Building a Custom Monthly Summary Report from Scratch
To build a custom monthly summary report from scratch:
- In the Reports menu, select Report Builder.
- Click the New report button.
- In the Report type drop-down list, select report type you require.
Choosing the right report type...The available report types relate to the WorkflowMax database tables such as lead, job or the WIPWork In Progress in WorkflowMax is all uninvoiced staff time and disbursements recorded on client jobs. ledger. In most cases, it's easy enough to choose the report type that contains the data you want to report on. However, you may sometimes need to experiment to find where the data item you want is actually stored.
For example, the ‘Monthly staff expenses’ sample report is actually based on the Job Cost data table. This is because expenses are stored in the Job Cost table, although you might expect them to be stored in a table called 'staff'.
- In the Report layout drop-down list, select Monthly Summary and click Create.
- The Report Designer screen for the chosen report type is displayed. Follow these steps to design your report:
Step Description 1.
Report
Enter the title of the report. This will be the name that you use to select the report later, and it is also the title at the top of the published report, so it's a good idea to use a descriptive name that illustrates what is in the report.
2.
Fields
Select field values one by one from the drop-down fields. This defines the scope and content of the report.
3.
Criteria
Select the criteria to filter the data that will be in the published report. Each criterion has optional values used to limit the scope of the report. For example, for the Due Date criterion, you might select 'End of the month' as the value to test against.
If necessary, you can delete unwanted criteria by clicking the
icon.4.
Publish
Select staff members who can view the report. When a staff member is selected here, the report will appear on the My reports tab of their Report Builder screen.
If you wish to see the report in your My reports tab, include yourself in the list of staff who can view the report.
Use the table below to help you choose which options to set for the report.
Option Value Explanation Staff cannot change Staff cannot edit the criteria of the report can change the date Staff viewing this report via the Report Builder > My Reports tab can edit the date criteria associated with the report can change all the Staff viewing this report via the Report Builder > My Reports tab can edit all the criteria associated with the report - Finally, select one of the following options:
- Preview Report. Runs the report and displays a preview on screen.
This option does not save the report. However, you can navigate back to the Report Designer without losing your work. It is better to use the Save (and preview) option to avoid any chance of losing the changes you've made.
- Save. Saves the report and returns to the Report builder > My reports screen.
- Save (continue editing). Saves your work and remains in the Report Designer screen.
- Save (and preview) (recommended). Saves and runs the report, and then displays a preview on screen.
From the preview, you can export or print the report as follows:
- Export to CSV or XML.
- Print. Displays a print dialog from where you can select printer options.
- Preview Report. Runs the report and displays a preview on screen.