Create Data Groups

Creating a data group by combining items can be very useful for analysis and reporting. In some cases, outside agencies require reporting on categories that differ from UB categories, but are derived by combining a few UB categories.

Example

EXAMPLE: How to group expenditures that are considered part of Professional Development

Start by going to the Financial dashboard -> Trend -> Trend – Actuals (Figure 1).

Financial dashboard -> Trend -> Trend – Actuals.

Figure 1

For purposes of this example, let’s assume that Professional Development includes the following Sub-Categories of expenditures: Conference and Registration, Air Travel, Lodging and Meals, and Travel – Other (Figure 2).

Figure 2

Right-click on the Conference and Registration row to highlight it. Then press CTRL on your keyboard and right-click on Air Travel, Lodging and Meals, and Travel – Other to highlight those rows too. Once all of the rows are highlighted, right-click on Conference and Registration and select “Create Group” (Figure 3)

Right click on the Conference and Registration row to highlight it. Then press CTRL on your keyboard and then right click on Air Travel, Lodging and Meals, and Travel – Other to highlight those rows too. Once all of the rows are highlighted, right click on Conference and Registration and select “Create Group”.

Figure 3

When the dialogue box appears, create a name for your group. In this example, we are naming the group “Professional Development” (Figure 4).

When the dialogue box appears, create a name for your group.

Figure 4

Once you have named the group, click “OK” and the new group will appear. Notice that the original sub-categories also appear, but are no longer included in the calculated totals (Figure 5).

Once you have named the group, click “OK” and the new group will appear. Notice that the original sub-categories also appear, but are no longer included in the calculated totals.

Figure 5

The next step is to “Remove” the rows that are now included in the Professional Development group by highlighting the row, right-clicking, and selecting “Remove” (Figure 6).

Remove the rows.

Figure 6

Once you remove the rows, the result will appear as follows (Figure 7).

results from removing the row.

Figure 7

Since the expenditures included in this example of Professional Development are in more than one expenditure Category – in this case Contractual Services and Travel, they will appear under both expenditure category. However, if you want to focus on Professional Development only, you can move the Sub Categories to Prompts (by highlighting the Sub Category column and moving it to Prompts) (Figure 8).

move the Sub Categories to Prompts.

Figure 8

Then select Professional Development from the drop-down menu (Figure 9). The result will show you Professional Development and the categories that make up it.

If your grouping is within one Category, moving it to Prompts will not be necessary.

While creating groups may seem time-consuming at first, it can be a valuable tool. Saving it as a customization will allow you to view the group without having to rebuild it.