BIP Reports - Chapter 8: Scheduling BI Publisher Reports (Global HR Use Case)

 

⏰ Chapter 8: Scheduling BI Publisher Reports (Global HR Use Case)

BI Publisher allows you to schedule reports to run automatically at specific intervals—daily, weekly, monthly, etc. You can also distribute output via email, FTP, or local delivery.

In this chapter, we’ll walk through scheduling a Global HR report (e.g., Monthly Active Employee Roster) to be emailed as a PDF every month.

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✅ 1. Use Case Example

Report Name: Monthly Active Employee Roster
Frequency: First day of every month
Format: PDF
Recipients: HR Manager via Email
Parameters: Employee Status = ‘Active’

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✅ 2. Prepare Your Report

Ensure:

• The report is fully developed and tested manually

• All required parameters have default values or can be pre-filled during scheduling

• The layout (RTF or Excel) is working correctly

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✅ 3. Steps to Schedule a Report

🛠 Step 1: Open the Report

1. Navigate to the report in the BI Catalog (e.g., /Custom/HCM/Reports/Active_Employees_Report)

2. Click on the report name (not Edit or Open)

🕒 Step 2: Click More > Schedule

📄 Step 3: Fill the Schedule Details

• Job Name: Monthly_Active_Employees

• Description: Monthly active employee report to HR

• Start Time: Choose first day of next month

• Recurrence: Monthly → Day 1

📥 Step 4: Set Report Parameters

• Employee Status = Active

• (Any other parameters should be filled here)

📤 Step 5: Output Settings

• Format: PDF (or Excel if preferred)

• Save Output: Checked

• Output Name: Active_Employees_<<MM-YYYY>>

📧 Step 6: Delivery Options

Click Add Destination > Email

• To: hr.manager@yourcompany.com

• Subject: Monthly Active Employees - <<MM-YYYY>>

• Body: "Attached is the monthly roster of active employees as of <<MM-YYYY>>."

• Attach Output: ✔️ Checked

Optional: Add FTP delivery if required by external systems.

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✅ 4. Monitoring and Managing Jobs

After scheduling:

1. Go to Report Job History

2. Monitor for:

   • Successful completion

   • Failures (check logs for SQL/data errors)

3. You can reschedule, cancel, or edit any job anytime

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✅ 5. Best Practices

Tip	Description
✔ Use default parameters	Avoid failed runs due to missing values
✔ Test manually first	Ensure layout, data, filters are all correct
✔ Use proper naming	Helps identify job purpose and owner
✔ Add email footers	Mention report source/date/time clearly
✔ Use PDF for formatted layouts	Excel for tabular data

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✅ 6. Common Global HR Use Cases for Scheduling

Report Name	Frequency	Purpose
Active Employees Report	Monthly	HR team update
New Joinees Report	Weekly	Onboarding tracking
Employee Termination Summary	Monthly	Exit process management
Upcoming Work Anniversaries	Monthly	HR engagement initiatives
Missing Contact Info Report	Bi-weekly	Data quality tracking

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✅ 7. Summary

You’ve now learned how to:

• Schedule a report for automatic execution

• Email output to recipients

• Use recurring job setups in Fusion BI Publisher

This allows your Global HR reports to run autonomously, saving time and ensuring consistency.

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📌 Next Chapter Preview:

Chapter 9: BI Publisher Security — Roles, Permissions, and Folder Access

• Granting access to HR reports

• Role-based security best practices

• Creating custom folders for HR team