Options D and O Spreadsheets User Guide

The information on this page only applies to version 6.1 of the Reporting Software Options and related documentation. See this page for other versions of the documentation. The version number of the PRL software you are using can be found on the Help menu under the About item.

Overview

Pesticide Reporting Software Option D is a set of four formatted Microsoft Excel workbooks designed to assist you in electronically recording Pesticide Reporting Law (PRL) information and reporting it to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. This option is recommended only for users who have expertise with Excel but cannot use any of the other Options (e.g., users who cannot run Windows-based programs or Excel workbooks with VBA Macros). These workbooks provide little assistance to the user except for formatting the PRL spreadsheets and Excel-based validation. There is no built-in assistance for uploading a PRL report to the NYSDEC.

Pesticide Reporting Software Option O is a nearly identical set of workbooks that can be used with Excel-compatible spreadsheet programs such as Apple’s Numbers or OpenOffice.org’s Calc. In order to work with Excel-compatible applications, Option O does not use Excel-based validation and there is no worksheet protection.

Option D runs under Microsoft Windows^® and Macintosh OS. Microsoft Excel is required.

Option O runs under Microsoft Windows^® and Macintosh OS. A spreadsheet application which can edit Microsoft Excel workbooks is required. Option O is available in both XLSX and XLS formats.

Neither option requires installation; just download the Option D or Option O workbooks you require. Note that the workbooks for each form type must be downloaded separately.

If you need further assistance, contact the Pesticide Reporting Service Bureau.

Using the Workbooks

Decide Which Forms to Use

If you have multiple applicators to include on your report, we recommend using Form 26A to submit their information. The pesticide applications they made should be entered on a single Form 26. Choose one of the applicators to list in the header area of the Form 26. If any applicators that you are reporting for made any applications during the report year, you should submit Form 26.

You may enter all your applications in one file even if they were made by multiple applicators; we do not need a separate report for each applicator.

If you are reporting for a pesticide sales business and you sell restricted-use pesticides, use Form 25. If you sell pesticides to private applicators, we will need a Form 27. If you have a commercial permit number, you must submit either Form 25, Form 27, or both.

Be sure to include applicators who did not make applications on your report and applicators who left your organization during the report year. If your organization is a pesticide sales business, you must file a report even if you did not make any sales during the report year.

You can report two different types of sales on Form 25; report either sales to another commercial permit holder who will resell the products or sales to commercial applicators for their end use. In Options A and B, there are a set of radio buttons in the Form 25 header where you can specify the sales type. Options D and O have drop-down lists for specifying the sales type. If you have both types of sales to report, please send us a separate form for each type. However, you do not need to complete a form for the type of sales you did not make (but you still need to report even if you did not make any sales).

Form Header

Each form has one or more identification numbers in the header area appropriate to the form type. These identification numbers are used to associate your report with the correct applicator(s) or organization. If you are required to fill out a particular form type, you must also fill out the identification numbers and associated name field in the header area.

The business registration number is not required on Form 26, but you should submit it if you have one so that we contact you as needed. If you have more than one business registration number, see this FAQ.

All applicators and pesticide sales businesses are required to report even if they did not make any applications or sales. See Reporting No Applications or Sales for more information.

The forms also include a report year field in the header area. This field is also required. In addition, links to this documentation in three different formats are included.

Data Entry Grid

Both Option D and O contain descriptions for each column in the column heading comments. Click in the cell and the cell comment will appear. Option D also contains the column descriptions in small popup windows that appear when you click in a cell.

The popup windows that appear when you click on a cell in the data entry grid of Option D can be moved. Just click in the popup and drag it while holding the mouse button down.

In Option D some columns are validated. If the data you enter does not conform to the criteria for the column, Excel will display a descriptive error message. You will need to correct (or delete) the data in the cell before moving to the next cell. If you need more information about a particular column, complete field descriptions can be found in the Record Layouts section or the Data Dictionary.