We upgraded from V9 to E10 and need a solution to replace FRX.
I have seen where some people say the standard financial reporting package is pretty good where others have hinted that AFR may be going away.
Can anyone give me some current advice on which direction to go ? (perhaps a 3rd option ?)
If we did install AFR, is it required to install it on a separate server and mirror the SQL DB or would it work OK to install on the primary E10 server with a smaller installation such as ours ?
Iâve used both FRX and AFR and Iâll say that they are amazing similar in structure and function. AFR is of course better in a number of ways, and play nicely with itâs SQL replication. ITâs been pretty much hands off for a few years now, while the Controller makes his own changes as he adds account numbers and/or alter the chart in other ways.
But youâre at a good crossroads to consider XL Connect. I love that software and woudl reccomend it highly if itâs level of functionality works for you ( aside from it being inside Excel to being with).
As for this part - yes, I would recommend it. It is really SSRS based, but it does some cranking on SQL while it takes the data from your production DB and converts it to itâs own format (in itâs own DB). But it really depends on how often you will sync, how much reporting you do, how complicated the reporting is, etc.etc⌠Do you have a separate SSRS server for E10? I would condiser putting it on there if your reporting complexity is low/medium load on the server.
@MikeGross thanks for that info.
Any idea regarding the install reqâs ?
We have another VM which we use for misc E10 utilities but it has the free version of SQL and I suspect that would not work for replication.
I donât think Replication works on Express but Iâve not confirmed that. Microsoft keeps changing the rules⌠As for min requirements - we run everything on VMs - 32 GB memory (minorly oversubscribed on the host), 250 GB OS disk and a 500+GB data disk depending on the needs⌠AFR runs perfectly fine on that since most of the work is done during synch (all SQL) and the rest is SSRS so itâs really just some queriesâŚ
We are VM as well, horsepower isnât an issue.
I was hoping that the whole separate server thing was only necessary for situations where there was constant financial reporting. Seems like my system will spend MUCH more time replicating than reporting.
Donât get me wrong, Iâve got a 5 year GL history( for 10 companies, 3 big, 7 small) that I process every night and the replication is VERY efficient in bringing over just the new rows. Itâs the post processing that hurts a server - but honestly itâs only for about an hour total/combinedâŚ
If you have much more, then multiply accordingly. If youâve go the psare horses, and only replicate in the evening, go ahead and put it on the prod DB server. Itâs easy enough to undo the replication and move things around. The AFR databases are just a small one that contains the report definitions and the other is the replicated/processed data. You simply configure the AFR service/application to point to each of these accordingly, so they can be moved if the load is too much.
the end user gets to the reports via SSRS (there some tricky behind the scenes authentication against the epicor security stuff), but the report designer/writer has an application to use that allows for the creation and mgmt of all the pieces like row/column formats, report books, accounts trees, user security, etc.
@MikeGross I am told to look at XL Connect because rumor has it that AFR is going away.
I am going to close this and open a similar one for XL Connect.
Thanks for all your valuable input.
In my experience, the built-in FRD (Financial Report Designer) in Epicor is a solid report writer. Itâs not âsexyâ and does require downloading to Excel to spruce up the fonts, and underlines, etc. I found AFR to be very cumbersome and if you miss one character in your logic statement, you will get nothing.
If price is not an issue, and you have requirements for lots of financial reports, I would strongly recommend XL Connect. XLC is an Excel add-in and harnesses the power and functions in Excel. You can easily drag-n-drop columns and the formulas will adjust, accordingly. And now, XLC tied into more than just the GL, AR, and AP modules, now it ties to Sales, Inventory, etc. I believe it ties into 22 tables, but youâd have to check with your Sales rep. to be sure. Also, XLC can tie into other databases and spreadsheets, so it makes linking data waaayyyy easier than anything AFR could do, and with a lot less frustration.
