If you need to generate the CRA LAR microdata in an Excel spreadsheet format, this will need to be done outside of Compliance Data Platform (CDP). Below are steps to generate the CRA LAR microdata file and bring it into Excel.
Generate the CRA LAR Microdata file
1. Log into CDP.
-The active Institution and File will display in the upper right-hand section to the left of the name of the user logged in.
2. Go to Filing>CRA Submission File.
3. Verify the data under the Submission File heading is correct.
4. Under the Options heading:
-Verify that the Internet Submission setting is checked.
-If you want the process to check for validity edits you can check the Override Validity Edits setting, otherwise leave this unchecked.
5. Under the Micro Data heading:
-Check the box next to the Micro Data file only setting.
6. Select the button for Build LR File.
7. Once the file has been created, a green notification message will appear in the bottom right corner of the page. Within that window, select Click here to view results.
8. After the results have loaded, select Download LR File. This will generate as .dat file.
Import the CRA LAR Microdata into Excel
9. Open Excel.
10. Select the option for a new workbook.
11. Select File>Open.
12. Select Browse. In the File Browser window, go to the location where the CRA LAR file is saved.
-You will likely need to change the file type option in the window from All Excel Files to All Files to see your CRA LAR .dat file.
13. Select the CRA LAR .dat file and click Open.
14. A Text Import Wizard window will open. On the first page under Original data type, select the radio button next to Fixed width.
15. On the second page use the break lines on the screen to define the columns. You can refer to the FFIEC File Specifications guide Microdata section for the appropriate year for further information on where to set the break lines.
16. On the third page you will be prompted to select a Column Data format for all of the columns. Leave this as is and click Finish.
17. The CRA LAR data will appear within the Excel workbook with each CRA field in a separate column.
a. A dialog box may appear asking if you want to remove leading zeroes. Select Don't Convert.
b. Please note that as the first row has different positioning from the Microdata this may not be parsed correctly by Excel. You can choose to correct this after step 17 or to omit this row during the text import process.
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