists the operational and setup tables used for replication by the Epicor ERP plugin.

Filter Type

COA

CompanySetup

COASegment

CompanySetup

COASegValues

Filter Type

Table

CompanySetup

CurrRateGrp

CompanySetup

CurrExRate

The Epicor 9.05 plugin uses the same tables as the Epicor ERP, except it does not include the GLJrnDtlMnl table The following table lists the operational and setup tables used for replication by the iScala plugin.

Filter Type

Table

OperationalGL52 (Periodical and budget balances)

OperationalGL06 (Transactions)

OperationalGL10 (Fiscal Periods)

SetupGL12 (Account Categories)

SetupGL03 (Segment values for Acc Dimensions)

SetupGL53 (Segment values for Natural Accounts)

CompanySetup

ScaCompanies

CompanySetup

ScaCompanyProperty

CompanySetup

ScaCompanySegment

iScala stores each company and fiscal year in a separate

individual table For example: GL06AB16, where AB = company

code and 16 = fiscal year

The following table lists the operational and setup tables used for replication by the Prophet 21 plugin.

Filter Type

Table

Company, FiscalYearOperational

gl

CompanySetup

balances

CompanySetup

chart_of_accts

CompanySetup

company

CompanySetup

periods

Setupcode_p21

Setupcurrency_hdr

Setupcurrency_line

Daily Balances Aggregation

If you select the Epicor ERP replication plugin, there are two options for the creation of daily balances:

1. Aggregate using the full accounting string from transaction lines

2. Aggregate using Balance Segment settings in Epicor ERP

For example, there are three transaction lines for the natural account 1090 Only two of the lines have a dynamicsegment in the GL account string.

Segment4 (Dynamic) Segment3

Segment2 Segment1

Amount Date

0002

109010000.00

2015/10/15

CustomerA00

021090

8.002015/10/3

CustomerA00

021090

250.002015/10/15

The following tables illustrate the difference between the two aggregation methods

AFR 9.05 behavior - Aggregate using the full accounting string from transaction lines:

GL Account String Amount

Date

1090-02-00-CustomerA8.00

2015/10/3

1090-02-0010000.00

2015/10/15

1090-02-00-CustomerA250.00

2015/10/3

1090-02-0010250.00

2015/10/15

With this method, the other segments are ignored for the purposes of daily balance creation

This is the default behavior if you want to replicate to a new AFR 10 financial database

Using AFR Replication Monitor

Setting up SQL replication tasks in the AFR Replication Monitor involves the following steps:

1 Connect to an AFR financial database

2 Create replication tasks, including detail on these elements:

Launch AFR Replication Monitor

To set up new tasks to replicate data from a source ERP database to an AFR financial database, first launch theAFR Replication Monitor

Main Menu Path: Start > All Programs > Epicor Software > Advanced Financial Reporting > Replication

Monitor.

1 The Connect to AFR Financial DB window displays.

2 If necessary, select the required server in the SQL Server field.

3 Select an existing AFR financial database from the Database drop-down list.

4 To create a new financial database, select <Create new > from the drop-down list.

5 If you create a new database here, the Create a new AFR financial DB window displays.

6 Enter a suitable Database Name.

7 Click Create The database name is selected in the Database field.

8 Click OK.

9 The AFR Replication Monitor launches.

10 The Replication Tasks sheet displays details of existing replication tasks (if any).

11 The ERP Databases sheet displays details of the ERP database to which you are connected.

Create Replication Tasks with AFR Replication Wizard

The following sections describe how to create new replication tasks To do this, you use the AFR ReplicationWizard

Select ERP Source

1 In the AFR Replication Monitor, click Subscribe.

2 The AFR Replication Wizard - Source ERP Type window displays.

• iScala - When you select this option, only iScala source databases are available for selection in the next

window

• Prophet 21 - When you select this option, only Prophet 21 source databases are available for selection

in the next window

4 Click Next.

Select ERP Database

1 The AFR Replication Wizard – From window displays.

2 In the SQL Server field, specify the server where the ERP source database is located.

3 In the Database field, select the source ERP database.

4 Click Next.

Select Companies and Books to Replicate

1 The AFR Replication Wizard – Company and Book Filter window displays.

2 In the tree view, select the companies or individual books you want to replicate.

Select a company to automatically select all its books.

3 If you want to replicate all companies and books in the ERP database, select <All companies>.

4 Click Next.

Set Company and Fiscal Year Granularity

1 The AFR Replication Wizard – Granularity window displays.

2 In the Re-initialization options section, select how to divide companies and books into separate replication

tasks Available options:

• All companies together – All companies and books are included in one task

• Each company independently from others – A separate task is created for each company The task

includes all the books selected in the company

• Each company and book independently from others – A separate task is created for each

company/book combination

3 Select Include all new companies in replication to automatically add companies created in the future to

the replication tasks

4 Similarly, select Include all new books in replication to automatically add books created in the future to

the replication tasks

5 Click Next.

6 A second AFR Replication Wizard – Granularity window displays.

7 In the Replicate from year field, specify the earliest year from which you want to start replication.

8 In the Re-Initialization options section, select whether to separate different fiscal years into individual

tasks Available options:

• All years together – No separation of tasks according to fiscal year.

• Each year independently from others - A separate task is created for each fiscal year.

9 Select Include all new years to automatically add fiscal years created in the future to the replication tasks.

10 Click Next.

Set Daily Balance Aggregation and Task Prefix

1 If you are using the Epicor ERP replication plugin, the AFR Replication Wizard – Type of

aggregation window displays

2 For aggregation behavior, select from the two alternatives:

• AFR 9.05 behavior - Aggregate using the full accounting string from transaction lines

• Aggregate using balance segment settings in ERP - Aggregate using Balance Segment settings in

Epicor ERP

3 Click Next.

4 The AFR Replication Wizard – Miscellaneous window displays

5 In the Replication task name prefix field, accept or overwrite the default task name prefix which displays.

When created, each replication task uses the prefix,followed by a unique numerical identifier This is the task

ID used by SQL Management Studio in the publisher andsubscriber servers

6 Select the Start replication immediately check box if you want replication to initialize as soon as the tasks

are created Otherwise, you have to manually initialize each task after creation

7 In the Select path for shared folder field, you can specify an alternative location to set up snapshot scripts.

By default, the snapshot scripts folder is located on theEpicor ERP (Publisher) server

Review Tasks for Creation

1 The AFR Replication Wizard – Task Review window displays, with details of the replication tasks that

will be created The number of tasks depends on the level of granularity you specified for companies/booksand fiscal years

There is always just one Setup info task.

2 To add more tasks, click New.

3 The Create New Task window displays Specify the companies, books, and fiscal years for which to add

tasks

4 Click OK.

5 To delete a task, select it in the grid and click Delete.

6 To edit a task, select it in the grid, and click Edit.

7 The Edit replication task window displays Enter additional companies, books, or fiscal years to the same

task

8 Click OK.

9 Once you have added, edited, or deleted tasks as required, click Next.

Enter Security Credentials and Create Tasks

1 The AFR Replication Wizard – Task security window displays.

2 In the Windows account field, enter the domain\username.

3 Enter the Password.

This is the username and password which will be used torun the SQL Replication tasks They must be entered herefor replication to function

4 Click Next.

5 The AFR Replication Wizard - Configuring SQL Replication window displays The task creation process

starts Each action displays in the Message field, and the status bar displays the progress of the task generationprocess

6 When the process is complete, the last message line displays the location where the log file is saved, in case

you need to review it This file can be useful for troubleshooting

7 Click Done.

8 The tasks display in the AFR Replication Monitor.

Initialize Replication Tasks

Once you have created tasks with the AFR Replication Wizard, you must initialize each task to start replication

To initialize tasks in the AFR Replication Monitor:

1 Select the task you want to initialize.

2 Click Initialize.

Monitor and Change Replication Task Status

Replication can be monitored via the AFR Replication Monitor or using standard SQL Server Replication Monitor.This section describes the first method For the second method refer to MS SQL Server help materials

There are various actions you can perform on existing tasks Each action has a corresponding button on thetoolbar

Sometimes it is necessary to reinitialize a replication task, for example due to a network disconnect between thesource and target database

1 Use the toolbar buttons to execute the various functions available in the AFR Replication Monitor.

2 Select a task and click Edit to adjust the following aspects of the task:

• Add or remove companies, books, and fiscal years

• Select/clear the Include all new companies in replication and Include all new books in replication

check boxes

3 Remove a task by clicking the Unsubscribe button When you remove a task in the Replication Monitor,

the related SQL entities - publisher, subscriber, job - are deleted from SQL automatically

4 Click Refresh to view the current status of a task.

5 Click Suspend to temporarily stop replication tasks.

There may be occasions when your company needs togenerate a large number of reports in the AFR ReportViewer If you want to ensure exactly the same data isused for all the reports, you can temporarily suspendreplication tasks, to ensure no new data is added to theAFR database during report generation

6 Click Resume to restart the tasks after suspension.

7 The Last Action and Last Action Time fields give details of the latest status; click Refresh to update these

fields

8 The Last Error and Last Error Time fields provide information on errors encountered in a particular task.

For details on troubleshooting, view the application help

9 The Change Queue field displays the number of items due to replicate from the source ERP database to

the target AFR database If, after some time, this number does not reduce, it may indicate an issue with thereplication

10 If you need to update the Windows user and password details, for example due to their expiry, navigate to

the ERP Databases sheet and click Change replication task credentials.

11 The Task security window displays.

12 Enter account and password details.

Chapter 3: Setup and Configuration

This chapter looks at the AFR Logon Server configuration file, which it may be necessary to alter to make sure it points

to the correct URLs required to create and view reports It also provides an overview of the basic steps to take whenlaunching the AFR Report Designer for the first time, to create a new report definition database For full information

on installing AFR, refer to the AFR Installation Guide

When you finish the setup and configuration, you will be ready to create and view advanced financial reports

Configure Logon Server

If necessary, in the AFR Logon Server config file, you can specify the URL of the SSRS report manager, and specifywhich SSRS server(s) can be accessed

To configure the Logon Server:

1 On the server, navigate to the location where your AFR Logon Server is installed For example: C:\Program

Files\Epicor Software\AFR\Logon Server Using a text editor like Notepad, open this file:

Epicor.FinancialReporter LogonServer WinService.exe.config.

2 In the text of this file, within the <ReportViewer> element, locate the <ReportManagerUrl>,

<WebServiceUrl> and <AFRReportServerURL> lines

3 These correspond to the fields used when the AFR Logon Server was setup during installation.

4 If you do not know these URLs, you can use the Reporting Services Configuration Manager To launch

this program, navigate to: Start > All Programs > Microsoft SQL Server 2008 > Configuration Tools

> Reporting Services Configuration Manager Connect to the server.

The ReportManagerURL is only used by the AFR ReportViewer application, which retrieves this URL after itconnects to the Logon Server and opens the URL as a

7 Copy the URL text and paste it between the [ ] within the ReportManagerURL line in the configuration file.

8 Now follow these same steps for the Web Service URL Return to the Reporting Services Configuration

Manager On the left navigation menu, select Web Service URL.

9 In the Web Service URL section, review the Web Service URL.

10 Copy the URL text and paste it between the [ ] of the WebService URL line in the configuration file.

11 In the <AFRReportServerUrl> element, you specify the URL of the AFR Report Server This URL is used by

the AFR installer to extract the URL for shortcut creation

12 This setting was initialized during installation, using the value specified in the AFR Report Server URL field

on the AFR Logon Server settings installation screen.