What is a scorecard definition record?

Located under Scorecards|Definitions, scorecard definition records store a set of run parameters for a particular scorecard. These run parameters include date range(s); record filters such as funding source and owning center; and processing mode.

In this FAQ, we'll provide an overview of definition records, consisting of the following topics:

Creating scorecard definition records
Running scorecards from definition records

Note: While a single scorecard layout record can have many definition records associated with it, a definition record itself can only be associated with one scorecard.

Creating scorecard definition records

The steps for creating a scorecard definition record are outlined next:

Click the New Definition button from one of two places:

The detail view of the scorecard layout record that you are defining run parameters for.
The detail view of an existing definition record that you would like to copy and use as a basis for your new definition record.

Note: In both cases, where you choose to click the New Definition button from determines which scorecard you are creating run parameters for. In other words, there's never an option to define the associated scorecard—WebCATS sets it automatically depending upon which record you are creating the new definition record from.

Enter a descriptive name and abbreviated name for your new definition record in the Definition Name and Abbreviated Name fields respectively. The abbreviated name is used in various columnar summary views.

From the Owning Center field, identify the center that the new definition record belongs to.
In the Cumulative Period Start Date field, enter the starting date of your reporting period (this is typically the first day of your current fiscal year).
If the scorecard you are creating a definition record for supports both a cumulative and current period column (creators of custom scorecards have the option of turning support for both columns off), the Current Period Start Date field is available for editing and you should enter the start date of the period you are reporting on.
In the Scorecard End Date field, enter the end date of the period you are reporting on.
By default, the Funding Source(s) field displays the default funding source selected in the associated scorecard layout record. If you would like to include records from additional funding sources or remove funding sources, click the + icon next to the Funding Source(s) field in order to display selection lists for updating this criteria. When you restrict a scorecard's ouput to one or more funding sources, it has the following impact:

Only client activity records (e.g. milestone, award, investment, etc.) and conference records that display one of the funding sources chosen are considered.
For custom scorecards, only client records that display one of the funding sources chosen are considered. For system scorecards, this may not always hold true; it depends solely upon the specifications provided to us by your funding agency. You can find the exact calculations for built-in scorecards in their corresponding "Understanding the <scorecard name>" help files.

By default, the Sub-funding Source(s) field defaults to "All." If you would like to restrict the inclusion of records according to any optional sub-funding assigned (e.g. you only want to report upon work done under the Jobs Act), click the + icon in order to display selection lists for updating this criteria. When you restrict a scorecard's ouput to one or more sub-funding sources, it has the following impact:

Only client activity records (e.g. milestone, award, investment, etc.) and conference records that display one of the sub-funding sources chosen are considered.
For custom scorecards, only client records that display one of the sub-funding sources chosen are considered. For system scorecards, this may not always hold true; it depends solely upon the specifications provided to us by your funding agency. You can find the exact calculations for built-in scorecards in their corresponding "Understanding the <scorecard name>" help files.

To restrict records according to the center that owns them, click the + icon next to the Center(s) field in order to display selection lists for updating this criteria. Restricting a scorecard's output to one or more centers has the following impact:

Only client activity records (e.g. milestone, award, investment, etc.) and conference records belonging to one of the chosen centers are considered.
For custom scorecards, only client records belonging to one one of the chosen centers are considered. For system scorecards, this may not always hold true; it depends solely upon the specifications provided to us by your funding agency. You can find the exact calculations for built-in scorecards in their corresponding "Understanding the <scorecard name>" help files.

Note: If you intend to create goals for this definition record, as discussed in the FAQ titled What is a scorecard goal record?, it is recommended that you do not restrict the run parameters of the definition record to a center or group of centers; rather, you should do that later from the goal record itself.

From the Additional Filtering settings, you can restrict the scorecard's output to a saved client subset or a single counselor. Both of these filters have a dramatic impact on the scorecard's output that is not always easily understood so be sure you understand the ramifications before applying either filter:

When you restrict a scorecard's output to a client subset, it has the following impact:

Only client activity records (e.g. milestone, award, investment, etc.) that are associated with those particular client records are considered. For example, if you were to filter the scorecard on a saved subset that contained only inactive clients, only activity from inactive clients would be calculated.
Only conference records whose attendee lists contain at least one client from the subset (marked as "Attended?") are considered.
For custom scorecards, only client records contained in the subset are considered. For system scorecards, this may not always hold true; it depends solely upon the specifications provided to us by your funding agency. You can find the exact calculations for built-in scorecards in their corresponding "Understanding the <scorecard name>" help files.

Note: For more information on saved subsets, see the FAQ titled Can I save my subset for future use or to share it with other WebCATS users?.

When you restrict a scorecards output to a single counselor, it has the following impact:

Only client activity records (e.g. milestone, award, investment, etc.) that are assigned to the counselor are considered.
Only conference records that have the counselor listed as the instructor are considered.
For custom scorecards, only client records assigned to the counselor are considered. For system scorecards, this may not always hold true; it depends solely upon the specifications provided to us by your funding agency. You can find the exact calculations for built-in scorecards in their corresponding "Understanding the <scorecard name>" help files.

Note: If you intend to create goals for this definition record, as discussed in the FAQ titled What is a scorecard goal record?, it is recommended that you do not restrict the run parameters of the definition record to a counselor; rather, you should do that later from the goal record itself.

From the Processing Mode field's drop-down menu, you can specify any special processing you would like done during scorecard generation:

Selecting the "Include audit information" option generates output that includes an audit trail of all records that contributed to each line item.

Keep in mind that an audit trail can also be achieved by processing the scorecard normally and then clicking any line item in the generated scorecard to see all records included in that line item's total, as described in the FAQ titled Once I have generated a scorecard, what can I do with it?.

Selecting one of the "Breakdown by..." options produces a scorecard with one column per center, region, month, quarter, or year—depending of course upon the breakdown option chosen.

Because of the resources required to run a breakdown scorecard, we don't recommend including more than 12 columns of data.
Please note that goals cannot be created for breakdown scorecards.

Click Add to save your new definition record.

Note: If you want to include goal calculations in your scorecard, you must create a goal record and then run the scorecard from the goal record, as discussed in the FAQ titled What is a scorecard goal record?.

Running Scorecards from Definition Records

Once you have saved a new definition record, it's read-only view displays not only the run parameters you selected, but with the entire scorecard layout as well. You'll notice, as highlighted in the next graphic, that there is a Run Now button immediately above the scorecard line item display. Clicking this button generates the scorecard using the run parameters stored in the definition record.

Note: In addition to manually generating a scorecard from a definition record, you can also schedule the definition record to run on a recurring basis and have the results e-mailed. For more information on scheduling scorecards, see the FAQ titled How do I schedule reports and scorecards?.

After you run a scorecard from its associated definition record, the definition record preserves the numbers that were generated, along with a date stamp that provides date context for the numbers. This is highlighted in the next graphic.

Want more? Browse our extensive list of WebCATS FAQs.