Reporting in PEARS is organized around reporting periods. For Extension organizations, each reporting period may follow the Federal Fiscal Year (Oct 1 – Sept 31) or the calendar year (Jan 1 – Dec 31), as needed. When transitioning from one reporting period to the next, you may need to perform the following administrative tasks within the system:
Update Open and Close Dates
Organization Administrators have access to change the dates that reporting for the current year closes in PEARS and reporting for the next year opens in PEARS.
Some organizations allow a few extra weeks to report data for the current year and/or allow for data cleaning, after 10/1. For example, you could set the current year’s Close date to 10/14 and the next year’s Open date to 10/15 (or other dates of your choosing).
For instructions on updating open and close dates, see: Edit Reporting Periods.
Please reach out to PEARS Support if you have questions or would like assistance with this process.
Notify Staff of the Reporting Period Transition
Especially if the reporting period deadline in PEARS is different than it has been for your staff in the past, it is best to frequently communicate the dates PEARS will close and re-open for reporting each year’s data. The PEARS Team recommends notifying staff of the Reporting Period transition early and often.
Manage Lists
One month before the next reporting period is set to open, lists for the next year are available to update, including:
Critical Issues
Direct Contact Date Ranges
Youth Programming Delivery Modes
Youth Programming Project Areas
Program Areas
If updates are needed for these lists, changes can be made before reporting opens for the new year.
Prepare Action Plans
To prepare for next year’s programming, copy forward Action Plans and update plan details. All Action Plans can be copied forward to the new reporting period at any time. (This includes both State-level and Individual-level plans.)
Most organizations copy forward State-level plans to the new year. Once State-level plans are updated, staff copy down State-level plans to Individual-level plans, and update as needed. Please use the workflow that fits best with your organization’s needs.
As the new reporting year approaches, it can be helpful to identify submission deadlines for each level of Action Plans that will be submitted (State / Individual) and communicate these deadlines outside of PEARS.
The following list identifies steps that may be needed to prepare Action Plans for the upcoming year. If needed, adapt this list to better fit your organization’s workflow:
Administrators Identify submission deadlines for State-level plans & Individual-level plans
Administrators Copy State-level plans to the new Reporting Period
Administrators Update State-level plans for the new year
Administrators Review and approve State-level plans
Staff copy existing plans to create Individual-level plans
Staff update Individual-level plans for the new year
Copy Data to the New Reporting Period
Some modules allow records to be copied in bulk from year to year. Once the new reporting period begins, records can be copied from the previous year to the current year. It may be helpful to remind staff to copy forward their records from the following modules:
Program Activities
Indirect Activities
Partnerships
Coalitions
PSE Site Activities
Social Marketing Campaigns
NOTE:
For more information on Reporting Period Open and Close dates, see: Manage Reporting Periods.
✓ TIP:
For each user, the PEARS homepage includes a list of incomplete records within each module. This list can be a helpful guide as staff close out reporting for the year and mark records as complete.
For more information about the original PEARS homepage, see: Navigate the PEARS Homepage
For more information about the updated PEARS homepage dashboard, see: Update to the Homepage Dashboard
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For more information on updating lists, see: Manage Lists.
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For more information on copying action plans, see: Copy an Action Plan.
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For more information on copying data, see: Bulk Actions in PEARS