How Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Business Intelligence (BI) Tools Can Improve Financial Management Analysis

Carolyn L. North, CPA, CGFM, CDFM/A, PMP

R. Ross Hosse, CDFM

Purpose of Business Intelligence

Consolidate complex data into simple displays

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Situational Awareness

• Know your audience

– Immediate group

– Commander

• Consider your tool sets

– Boss hates canned report

– Boss loves bubble charts

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Tool Sets

• Excel

• Accounting Reports

• Business Intelligence Tools

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Creating Data Sets

• Certain reports, exported spreadsheets, or pivot tables have blank cells– Easy for reading

– Unsuitable for importing into other systems or Excel

• Steps to make more useful– Download data

– Remove any subtotals or totals

– Remove blanks

– Ensure each column has a title

• Example

• https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Supplemental– Table 9 Pivot Table

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Creating Data Sets - Blanks

• Filling in blank space

– Select entire data range

– Press Ctrl + G – Displays the “Go To” dialog

– Choose Special

– In Paste Special dialog, choose “Blanks”. Click OK

– Type equals sign (=), then the up arrow

– Ctrl + Enter

– Select entire data range

– Ctrl C to copy

– Paste dropdown, select values

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VLOOKUP Function

• VLOOKUP function

– Searches first column of a range of cells

– Returns value from any cell on the same row of the range

– 1st Step is to create your lookup table

– Ensure table is sorted in ascending order

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Treasury CodeAppropriation

(Short)Appropriation (Long)

0100 O&M, DWOperation & Maintenance,

Defense-Wide

1106 O&M, MCOperation & Maintenance,

Marine Corps

1804 O&M, NOperation & Maintenance,

Navy

2020 O&M, AOperation & Maintenance,

Army

3400 O&M, AFOperation & Maintenance,

Air Force

VLOOKUP Function

• Create the data set that will be looked up

• Go to the Home Ribbon

• Select Formulas

• Lookup & Reference

• Select VLOOKUP

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VLOOKUP Function

• Fill in:

– Lookup_value: A2 (where you want lookup value inserted

– Table_array: Highlight range on lookup table

– Col_index_num: 2 (second column)

– Range_lookup: False

• Copy formulas down the entire column

– Can copy into blank rows

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Pivot Tables

• Data summarization tool found in data visualization programs – Spreadsheets

– Business intelligence software

• Very versatile, one of the preferred ways for users • To explore data,

• Refine to show the insights

• Remove unneeded or irrelevant items with ease.

• Data stored in one table or worksheet – Automatically sort, count, total or average

– Displays the results in a second table or worksheet

• Useful for quickly creating unweighted cross tabulations– Does not change underlying data

• User sets up and changes the summary's structure – Dragging and dropping

– This "rotation" or pivoting of the summary table gives the concept its name

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Pivot Tables – Basic Directions

• Insert

• Pivot Table

• Select the range of your data

• Choose New Worksheet or Existing Worksheet

• Pivot Table Fields menu will display

• Filters – down select data

• Columns – displays data elements horizontally (least used)

• Rows – data elements

• Values – numeric data

• Click inside Pivot Table

• Right mouse click

• Select Pivot Table Options

• Totals & Filters – Select Show grand totals for columns

• Display – Select Classic PivotTable layout

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Pivot Table Slicers

• Slicers are visual filters.

• Quick way to filter your data

– Do not have to drag and drop fields on pivot

tables

• Create a slicer in an existing PivotTable

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Pivot Table – Excel Slicer

• Place cursor inside a Pivot Table

• Go to the Pivot Table Tools Ribbon at the top of the file and Click the Analyze Tab

• Click Insert Slicer

• Select the dimensions you want to filter

• Click the filter values

• Select multiple dimensions by holding down the Ctrl and selecting

• For a good reference, go to Microsoft Support online: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us and under “What can we help you with?” type in Create a Slicer in an existing PivotTable

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Charts in Excel

• A simple chart in Excel can say more than

a sheet full of numbers

• Tool in Excel to communicate data

graphically

• Allow your audience

– To see the meaning behind the numbers,

– Shows comparisons and trends easily

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Creating Charts in Excel

• Create the data set that will be made into the chart

• Go to the Insert Ribbon

• Select the type of chart required

• Right Click -> Select Data

• Either select the entire data set or individual series

• Format as needed – Mouse over and click on data which needs to be

formatted

– Right click on the data and scroll down to “Format XYZ”

• Change the colors of the bars or line

– Right click on the bars or lines and scroll down to “Add Data Label”

• Format Data Labels to add Series Name and Value

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Creating Charts in Excel

• Creating a Pie Chart

• Creating a Pie Chart follows the same

procedures as outlined above

• *NOTE* Pie Charts can only use 2

columns of data

• Doughnuts are a variation of a pie.

– Often more eye catching

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Applying 3-D Effects

• Select the series you want to format

• Right Click-> Format Data Series

• Click the Effects Icon

• Pick 3-D Format

• Adjust the beveling as necessary

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Business Intelligence Tools

• Application software

– Retrieve, analyze, transform and report

data

– Read data that have been previously

stored

• Does not have to be in a data warehouse or

data mart

• Various types of Business Intelligence Tools

• Each has its own pros and cons

• Understand capabilities of each type

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Types of Business Intelligence Tools*

• IBM Cognos Business Intelligence

• Information Builders WebFOCUS

Platform

• Microsoft – SQL Server, Sharepoint,

Power BI

• MicroStrategy Analytics Platform

• OpenText Actuate IHUB

• Oracle BI Foundation Suite

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Types of Business Intelligence Tools*

• Qlik Sense, QlikView

• SAP BusinessObjects BI

• SAS Enterprise BI Server

• Tableau Software, Desktop, Server

• TIBCO Spotfire

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Demonstration

• Demonstration of one of the tools from

the previous list

• Data set

– http://comptroller.defense.gov/BudgetMate

rials.aspx

• Data normalized to give common fields

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Summary

• Purpose of Business Intelligence

– Consolidate complex data into simple displays

• Know your audience

• Consider your tool sets

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Questions?

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