Management Reporter - the new FRx
One of the worst reporting headaches is producing output for the finance department. The reports need to meet strict standards, be penny perfect, and the end user always wants the report to be in excel. With reporting services in SQL Server 2005 this could be done by the IT department but the real solution is to let the finance types do it for themselves. Performance Point went some way to addressing this and for those customers with Dynamics there was FRx. So three ways of doing things - a typical Microsoft approach.
Then very quietly, in fact so quietly that you would only know about it by searching for it by name, Management Reporter quietly launched down the Microsoft slipway on 29th January. Management Reporter is a free add-on to Performance Point users with software assurance. It's specifically designed for finance users to do reporting in Excel. It has a lot of financial intelligence built in and support for regulatory compliance e.g. Sarbannes Oxley (SOX), International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) to name a few.
Unlike FRx, your accounts don't have to be in Dynamics to use it and you can save the design as a reporting services report so information can be disseminated to other parts of the business who don't have Performance Point.
Technorati Tags: Performance Point,SQL Server,Reporting Services,Financial Reporting.
Comments
Anonymous
February 25, 2008
THe Management reporter looks nice, but do you know if it is possible to download this on it's own? Can't find any download links for Report Manager on the site.Anonymous
February 25, 2008
Never mind, found the CTP2 at connect.microsoft.com.Anonymous
March 02, 2008
Is there not a new version of the download for Report Manager?Anonymous
March 10, 2008
No i don't believe there is. At my company we use an alterative Ad-hoc reporting tool (RSinteract). it's won awards from Micrsoft & is inexpensive. www.rsinteract.comAnonymous
March 13, 2008
Somebody sent me an e-mail asking about differences between Business Manager Scorecard reports and PPSAnonymous
March 14, 2008
Somebody sent me an e-mail asking about differences between Business Manager Scorecard reports and PPSAnonymous
March 27, 2008
Management Reporter is not an Excel-based reporting experience as is stated. It integrates with Excel but uses its own UI and supports the same Row/Column/Tree/Report building block paradigm as FRx. Additionally, FRx was not only for Dynamics. FRx has many other partner integrations and this support is also available in Management Reporter by developing data providers using the PerformancePoint Data Integration Toolkit. Regards, Bryan Schoening Program Manager MicrosoftAnonymous
November 07, 2008
Our Finance group recently migrated from Great Plains to Lawson Financials. Needless to say they really miss their FRx reporting functionality (it was one of those “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone” situations). We are in the process of developing a data provider for Management Reporter using the Data Integration Toolkit. For now the project is a proof of concept. If anyone can direct us to people, sites or documentation that would be helpful in this effort it will be greatly appreciated.Anonymous
December 01, 2008
This is Norm. I wrote something about PerformancePoint Server reporting features here . I want to shareAnonymous
March 09, 2009
I know that FRx was concurrently licensed, is management reporter licensed concurrently?Anonymous
March 10, 2009
Kevin There are no additional licenses need to use management reporter. AndrewAnonymous
March 13, 2009
In FRx one could import data from a specific Sheet in an Excel workbook by enclosing the workbook in square brackets and following it by the sheet name (ex: C:[Test_Workbook.xls]Sheet2). When I try to do this same format in the reporting tree in Management reporter it doesn't accept it. Does anyone know the correct syntax?Anonymous
May 26, 2009
The syntax should be the same [workbook.xls]tab. Try removing the c: portion. You define the default location of the file under Tools, Options.Anonymous
May 31, 2009
Hi Dennis, as you said you are using RSinteract for ad - Hoc reporting.I visited the site and found it works with SSRS 2005/2008 , is is possible to use this tool with Performance Point Server? Regards, RichaAnonymous
June 02, 2009
Management Reporter also works with other ISV products. Viewpoint V6 Software is a construction industry accounting and project management software that has integrated with Management Reporter. We also have an OFSI written for the 5x version of our software. www.viewpointcs.comAnonymous
June 17, 2009
Does it create journals in GP for consolidation and elimination purposes?Anonymous
June 18, 2009
Sojan No reporter is just a onew way reporting toolAnonymous
November 20, 2009
Is there a way to record comments at the company, business unit, account, transaction level for publication within financial statements (e.g. footnotes)?Anonymous
November 23, 2009
Andrew This FRx isn't really my thing but I'll try and find out. AndrewAnonymous
December 31, 2009
To Bryan Schoening: We just found a major problem with Management Reporter -- they advertise drill-down capability, but if you're using a dimensioned database (we use Epicor 9), the drill-down only gives you GL account #'s without descriptions. Completely useless unless you happen to have your entire chart of accounts memorized. Microsoft has basically said "tough luck - we don't plan to fix it". I would suggest that you fix this obvious oversight. In the meantime, we will have to search for a different solution.Anonymous
January 20, 2010
So, as the title of this article seems to infer, is Management Reporter the replacement for FRx? What is the method for current FRx customers to make the transition, technologically, license, etc.?Anonymous
March 24, 2010
Hi ! We are new in the work with mmr but we have a problem with the reports some times the system runs ok but sometimes the system generate a TIMEOUT and nobody work with this. Do you know wich is the process to get information about this error? RegardsAnonymous
May 13, 2011
We are currently using FRX for our financial reporting needs. We were informed that there will no longer be any support available for FRX, and that we must switch to Management Reporter. Is this accurate? If so, is there a downloadable manual available, so that we may become familiar with the product before we convert?Anonymous
May 17, 2011
Kathleen there is a conversion tool, on the dynamics site, to move form FRx to reporter. the tool does come wiht help as part of the install so have you looked at that.Anonymous
August 03, 2011
We are using FRX but considering moving to Management Reporter. What can Management Reporter do that FRX can not? What are the benefits of changing?Anonymous
August 04, 2011
the issues around chnaging are here .. support.microsoft.com/.../2425087 but I don't know too much about Manageemnt Reporter or Dynamics I'm afraid AndrewAnonymous
March 13, 2013
Hello. I need to know if Management Reporter has a finance forecasting function. Also, can it pull data from other applications and/or databases? Thanks, Kendra