Sage 200 Crystal Reports Engine
Crystal Reports Engine is a totally flexible reporting solution created by the development team at Smith Cooper that enables you to run Crystal Reports from within Sage 200.
Crystal Reports allows users to graphically design data connections that do not exist in the Sage 200 standard reporting system. Fields from Sage 200 can be placed on the report, and can also be used in custom formulas, using either BASIC or Crystal's own syntax, which are then placed on the report. Both fields and formulas have a wide array of formatting options available, which can be applied absolutely or conditionally. The data can be grouped into bands, each of which can be split further and conditionally suppressed as needed. Crystal Reports also supports sub-reports, graphing, and a limited amount of GIS functionality.
Crystal reports gives us more control over the data in reports than the standard Sage 200 report designer. For example we can embed graphs and charts into reports, calculate complicated formulas using other calculated fields in the formula. Filter and sort on calculated fields and build Cross Tab (pivot table) reports.
On running the reports in Sage 200 the users have the same options as in standard reports in terms of filtering the data but once the data is presented the user can export to a number of new formats including Microsoft Excel (not as CSV but as a formatted XLS file).
Reports can also be personalized and scheduled to run at a set time. E.g. retail report run at 12:00 each night and emailed to the MD.
- Seamlessly integrates within Sage 200 menus
- Extends the standard reporting functionality of Sage 200
- Supports Graphs and Charts
- Allows for complex formula calculations and filtering
- Automatically emails reports to report groups
- Report Export supports a number of output platforms
- Drill down into data in the live reports by double clicking on values
The main reason a client would use Crystal viewer is if they are currently using Sage 200 and still having to perform extra work on the standard reports to present the information in the format required. A typical example of this is a financial user who wants a P&L with current month, YTD, last year YTD and variance on one report. This can then be expanded to include cost centers and departments so with a single click on the report the system will produce a multipage report with a formatted P&L on each page.
Users of Sage 200’s stock system can also take advantage of Crystals graphical reporting as stock trends can be easily identified on screen.
“The Crystal Reports Engine has saved us hours of analysis. We can now report on cost center and department with a single report. Previously this involved running 14 separate reports. We also have the drill down facility available when required. This is a definite bonus when reviewing reports and investigating which transactions make up a balance. This enables us to quickly identify problems without having to go back to the enquiry screens”
Jill Delve
Practice Manager
Crystal Reports Engine can be supplied as an integration application to allow you to create your own reports (Crystal Reports Writer required) and install yourselves or we can provide the consultancy to create the reports for you and then add them to your menu. We always recommend that we discuss your requirements that we demonstrate the software to ensure that it fully meets your needs. For more information, or to arrange an onsite or remote demonstration please complete our contact form, or email us on sage@smithcooper.co.uk or call directly on 0844 669 9998.
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