Ariba® On-Demand Solutions

Using Advanced
Reporting Features
Document Version August 2012
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Table of Contents

Modifying Display Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

About This Topic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
How to... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Modify a report’s display options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Reference Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Formatting Field Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

About This Topic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
How to... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Format data in a data field. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Reference Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Analyzing Time Variance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

About This Topic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Prerequisite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
How to... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Analyze time variance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Recommending Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
About Recommending Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Prerequisite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
How to... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Recommend a report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Creating Multi-Fact Reports with Aggregation by Common Dimension . 13

About This Topic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
How to... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Create a multi-fact report with aggregation by common dimension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Reference Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Using Advanced Reporting Features iii

Modifying Display Options

• “About This Topic” on page 4

• “Prerequisites” on page 4
• “How to...” on page 4
• “Reference Information” on page 5

About This Topic

Ariba reports use an Others bucket to group non-essential data and display it on a row called Others. By
modifying the Others bucketing settings for a report, you can:
• Set the minimum and maximum number of rows displayed and group any rows over the maximum into
Others
• Apply an 80/20 rule to show the spend items that compose most of the total spend and group the
remaining items into Others
• Hide rows that do not make up a certain threshold percentage of the data and place them in Others

You can group data using any combination of Others bucketing settings; the most restrictive setting governs
the way data is grouped in the Others row. You can only set an 80/20 rule or minimum subtotal percentage if
your report contains subtotals or if you are working with a data field that can be totaled in a meaningful way,
such as Invoice Count, Project Count, Awarded Historic Spend, or Contract Spend. If you are working with
a data field that cannot be totaled in a meaningful way, such as Status, use minimum and maximum rows to
set Others bucketing.

You can also show or hide individual rows and columns on the pivot table.

Prerequisites
You must have permission to edit reports in order to modify display options.

How to...
• “Modify a report’s display options” on page 4

 Modify a report’s display options

1 On the report pivot table, select Actions > Display Options, or click the Edit link in the Display Options area
of the pivot table.

Using Advanced Reporting Features 4

Modifying Display Options

2 On the Others Bucketing tab, modify your display options for others bucketing and column and row
display:

3 Click OK to apply the display options.

Result
The Display Options area of pivot table shows the report’s current settings.

Reference Information
The following display options are available:

Option Description
Number of Rows Specifies the minimum and maximum number of rows of data to show on the pivot
table. By default, the pivot table shows a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 8 rows.
All report rows that exceed the maximum number are grouped into a row called
Others. Keep in mind that the pivot table updates faster when it has fewer rows.

80-20 Rule Specifies whether the report shows all data or only a specified percentage of top data
on rows. By default, the pivot table shows 100% of the items that make up the total.
A ratio allows you to display a top percentage of the items that make up the total and
group the remainder into a row called Others. For example, if you apply a 60/40
ratio, the report display the items that make up the top 60% of the total and groups
the remaining 40% of items in Others.

Using Advanced Reporting Features 5

Modifying Display Options
Option
Minimum Subtotal Percentage
Summary Row/Columns
Description
Specifies the minimum subtotal percentage that items must meet to appear on the
report. Every item with a subtotal below the minimum percentage of the total
is grouped into a row called Others; items with subtotals above the
minimum percentage of the total appear on the report. For example, if you
set the minimum subtotal percentage to 3%, the report groups every item
that makes up less than 3% of the total in Others.
Specifies whether or not to show summary rows and column on the pivot table.
To display total and variance columns on the pivot table, Selecting Show total or
variance columns on the pivot table at all times displays both total and variance
columns on the pivot table. Setting any other Others bucketing options overrides this
setting.
Selecting Show subtotal rows on the pivot table at all times displays both
subtotal and total rows on the pivot table. Setting any other Others bucketing
options overrides this setting. Depending on the report you’re working with,
this option may only be available if you are using the pivot grid layout.
Using Advanced Reporting Features 6
Formatting Field Data

• “About This Topic” on page 7

• “Prerequisites” on page 7
• “How to...” on page 7
• “Reference Information” on page 9

About This Topic

You use field settings to format the data in a data field. The field settings options available to you depend on
the type of data in the field. Data fields such as spend or count are often displayed as columns in a report;
when you format the field settings for a data field, that formatting applies to every place that field appears in
the report.

The type of data you are formatting determines formatting options. For example, if you are working with
count totals such as commodity counts, you have options for formatting numbers; if you are working with
currency values such as invoice spend, you have options for formatting currency; and so forth.

Prerequisites
You must have permission to edit reports in order to format data fields.

How to...
• “Format data in a data field” on page 7

 Format data in a data field

1 On the report pivot table, click the field’s data field or column heading and select Edit > Field Settings.

2 On the Define Data Field page, click the Format tab.

3 Select a data field view option from the Show data as pull-down menu. See “Data Field View Options” on
page 9.
4 If you are not using normal formatting, select display with original value to display the original data value
with the percentage or running total in parentheses next to it in the same column,

Using Advanced Reporting Features 7

Formatting Field Data

5 If you are using normal formatting, select a number format for the data from the Show data in pull-down
menu. See “Number Format Options” on page 9.

6 Click OK to apply your format settings to the data field.

Using Advanced Reporting Features 8

Formatting Field Data

Reference Information

Data Field View Options

Option Description
normal Shows data as numbers.

% of row Shows data as a percentage of the total in the row.

% of column Shows data as a percentage of the total in the column.

running total of row Shows data in a running total along rows.

running total of column Shows data in a running total along the column.

Number Format Options

Default Shows data in its default format (as currency for amounts,
numbers for supplier counts, percentages for percentages, and so
forth)

Number Shows data in number format. You have the following additional
options for formatting numbers:
• Decimal places specifies the maximum number of decimal
places to display for numbers.
• Use 1000 separator specifies to use a separator between
thousands (displaying one thousand as 1,000) to display
numbers without a separator (displaying one thousand as
1000).
• Negative Numbers settings specify to display negative
numbers with a negative sign or in brackets.

Currency Shows data in currency format. You have the following additional
options for formatting currency:
• Decimal places specifies the maximum number of decimal
places to display for currency.
• Symbol specifies whether to display the data with or without a
currency symbol.
• Use 1000 separator specifies to use a separator between
thousands (displaying one thousand as 1,000) to display
numbers without a separator (displaying one thousand as
1000).
• Negative Numbers settings specify to display negative
numbers with a negative sign or in brackets.

Percentage Shows data in percentage format. You have an additional Decimal

places setting that specifies the maximum number of decimal
places to display for percentages.

Using Advanced Reporting Features 9

Analyzing Time Variance

• “About This Topic” on page 10

• “Prerequisite” on page 10
• “How to...” on page 10

About This Topic

Variance analysis provides at-a-glance comparison of data in two different dimensions as shown by a
variance measure. For example, you can compute and display the difference in currency amount from one
fiscal quarter to another. Or, you can compare counts and amounts from one month to the next, or from one
month in one year to the same month in the following year.

For example, suppose a buyer creates an analytical report displaying the company's spend in a certain
category over the last three years. While exploring the report, the buyer notices a large increase in spending
in the category in July of the current year. The buyer wants to compare the spending in this category for the
last three years and then wants to view the comparison by month.

In addition to comparison over time, other types of variance analysis might compare measures across
different suppliers, regions, company departments, and so forth. Any measure that is displayed as a
numerical total can be calculated and displayed as a variance.

Prerequisite
You must have permission to edit reports in order to analyze variance.

How to...
• “Analyze time variance” on page 10

 Analyze time variance

1 If the date field you want to use in not yet a column field in the report, make it one:

• If the date field is a row in the report, click the field menu on the report pivot table and choose Show
Field On: Columns.

• If the time hierarchy is a page field in the report, click the menu for the time field on the Page tab of the
Field Browser and choose Show Field On: Columns.
2 Click Edit.

3 Refine the data for the date field you are using so that it spans the time you want to use for your variance
analysis and click Done. For more information on refining report data by date range, Running Reports:
Filtering and Navigating Through Data.
For example, you might want to analyze variance between two years or two quarters. When you apply the
date filter, the report displays data for that time span.

Using Advanced Reporting Features 10

AnalyzingTime Variance

4 Filter by levels in the date field hierarchy until the report displays data for the two time periods you want
to compare in side-by-side columns using one of the following methods:
• Click the time hierarchy’s data field menu and choose Select Level, Values: Select Others, then select two
values. For example, if your report is displaying data for two years and you want to compare two
months, you can select the values for those months.
• Click the time hierarchy’s data field menu and choose Select Starting Level, then choose a starting level:
months, quarters, or years. For example, if your report is displaying data for two years and you want to
compare data between those years, choose Select Starting Level: Year and the report will display data for
each of the two years in the date range in side-by-side columns.
5 Click the Total column heading menu and choose Show Variance.

Result
All total columns in the report display the variance totals over the time span you specified.

Using Advanced Reporting Features 11

Recommending Reports

• “About Recommending Reports” on page 12

• “Prerequisite” on page 12
• “Limitations” on page 12
• “How to...” on page 12

About Recommending Reports

You can recommend a report to bring it to the attention of other users who are looking for information on
one of the report’s dimension fields. For example, you can recommend a report for the Supplier dimension if
it contains a supplier field as a row, column, or page field.

Note: If you are recommending a report for others to use, be sure to save it in the Public Reports folder so
that they can see it.

Prerequisite
You must be able to save reports in order to recommend a report.

Limitations
You cannot recommend prepackaged reports, since recommending the report requires you to save it. To
recommend a prepackaged report, save a copy of it to another folder.

How to...
• “Recommend a report” on page 12

 Recommend a report
1 On the report pivot table, select Actions > Display Options.

2 Click the Set as Recommended tab.

3 Select the dimensions for which you want to recommend the report.

4 Click OK.

5 Save the report with the recommendation setting.

Using Advanced Reporting Features 12

Creating Multi-Fact Reports with Aggregation by
Common Dimension

• “About This Topic” on page 13

• “Prerequisites” on page 14
• “Limitations” on page 14
• “How to...” on page 14
• “Reference Information” on page 15

About This Topic

Multi-fact reports with aggregation by common dimension are useful if you want to compare common fields
across facts, manipulate the cube, and drill down to examine aggregated data in different areas. For example,
you can compare survey response and supplier participation for the same commodity and roll totals up under
one commodity field.

Multi-fact reports with aggregation by common dimension can only include fields in dimensions that all of
the report’s facts share in common. The following diagram shows the intersection of two facts and their
dimensions.

Supplier Participation Survey Response

KPI
Time

Event Commodity Survey

Question
Department
Supplier Scorecard

A multi-fact report with aggregation by common dimension can include time, commodity, department, and
supplier fields, but cannot include any of the fields that belong to only one fact.

Creating a multi-fact report with aggregation by common dimension is similar to creating a basic multi-fact
report, but includes extra steps for mapping the fields from different facts to common report fields. The facts
that are available to you for reporting depend on the Ariba Spend Management solution your company has
purchased.

Using Advanced Reporting Features 13

Creating Multi-Fact Reports with Aggregation by Common Dimension

Prerequisites
You must have permission to create reports in order to create a multi-fact report with aggregation by
common dimension.

Limitations
See “Reference Information” on page 15.

How to...
• “Create a multi-fact report with aggregation by common dimension” on page 14

 Create a multi-fact report with aggregation by common dimension

1 On the command bar, select Create > Analytical Report.

2 Enter a title and optional description.

If you enter a description, it will appear below the report title in the folder where the report is saved.
3 Select Create multi-fact report with aggregation by common dimension from the Facts pull-down menu.

4 Select the facts you want to compare. As you add or remove facts, the field mappings on the lower half of
the page change to match your choices.
5 Review each fact’s field mappings to see if you want to map certain fields to each other.

6 When you have finished choosing and mapping facts, click Done to return to the previous page, where
your choices are displayed.
7 Finish creating the report as you would a single-fact analytical report, using data fields for all of the
report’s facts. See Creating Analytical Reports for details.

Using Advanced Reporting Features 14

Creating Multi-Fact Reports with Aggregation by Common Dimension

Reference Information
The following table describes the differences between the two types of available Ariba multi-fact reporting:

Behavior Basic Multi-fact Reporting Multi-Fact Reporting with Aggregation by

Common Dimension
Maximum number of You can add a maximum of three facts to You can add an unlimited number of facts to
facts the report. the report.

Fact selection You can only add facts to the report if You can add any combination of facts to the
they have pre-defined relationships to report. There is no requirement for pre-defined
each other. relationships.

Field selection You can add any field from the You can only add fields to the report if they are
underlying facts to the report. a dimension common to all of the underlying
facts.

Field mapping Each field you add to the report is an Each field you add to the report is common to
individual field that contains data only all facts, and you map individual fact fields to
for its fact. the common field. It shows data for all
underlying facts.

Data aggregation In some cases, subtotals do not roll up to Since the fields are mapped, all subtotals roll
totals. up to totals.

Data matching Data options allow you to include only The report includes all fact data within filter
matching data, or all data, for different parameters.
fact combinations in the report.

Initial date filtering The initial date filter is always on a date The initial date filter is a mapped field for date
field from the main fact. This filter then fields in all underlying facts. The report
determines what data in the second and includes only data for the time period specified
third facts match the main fact. This in the filter for all facts.
matching second and third fact data can
fall outside of the main fact date filter’s
time period.

Performance Can run more slowly, but provide better Usually the faster option if you are focusing on
detail-level data. aggregate data, such as in many Ariba Spend
Visibility reports.

Using Advanced Reporting Features 15

Creating Multi-Fact Reports with Aggregation by Common Dimension

The following report is a multi-fact report aggregated by common dimension.

Contract Effective Date and

Task Start Date mapped to a
single Start Date field
Project Owner and Task Owner
mapped to a single Owner field

Selection of fields
you can add to the Subtotals all roll
report is limited up to totals

Report includes
all data

The following report is a basic multi-fact report.

Date field is from

the main fact
Project Owner and Task Owner
are individual report fields

Subtotals do not always

roll up to totals

You can add any field Report includes only

from the underlying matching data by
facts to the report default

Using Advanced Reporting Features 16