Templates

Templates play a central role in taking FP&A Plus beyond the Finance Department into the entire organization.

What are templates? A template is essentially a container for one or more data views, and is used for reporting or for data-entry. The data views in a template can be both saved ones created in Ad Hoc Analysis and new ones created in Template Studio. The person who designs the template saves it as a template file.

Who creates templates? Administrators create and design templates.

Why use templates? There are many reasons to use templates; the benefits include the following:

  • Built-in data security

    Each user's data permissions are applied automatically; the user can only see data cells for which she has permission, and other cells remain hidden.

  • Ease of use

    Templates can be designed to make data entry or reporting simpler for users who have had no FP&A Plus training or experience.

  • Workflow

    Templates can be added to workflow projects.

  • Offline distribution

    Templates extend data gathering and reporting to users who do not have FP&A Plus.

What is the role of the template designer? Working in Template Studio, the designer decides how each data view can be used by specifying what users can do with its data. Users can be restricted to only seeing the data, to seeing and editing the data, or to only adding data. The designer can also specify the order of the page selection drop-downs and of the members in the them. The designer can enhance the template by adding formatting, variables (AutoText), cell formulas, charts, and images. The designer can also freeze selected rows and columns to improve usability, and can add links to other templates.

How are templates used? A template opens in its own tab, and is in one of two modes: data-entry mode or reporting mode. The same template can be used in different modes at different times, as needed. For example, it is common to use the same template to gather departmental expense data, and later to review the data from all departments, because the same template shows the lowest level of detail.

However, you also have the option of designing a template specifically for data entry or reporting, in order to take advantage of template features that enhance that specific function. For example, data-entry templates can guide user input by highlighting the required cells. Another example that is common for data-entry templates: provide two data views, the first being read-only and showing model data, the second, for data entry, is write-only, with empty cells that contain formulas that reference data in the first data view.

How can I tell what mode a template is in? The top-left corner contains either Report Mode or Data Entry Mode.

Where do I use templates? For data entry, you open templates through the Offline Access process, workflow (through the Data Entry task), or Document Explorer. For reporting, you open templates through the Report Binder, workflow (through the Approval task), or Document Explorer.

Do security settings apply to templates? Yes. A template only displays the data that the user's security permissions allow.

Does Conditional Formatting appear in templates? If a data view that has Conditional Formatting defined is used in a template, the Conditional Formatting works. This applies to both reporting mode and data entry mode.

Templates can be linked. A template designer can link two templates; the end user can open the second template to see supporting details.

What mode does a linked template open in? It opens in its default start mode, as follows:

  • If the default mode is Report, the template opens in Report mode.
  • If the default mode is Data Entry, the template opens in Data-Entry mode.
  • If the default mode is Design, the template opens in Report mode.