Last Updated: April 29 2021
Overview
Use BI Reporting to extract specific data from your simPRO build so you can create your own customised reports, dashboards and data visualisations to make more informed business decisions.
BI Reporting pulls data from a saved copy of your database, ensuring that the processing of information is efficient even when retrieving thousands of records. Depending on when the BI Reporting is being used, information presented in the reports can be up to 24 hours old.
You must be logged in to simPRO to display data from BI Reporting.
Also, since BI Reporting extracts information from a saved database and simPRO's pre-generated reports extract information from live data, data records may vary when you cross reference similar reports.
Required setup
In order to view content or perform actions referred to in this article you need to have the appropriate permissions enabled in your security group. Go to System > Setup > Security Groups and access your security group to update your permissions. The relevant security group tab and specific permissions for this article can be found here:
Security group permissions
If you have a multi-company simPRO build, BI Reporting extracts data from all companies associated with the build.
In a multi-company build, users with permission to access BI Reporting can access data for all companies, regardless of other security group permissions.
To use BI Reporting, enable it in your security groups:
- Go to System
> Setup > Security Groups. - Click the relevant security group.
- Click the Reports tab.
- Select the BI Reporting check box.
- Click Save and Finish.
Access and navigate
To access the BI Reporting user interface, go to Reports 
> BI Reporting.
As the BI Reporting opens in a new tab, you need to allow pop-ups from simPRO in your browser.
All questions and dashboards created in BI Reporting are stored either in Our Data, a common collection accessible to all users logged in to the same simPRO build or in My personal collection, accessible only to the logged-in user.
- Click Browse all items and select the required collection to view a list of the available Dashboards and Questions on separate tabs.
- Create New collection to group similar questions and dashboards for easy reference. You can create multiple collections within Our Data or My personal collection based on your requirements.
To understand the basic navigation, refer to the following menu items in the BI Reporting interface:
| Collections |
|
|
DASHBOARDS and QUESTIONS tabs |
Learn more about dashboards in How to Manage BI Reporting Dashboards. |
| Questions page |
The filters you apply in the custom reports that you create with BI Reporting are referred to as Questions. Click Questions to view the entire set of questions created by different users.
|
to edit the collection that you are accessing and to archive the collection.
to view archived collections.
to select all items.
to pin the selected dashboard on the collection page for easy access.
to move it to a specific collection.
to create a copy of the selected dashboard. You can then edit this copy, as required.
to archive the dashboard / question.
to archive it.
to add the current question to an existing or new dashboard.
to view a detailed history of revisions on the question.Learn more in the Learning Toolbox
For additional training, complete an interactive material in the simPRO's Learning Toolbox.
