USA Crystal Reports

[john2040]

Why is it so difficult to find an accountant who can write a report in Crystal Reports?

Should accountants be able to write a report in Crystal Reports?

Is Crystal Reports replacing Excel as the new standard software most utilized for writing financial reports?

Thank all in advance for your responses.

 

[bklynboy]

I use crystal extensively and am able to write the coding to extract data. I also dont see as many people using it as a good reporting tool and have held training sessions with my staff to get them to be more comfortable. I dont see it replacing Excel as its more of a data extract tool and you cant change values and do formatting as easy. I do agree it is a good tool and is one accountants should take advantage of.

Also, for Excel, I also dont see many people using the VB coding to automate routines - I find this to be a powerful use of Excel that is also underutilized. Part of the problem is there is a learning curve to coding reports and not many people take the time to learn how to code and get intimidated. Internal and external training are good ways to get them comfortable and I also assign projects for each staff so that they can build reports and leverage what they have learned. Like anything though, if they dont use it regularly they tend to forget the basics and wont continue to hone the skill.

 

[chinweike]

Well said Bklynboy,
Crystal report and excel only complements each other. I was learning to code crystal before I lost interest like you said.