Reports

Forms vs Reports

▪Reports display predefined data and are only for reading and viewing the information.

▪Forms also contain predefined data however it may also have areas where extra information needs to be filled in. It can either be static and just printed to the screen or it can be interactive

Reports Types

▪Internal Reports

•Used within the organizations

•Example: Financial Reports

▪External Reports

•Used outside the organization

•Differ from internal report in design and appearance

•Example:Invoice

Different Output Options

Different Outputs

•Print

•Display Screen

•Multimedia

•Electronic

Keep in mind

•Speed

•Cost

•Portability

•Flexibility

•Storage

Designing Output

▪Purpose

•Serve the intended purpose

▪Meaning

•Be meaningful to the user

▪Quantity

•Deliver the right quantity of information

-Info overload?

Too little info?

Designing Output

▪Place

•Deliver to right place and user

▪On-time

•Provide output on time and quickly

▪Method

•Choose the right output method

Report Categories

Detail Report

▪A report line for every record

Historical report

▪Provides audit trail. Similar to Detail report

Summary Report

▪Takes data from different categories and combines it

Trend Report

▪Compares how different things perform over a period of time

Query Report

▪Generated from questions asked by a user. Also called Dynamic reports

Schedule reports

▪Produced on a regular basis(daily,weekly,monthly,quarterly,annually)

Key Reporting Principles

▪Define the purpose of each report

•Primary needs

•Example: Show monthly and year-to-date sales by Sales Reps

▪Determine the data sources

•Excel spreadsheet, textfiles

•Tables

•SQL Server :Stored procedures/Views

▪Design each report for the intended user

•Format report appropriately for user

•Example: Reports aimed at Salesperson vs Manager

•Graphs? Filter Options?

▪Ensure the report is usable

•Useful and easy to for the intended user

•How to preset the data

▪How will the report be distributed

•Email

•Printed

•Multimedia

•Export

•Servers(Power Bi links and SSRS reports)