For a complete list of closing schedules, click here. Please note, some event dates are subject to change prior to Year End. Check back periodically and in early July for the most up-to-date information. |
|---|
|
Messages from the Reporting
Team | ||
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Live Queue Updates & Report Usage Stats (reg. refresh schedule: on the half hour/biz days starting at 7 am)  |
||
 |
||
Year End Reporting Calendars |
||
|
|
||||
| Year End Report Volume: Managing Performance | ||||
| Over a half million reports were run in 2007. The Year End close period June through August can see upward of 4,000 report submissions a day. The month of July is the busiest month of the year running 20,000+ more reports than other "non-year-end" months. Ensuring performance during the Year End period of substantially increased volume and compressed time windows for user activity is managed by aligning user activity patterns with system resources. Pro-active tuning and usage analysis throughout the year and heightened monitoring of user activity and system performance during the close are empolyed to identify and address emerging issues. |
||||
 |
||||
When a report will complete and be available to the end-user depends on five main variables:
|
||||
| CREW Up-times | ||||
| Scheduled reports begin to execute, aka "kick-off", when the nightly data loads to the Harvard Data Warehouse (HDW) complete and the reporting zones are brought up. Recent upgrades and continues tuning have improved the run time of the nightly load process resulting in earlier CREW up times. | ||||
| Report Run Time Performance | ||||
On average 72% of all financial reports executed are Detail Listings. The majority of Detail Listings complete in minutes. Longer running, yet high volume reports, such as the CINA Flex reports may contribute to queue bottlenecks impeding the execution of other reports. |
||||
| Queue Configuration for Greater Throughput | ||||
Due to the large number of reports that are submitted to execute at any given time, it is important that the number of reports actually executing at one time does not overburden the system. All financial reports query data from a single database residing on a single server. To control the flow of traffic, queues are established which have a given number of "slots" dictating the number of reports that may execute simultaneously. The overwhelming majority of reports executed by end users is the Detail Listings which is assigned its own queue with several slots. All other reports share another queue with fewer slots. Given that it is primarily reports other than the Detail Listing that run long, this queue is more likely to get clogged as long-running reports don't clear the queue as quickly as needed to make room for "waiting" reports. |
||||
| Volume of Reporting | ||||
Volume of reporting is strictly in the hands of the reporting community based on individual needs. During peak reporting periods and business-critical reporting days volume of reporting is high and minor delays in terms of pending wait times may be experienced despite measures taken. Our analysis shows that the Detail Listing reports experience minor to imperceptible pending wait times even for the highest volume reporting days. Reducing or not submitting unneeded long-running reports on high volume reporting days creates additional bandwidth for others. |
||||
| Run time when using PFY vs CFY reporting periods | ||||
| Report run time relates to the amount of data a report needs to retrieve. For instance, a Detail Listing run for Current Fiscal Year to Date after the July close, will only need to return one period of data. When that same report is run for the June close, a full year of data is retrieved. | ||||
| Performance Hints: What you can do | ||||
| Spring Clean Unused Scheduled Reports! | ||||
| Do you have scheduled reports that run every month or at Year End that don't quite suit your needs anymore but that you're afraid to delete "just in case"? Be aware, unneeded reports take away space and system resources from the reports you really do use. (hint, use the "Schedule Later" scheduling option to put report requests "On Hold". Report requests in "Schedule Later" status are never deleted from the system and can be re-activated at any time should you decide you really do need them.) |
||||
| Preserve Server Space by Deleting Reports | ||||
| Delete the reports you no longer need to save disk
server space. Save report files and
then delete from the CREW HOME page. Remember, report requests will
automatically purge from the system seven days after its completion date. (hint, set up request groups and schedule them. Delete the groups that have completed and the next scheduled issuance of the group stays active.) |
||||
| Schedule, Schedule, Schedule! | ||||
| Scheduling your report to run overnight instead of
during working hours is your best guarantee of having your reports on hand
when you get to your desk in the morning. This practice is particularly
recommended for summary reports like the Change In Net Assets and Summary
Actuals that take longer to execute. (hint, use events-based scheduling options to have reports automatically execute after the closes.) |
||||
| Use the narrowest possible parameters | ||||
| Broad parameters cause the system to have to work harder
to return your results. The harder the system works, the longer it takes
to get you your results. (hint, use selection sets to set up chart values once and then apply them to multiple reports.) |
||||
|
|
||||
| Monitoring YE Performance: What we do | ||||
| Throughout the close during working hours, the HDW and FSS Reporting Teams monitor the system for backlogs and long-running reports. If pending wait-times exceed 15 minutes, immediate analysis is conducted to assess the expected wait-times and take any actions possible to reduce the bottlenecks. In the event of queue backlogs and long pending wait-times, alerts are posted to the CREW Gateway Page and wait-time estimates are provided. The Help Desk is also alerted and kept informed of progress. Look to the "Messages from the Reporting Team" for "traffic” and other important updates. |
||||
|
|
||||
| What Else to Remember at Year End: | ||||
| Posting Journals to the Correct Period | ||||
| During the month of July, the period of JUN-08 will also be open and will be the “default” period. Be careful to select the proper period (JUN-08 or JUL-08) when you enter a journal. | ||||
 |
||||
|
|
||||
| Streamline YE Reporting Using CREW Features and Functionality | |||
| Request Groups, chart of account Selection Sets and Events-based scheduling are some of the features of CREW that can help automate reporting which is especially useful at Year End. Step-by-step tutorials on how to use these features are available on ABLE at http://able.harvard.edu/crew/ | |||
| Closing Periods in the Detail Listing | |||
| “Year End Date Periods” in the Detail Listing reports limit the data retrieved to just the transactions/journals of each individual close. For instance, if you want to check to make sure all of your first close journals posted accurately, choose the "First Closing (mm/dd/yyyy - mm/dd/yyyy)" date period to limit results to just what posted in the 1st close. | |||
 |
|||
| The updated FY08 YE Close Period dates will be displayed in the date name starting July 1. Until then, the FY07 dates will still be shown. In other words, when the new fiscal year opens on July 1, the new dates become activated. This does not preclude setting up and scheduling reports in advance! Upon the first nightly refresh after July 1, the dates will automatically update all scheduled reports. | |||
| Scheduling Detail Listings Using Year End Closing Periods and Scheduling Events | |||
| Combine using Close Periods and Scheduling "Events" so Detail Listings capturing YE Journals automatically execute after each or any of the five close periods. | |||
 |
|||
Choose the "Once On Event" schedule dropdown and choose the close event that corresponds with the Detail Listing close date. To rapidly replicate a report for each close, from the CREW Home page:
|
|||
| Creating Request Groups | |||
| A Request Group can be comprised of any number and any combination of reports that are scheduled to run together. For example, a Detail Listing report where the report period is "Most Recent Month" and a Summaries Actual and Budget report where the report period is "Prior Fiscal Year" can be grouped together and scheduled run after each close using the "Repeat On Event" year end close dates. | |||
 |
|||
| Any report request on the HOME page can be made part of a group. When creating new reports specifically to be part of group choose the Schedule page option of "Schedule Later". On creating new groups, the default schedule status is Schedule Later. Click the clock icon of the group to apply a new schedule. | |||
| Using Selection Sets | |||
| Use Selection Sets to set up various combinations of chart segment values that are then applied to multiple reports. For instance, a department administrator may want to see their Tub and Org activity in a Budget Variance report, a Fund Summary report, and a Summaries Actual and Budget report. So, they would set up a Selection Set to include their Tub and Org values and then apply it to all three of the reports to ensure the same segments are being captured in each report. | |||
 |
|||
| Putting it all together: A Day in the Life of a YE Reporter | |||
| Department and financial administrators manage budgets, funds, and operating expenses. For a given tub and org, one might want to see fund balances, summaries of object code expenses against budget, and a detailed look at expenses. Using selection sets, request groups and events-based scheduling can assist in automating repetitive actions and help ensure consistency in report submissions. | |||
Step 1: |
create a Selection Set that includes the chart segment values you want report results on | ||
Step 2: |
apply the sets to the reports that will display the report results in the way you want to see them | ||
Step 3: |
create a group with these reports | ||
Step 4: |
schedule the group to run on the year end closes | ||
Selection Sets + Request Groups + Events Scheduling = Streamlined Reporting |
|||
