Cost Usage
Using the Cost Usage area, the Design Analytics user may create reports/dashboards for the Cost Usage area and is able to answer the following types of business questions:
- Most Expensive Journals/Electronic Collections
- Least Expensive Journals/Electronic Collections
- Title/Electronic Collection Cost per Use Annual Trends

Star Diagram – Cost Usage
Field Descriptions
The following lists the fields available in Cost Usage.

Cost Usage
Usage
The Usage table is a fact table that stores all measures relating to a specific purchase per month. This table also holds details about the purchase, including Cost, Cost Per Use, and PO Line ID.
Field | Description | Additional Information |
---|---|---|
Usage | The usage of a journal or electronic collection | The value of the Usage field is calculated as follows:
|
Estimated Usage | Estimate for months without usage information | When a month is missing usage data, Alma will calculate the average monthly usage for the months for which data is available and use that average for the months missing usage data. |
Cost | Monthly price of po_line (annual cost / 12) | |
Cost Per Use | Calculated field - cost/Estimated Usage | The total cost of the PO line divided by the estimated usage (when not all months have usage data). |
PO Line ID | The ID of the PO line |
Cost Usage Details
The Cost Usage Details table is a dimension table that stores all measures relating to a specific purchase per month. This table also holds details about the purchase, including Title and ISSN.
Field | Description | Additional Information |
---|---|---|
ISSN | ISSN of the record | |
Title | Title of the record |
PO Line
The PO Line table is a dimension table that stores details about the PO and the PO Line for which Cost Usage information is supplied. The primary key of the table PO_LINE_ID.
Field | Description | Additional Information |
---|---|---|
PO Number | Stores the business identifier of the PO related to the PO line. | See the field location in Alma in PO Line Summary Page. |
PO Line Reference | Stores the business identifier of the PO line | This is the POL number in Alma. See the field location in Alma in PO Line Summary Page. |
Item Description | Description of the item | The description entered for the PO line. Note that this field is not taken from the bibliographic details. It is useful when no item is related to the PO line. See the field location in Alma in PO Line Summary Page. |
Status | Stores the business status of the PO line as Active, Canceled, or Closed | |
Order Line Type | The order line type as it appears in the order in Alma | See the field location in Alma in PO Line Summary Page. |
Order Line Type Code | A short code for the Order line type | See the field location in Alma in PO Line Summary Page. |
Sent Date | Stores the date that the PO/ PO line is sent to the vendor | See the field location in Alma in PO Line Summary Page. |
Currency | The currency of the transaction. | See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page – Pricing Information. |
List Price | The list price for a single copy of the item | See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page – Pricing Information. |
Net Price | A calculation of the total price for the PO line based on the list price per copy, the discount, and the number of copies ordered | See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page – Pricing Information. |
Quantity For Pricing | The number of items to be paid for. | The quantity for pricing and the number of items to create may be different in a case of discounted pricing through a deal such as "buy two items and get a third item at no additional charge." See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page – Pricing Information. |
Discount | The discount amount. | See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page – Pricing Information. |
Vendor Name | The vendor name as defined in the Alma vendor details definitions. | See the field location in Alma in Alma Vendor Details Page – Vendor General Details. |
Vendor Code | The vendor code as defined in the Alma vendor details definitions. | See the field location in Alma in Alma Vendor Details Page – Vendor General Details below. |
Vendor Account Description | The vendor description as defined in the Alma vendor account definitions. | See the field location in Alma in Alma Vendor Details Page – Accounts. |
Vendor Account Code | The vendor description as defined in the Alma vendor account definitions | See the field location in Alma in Alma Vendor Details Page – Accounts. |
Vendor Contact Person ID | Stores the related vendor contact person ID | |
Vendor Reference Number Type | Stores the type of the reference number | See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page – Pricing Information. |
Vendor Reference Number | Store the reference number for the PO line in Alma, as provided by the vendor. Serves as a matching point for identifying a PO line in Alma | See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page – Pricing Information. |
Material Supplier | The vendor supplying the material being ordered | The material supplier field as displayed in Alma PO line page. This is a concatenation of: name (code)/account description (account code). See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page – Vendor Information. |
Note To Vendor | Notes to the vendor. | See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page – PO Line Details. |
Acquisition Method | Stores the method by which the PO Line is acquired with the default value set as Purchase. This value may affect when the PO Line is sent. | See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page – PO Line Details. |
Rush | Indicates whether the PO line is to be rushed. | See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page – PO Line Details. |
Cancellation Restriction | Indicates if a cancellation restriction note, containing a warning upon the cancellation of a PO line, is configured to be displayed. | See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page – PO Line Details. |
Cancellation Restriction Note | The warning to be displayed when canceling a PO line. | See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page – PO Line Details. |
Cancellation Reason | Stores the reason that a PO line is canceled and displays only on canceled lines. Values are in the code table POLineCancellationReasons | |
Is Claimed | Flags the PO Line if there is an open claim to the vendor. A PO line is claimed if the items were not received. | |
Shipping Method | Stores the method for the vendor to ship the order | Per the values in Shipping Method code table defined in the acquisition configuration menu |
Ship to Address ID | Stores the library shipping address that should be used by the vendor | See the field location in Alma in Vendor Address Details Page. |
Shipped To Address Line 1-5 | The shipped to address lines. | See the field location in Alma in Vendor Address Details Page. |
Shipped To Address City | The shipped to city. | See the field location in Alma in Vendor Address Details Page. |
Shipped To Address Country | The shipped to country. | See the field location in Alma in Vendor Address Details Page. |
PO Line Creation Date | Stores the timestamp of the PO line creation date. | |
PO Line Modification Date | Stores the timestamp of the PO line modification date | |
PO Creation Date | Stores the timestamp of the PO creation date | |
PO Modification Date | Stores the timestamp of the PO modification date | |
Expected Activation Date | Stores the expected date for the resource activation by vendor for electronic PO lines | See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page – Vendor Information. |
Expected Activation Interval | For electronic PO Lines, the number of days after ordering that you expect electronic orders to be activated | The default value is taken from the Vendor Account Details page. See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page – Vendor Information. |
Claiming Date | The number of days from the expected receipt/activation date to the date on which the PO line is sent to the claims task list | The default value is taken from the Claiming grace period field on the Vendor Account Details. |
Subscription From Date | Stores the date for the beginning of a subscription for continuous orders | |
Subscription To Date | Stores the date for the end of a subscription for continuous orders | |
Receiving Date (Latest in POL) | This field allows you to retrieve the latest receiving date for an item in a PO line. | This is useful, since a PO line can have several items and each of the items may have a different receiving date |
Expected Receiving Date | Stores the expected date for physical items to be received from the vendor for physical PO lines | The default value is taken from the Vendor Account Details page. See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page – Vendor Information. |
Expected Receipt after Ordering Interval | For physical PO Lines, the number of days after ordering that you expect physical orders to be received | See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page – Vendor Information. |
Receiving Note | Text enabling the Purchasing Operator to indicate to the Receiving Operator the intended location of serial order items in which no inventory items are created. | |
Receiving Status | Stores an indication of whether or not all physical items were received | |
Renewal Date | Stores the date of the PO line’s next renewal for continuous orders | See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page - Renewal Information. |
Renewal Reminder Period | Determines how many days before renewal is mail regarding that renewal sent | See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page - Renewal Information. |
Renewal Cycle | Stores the cycle for the autorenewal job for continuous orders. For example, if it is set to one year, the PO line is renewed in one year. | Defined in RenewalCycle code table. See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page - Renewal Information. |
Manual Renewal | Stores an indication that the PO line is renewed manually or automatically | See the field location in Alma in Alma PO Line Page - Renewal Information. |
PO Creator | Stores the user name that created the PO | |
PO Line Creator | Stores the user name that created the PO line | |
PO Modified By | Stores the user name that modified the PO | |
PO Line Modified By | Stores the user name that modified the PO line | |
Interested Users | Displays the interested users for the PO line. in case more than one user is added to the PO line, values are concatenated | List of interested user in Alma is displayed in the interested users tab of the PO line. Note that in order to search for a specific user, you should use the contain filter in order to find also cases that more than 1 user was added to the PO. |
Assigned To | Stores the user that is assigned to the order | |
Application | Used for identifying migrated lines | |
CKB ID | Stores a reference to the electronic collection PID for electronic PO lines | |
License ID | Stores the ID of the license of the PO line that is relevant for electronic PO lines | |
Source Type | Stores the source from which the PO line originated. Values for example: EOD, Manual, Migration, and so forth | |
Source ID | Stores the source file ID used for the EOD lines | |
Associated PO Line | PO line associated with the current one | |
Association Type | The type of association between PO lines, such as defined by user or by a process or job. | |
Reporting Code | Stores the reporting code that is used. | |
Reporting Code Description | Stores the description of the reporting code | |
Invoice Status | The status of the invoice | |
Additional Order Reference | An additional identifier for the PO line |
PO Line Summary Page
- The order type will be added to analytics in a future release. Currently the order type code is available.
- The PO line status is not currently mapped to analytics and will be added in a future release.
Alma PO Line Page – Pricing Information
Alma PO Line Page – Vendor Information
Alma Vendor Details Page – Vendor General Details
Alma Vendor Details Page – Accounts
Alma PO Line Page – PO Line Details
Vendor Address Details Page
Alma PO Line Page – Vendor Information
Alma PO Line Page - Renewal Information
PO Line Type
The PO Line Type table is a dimension table that stores details about the PO line type associated with the transaction. PO Line type determines the type of order created (one time/continuous_ and the type of inventory items that is created (E-Book, P-Journal, etc.). The primary key of the table is PO_LINE_TYPE_ID.
Field | Description | Additional Information |
---|---|---|
PO Line Type Name | Stores the PO Line Type ID as defined in the alma mapping table | See the field location in Alma in the figure PO Line Types, below. |
Acquisition Material Type | Stores the acquisition material type | See the field location in Alma in the figure PO Line Types, below. |
Format | Stores the inventory format of Electronic, Physical, or Generic. | Possible values are P, E, and G. This value comes from the Inventory Format column of the PO Line Type mapping table (Acquisitions > Purchase Orders > PO Line Types). See the field location in Alma in the figure PO Line Types, below. |
Continuity | Stores if it is a one-time, continuous, or standing order PO line. | See the field location in Alma in the figure PO Line Types, below. |
PO Line Type | Stores the Hierarchy column that allows the user to drill down to the PO Line Type of the physical item. | This column provides the user with the option to have the user view the accumulative measures in each level of the hierarchy. |

PO Line Types
Periods
The Periods table is a dimension table that stores details about the fiscal date of transactions, such as month, year, and quarter. Each transaction is associated with a fund and each fund is associated with a specific fiscal period.
Field | Description | Additional Information |
---|---|---|
Month Key | Stores the month of the date in number format such as 2 for February | This field is useful when you want to sort by the month, which does not work properly when using the alphabetical field. |
Month Desc | Stores the month of the date in month description format such as February | |
Full Month Key | Stores the month and the year of the date in a display format such as Feb 12 | This field is useful when comparing data on a month basis between years. |
Full Month Desc | Stores the month of the date in month description format such as February and the year | |
Quarter Key | Stores the quarter of the date in a display format such as 1 | |
Full Quarter Key | Stores the quarter of the date in a display format such as 1 and the year | |
Quarter Desc | Stores the quarter of the date in a display format such as Q1 | |
Full Quarter Desc | Stores the quarter of the date in a display format such as Q1 and the year | |
Year Key | Stores the year of the date in number format such as 2012 | |
Year Desc | Stores the year of the date in number format such as 2012 | |
Fiscal Month Key | Stores the fiscal month of the date in a number format such as 9 for September | |
Fiscal Full Month Key | Stores the fiscal month in a number format such as 9 for September and the year | |
Fiscal Quarter Key | Stores the fiscal quarter of the date in a display format such as 1 | |
Fiscal Quarter Desc | Stores the fiscal quarter of the date in a display format such as Q1 | |
Fiscal Full Quarter Key | Stores the fiscal quarter of the date in a display format such as 1 and the year | |
Fiscal Full Quarter Desc | Stores the fiscal quarter of the date in a display format such as Q1 and the year | |
Fiscal Year Key | Stores the fiscal year of the date in a string format such as 2012. | If the fiscal year description is stored in the institution fiscal period configuration table, this value is taken from there. |
Fiscal Year Desc | Stores the fiscal year of the date in string format such as 2012. | If the fiscal year description is stored in the institution fiscal period configuration table, this value is taken from there. |
Date Key | Stores the transaction date in a date format such as 2/29/2014. | |
Periods | Stores the Hierarchy column that allows the user to drill down. Using this column provides the user with the option to view the accumulative measures |
Library Unit
The Library Unit table is a dimension table that stores details about the library where the PO Line was created. The primary key of the table is LIBRARYID.
The field descriptions can be found in the Library Unit shared dimension.
Field | Description | Additional Information |
---|---|---|
Library Code | Stores the library code | |
Library Description | Stores the library description | |
Library Name | Stores the library name | |
Unit Type | Store the type of organization unit | Values can be Institution/Library |
Institution
The shared Institution dimension allows the network institution to view reports according to institution. It is available in every subject area. It contains the following fields:
Field | Description | Additional information |
---|---|---|
Institution Code | The code of the institution. | |
Institution Name | The name of the institution. |
If an analytics report is run from a member institution in a collaborative network implementing a Network Zone, all member institutions are included in the report for Institution Code and Institution Name.
If an analytics report is run from an institution that is not part of a collaborative network implementing a Network Zone, only the single institution from which the report is run is included in the report for Institution Code and Institution Name.
Reports involving data across a collaborative network implementing a Network Zone may take longer to run than reports within one institution.
Shared Dimensions with Other Subject Areas
For information concerning shared dimensions with other subject areas, see Shared Dimensions.