Solomon Analyzer Fact Sheet

Microsoft® Business Solutions Project Accounting–Solomon®

Analyzer

Analyzer provides Project managers with easy access to information critical for analyzing project performance and profitability. Line managers and project accountants need the same information — for multiple projects at a time. Analyzer is designed to provide these levels of information, along with the necessary tools to quickly collect, summarize, and present project data in an intuitive and comprehensive format. With the click of a button, you can instantly graph your project for a quick view of performance. If problems are spotted, you can easily drill down to individual transactions for a detailed view of the project.

Easily Access Project Data for Analysis

Analyzer extracts extensive project data — including budgets, commitments, and month-to-date and project-to-date actuals — from the database for analysis. You can then select any number of inquiries and view them by task, project, project manager, business manager, or organization (GL subaccount). These inquiries are displayed in a P&L format with account categories (such as labor, travel, and materials, which link to the chart of accounts) that are intuitive to project managers and accountants. Moreover, at the click of a button, you can drill down from the summary level right to the individual transactions that make up summary figures. And to get a visual representation of the data, items can be quickly graphed with built-in buttons that automate this task.

Use the Power of Microsoft Excel to Analyze Projects

Many managers rely on the power and ease of Microsoft Excel for analysis. However, collecting and summarizing data to be used in Excel can become a chore fraught with errors that ends in frustration when the project system lacks integration. Microsoft products are tightly integrated to streamline project analysis. For example, Analyzer has a built-in button that you can click to instantly export accurate project information to an Excel spreadsheet. No need to re-key data! The full strength of Excel’s graphical and analytical capabilities, Analyzer

along with pivot table technology (the ability to alter the presentation axes with simple drag-and-drop actions) is available. Once in Excel, data manipulation for analysis is greatly simplified.

Manipulate Budgets to Test “What If” Scenarios

Wouldn’t it be helpful to be able to “play” with different budget scenarios to get the most of your project? With Analyzer you can do just that. Analyzer provides the ability to maintain two revised budgets, estimate-at-completion (EAC) and forecast-at-completion (FAC), in addition to the original project budget. This allows you to manipulate two working versions of the budget while retaining the original or “bid” plan.

The EAC budget can be updated as the project progresses, adjusting to the realities encountered while running the project. This allows a “living” budget to develop, based on the most current facts. Many companies manage their projects using the EAC budget and compare it to the original “static” budget as a means to see how the project has changed during its lifecycle. This allows fine-tuning of the budget based on such factors as change-orders and increased knowledge of the project environment. When used with Project Budgeting, changes to both the original and EAC budgets are typically tied to budget revisions, which are passed through an electronic review and approval process prior to getting posted.

In contrast to the EAC, the FAC budget provides a place where assumptions and “what-if” scenarios can be tested. Managers or planners can study the effect of possible budget revisions created by schedule, staffing, or change orders — without affecting the original and EAC budgets that are used to measure their performance. This gives planners a free hand to manipulate the budget and determine the best course of action.

Access Critical Project Data via the Internet!

When combined with Desktop, the analyzer module can be a powerful management tool for your employees in the field. Secure, role based access is available to off-site users so that each user is restricted to seeing only the screens and information that is relevant and permitted for their job function.

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Using Desktop, your project managers, employees, and even your customers can view project information through their browsers.

Business Issues How This Flexible Product Can Help Your project-driven Integration among the Payroll module and Financial, organization requires Supply Chain Management, Field Service Management real-time access to and Project Accounting modules allows data to be data, so managers can pulled quickly from the database and made available analyze project for analysis by managers. Inquiries are presented in performance and easy-to-read formats by task, project, project profitability. manager, line of business, or organization (GL subaccount). What’s more, integration provides the means to easily drill down from summary data to the individual transactions that make up high-level numbers. Your managers require Because integrates tightly with Microsoft products, data tight integration with can be exported to Excel at the click of a button. Once Microsoft Excel to exported, managers can take advantage of the perform sophisticated sophisticated modeling tools found in Excel. project analysis. To make the most of a In addition to an original budget, Analyzer allows project, managers need managers to maintain two revised budgets (estimate- to manipulate budgets at-completion and forecast-at-completion) so different to see how changes will “what if” scenarios can be tested to avoid surprises and affect profitability. isolate the original budget. Your project managers Desktop and Analyzer combine to provide valuable and customers want information on critical project data. View information browser based access on unbilled and billed items as well as agings and other to project data from key financial data. Access real-time information on remote locations. project profitability.

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Analyzer delivers these features:

. Intuitive grid presentation for both project managers and accounting

. Integration with Excel spreadsheets for access to projections and pivot table analysis, plus complex charts and graphs

. EAC/FAC changes showing the effect on margin percent compared to actual and budgeted margins

. Comprehensive project inquires by organization, line of business, project manager, project, task, and more

. Remote access via the Internet and Desktop

. Drilldown from summary level to individual transactions

. Ability to use the report writer to customize data and columns on reports, including user-defined fields, special calculations, and more

. Integration with Payroll and Financial, Supply Chain Management, and Field Service Management, for single-point data entry

© 2002 Microsoft Corporation and Great Plains Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Microsoft Business Solutions, Solomon and Great Plains are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation, Great Plains Software, Inc. or Microsoft Business Solutions Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. FRx, instant!OLAP and DrillDown Viewer are either trademarks or registered trademarks of FRx Software Corporation. Both, Great Plains Software Inc. and Microsoft Business Solutions Corporation are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Microsoft Corporation. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. ______Microsoft Business Solutions Project Accounting–Solomon 4