Hi everyone, here is a blog on Vena's Report Books by one of our very own Sr Consultants! Hope you find this informative. Feedback always welcome and appreciated.
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In the ever-evolving landscape of business, effective communication and information sharing are key to success. As you implement the financial processes within your organization, there often arises a need to seamlessly share critical reports with stakeholders. That's where the ingenious tool of "Report Books" comes into play, ensuring a frictionless experience for your report consumers.
What are Report Books?
In a nutshell, Report Books empower you to automatically distribute Vena-generated reports to specific recipients. They can be generated on-demand or triggered by an associated reporting task. The chosen recipients will receive email notifications containing links to effortlessly access and download the reports. This streamlined process ensures that even users with minimal Vena interaction, who are primarily report consumers, find it intuitive and easy to use. This, in turn, helps reduce support demands for your financial processes, making life simpler for everyone involved.
Getting Started
Before you embark on your journey of creating and distributing Report Books, there are a few things you need to ensure:
Permissions Matter
To set up and utilize Report Books effectively, you'll need Manager access. If Data Permissions are implemented in your Vena tenant, you'll require appropriate permissions for the data contained within the report forms you'll be working with. Additionally, to monitor the distribution status of Report Books, Modeler access is necessary.
Moreover, all intended recipients of your Report Books must have their own Vena accounts with at least Contributor or Viewer access. After all, these are the folks who will be benefiting from your report-sharing prowess.
A Step-by-Step Guide
Creating and distributing Report Books is a straightforward process. Let's break it down into manageable steps.
Step 1: Enabling Report Books
Before you can dive into using Report Books, ensure that it's enabled in your Vena environment.
Step 2: Creating & Modifying Report Books
Report Books are seamlessly integrated into the Process Designer within the Report Details options on any Report Block. Each Report Block has its unique Report Book settings. To add a Report Book to an existing Report Block or create a new one, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Manager tab.
- Select the process you want to modify.
- Within the Designer View, either double-click the Report Task where a Report Book is to be added
- Click on the "Report Books" tab.
- Select the "+ Create a Report Book" button to open the Report Books Wizard.
Step 3: Configuring Report Books
The Report Books Wizard helps the users in following the steps required to set up the report books:
1. Settings: Here, you choose a name and description for the Report Book and select the recipients.
2. File Options: Select the report form and page options to be distributed.
Schedule: This helps us in enabling automatic distribution of the Report Book when the associated Report Task is reached in the process.
4. Summary: This page is to review the chosen settings, check if there are any validation issues, manually kick start the report distribution and send a test report to the user who is creating the report book.
Each step is clearly outlined, and you can move to the next one by simply clicking "Next" at the bottom right-hand side of the drawer. You can also jump directly to any step by selecting it at the top.
Viewing Report Books
When a Report Book is distributed, recipients receive an email from Vena with a notification about the available Report Book for download. The email includes the Report Book's name and the description you entered during configuration (if provided). Recipients also receive a link for convenient access to the report, which takes them to the Vena login page. Here, they must enter their credentials before downloading the report. This ensures data security and restricts access to the designated recipient.
Conclusion
Report Books in Vena are a powerful tool for effortlessly sharing critical information with stakeholders. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can harness the full potential of Report Books, making your reporting processes smoother and more efficient.
Remember, effective communication is the cornerstone of successful organizations, and Report Books help you achieve just that. So, dive in, start creating, and see the difference for yourself.
#reportbooks #Reporting #DelbridgeSolutions #blog #venaconsulting
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Sal Rana | Sr Director, Professional Services
Delbridge Solutions | Toronto
e:
srana@delbridge.solutions | m: 416.371.5066
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