# Infor M3 Report Manager: Building, Running and Alternatives

> Source: https://netray.co/erp-help/infor-m3-report-manager-financial-reporting-alternatives
> Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems.
> Section: ERP Help

## Short answer

Report Manager is Infor's financial reporting tool used with M3 to produce statements and management reports such as balance sheets, income statements and budget comparisons from general ledger data. You define the report layout, link rows and columns to accounts and dimensions, and run it for a period. Check your M3 edition for the exact reporting tool included.

## Kind

how-to

## System

infor-m3

## Erp

Infor M3

## Module

Financials / Reporting

## Query

infor m3 report manager

## Alternate Queries

- m3 report manager
- infor report manager m3 financial reports
- m3 financial reporting tool
- m3 reporting alternatives

## Applies To

Infor M3 Financials. Product packaging and names for reporting tools have changed over time, so confirm what your license includes.

## Steps

### How to build and run a financial report

**Items:**

- Confirm with your Infor contact or admin which reporting tool your M3 license includes and that it is connected to the M3 database or data store.
- Agree the report requirements with finance: statement type, periods, comparisons, currency and the account structure.
- Define the layout: rows for accounts or account groups, columns for periods, budget and variance.
- Link the rows to your chart of accounts and the accounting dimensions you report on, such as cost center or project.
- Run the report for one period and reconcile the totals to the general ledger in M3 before releasing it.
- Schedule or distribute the report and document who owns the layout.

## Sections

### What it is good for

**Body:**

A dedicated financial reporting tool is built for statements: hierarchy of accounts, subtotals, period comparisons and consolidations. Finance teams value that rows and columns are defined by the business, not by the database structure.

It is less suited to operational questions about orders or inventory, where M3 lists and APIs fit better.

### Reconciliation and ownership

**Body:**

- Every new report should be reconciled to the ledger at least once with a sample period, and again after chart of accounts changes. The risk with layouts is silent drift: a new account is added in M3 and never appears in the report because no row maps it.
- Give each report an owner in finance and keep a change log.

### Alternatives

**Body:**

Options include M3 ad hoc lists and exports, Excel connected through the M3 API, Infor's business intelligence products, or an external reporting tool on a data warehouse. Pick based on who builds the reports, how often they change and how controlled the data must be.

For on-premise sites that must keep data inside, a private natural language layer can answer ad hoc finance questions over M3 data without moving the ledger out.

## Pitfalls

- Never reconciling a new report to the ledger.
- New accounts missing from the layout.
- Letting finance and IT each keep different versions of the same report.
- Using a financial tool for operational reporting.

## Ai Angle

ERPray can answer finance questions over M3 data in plain language and shows the query it ran, so a controller can check the numbers. It complements formal statements; official reporting should still come from your controlled reporting process.

## Faq

### What is Report Manager in M3?

**Answer:** A financial reporting tool used with M3 to build statements and management reports from ledger data. Confirm its packaging for your edition.

### Can I use Excel instead?

**Answer:** Yes for many cases, through exports or the M3 API. Excel is flexible but needs controls on versions and refresh.

### How do I check a report is correct?

**Answer:** Reconcile its totals to the general ledger for a sample period, and repeat after changes to the chart of accounts.

### Does it replace M3 ad hoc reports?

**Answer:** No. Ad hoc lists are for operational lookups, while a financial reporting tool is for structured statements.

## Search terms

infor m3 report manager, m3 report manager, infor m3 financial reporting, m3 financial statements, m3 reporting alternatives, infor m3 balance sheet report, infor m3 excel reporting, m3 general ledger report

---
Talk to an engineer: https://netray.co/contact?intent=erp_ai | Machine catalog: https://netray.co/agent/catalog.json