Harvard Analytics and Reporting Tool (HART) Update

February 11, 2021

Harvard Analytics and Reporting Tool (HART), powered by OBI, includes the Accounts Receivables, CAPS, Cash Management, Chart of Accounts, CSMA, Financials, Grants Management, Procure to Pay, Travel & Expense, and User Security folders.

HART by the Numbers for January 2021

  • 1: Average query time to run in seconds
  • 632: Average # of rows in the dashboard results
  • 1,324: Distinct Users logged into HART during this period (164 fewer than January 2020)
  • 149,656 queries were run in January (21% fewer queries than January 2020)

Monthly HART Release

The next monthly HART release will begin on Friday, February 19, 2021, at 6:00 pm.  The release is expected to be complete by 6:00 am Saturday, February 20, 2021.

Check out the HART 3 Month Release Plan and Backlog wiki page for details of the dashboard changes included in this release.

HART Migration to Oracle Analytics Server

As part of the Administrative Reporting and Analytics Program (ARAP), HART will be migrating into the Oracle Analytics Server (OAS) as part of the overall solution for administrative reporting at the University.  HART will be the first major administrative reporting system to be available within OAS; the Student Information Analytics (SIA), and some GMAS reports will be available later in this fiscal year.

Users should expect a change to the HART URL as well as a change to the look and feel of the application.  More details about other HART changes will be detailed soon.

The HART migration is tentatively scheduled to take place in April 2021.  As a result, there will be no HART release of new functionality or bug fixes in March.  The ARAP team is looking forward to making the latest version of HART available to the user population!

Quick Tip: Focus on Budget Dashboards

As budget season is upon us, here some tips about four dashboards in HART that may be helpful to you as you prepare for the upcoming fiscal year.

Check out the job aides for the Budget and Actual Comparison Dashboard.  This dashboard is available in two versions: the regular Budget and Actual Comparison dashboard and the Limited Comp version.  Here are some key points to keep in mind when using this dashboard:

  • Only Expense and Revenue object codes (T400, T600, and T901) are displayed on the dashboard.
  • Only Operating and Forecast Budgets are available on the dashboard.
  • The Forecast Budget displays Q2 Forecast from HUBS and will only display data if your school/unit uses HUBS for forecasting.
  • The right-click menus are different on each dashboard page, and contains helpful additions based on context—e.g., you can add both Subactivity and Subactivity Description on the Activity and Object Tab.

​​​​​Check out the ​​job aides for the GL Account Monitoring Dashboard.  This dashboard’s second page contains GL Actual and Budget Balances, which can be useful to help you see how your department(s) are currently spending versus what was budgeted for the current year or compared to the previous year.  Here some additional key points about this dashboard:

  • The Budget Annual Amount column displays the annualized budget amount. The column will display the full budget for the fiscal year, regardless of the period selected in the prompts.
  • The Starting Balance for the Fiscal Year can be selected via the right-click.
  • The dashboard will only return results if the “Period From” prompt selection is prior than the “To Period” prompt selection.
  • The “Period From” and “Period To” prompts should be within the same fiscal year—if you wish to retrieve results for multiple years, you will need to run separate reports for each fiscal year.
  • Accounts that have a $0 or null amount for all data columns included in the dashboard page are excluded.

Check out the job aides for the Budget by Major Fund Groups Dashboard.  This dashboard facilitates the analysis of high-level funding sources, ensures the application of the portfolio is planning for appropriately, and monitors actuals again the plan to help identify and manage variances.  Some additional points about this dashboard include:

  • The dashboard organizes the display of funds in a customized hierarchy that is used for reporting purposes only, meaning that the hierarchy is not found in the Chart of Accounts.  Click on the Need Help link on the dashboard to view the dashboard's wiki page and access the Fund Hierarchy document for more information on how those funds are organized.  The hierarchy on the display is also fully explained in the dashboard help page.
  • The dashboard defines all funds as all operating funds plus all non-operating funds.
  • The dashboard defines all operating funds as all unrestricted plus all sponsored plus restricted gifts plus restricted endowments.

Check out the job aides for the Committed Funds Dashboard.  This dashboard is used to track open purchasing/payables activity that has been committed but not yet posted to the General Ledger.  This can be an important dashboard to consult during budget season in order to see the full spending picture.  Some additional points about this dashboard include:

  • The Committed Funds dashboard only displays PO lines with an Open status.  Once a PO line has been closed, it falls off of this dashboard.
  • When you look at a GL report and see you have a remaining budget of $2000 you may not have the complete picture.  The committed funds dashboard will display outstanding commitments to a vendor.  If you have $500 in committed funds then what you really have left to spend is $1500 ($2000 remaining budget on GL report less $500 in open commitments).
  • Because the Committed Funds dashboard only pulls “open” PO lines, there are occasions where the PO is closed, but the invoice is on hold.  These transactions do not appear on the Committed Funds dashboard AND are not posted to the GL. Thus, it is important to review transactions on hold to have the complete picture.

If you have any additional questions or tips to share, please contact Patty Hatch.

Additional Resources for HART