FastClose 3.3 is packed with new features and improvements that make reporting faster, smarter, and more intuitive than ever. From Financial and Operational Reporting to AI assisted search and ease of use, this release brings new functionality and significant enhancements across the entire product.

Financial and Operational Reporting for Epicor

Epicor WIP Module — Real-Time P&L Without Running Month-End

The new WIP Module lets you produce a complete picture of your financial position, including data still sitting in WIP, at any point during the month, without running the full COS/WIP process in Epicor. No waiting for month-end, no manual workarounds.

Operational Reporting

A major investment in this release. FastClose 3.3 adds targeted, actionable reporting across Inventory, Purchasing, Manufacturing and Sales.

Purchasing

Stay ahead of procurement activity with new reporting covering:

• Purchase Order Suggestions & Changes: report over the output of your PO suggestion and change processing.

• Vendor Delivery Performance: see at a glance whether your vendors are meeting their fulfilment commitments.

Manufacturing

• Manufacturing Suggestions: reporting over the output of the Manufacturing Suggestions process.

• Job Closing: identify open jobs that are complete and ready to close.

• Stock Availability: confirm you have the materials on hand to meet your manufacturing pipeline.

Sales

• Sales Order Fulfilment Performance: are you delivering to your customers on time and in full?

• Stock Availability: check whether your inventory can meet the demand in your sales pipeline.

Inventory

• Non-Conformance reporting: track failed quantities and scrappage costs in detail.

• Discrepant Material Reporting (DMR): summarise the labour and material costs tied up in DMR records.

Microsoft Dynamics Business Central

FastClose now supports with Business Central, including templates for the GL, AR, AP, Sales Order Processing and Purchase Order Processing modules. Planning with GL Balances is also supported.

Report Design

• Two new capabilities address the wish to 'put all these in one column and stop repeating the labels down the rows':

  • Merge label columns into another column, introducing header rows to show the grouping. (FC-1162)

  

  • Control which column a row subtotal label appears in, so that the column being subtotalled can be hidden and the columns effectively merged into one. (FC-473)

• Don't display rows where the subtotal of that group of rows is zero. (FC-3468)

  • In a reconciliation report it is very helpful to be able to suppress the display of subledger group rows which net out to zero.

• Embedded Catalog Extensions is a new feature which enables you to extend a report by adding your own SQL.

  • Use this to blend in data from other tables, for example, to show total unallocated stock within a sales report. (FC-2918)

• Ability to define captions for calculated dimension members. (FC-2819)

  • This allows you to design a hierarchy using a calculated dimension and still display separate codes and captions, a classic case being a custom concatenation of segments from the chart of accounts.

AI

• Find reports via AI assisted search. (FC-3174)

  • Brings AI assistance to your local context: your reports, plus all the FastClose provided standard templates and solutions.

  • Search using natural language expressions such as "the margin report created recently by Emma" or "reports about profitability".

• Provide AI suggestions for report names, summaries and descriptions. (FC-3477)

  • Automatically generated summaries and descriptions make it easier to find reports later whether via browsing or the new AI assisted search facility

  • You can request the generation immediately in the Save dialog, or just let FastClose automatically generate the summary in the background later on.

• Display some example questions in the Chatbot panel to illustrate its use. (FC-3175)

• AI help is now available in the Admin app as well as in Designer. (FC-3176)

Ease of Use

• Recently opened reports are listed in a new tab of the Home dialog of Designer and the Excel Add-In. (FC-3406)

• The Common Fields mode in the dimension selection UI now includes all the dimensions in use in the report and presents commonly used attributes underneath their parent dimension. A slider toggles between showing Common Fields and All Fields. The Measures member selection UI has the same style. (FC-3437, FC-3453)

• The way library subscriptions work has been simplified and the term 'link' is used instead of 'subscribe'. (FC-3378)

  • Instead of asking whether to unlink or update the library every time a linked element is edited, Designer asks when the report is saved.

  • Also, the standard templates and solutions are no longer pre-linked to the This Month and This Year library variables, as people more often wanted to be able to change these in each report individually.

• Defining Allowable Column Values in the Rows and Columns dialog now presents a simple mode initially. (FC-3380)

  • This doesn't complicate the experience with support for nested logical groups and other advanced options, which are still available via the Show Advanced Options checkbox.

  • The same UI is presented elsewhere in Designer also.

• Hide Filter has been renamed Lock Filter, with an option in Designer to make non-empty, locked filters visible. (FC-2909)

  • This allows you to quickly see the selections in a locked filter, and if required, unlock it via the right-click menu, change the selection and lock it again, without having to visit the Rows & Columns dialog twice.

  • Locked filters are not visible in the Reader app or in the Excel Add-In.

• The location and size of resizable dialogs is remembered between sessions, but constrained to the bounds of the main application window. There is a Reset button that clears the memory in the Options dialog. (FC-2962)

• The Formatting dialog has an Apply button so you don't have to close it to see the effect. (FC-2824)

• The Formatting dialog indicates whether a column format is associated with a visible column so you know if it's redundant. (FC-2826)

• The Formatting dialog indicates which formats have conditions defined so you don't have to edit the format to find out. (FC-2827)

• The Edit Hierarchy dialog indicates which nodes have any custom formatting defined, so you don't have to edit the format to find out. (FC-2828)

• The Hide Column option has been removed from the results grid context menu for down axis dimensions because it was getting confused with Remove Column. (FC-2908)

• Member selection now offers just <Blank> for text fields and not <Null>, for simplicity, as blank includes nulls anyway. You can still manually enter <Null> if you need it specifically. (FC-2562)

• It's easier to choose the same colour again from the colour picker UI, thanks to a row of recently used colours at the bottom. (FC-3047)

• Only clicking on the arrow icon specifically will now expand or collapse the filter panel, as unintentional clicks elsewhere within the panel were causing confusion when the filters unexpectedly collapsed from view. (FC-3322)

• The tab of the currently active report in Designer is now formatted to be more prominent. (FC-3220)

• An advisory icon is displayed next to a filter when it is subject to Available Value Column rules, as changing the selection in the filter may not have the expected effect on the report columns. (FC-3328)

• In the Formatting dialog, a summary of the style defined for a Row or Cell format is displayed so you don't have to edit the format just to find that out. (FC-3462)

• Multiple nodes can be selected for deletion in the Edit Hierarchy dialog. (FC-177)

  • Use shift-click to select a range, control-click to select individual nodes.

• The list of available calculation functions is displayed within the Calculated Members dialog. (FC-3230)

  • The functions could be used in version 3.2 but that wasn't obvious and you had to type them in yourself.

  • Now you can browse and filter them and double click to add one to your expression.

• A fixed width font is used for the calculated node expression in the Edit Hierarchy dialog, for improved readability. (FC-3441)

Designer

• The base URL for drill throughs to URL can be centrally defined, so that the URL of the ERP doesn't need to be repeated in every drill through, and so that these drill throughs can be pre-set in FastClose standard templates and solutions. The base URL is configured in the Edit Data Source page of the Admin app. (FC-2839)

• Show which reports are linked to a library object: right-click on the object in the Library dialog and choose 'View Linked Reports'. (FC-484)

• Show which reports drill to a report: right-click on the report or template and choose 'View Drill Through Sources'. (FC-94)

• Generate a report which lists in detail all the design elements of a report: click Structure in the Advanced tab of the ribbon. You can export this to Excel or JSON. (FC-856)

• In the Formatting dialog, there is a new option within Display Format to display zero as blank, which is useful for label columns such as invoice number. (FC-3394)

• Define bucketing over a date-type calculated dimension. Allows you to calculate the invoice due date based on payment terms, for example. Also adds the ability to include day zero in the first aging bucket. (FC-3173, FC-3021)

• When a drill through passes a text value which contains commas, split it into multiple values in the target filter. (FC-2920)

• A new Calculation Dependencies dialog, accessed via the Calculated Members dialog if Advanced Features is enabled, displays diagnostic information about how the calculation order has been determined. (FC-1044)

Excel Add-In

• The Excel Add-In can now present the results of a report as an Excel Table. (FC-3492)

  • This allows Excel formulas and charts to refer to columns in the table without specifying exact row numbers, which may change whenever the report is re-run.

  • It also provides instant access to Excel's filtering and sorting functionality.

  • Table mode can be enabled in the Worksheet Options dialog.

• In the Worksheet Options dialog, you can also choose to hide subtotals, if any are defined in the report. This is particularly useful in conjunction with the new 'table mode' option. (FC-3494)

• In the Worksheet Options dialog you can choose to exclude detail rows when running a report with a hierarchy. (FC-162)

  • This makes it easier for comments placed to the right of the report to remain on the correct row, allows use of simple cell references in Excel formulas, and avoids having to create and maintain a duplicate hierarchy to serve an audience that doesn't need the detail.

  • This applies to Excel export as well as the Add-In, and works with the Scheduler also.

• The Excel Add-in now retains filter selections previously made in Excel when the workbook is re-opened after the report has been changed in Designer, provided the filter hasn't been locked. This also means that linked filters are preserved. (FC-3059)

• When you are switching between Designer and Excel, the Reload button makes it quicker and easier to update the report in Excel with the changes you just saved in Designer. (FC-3221)

• In the Worksheet Options dialog, an Excel Add-In user can choose whether to show the report title, if one is defined in the report. (FC-3234)

• The Excel Add-In ribbon now includes a Help button which opens a dedicated help page. (FC-3058)

• The Run All button can now be used even when the active worksheet is not a FastClose report. (FC-3403)

• The Excel Add-In can be controlled from VBA, to run reports for example. (FC-3413)

  • The new Excel Automation module is required in your licence key to activate this feature.

Planning

• In Excel, planning tries to restore Excel cell formulas when filters are changed and the report is re-run. (FC-3067)

  • This means your submission worksheet can reference your modelling worksheet and the formulas won't necessarily be lost when you change the selected month or year.

  • For the formula to be reinstated in a given cell, the same members of the across and down axis dimensions need to be present in the result when the report is re-run.

• Add Missing Planning Rows is a new dialog in Designer and the Excel Add-In which enables planning submission even when your report doesn't return the row you want to submit, typically because there are no actuals. (FC-2296)

• Planning submission with Epicor infers segments from GL Account. (FC-3183)

  • If you submit with a full GL Account code, all the associated segment dimensions will also be filled in for you.

  • You can then report over the budget numbers using the segment dimensions.

• You can refer to library variables such as This Month and Next Year within planning scenario submission restrictions, so you don't have to keep editing the rules as time passes. (FC-2904)

• Planning submission with SAP B1 is now possible with fewer segment dimensions than are required to uniquely identify the account. (FC-2882)

• The Delete All Planning button in the Scenarios dialog is no longer shown in production environments, even with Advanced Features enabled. (FC-3371)

Reader Web App

• Drilling through now adds the target filter values to the URL, so after drilling to a target report, you can share or bookmark the address in the browser and the filter selections will be captured in that URL. (FC-2709)

• The count and sum (and difference, if count is two) of the currently selected cells are displayed at the bottom of the page. (FC-927)

• The values in selected cells can be copied to the clipboard using Control-C or equivalent on your device and pasted into other applications. (FC-3243)

Scheduler

• A new kind of variable, calculated date variables, provides dynamic date selections, such as "deliveries due within the next 2 weeks". (FC-973, FC3071)

  • The Scheduler can now do its job without someone having to edit the filters or variables all the time, but these variables are also useful in the client apps.

  • A wide variety of calculated date variables are built in, such as Last Month and Next Quarter, and these are immediately available for use in all date filters.

  • You can also define your own calculated date variables, in the Edit Variables dialog, and share them across reports via the library.

• Scheduler can export report results as a comma separated values (CSV) file, in addition to Excel, JSON and XML. (FC-3022)

Performance

• Queries against Epicor Cloud (API) have been boosted by combining three API calls into one, resulting in a saving of up to a second per query. (FC-2925)

  • This makes a big difference when several queries need to be run e.g. when opening the first report of a session, and during planning submission.

• Planning submission performance has also been improved by copying some dimension tables in full in advance e.g. year, period, company, because they very rarely change. (FC-3121)

• The time needed to open an Excel workbook which contains multiple FastClose report worksheets has been significantly reduced. (FC-1905)

  • A benchmark with 24 worksheets was 67% faster.

• When Run All is used in Designer, Reader or the Excel Add-In, the reports are now run in batches, as it often takes longer to run 12 reports simultaneously than running them 3 at a time. (FC-249)

  • Using a benchmark with 24 reports the time was improved by 70%.

  • You can configure the maximum number of reports to run concurrently in the Options dialog.

• The performance of running reports which have to process a substantial number of rows from the ERP (10,000+) has been improved by up to 25% (FC-3296, FC-3300, FC-3373, FC-3381, FC-3417)

Calculations

• Calculation functions WeekNum and ISOWeekNum added to calculate week number from a date. (FC-2975)

• Calculation functions Floor and Ceiling allow the significance parameter to default to one. (FC-3096)

• Calculation function Date accepts month numbers greater than 12 and less than 1, and day numbers greater than 31 and less than 1, interpreting those numbers as offsets. (FC-3097)

• Calculation function If no longer evaluates both expressions, only the expression corresponding to the result of the condition. (FC-3098)

• New function Mod added as an alternative to using the remainder operator. (FC-3078)

• Calculation function Variable added which returns the current value of a calculated date variable. (FC-3141)

• Find and Search functions enhanced to allow finding a specified occurrence of a string within a string (FC-2942)

• Better feedback if a calculation expression starts with an unnecessary equals sign. (FC-2940)

Epicor

• For Epicor, a checkbox to show or hide inactive accounts, books, etc in member selection lists has been added. (FC-3262)

Administration / Platform

• Catalog and override files are much easier to manage in the Admin app. (FC-3045)

• A new caption property in catalog XML files allows them to be labelled more flexibly. (FC-1943)

• The password policy is now configurable via a page in the Admin app, instead of editing a configuration file. (FC-3060)

• An advisory icon is shown if a SQL Server ERP data source appears to have write access, not just read access. (FC-2844)

• The warning about licence key expiry stops after a new key is added even if the old key is not deleted. (FC-3246)

• The port number question has been removed from the installers to simplify them but can still be changed via a configuration file. (FC-3216)

• Installation under IIS no longer requires editing a configuration file. (FC-3048)

• The automatic repository cleaner now also removes old versions of permissions and relationships. (FC-3117)

• The application name is set in SQL Server connections to help DBAs identify query origin. (FC-3450)

Security

• A FIPS compliant option has been added for the cryptographic hashing of user credentials. (FC-3092)

• Many third party libraries used by FastClose applications have been updated to eliminate or mitigate disclosed security vulnerabilities. (FC-2906, FC-3516, FC-2678)

• Security improvements recommended by penetration testers. (FC-1346, FC-2751, FC-2933, FC-3055, FC-3062)

Fixes

Version 3.3.0 includes all the fixes released for 3.2 up to 3.2.17, plus those below.

• A bottom border from the All Columns default format was being incorrectly applied by the Excel Add-In. (FC-3454)

• If you customise the regional settings number format in Windows, you can't open any report because the catalog version can't be read correctly. (FC-3374)

• Import content completes but fails to delete temporary repository file after completion. (FC-3384)

• The icons in the bottom left of the Admin app could become inaccessible if the browser window was sufficiently short. (FC-3554)