Introduction to Reporting in SIMBA

Reporting at Penn State encompasses four ledgers, nine functional areas, two primary reporting tools, a handful of secondary reporting tools, and numerous reports.

There are two primary reporting tools in SIMBA: Embedded Analytics (EA) and Business Objects (BOBJ). 

• Embedded Analytics reports display real-time data because they are embedded within the transaction system. 
• Business Objects reports are not embedded within the transaction system so the data in these reports could be delayed. Some Business Objects reports are updated every two hours, while others are updated once a day. The SIMBA: BOBJ Report Update Frequency Links to an external site. (PSU resource) article provides a list of all of the Business Objects reports and the frequency of their data load. 

The following two resources break down the various reports by their report name, report description, group and tile, the selection criteria required for each report, and the tasks associated with a given report. The tabs across the bottom of each spreadsheet represent the different groupings in SIMBA. After downloading these resources and opening them in Excel, select a tab to learn more about the reports affiliated with that group and each report’s function in SIMBA.

Figure 1: Excel spreadsheet tabs representing the groups in SIMBA.

• The SIMBA: Reports Matrix Links to an external site. (PSU resource) provides information about the various reports available in SIMBA including the name of each report, a description of each report, the group to which a report is assigned, the report tile name given to respective reports, and the selection criteria that is required per report.
• The SIMBA: Report Names and Descriptions Links to an external site. (PSU resource) matrix is a list of reports and their descriptions.

When working with reports in SIMBA, it is important to know what number is assigned to each fiscal month so the correct number is provided when a report’s search criteria requires the submission of a fiscal year.

Fiscal periods at Penn State run from July to June. The number assigned to each month is as follows:

• Fiscal period 1 is assigned to July, and fiscal period 12 is assigned to June. All months in between are assigned a corresponding number in sequential order.
• Fiscal period 0 refers to either Budget or Roll Over transactions.
• Fiscal periods 13 through 16 are special periods that happen during the closing of the fiscal year.

The SIMBA Chart of Accounts Links to an external site. (PSU resource) provides you with some foundations of reporting at Penn State.