m-Fin How-to: Scheduling Reports for Month-End/Year-End Close

Do you run the same m-Fin reports after each month-end close? In CU-Data, you can schedule these reports to run automatically. You can even set them to email to you.

Some m-Fin reports cannot be scheduled. See a list of reports that cannot be scheduled in the procedures below.

Need to update a scheduled report to include different prompts, such as SpeedTypes or Account Codes?  See Updating Report Views

Watch the Mini-Webinar

Read the procedures

Step 1: Save a Report View of the report

Navigate to your report, update the prompts, and save a Report View.

1. Run the report that you want to save.
   • If the report you are scheduling is a month-end report, follow these steps:
   1. On the first prompt page, clear the Fiscal Year and Accounting Period fields. If there’s a Current option, clear that field, too. Do this by clicking each dropdown menu to select the dotted line.
   2. At the bottom right of your screen, click Show Options and clear the Effective Date by unchecking it.
   • If the report you are scheduling is not a month-end report (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly), do not clear the Fiscal Year, Accounting Period, or Current fields, and do not uncheck the Effective Date under Show options. 
   • Enter one or more SpeedTypes.
   • Click Finish.
     
     Note - If you're scheduling the m-Fin Financial Detail, it still requires the from accounting period, but should allow you to clear both of the Fiscal Year ​prompts and the To Accounting Period.  If you want to run with the from ​accounting period cleared as well, please consider m-Fin Financial Detail II.
2. When the report displays, click the Save drop-down in the top left corner of the screen – it's the downward caret (V) button next to the floppy disk.  Select  Save report as report view.
3. A popup will appear. If you’d like -- you can change the default name of this Report View. In any case, choose Select My Folders as the location.
4. Click OK.

Step 2: Make room for your Scheduled Reports

Modify the Report View’s properties to save more output. Since this defaults to save only one output, start by deleting the output that just saved. Then, increase the number of Report Output versions, making room for more.

1. Find your Report View by clicking Open menu > Content > My content. Sometimes it takes a minute or two to show up.
2. Click the Action menu menu - it’s the three dots to the right of the heart icon - and select View Versions.
3. Click on the date -- and then on the Delete report version link. Select OK on the Confirm Delete popup. This will delete the report output version that had previously saved. 
4. Now it’s time to specify how much output you’d like to save going forward. Click on your report view’s Action menu. This time select Properties.
5. Click the Report tab, scroll down, click the drop-down next to More options and scroll down. Under Display of report output versions, change the number to a new amount, perhaps 12 -- which will save the last 12 runs. Click anywhere outside of this field. 
6. In the top right, click the Save button.

Step 3:    Schedule delivery of your report

Identify the format and delivery method for your report and enter the trigger that prompts delivery of your report.

1. Select the Schedule tab then click Create Schedule.
2. The scheduling screen defaults to the Schedule tab.
   • If you are scheduling a month-end report:
   1. Change the Frequency Type prompt to By trigger.
   2. Type FINCLOSE as the Trigger Name. This must be one word, all capital letters.
   • If you are scheduling a report other than a month-end report, simply select the Frequency Type you wish to schedule and fill in the specifics. 
   • If you only want to receive your scheduled report for a set time, deselect No end date then update the end date/time.
     
     Note - Alternately, you can schedule reports to run on a daily or weekly basis. To do so change the Type prompt to your desired frequency: Daily or Weekly and set how often you’d like delivery to occur. If scheduling daily or weekly reports, you will not be prompted to enter a trigger name.
      
3. Select the Options tab.
   • The Format will default to HTML … you can update this to PDF, Excel, Excel Data, or CSV - or leave it as is.
   • Scroll down. The Delivery method will default to Save.
     If you would like to have your report emailed to you after each month-end close, select Send Report by Email. Click Edit Details. Type in your email address directly on To line. You have the option to add an additional email address, customize the subject line, and/or add a message.
   • Want to receive a copy of your report in the email? Select Attach report output. You may need to scroll down to see this option.
   • Click Save.
   • Click Close.
4. Now you can go into your My content tab and click on the Report View name to see the latest scheduled run. To see older saved runs, click on the Report View’s Action menu, and select View Versions.
5. If you opted to receive your report by email, you’ll receive an email to the provided address after each month-end close.  You’ll need to be logged into VPN and CU-Data in order to open any report links. 
   If you opted to attach a pdf copy of the report to your email (step 3), you’ll be able to open this pdf file without being logged into VPN or CU-Data. However, you will not be able to drill down into underlying data.

Want to stop receiving a scheduled report?

Disable a scheduled report if you want to stop scheduled runs/emails but keep your saved content. You’ll still be able to run the saved report on demand and access saved outputs.

1. Click on the My content tab to access your scheduled m-Fin reports.
2. Locate the scheduled report you want to update and click the Action menu, the three dots to the right of the heart icon.
3. Select Properties
4. On the Schedule tab, disable the schedule by clicking the Enable toggle. Once disabled this button will be gray.

Delete a scheduled report entirely if you no longer need it and will not need it in the future.

1. Click on the My content tab to access your scheduled m-Fin reports.
2. Locate the scheduled report you want to update and click the Action menu, the three dots to the right of the heart icon.
3. Select Properties
4. Select the Schedule tab then click Delete.