Feature of the Month

January 2004

Versions 7 and 8

Help Take The Mystery Out Of The Reports Module

The Reports module can supply you with a wide variety of reports that will help to keep you on top of your business.  The information in these reports is based on your daily input of data gained through normal daily operations.  You will normally use two types of reports:  STANDARD REPORTS and USER DEFINED REPORTS (a USER DEFINED REPORT is any report you design, including reports that are copies of the STANDARD REPORTS)..  There are dozens of STANDARD REPORTS (a STANDARD REPORT is a report that is shipped with the program) that are classified into four categories: summaries, journals, merchandise reports, or lists.  So how do know what category your desired report falls in? The following is a synopsis of the report categories:

JOURNALS reports are about specific documents and can optionally show item detail reports

SUMMARIES   come in 2 flavors:  Merchandise summaries which are item-oriented and  Transaction summaries which are document-oriented.   And they summarize one type of data.

MERCHANDISE reports are COMPARISON reports.  Merchandise reports are similar to summaries except that the information can be drawn from multiple data sources (any document type and inventory), multiple date ranges can be compared, and the focus is strictly on merchandise.  In other words, if the field exists in inventory, a merchandise report can be run on it.

LISTS focus only on customers, vendors, departments, or employees.

So…the key reports is to establish what it is you want in your report and then determine what kind of report category, as described above, it best fits into.

CLOSEST STANDARD REPORT:

Before attempting a USER DEFINED REPORT, think STANDARD REPORTS.  Try out the various STANDARD REPORTS; they could save you a lot of time if you can find a Standard Report that will do what you want.  It may have a few things in it that you will have will not need, or it may lack things that you feel that you do need.  If for any reason you need more /less/different information than the Standard Report yields, you can still use the Standard Report as a basis for a USER DEFINED REPORT (using copy/paste/rename/edit; much easier than starting from scratch.)

WARNING ABOUT STANDARD REPORTS

Once you have selected a Standard Report and have decided it needs to be modified to meet your needs, COPY, RENAME it and Save it.  DO NOT alter a Standard Report, COPY, RENAME it and SAVE because it may be overwritten by the program.

Ranking or Sorting:

By default, the sequence of the printed rows on a report follows the Sort (ABC - Descriptive - Words) order.  NOTE:  A sort field is required on all reports.  However, instead of sorting a report by descriptive elements, you can Rank (123 – Value - Numerical) it by one or more of the value elements included in the layout.  You can affect both the Sort order and/or the Ranking – the ranking will take precedence over the sort.  It may also be helpful to think of sort as a “grouping” option as well – if detail is desired, place the detail field in the defined sort area.

Layout:  The layout window contains all the layout elements available for the report area.

SECOND WARNING ABOUT STANDARD REPORTS

Once you have selected a Standard Report and have decided it needs to be modified to meet your needs, COPY, RENAME it and Save it.  DO NOT alter a Standard Report, COPY, RENAME it and SAVE. because it may be overwritten by the program.

Report Options:  Report options are user-definable instructions:

Record Limit:  This is not a Sort or Ranking method, but it used to enhance either.  It controls the number of records to be reported on.

Filter:  The ability to filter a report  for (practically) any field item is the greatest strength of the reporting module.  Dates can be restricted, names, amounts, prices, et. al, through means of a filter.  If a filter requires permanent criteria, copy an existing filter, rename it, and save it with your permanent criteria.

Other:

Certainly the design of a report includes its layout, sort, and optionally, the ranking and/or totaling of the information generated by the report.  You have the option to specify item details to include in the report as well. You also can control the report’s appearance by assigning different fonts, font sizes, colors, and effects to sections of the output. 

Organizing Your Report

You will want to organize your need by the above method of natural selection.

Type of Report:  (Journal, Summary, Merchandise, List)

Closest Standard Report:  The Standard Report that comes closest to giving everything you need.

Sort and/or Rank (123):  What changes would make you here that differs from the Standard Report?

Report Limits: How many are to be included?

Layout: What changes would make you here, that differs from the Standard Report?

Print Options: What changes would make you here, that differs from the Standard Report?

Edit Options: What changes would make you here, that differs from the Standard Report?

Filter:  What changes would make you here, that differs from the Standard Report?

Other:  What changes would make you here, that differs from the Standard Report?

A Reminder

Keep this in mind, if you make a mistake and leave out some critical informational area, and notice it after you have the report in your hand, you can always deep six the report, go back, edit your saved version of the report, add or subtract, and try it again.  Sometimes the best way to learn is through experience, be it good or bad.  Do not be afraid to experiment.

Remember: If the STANDARD REPORT does not fill your needs then you can always modify it by creating a USER DEFINED REPORT, and save yourself some time by using the STANDARD REPORT as a basis.

THIRD WARNING ABOUT STANDARD REPORTS

Once you have selected a Standard Report and have decided it needs to be modified to meet your needs, COPY, RENAME it and Save it.  DO NOT alter a Standard Report, COPY, RENAME it and SAVE  because it may be overwritten by the program