Financial Reports via Direct USAS-R Access
The following steps are a general guideline to follow when setting up Financial Report access for district personnel via direct access to log in to USAS-R (similar to Classic's FISCWEB).
ITCs may customize these steps to better suit their district's needs.
User Account
When creating User accounts to be used by district staff to access USAS-R reports, there are two main options that will be discussed below:
- Standard accounts - User accounts that are not specific to an employee. The ITC/district can share the credentials for this account with users at their discretion so multiple employees may use the same credentials to access USAS-R. This is similar to the Classic FISCWEB practice. Ex. Username could be SS_Athletics
- Individual accounts - User accounts would be created for specific employees to access USAS-R with unique credentials. Ex. Username could be SS_AJones
Standard Accounts
If USASEC filters in Classic were used, those filter names will also create User accounts when imported into the Redesign (by default, they will not be active user accounts).
For example, if I had a USASEC filter called FISCWEB_CAFE, it will be brought over as an inactive user account in the Redesign with the USASEC filter already loaded into the Filters field
- Enable the user accounts you want to create financial report access for, changing the username if desired.
If USASEC filters in Classic were not used, then create new Users in USAS-R for each standard account.
Individual Accounts
User accounts can be created for individuals instead of utilizing a standard account like was often done with Classic FISCWEB. The following steps will allow custom roles and reports to be assigned to users. These features can just as easily be performed with individual user accounts.
Reports Role
Once the accounts have been enable/created. The users should be assigned a role to allow them access to run reports. While the standard USAS_RO role will allow this access, this also gives additional view access. To assign access to only the reports needed for that user, a custom role can be created. Click here to view the basics of how to Create a Role. The permissions added to the role depends on the reports you want them to have access to. Districts may grant a standard Financial Reports role to give all users the same set of reports to run (which will then be filtered to their accounts) or unique roles depending on which reports certain users may need. Once a Reports Role is created, assign the role(s) to User accounts that were enabled/created in the previous section.
For example, I can create a role for called “Financial Reports for District Personnel” adding permissions that will allow them to generate a Cash Summary, Budget Summary, Revenue Summary and Financial Detail report. Listed below are the permissions that can be granted.
TIP: If you want the grant a user access to ALL report permissions, it may be easier to modify the current USAS_RO role to remove the view permissions. Once the permissions are updated, change the Id (role name) to a name that does not include any underscores then click Save. This will create a new role.
NOTE: Permissions ENCUMBRANCEIMPACT_REPORT & ENCUMBRNACEIMPACT_VIEW should be included on report roles. These permissions are utilized in calculating encumbrance totals. Without this permission users may not be able to properly generate some reports.
Account Filters
Account filters will determine which account codes are accessible to the user when running reports. If the district had FISCWEB set up in Classic and had filters created in USASEC that were linked to their FISCWEB reports, the USASEC filters will be imported under Account Filters in the Redesign. If the ITC (or district) has a spreadsheet or something documented on the district’s current FISCWEB setup (including the reports, usernames, USASEC filters), it needs to be reviewed to check for any reports or account filters that are no longer used or are incorrect.
If USASEC filters were used in Classic, review the filter on the Utilities > Account filter page to make sure the included accounts are up to date. If USASEC filters were not used in Classic, Account Filters can be created in USAS-R. Click here to view the basics of how to Create an Account Filter.
Once the filters have been reviewed/created, filters can be attached to a User account. Edit the user on the System > Users grid and choose the filter from the "Filters" drop down.
Share Custom Reports
Users will have access to run the standard SSDT template reports based on the permissions assigned to their role. Custom reports or reports that have been imported can also be shared with a role.
Once the reports are imported or customized, click on the 'share report definitions with roles' icon 
on the report grid to share each report with the custom Role.
Customize User Access
After User accounts have been enabled/created a password should also be set.
Log into the user account (using the password you created) and go to the report grid, use the 'Favorites' check box to select any reports that should show by default on the user's home page.
For users that have access to accounts for multiple departments, Save and Recalls can be created to make it easier to run reports.
For example, for a user that has an account filter that allows them access to both Student Activities and High School related accounts, they may want to be able to easily run a Budget Summary for only one or the other. If a save and recall is created for the report to include the appropriate query parameters then the user will simply choose from their Save and Recall drop down upon login.
Managing Accounts
Once the accounts have been created, each ITC may determine guidelines for managing the upkeep of financial reports and accounts.
- Account Access
- If individual accounts are created for each user, this likely will me handled via the same procedure the ITC uses for creating normal USAS-R accounts. For standardized accounts, the credential may be managed by either the ITC or the district. For example, a spreadsheet with the the User Account usernames, passwords and Filter Names may be provided to a district employee in charge of maintaining this data. They can then pass the login credentials onto the individuals who will be accessing the Financial Reports.
- Adding a new Financial Report User depends on who (ITC or district) is creating the new user account. For example, if the ITC is responsible, District needs to inform ITC of the username and password they would like created District needs to provide ITC an account filter name and the specified account access to that filter Districts needs to provide ITC the reports they would like the user to have access to.
- Updating Accounts that appear on the reports
- If an update is needed to accounts that a user can access, the Account Filter associated with the user can be modified. Users with the USAS_FILTER or USAS_FILTERS_UPDATE permission have the ability to modify this. This permission is included in the USAS_MANAGER role. For details on Editing an Account Filter click here.
- Go to UTILITIES/ACCOUNT FILTERS
- Locate the account filter and click on the 'Edit' icon.
- Make any necessary changes and click on Save.
- Adding a New Report to an existing set of Financial Reports
- Additional reports can be shared with the financial report role(s) at any time using the
share role icon on the Report Manager grid. It will display a popup listing of all Roles for the district. Select the appropriate role(s) and save. The additional report will be shared with all users who have the selected role(s). If the user wants to see the report at the home page, they need to check the 'Favorites' box in the report grid. - To add a report for one user account (not to all Financial Report users), in the Report Manager grid, find the report and click on the
download report definition icon. Next, log into the users account, go to the Report Manager, and click on Import to import the report. If the user wants to see the report at the home page, they need to check the 'Favorites' box in the report grid.
Financial Reports via Email
The following options allow districts to schedule sending Financial Reports to district personnel via email. Prior to sending reports, the Email Notification Services module will need to be enabled and the appropriate information should be entered in the Email Configuration.
Job Scheduler
The job scheduler can be used to schedule individual reports to send at a regular interval. See the Appendix section Scheduling a Report to run via a Cron Job for details.
Report Bundles
Scheduling a Custom Monthly Report Bundle
benefits of utilizing a report bundle