Financial Institution: Bespoke Report Generation using R Markdown

The Challenge

Large financial institutions have a responsibility to regularly produce analytical reports. Our client wanted to update their reporting workflow, and investigate different reporting tools. They were considering adopting R Markdown as many of their analysts had experience using R. However, they had concerns that R Markdown may not be flexible enough to reproduce their reports exactly, with the correct styling and layout.

As a large institution with hundreds of analysts, choosing the correct tool is an important decision. Even when choosing an open-source tool there is still the expense of setting up new processes internally, in addition to the upskilling of staff. The institution needed to have confidence in the technology it was choosing to integrate into it’s reporting workflow.

The Project

The client contacted Jumping Rivers to assess the viability of R and R Markdown as a reporting tool for creating complex, bespoke documents.

Our Results

We analysed their specification, detailing which aspects were easy to implement, and highlighted the more challenging areas. For the more challenging tasks, we provided bespoke solutions, showcasing that all of their specifications could be met with R Markdown. We provided example code, allowing them to recreate a sample of their reports in R Markdown.

We also provided a half-day bespoke training session for analysts and management, demonstrating the flexibility of R Markdown and showcasing the benefits of automated reporting. We discussed integration with their existing databases and ensured that the documents met the client’s branding guidelines. This information enabled the client to make a considered decision on which tool was best suited for their workflow.