How can I create a program communications report?

Program communications reports help you ensure that your stakeholders are kept updated of the latest status of your programs.

To create a program communications report:

1. Navigate to Programs > Communications and click Create Report. The Create report side-panel drawer appears.
2. Select the Program for which you want to create a report, and give the report a Name and a Description.
3. If the currency that you want to use in the report is different from the default currency associated with the program, select the Currency that you want to use in the report.

4. Specify the Reporting Period that you want to use for the report.

   Select the report-through period as the current period or the last period. For example, you can review the report data for April during the first few days of May when your monthly communication report is set with a reporting period value of Last and the first due date is May 5th. When ready, you can manually publish the report by the due date, or it will automatically publish on May 5th if your report is configured to automatically publish on the report due date.

5. Use the First Due Date to specify when the first report is due, and specify the Frequency with which you want the report published.

   The frequency and first due date of a report determine the report's due date. The numerical date in the first due date is used for monthly, quarterly, and yearly frequencies. To set a report due date for the end of the month, pick the 31st of any month earlier than today. The due date is automatically adjusted for shorter months. If using weekly and bi-weekly frequencies, the date's day of the week determines the due date.

6. If you want the application to publish the report automatically on the dates and frequency you specified, select the Publish automatically on the due date checkbox. You can pause and resume automatic publishing as required.
7. Click Create Report. You must now search and select the template that you want to use for your report.

Searching and Using Report Templates

To search for an existing template:

1. Enter the name or owner of the template, and press Enter. Templates that match your search criteria appear.
2. Click on each template to preview it on the right side of the page.
3. Either click Start from Scratch to create a new template for your report, or select a template and use the Start from Existing options to specify how you want to create your report.
   1. If you want to use the existing template as-is, click Start from Existing > Use Existing. The application generates your report and displays it in the Communications page.
   2. If you want to start a new template from a copy of an existing template, click Start from Existing > Modify Existing. The template opens in Edit mode, and you can modify its contents as required before you publish your report using the new template. For details on working with templates, see How can I create a program communications report template?
4. Click Refresh Report to view the working draft of your report with the latest data. Report data is automatically refreshed when performance is collected for the program—or its projects—using the Update Project Performance Data process. When you click Refresh Report, the application triggers the Update Program Performance Data process.
5. After you have completed designing your report, click Publish Report.

Note:

• Once you publish your report, you can't delete it, and it remains available to stakeholders.
• Publish a report only after you have reviewed the content, updated any free-form text fields, and selected the program health value, if you've added this element.
• When you publish a report, the application automatically creates a working version.

Once your report is published, stakeholders and program managers who have access to your program can download your report and add comments in the Headlines page.