Enhanced Security User Guide

Enhanced Security Overview

The IFS IDEAS Enhanced Security module complements the System Security module by providing additional security for the major inquiry and reporting features within IFS IDEAS. Specifically, it allows security to be assigned within an inquiry or reporting function, rather than at the menu level.

Within a single database, one user’s ability to perform element inquiries or run reports can be restricted, while others can be granted full access to those same functions. An example might be to provide full inquiry and reporting access to corporate accounting staff, while giving department managers access to only their areas of responsibility.

The menu options enhanced by this module include:

Journal Entry, Corrections and Posting
Journal Reports
Account Balance Inquiry
General Ledger Report
Trial Balance Report
Link Journal Import
Column Format Definition
Report Specification Maintenance
Report Execution

Modules to Set Up Before Enhanced Security

IFS IDEAS requires that set up the following modules be set up before setting and configurations can be defined in the Enhanced Security module:

TheSystem Security module
TheGeneral Ledger module
The Financial Report Writer module

Enhanced Security Setup Procedures

To set up IFS IDEAS to operate the Enhanced Security module, select the Enhanced Security function from the Functions menu and complete the screen that displays. Please see the Screen-By-Screen Instructions section for detailed instructions on how to complete the screen.

TO ACCESS FROM DROP-DOWN MENU...	USE THE FUNCTION TO...

TO ACCESS FROM DROP-DOWN MENU...

USE THE FUNCTION TO...

Click on Enhanced Security of the Functions drop-down menu.

Limit Access to the General Ledger module Journal Entry, Corrections and Posting, Journal Reports, Account Inquiry, Custom GL Reporting and Trial Balance Report functions.

Limit Access to Spreadsheet Link module Journal Import.

Limit Access to Financial Report Writer module Standard Column Definition, Report Specification and Report Generation functions.

Screen-by-Screen Instructions

IFS IDEAS organizes functions into menus. The Enhanced Security module has one menu. Following is the menu name and the function that fall under it:

FUNCTION

FUNCTION

Enhanced Security

Report Wizard Views

Default Settings

There are no shortcut buttons in the Enhanced Security module.

Functions Menu

The Functions menu has one menu option: Enhanced Security. Click it to open the Enhanced Security function, a flexible and comprehensive tool used to restrict access to IFS IDEAS inquiries and reports, on a user-by-user basis, according to each user’s access needs. Specifically, it limits access to:

The General Ledger module Journal Entry, Corrections, Posting and Reports functions (accessed through the Batch Entry, Corrections, Posting and Journal Reports options in the Journals menu).
The General Ledger module Account Balance Inquiry function (accessed through the Account Balance menu option in that module’s Inquiries menu).
The General Ledger module Custom GL Reporting and Trial Balance Report functions, (accessed through the General Ledger Reports and Trial Balance Report menu options, respectively, in that module’s Reports menu).
The Spreadsheet Link module Journal Entry function (accessed through the Link for Journal Entry option in that module’s Function menu).
The Financial Report Writer module Standard Column Definition , and Report Specification functions (accessed through the Standard Column Definition and Report Specification Maintenance options, respectively, in that module’s Maintenance menu).
The Financial Report Writer module Report Generation function (accessed through the Report Generation option in that module’s Reports menu).

The key advantage the Enhanced Security module offers over the System Security module alone is that restrictions can be limited to specific items within a function. Restricted items will not appear on drop-down lists for those users that should not have access.

This means a broad group of users may be granted access to a function, without compromising security, simply by limiting each user’s access to only those elements or reports he/she needs. With the System Security module alone, access to an entire function must be removed to limit access to a single item within that function.

Ledger – Select the desired ledger from the drop-down list. This is the ledger to which restrictions will be applied.
User ID – Select the desired user from the drop-down list. This is the user to whom restrictions will be applied.

The Elements Tab

The first tab displayed in the Enhanced Security Selection window is the Elements tab. Once the User ID and Ledger have been selected, use this tab to develop a list of elements that will be available when that user:

Creates, edits or posts journal batches using the General Ledger module Journal Entry, Corrections, Posting or Journal Reports functions.
Performs inquiries using the General Ledger module Account Balance Inquiry function.
Imports journal entries using the Spreadsheet Link module Link Journal Entries function.
Designs reports using the General Ledger module Custom GL Reporting and Trial Balance Report functions.
Designs reports using the Financial Report Writer module Report Specification function.
Runs reports containing the wildcard character * for a restricted element using the Financial Report Writer module Report Generation function.

The default setting for any element is full access.

Access to information can be limited to specific elements (or groups of elements), such as companies, departments and projects, to specific reports, or to both elements and reports. For example, department heads can be granted access to only those reports that are appropriate for their departments. Likewise, their online inquiry capability can be limited by restricting the elements they may inquire against to only those that are appropriate for their departments.

When used together, the System Security and Enhanced Security modules provide effective limits to each user’s ability to input modify and extract data from IFS IDEAS. Following are screen-by-screen description of how to use the Enhanced Security function in the Functions menu.

Enhanced Security

Select Enhanced Security from the Function menu to open the Enhanced Security window.

Ledger – Select the desired ledger from the drop-down list. This is the ledger to which restrictions will be applied.
User ID – Select the desired user from the drop-down list. This is the user to whom restrictions will be applied.

The Elements Tab

The first tab displayed in the Enhanced Security Selection window is the Elements tab. Once the User ID and Ledger have been selected, use this tab to develop a list of elements that will be available when that user:

Creates, edits or posts journal batches using the General Ledger module Journal Entry, Corrections, Posting or Journal Reports functions.
Performs inquiries using the General Ledger module Account Balance Inquiry function.
Imports journal entries using the Spreadsheet Link module Link Journal Entries function.
Designs reports using the General Ledger module Custom GL Reporting and Trial Balance Report functions.
Designs reports using the Financial Report Writer module Report Specification function.
Runs reports containing the wildcard character * for a restricted element using the Financial Report Writer module Report Generation function.

The default setting for any element is full access.

Processing the Elements Tab

Element – Select an element type (account, dept., etc.) to view the selected user’s restrictions, if any, within the selected ledger.
Permitted – This column lists all of the detail and summary elements of the type selected that the user has permission to access.
Restricted – This column lists all of the detail and summary elements of the type selected that the user may not access.

Move items from the Permitted list to the Restricted list using the right arrow button. Move items from the Restricted list to the Permitted list using the left arrow button. When all updates have been made, click the Save button.

The GL Reports Tab

The GL Reports tab lists reports that were defined using the General Ledger module Custom GL Reporting function. Use it to limit access to those reports. The default setting grants access to all of those reports.

Processing the GL Reports Tab

Permitted – This column lists all of the currently-defined general ledger reports that the selected user has access to (may run).
Restricted – This column lists all of the currently-defined general ledger reports that the selected user is restricted from using (may not run).

Move items from the Permitted list to the Restricted list using the right arrow button. Move items from the Restricted list to the Permitted list using the left arrow button. When all updates have been made, click the Save button.

The TB Reports Tab

The TB Reports tab lists reports that were defined using the General Ledger module Trial Balance Report function. Use it to limit access to those reports. The default setting grants access to all of those reports.

Processing the TB Reports Tab

Permitted – This column lists all currently defined trial balance reports that the selected user has access to (may run).
Restricted – This column lists all currently defined trial balance reports that the selected user is restricted from using (may not run).

Move items from the Permitted list to the Restricted list using the right arrow button. Move items from the Restricted list to the Permitted list using the left arrow button. When all updates have been made, click the Save button.

The FRW C/F Tab

The FRW C/F tab lists column formats that have been defined using the Financial Report Writer module Standard Column Definition function. Use it to limit each user’s ability to access those column formats. The default setting grants access to all column formats.

In multi-user environments, several users may be defining and running reports in the Financial Report Writer module. The Enhanced Security module may be used to effectively limit each user’s access to include only specific reports. It does this by limiting access to column formats with The FRW C/F tab and limiting access to report maintenance and generation with the FRW Reports tab.

The alternative without the Enhanced Security module is to limit access to the entire report writing function to a select group of trusted users with full access.

Processing the FRW C/F Tab

Permitted – This column lists all currently-defined column formats to which the selected user has access.
Restricted – This column lists all of the currently-defined column formats that the selected user is restricted from using.

Move items from the Permitted list to the Restricted list using the right arrow button. Move items from the Restricted list to the Permitted list using the left arrow button. When all updates have been made, click the Save button.

The FRW Reports Tab

The FRW Reports tab lists report names that have been defined using the Financial Report Writer module Report Specification function. Use it to:

Limit any user’s ability to access or modify reports with that function.
Limit that user’s ability to run those same reports using the Financial Report Writer module Report Generation function.
The default setting grants access to all reports.

In multi-user environments, several users may be defining and running reports in the Financial Report Writer module. The Enhanced Security module may be used to effectively limit each user’s access to include only specific reports. It does this by limiting access to column formats with The FRW C/F tab and limiting access to report maintenance and generation with the FRW Reports tab.

The alternative without the Enhanced Security module is to limit access to the entire report writing function to a select group of trusted users with full access.

Processing the FRW Reports Tab

Permitted – This column lists all of the currently-defined reports to which the selected user has access.
Restricted – This column lists all of the currently-defined reports that the selected user is restricted from using. The default setting gives the user full access to reports.

Move items from the Permitted list to the Restricted list using the right arrow button. Move items from the Restricted list to the Permitted list using the left arrow button. When all updates have been made, click the Save button.

The ES Reports Tab

The ES Reports tab lists which users are restricted from the following areas in the GL and FRW modules:

Elements – Specific elements users are restricted from using.
GL – Specific reports that users are restricted from using.
TB Reports – Specific custom TB reports that users are restricted from using.
FRW Reports – Specific FRW reports that users are restricted from using.
Column Formats – Specific column formats that users are restricted from using.

Click the corresponding buttons to generate the report for each item in a Crystal Reports viewer.

Once all selections have been made, click the Save button. The user operating this function can choose another User ID for whom to edit access. When finished, click the Close button to exit the Enhanced Security Selection window.

Report Wizard Views

Select Report Wizard Views from the Function menu to open the Report Wizard Views window.

Processing the Report Wizard Views Screen

In the Default Setting screen within the ES module, there is a Reports tab. Within that tab, there is a setting to set the default permissions for the Report Wizard Views. If the setting is set to Default Permitted the users will have access to all views. If the setting is set to Default Restricted, select the views the user should have access to.

Move items from the Permitted list to the Restricted list using the right arrow button. Move items from the Restricted list to the Permitted list using the left arrow button. Once all updates have been made, click the Save button. When finished, click the Close button to exit the Report Wizard Views window.

Default Settings

Select Default Settings from the Function menu to open the Default Settings window.

Processing the Default Settings Elements Screen

The elements tab is used to permit/restrict security rights to users by element. The system will default as permitted.

Move items from the Permitted list to the Restricted list using the right arrow button. Move items from the Restricted list to the Permitted list using the left arrow button. When all updates have been made, click the Save button.

Processing the Default Settings Reporting Screen

The Reporting tab is used to permit/restrict security rights to users per report. The system will default as permitted.