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Alma Analytics Resource Guide

This guide covers how to use the Alma Analytics platform to produce robust reports. Included are instructions on accessing the Oracle-based service as well as how to use its menu driven service to build custom reports.

      Acquisitions Analytics Dashboard covers data from vendors, transactions, funds, purchase types and more. The dashboard provides functional information viewing information on budget usage trends and updated expenses overviews. The system also shows the allocations, the encumbrances (pending, actual and total), the expenditures (pending, actual and total) and the available balance for each fund. This information is updated and displayed in real-time within Alma, and available for use in analytical reports.

Login to Alma Analytics and go to /shared/Network 01FALSC_NETWORK/Dashboards/ and open Acquisitions.

Acquisitions Dashboard Reports

Purchase Order Lines

This page has two subpages:

Orders

If you are interested in generating business reports related to purchase order lines (POLs). Here’s how these reports can help:

  1. POLs per Library: list each library and the corresponding number of POLs.

  2. Amount Spent per Vendor: Show the total amount spent for each vendor.

  3. Orders by Material Types: Categorize orders based on the type of material ordered. 

If you need help with that, feel free to ask!

Prompts:

Fund Type: Filter on the following fund types: Ledger, Summary fund, Allocated fund, and NULL. The Allocated fund is the default value. PO Line Reference:  The business identifier of the PO line (PO Line number). The default value is NOT -1 to exclude deleted PO Lines.
Order Line Type:  the order line type as it appears in the order in Alma.

Status (Active):

select the sub-status of the active "Status" field.

Values: All (Except Closed), Auto Packaging, Cancelled, Closed, Deferred, In Review, Manual Packaging, None, Ready, Recurring Renewal, Sent, Under Evalution, Under Evalution (Renewal), Waiting for Invoice, and Waiting for Manual Renewal.
Transaction Item Type: Includes the transaction types available in Alma: Allocation, Encumbrance, and Expenditure, NULL, and Non-transactional, which indicates that the PO lines do not have a transaction because no funds are associated with them. Fiscal Period Description:  The description of the fiscal period (as configured in the Fund and Ledger Fiscal Period table) or the fiscal year if the description is empty.
Vendor name. The vendor's name as defined in the Alma vendor details definitions.    

Reports:

This page contains two reports; one is a summary report, and the other is a detailed report.

PO Lines by fiscal year and type - summary:

The summary report shows the following columns

PO Lines by fiscal year and type - summary
Institution Name Fiscal Period Description Status (Active) Vendor Name Fund Code Order Line Type PO Line Owner Library Name Number of POLs Transaction Amount

PO Lines by fiscal year and type - Detailed:

The detailed report shows the following columns

PO Lines by fiscal year and type - Detailed
Fund Code PO Line Reference Title Invoice-Number Transaction Item Type Order Line Type PO Line Identifier Transaction Amount Vendor Name

Receiving and Activation

This page has two subpages:

Claims and Renewals

This page has three subpages:

Physical Items

If you’re interested in generating reports related to physical item claims, here’s how these reports can help:

  • Physical Items Claimed in Certain Years: The number of physical items claimed in certain years can be tracked for inventory.
  • Physical Items Claimed by Material Types: The number of physical items claimed by material types.
  • Physical Items Claimed for Certain Vendors: The number of physical items claimed for certain vendors.

If you need help with that, feel free to ask!

Prompts:

Vendor name: 

The vendor's name as defined in the Alma vendor details definitions.

Material Type:

Describes the nature of the material represented by the item record

Claiming Date (Calendar):

The date on which the PO line is sent to the claims task list. Select or type two dates in this format MM/DD/YYYY

 
Expected Receiving Date (Calendar) The date the material was expected to receive. Select or type two dates in this format MM/DD/YYYY  

Reports:

This page contains two reports; one is a summary report, and the other is a detailed report.

Physical Items claims - summary:

The summary report shows the following columns

Physical Items claims - summary
Vendor Name Material Type Number of Claimed Items

 

Physical Items claims - detailed

The detailed report shows the following columns

Physical Items claims - detailed
Vendor Name Fund Expenditure Claiming Date (Calendar) PO Line Reference Title (Normalized) Description Item Description Material Type Expected Receiving Date (Calendar)

 

Electronic Inventory

If you’re interested in generating reports related to electronic collection claims, here’s how these reports can help:

  • Portfolios Claimed from Vendors: Alma workflows support the ability to send claim notices to the vendor. This allows tracking of how many portfolios are claimed from each vendor.
  • PO Lines of Claimed Portfolios: A PO line is claimed if the items were not received or if the receiving/activation date of the PO line passed. This allows for the tracking of the PO Lines associated with claimed portfolios.
  • Titles of Claimed Portfolios: Alma allows for the claiming of specific titles. This allows for tracking of claims based on individual titles.

If you need help with that, feel free to ask!

Prompts:

Vendor name: 

The vendor's name as defined in the Alma vendor details definitions.

PO Line Creation Date (Calendar):

The date on which the PO line is created. Select or type two dates in this format MM/DD/YYYY. The default value is dates between current date and a month earlier.

Reports:

This page contains two reports; one is a summary report, and the other is a detailed report.

Claimed Active E-portfolios - summary:

The summary report shows the following columns

Physical Items claims - summary
Vendor Name Portfolio PO Line Status Portfolio PO Line Status (Active) Number of Titles Claiming Date (Calendar)

 

Claimed Active E-portfolios - detailed

The detailed report shows the following columns

Physical Items claims - detailed
Vendor Name Fund Expenditure Claiming Date (Calendar) PO Line Reference Title (Normalized) Description Item Description Material Type Expected Receiving Date (Calendar)

 

Renewals

If you’re interested in generating reports related to item renewals, here’s how these reports can help:

  • Renewals per Vendor: Tracking of how many renewals is associated with each vendor.
  • Renewal's Transaction Expenditure Amounts: This allows for the calculation of the expenditure amounts for each renewal transaction.
  • Renewals by Titles: If there are no holds on the title and your library still owns a copy of it, you'll see the Renew option for the title. This allows for tracking of renewals based on individual titles.

If you need help with that, feel free to ask!

Prompts:

Vendor name: 

The vendor's name as defined in the Alma vendor details definitions.

Renewal Date

The date on which the PO line is created. Select or type two dates in this format MM/DD/YYYY. The default value is dates between current date and three months earlier.

Reports:

This page contains two reports; one is a summary report, and the other is a detailed report.

Renewals - summary:

The summary report shows the following columns

Renewals - summary
Vendor Name Renewal Date Number of POLs Number of Titles Transaction Expenditure Amount Transaction Encumbrance Amount Status

Renewals - detailed

The detailed report shows the following columns

Renewals - detailed
Vendor Name Fund Expenditure Claiming Date (Calendar) PO Line Reference Title (Normalized) Description Item Description Material Type Expected Receiving Date (Calendar)

 

Expenditures

This page has two subpages:

Invoices

If you’re interested in generating reports related to invoices, here’s how these reports can help:

  • Invoices by Invoice Owner Name: Reports that detail the number of invoices associated with each invoice owner. This can provide valuable insights into the distribution of invoices across different owners.

  • Number of Expenditures per Invoice Status: Show the number of expenditures associated with each invoice status. This can help in understanding the financial flow and identifying any bottlenecks or issues.

  • Invoice Statuses: Breakdown of all the different invoice statuses. This can be useful for tracking the progress of invoices and identifying any that may require attention.

If you need help with that, feel free to ask!
 

Prompts:

Invoice Creation Date (Calendar): The date on which the invoice is created. Select or type two dates in this format MM/DD/YYYY. The default values are between the first day of current fiscal year to current date.  
Vendor Name: The vendor's name as defined in the Alma vendor details definitions. Invoice Status:

The status of the invoice. The possible values are: Closed, In Review, Ready to be paid, In Approval, Waiting for Payment, and NULL

Reports:

This page contains two reports; one is a summary report, and the other is a detailed report.

Invoices-Summary:

The summary report shows the following columns

Renewals - summary
Institution Name Invoice-Owner Name Invoice-Creation Form Invoice-Status Number of Invoices Transaction Expenditure Amount
in USD

Invoices per Fiscal Year and Invoice Status - detailed

The detailed report shows the following columns

Invoices per Fiscal Year and Invoice Status
Institution Name PO Line Owner Library Name Invoice-Creation Date
Date-Time		 Invoice-Payment Method Vendor Name Invoice-Number Invoice Status Invoice Line Total Price
in USD

 

Expenditures by LC

If you’re interested in generating reports related to expenditure, here’s how these reports can help:

  • Total Expenditures by LC Subject Classification: Details the total amount of expenditures associated with each LC Subject Classification
  • Total Expenditures by Material Types: Shows the total amount of expenditures associated with each material type. This can help in understanding the financial flow and identifying any bottlenecks or issues.

If you need help with that, feel free to ask!

Prompts:

Transaction Date The date that the transaction occurred.  Select or type two dates in this format MM/DD/YYYY. The default values are between the first day of current fiscal year to current date.
POL Status The business status of the PO line as Active, Canceled, or Closed. The default value is "Active".

Report:

This page contains one report.

Expenditure by LC subject:

The report shows the following columns

Expenditure by LC subject:
LC Subject Classification Material Type Transaction Amount
In USD

 

 

Funds

This page has two subpages:

Balances

If you’re interested in generating reports related to fund balances, here’s how this report can help:

  • Available Fund Balances: The available balance of a fund is its allocated balance, less encumbrances and expenditures. This balance represents the remaining amount in the fund that can be used for future transactions.
  • Finding allocated funds: Allocated funds contain actual monetary balances used to pay for library resources. The allocated balance of a fund is its total allocation, not counting any expenditures or encumbrances. A specific allocated fund can only be associated with only one ledger or summary fund.
  • Finding funds' cash balances: The cash balance of a fund is its allocated balance less expenditures. This balance represents the amount of money that has been paid out from the fund.

If you need help with that, feel free to ask!

Prompts:

Fiscal Period Description The description of the fiscal period (as configured in the Fund and Ledger Fiscal Period table) or the fiscal year if the description is empty. Fund Status Indicates if the fund is in status active, draft or inactive. 
Fund Code The fund or ledger code. Fund Type  A list of the following fund types: Ledger, Summary, Allocated, and NULL.

Report:

This page contains one report.

Fund Balances report

Fund Balances report
Fund Name Fund Code Total Allocation
In USD		 Encumbered Amount
In USD		 Extended Amount
In USD		 Available Balance
In USD		 Cash Balance
In USD		 Percent of Year Completed Percent Spent YTD Fund Status Fund Type

Funds and Ledgers

If you’re interested in generating reports related to fund balances, here’s how this report can help:

  • Funds and Ledgers Transaction Available Cash Balance: The available cash balance of a fund is its allocated balance, less expenditures. This balance represents the amount of money that has been paid out from the fund.
  • Allocated Funds and Ledgers: Allocated funds contain actual monetary balances used to pay for library resources. A ledger is essentially a collection of funds. Ledgers are defined for a specific date range, such as September 1 of this year to August 31 of next year.
  • Funds and Ledgers Encumbrances and Expenditures: Encumbrances are amounts reserved for open purchases. Expenditures represent the actual payment for the item. The system shows the allocations, the encumbrances (pending, actual and total), the expenditures (pending, actual and total) and the available balance for each fund.

If you need help with that, feel free to ask!

Prompts:

Fiscal Period Description The description of the fiscal period (as configured in the Fund and Ledger Fiscal Period table) or the fiscal year if the description is empty.
Fund Name The fund name.

Report:

This page contains one report.

Funds and Ledger Hierarchy- per fiscal year

Funds and Ledger Hierarchy- per fiscal year
Institution Name Funds and Ledger Hierarchy Fund Code Fund Status Fund Owner Name Fund Name Transaction Allocation Amount
In USD		 Transaction Available Balance
In USD		 Transaction Cash Balance
In USD		 Transaction Encumbrance Balance
In USD		 Transaction Expenditure Amount
In USD

 

Acquisitions Infrastructure

This page has two subpages:

Vendors

If you’re interested in generating reports related to vendors, here’s how this report can help:

  • Vendors Annual Encumbrances and Expenditures: Encumbrances are amounts reserved for open purchases. Expenditures represent the actual payment for the item. The report shows the allocations, the encumbrances (pending, actual and total), the expenditures (pending, actual and total) for each vendor.
  • Number of Vendors' PO Lines Per Annum: Purchase Order (PO) lines represent individual items or services ordered from a vendor. The number of PO lines per annum can be tracked in Alma, providing valuable insights into the volume of transactions with each vendor.

If you need help with that, feel free to ask!

Prompts:

Fiscal Period Description The description of the fiscal period (as configured in the Fund and Ledger Fiscal Period table) or the fiscal year if the description is empty.
Library Name (Active) The library name of active (not deleted) libraries

Report:

This page contains one report.

Vendors encumbrance and expenditures:

The report shows the following columns

Vendors encumbrance and expenditures
  [Year1] [Year1] [Year2] [Year2]
Vendor Name Number of POLs Expenditures Encumbrance Expenditures Encumbrance

 

Licenses

This page has a link to an out-of-box dashboard created by Ex Libris.

If you need help with that, feel free to ask!

Rollover

This page has Three subpages:

Active Standing Order PO Lines

If you’re interested in generating reports related to active standing orders, here’s how this report can help:

  • Find Standing Orders: Standing orders are one of the order types that are rolled over during the fiscal period closure. These are typically used for recurring orders and subscriptions.
  • Find Standing Orders' PO Line References: Each Purchase Order (PO) line in Alma has a unique identifier, which serves as a reference. This reference can be used to track and manage individual standing orders.
  • Find PO Lines Statuses: The status of a PO line is determined by its step in the workflow. This can provide valuable information about the progress of each order.

If you need help with that, feel free to ask!

Prompts:

    There are no prompts for this report. However, you can select the fiscal period from the Fiscal Period Filter from the dropdown list at the top of the report.

Report:

This page contains one report.

Active Standing Order PO lines:

The report shows the following columns

Active Standing Order PO lines
Institution Name PO Line Type Name PO Line Owner Library Name PO Line Reference PO Line Title PO Line Status (Active)

Active Subscription PO Lines

If you’re interested in generating reports related to active subscription PO lines, here’s how this report can help:

  • Find Subscription Orders: Subscription orders are one of the order types that are rolled over during the fiscal period closure. These are typically used for recurring orders and subscriptions.
  • Subscription Orders' PO Line References: Each Purchase Order (PO) line in Alma has a unique identifier, which serves as a reference. This reference can be used to track and manage individual subscription orders. 
  • Find Active PO Lines Statuses: The status of a PO line is determined by its step in the workflow. This can provide valuable information about the progress of each order.

If you need help with that, feel free to ask!

Prompts:

  There are no prompts for this report. 

This page contains one report.

Active Subscription Order PO lines:

The report shows the following columns

Active Subscription Order PO lines
Institution Name PO Line Type Name PO Line Owner Library Name PO Line Reference PO Line Title PO Line Status (Active)

One-Time PO Lines with Active Encumbrances

If you’re interested in generating reports related to One-time PO lines with active encumbrances, here’s how this report can help:

  • Active encumbrances: Active encumbrances are associated with PO lines that are not fully invoiced or not fully paid by the end of the fiscal period. These active encumbrances drive which PO lines will rollover.
  • Active encumbrances by library name: The management of funds and ledgers, which includes encumbrances, can be limited to particular libraries based on the user's role. This allows for tracking and managing encumbrances specific to a library.
  • Invoice statuses of active encumbrances: The invoice status of active encumbrances can be tracked as part of the fiscal period closure process. This process includes the rollover of PO lines, which are copied from the closing fiscal period to the next fiscal period.

If you need help with that, feel free to ask!

Prompts:

  There are no prompts for this report. However, you can select the fiscal period from the Fiscal Period Filter from the dropdown list at the top of the report.

This page contains one report.

Active Subscription Order PO lines:

The report shows the following columns

One-Time PO lines with active Encumbrances
Institution Name PO Line Owner Library Name Fund Code Fund Name PO Line Reference PO Line Title PO Line Status (Active) Invoice Status Transaction Encumbrance Amount
In USD