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Oracle General Ledger: Financial Statement Generator FSG Report Writing Basics
Oracle General Ledger: Financial Statement Generator FSG Report Writing Basics
General Ledger
When you press the [Copy] button a concurrent request will create the new components so this may take a
minute or two.
Once the request is complete you can then query your new component in the normal screens just like any
of the existing ones.
Where possible make full use of the ‘Autocopy’ feature instead of writing components from scratch.
Row Sets : Definition
NAV : Reports > Define > Row Sets
Open the Row Set window below to either define a new Row Set or select an existing one to update.
The screen works like a standard Oracle form so you can use either F11 or the torch button to query an
existing Row Set.
When you have selected the Row Set press the ‘Define Rows’ button to open the next screen.
Row Sets : Row Definitions 1
NAV : Reports > Define > Row Sets
Use this screen to define you rows within your Row Set. A Row Set can have from one to several hundred rows.
Line : This is the row number that is used to reference the row in calculations. It is recommended that you use
sequences 10,20,30,40 and then restart major areas of the report in a new range. For example if writing a
Balance sheet, start the Assets at 10 and the Liabilities at 500,510,520.... This will give you room to make
adjustments later if needed.
Line Item : This is the title of the row that will appear in the report. You can enter around 130 characters but bear
in mind how this will appear on the report.
Format Options
Indent : Number of characters from left that row
description will appear. Decide in advance how
many total and sub-total levels you report will
have. The highest level will have an indent of 0
and the lowest level of detail with have the
highest indent. The values 0,1,2 & 3 are typical
for a P&L report.
Lines to Skip : This is the number of lines before
or after the row to leave as a blank. This is used
to show a visual split between different areas of
the report.
Underline Characters : Used on totals. Such as
‘-’ or ‘=‘
Page Breaks : Tick the box to page break before
or after row
Row Sets : Row Definitions 2
NAV : Reports > Define > Row Sets
Advanced Options
Row Name : Max. 30 Characters. This is used to reference the row in calculations
Percent of Row : Used to reference another row that will be used to calculate a percentage
Override Column Calculations : Refer to FSG guidelines document for more information on this.
Balance Control : These can all be left blank unless required
Amount Type : PTD, YTD, QTD, Actual, Budget
Currency : Leave blank to pick up total functional balance, or enter a value to pick up a translated balance.
Control Value : Used for budgets and entered currency. Refer to report writing guide for more information.
Offset : This is a reference to the number of periods from the period the report is submitted for. For example 0 is
current period. -12 is same period last year.
Display Options : These are mostly defined in
Column Set.
Format Mask : eg. 999,999 or 999,999.99
Generally used on column sets not row sets so
can leave blank.
Factor :Units, Thousands, Millions. Generally
used on column sets not row sets so can leave
blank.
Level of Detail : Used with display sets.
Display Row :Leave ticked unless this is a
calculation to hide
Display Zero : Generally no, but can be ticked
to create fixed layout reports.
Change Sign : eg. To show revenue as
positive on P&L
Change Sign on Variance : As above.
Row Sets : Account Assignments
NAV : Reports > Define > Row Sets > [ Account Assignments ]
For most reports the account assignments are the main feature of the row set, and are key in defining the structure
and content of the report. To open the account assignment screens press the button shown on the previous page.
You can define multiple account assignments for each row, but where possible you should make use of the parent
accounts in you chart of accounts rather than hard-coding the detail into the report.
Sign : ‘+’ or ‘-’ to indicate if the balance of the account range should be added or deducted.
Accounts Low – High :Always enter the minimum needed for the report. For example for a P&L, just enter the
specific natural account and leave the cost centre and balancing segment blank. The less you put in here the lower
the maintenance and greater the future flexibility of the report.
Display :T,E or B. Generally leave this as ‘T’ for total as you can use content sets to expand the report at run time
if needed.
Summary : Only used with summary accounts. Tick to pick up summary account balance in the account range
defined.
Activity :Usually ‘Net’ but can be ‘Dr’ or ‘Cr’ if needed.
Set of Books : This is generally left blank to pick up the books of the responsibility the report is being run from, but
you can report across multiple sets of books in a single report as long as they share the same chart of accounts
( Same ID not, not just common structure )
Row Sets : Calculations
NAV : Reports > Define > Row Sets > [ Calculations ]
Calculations and Account Assignments are mutually exclusive. This means that each row can only have one or the
other, but not both. To open the calculation screen press the ‘Calculation’ button on the ‘Rows’ window.
You can define multiple calculations for each row, and you have the full range of mathematical operators available
to define you formula. If the formula is complex the work through it on a spreadsheet first before creating in an
FSG.
Seq : This is the sequence of the calculation line. Use the 10, 20, 30, 40 sequence to allow you to make
amendments later if needed.
Operator : ( +, -, *, /, %, Average, Enter, Median, StdDev, Abs ) Generally the first value line should be
‘Enter’ otherwise it can cause erroneous results with complex calculations. (Refer to FSG Report Writing
Guidelines document for more information )
Constant : This is an absolute value. For example you may enter a ratio figure or percentage to use.
Low / High : This is the row numbers. ( You will see here the importance of the row name in selecting the
right range of rows here.
Row Name : Used to reference a specific row within the row set.
Column Set : Definition
NAV : Reports > Define > Column Sets
Open the Column Set window below to either define a new Column Set or select an existing one to update.
If you are defining a new column set then follow the standard naming conventions for your organisation. ( Refer to FSG
Report Writing Guidelines document for more information )
The screen works like a standard Oracle form so you can use either F11 or the torch button to query an existing Column
Set.
When you have selected the Column Set press the ‘Define Columns’ or ‘Build Column Set’ button to open the next screen
and continue with the definition.
The ‘Define Column Sets’ window works like the Row Set on described already, and can be used to define all information
relating to a column set. The ‘Build Column Set’ window is a graphical layout for the initial structure definition of the column
set and for the final formatting of column headings.
Column Set : Column Definition 1
NAV : Reports > Define > Column Sets > [ Define Columns ]
Column Sets are the other required component of every FSG report. Whilst Row Sets are used mainly for defining the
accounts, Column Sets are used mainly for defining the period, balance type or a secondary account segment such as cost
centre.
Position : This is the position in number of characters that the first column is from the left side of the page. All column sets
should use one of a few values for the first column to match the standard suite of row orders defined. For example 40, 80 &
130 characters.
Sequence : This is the reference number for the column order and calculations. Follow the 10,20,30 sequence so that you
have room to make changes later if needed.
Format Mask : Controls the format of the data in the column. For example 999,999 or 999.999,99 or 999,999.99
Factor : If left bank then default is ‘Units’ but can also select from Thousands, Millions, Billions and Percentiles
Balance Control :
NOTE : Be careful to match the total width of the descriptions for the row order to the size of your pre-defined column sets.
For example 40, 80 & 130 characters. Have more or less characters that the column set will lead to unexpected results on
the report output. Refer to the report writing user guide for more information on this.
Report : Definition 1
NAV : Reports > Define > Report
FSG reports should be defined for the key monthly reports to group together report components ( Row, Column & Content
Sets ) so that users can run them quickly and consistently.
Every report must have at a minimum a Row Set and a Column Set. All other components are optional, or can be left as
default.
Consider giving users access to this screen even if they are not allowed to define other components.