Custom Reports

The Custom Report feature in Discovery allows you to pull various data points from different entities in the system and create customized reports based on your needs. This document explains how to use the Custom Report Builder to create Custom Reports.

Custom Report Main Entity

The Custom Report Builder in Discovery offers a variety of Main Entities from which you can extract data. The Main Entities are listed below:

  • Billable Expense
  • Client
  • Client Account
  • Client Account Fee
  • Client Company
  • Client Contract
  • Client Contract Document
  • Client Credit Memo
  • Client Invoice
  • Client Line Item
  • Client Payment
  • Compactor Monitor
  • Compactor Monitor Configuration
  • Employee Data Export
  • Employee Tenant
  • Fiscal Period
  • Gathered Vendor Invoice File
  • Incident
  • Incident Checklist Item
  • Incident Comment
  • Incident Document
  • Incident Internal Comment
  • Incident Reason
  • Incident Type
  • Journal Entry Line Item
  • Line Item Category
  • LocationLocation Fee
  • Notification
  • OCR Vendor Invoice
  • OCR Vendor Invoice Line Item
  • Pickup
  • Prior Period Adjustment
  • Receipt Location
  • Received Email
  • Sales Tax
  • Sales Tax Rate Override
  • Service
  • Service Activity
  • Service Document
  • Service Type Line Item Categorization
  • Service Snapshot
  • Tenant Invitation
  • Vendor
  • Vendor Account
  • Vendor Contract
  • Vendor Contract Fee
  • Vendor Fee Line Item Categorization
  • Vendor Invoice
  • Vendor Invoice Initial Line Item
  • Vendor Invoice Line Item
  • Vendor Invoice Initial Allocated Value
  • Vendor Invoice Line Item Revision
  • Vendor Invoice Allocated Value
  • Vendor Portal Account
  • Vendor Portal Credential
  • Vendor Portal Invoice
  • Vendor Service Fee
  • Work Order

Creating a Custom Report

To create a custom report using the Custom Report Builder feature, follow these steps:

1
Navigate to Records -> Reports -> Custom Reports -> New from the Discovery main menu.
2
Give your report a name and select the Main Entity that you want to pull data from.

In the following example, we will create a simple custom report to pull in data for Pickups that are older than April 1, 2023. To do this we select Pickup as our Main Entity.

3
Add any data points (Columns) that you wish to include in your report by clicking on the +Add Column button. You can add up to 50 data points.

For each data point, the Entity and resulting Property fields available will vary based on the Main Entity that you have selected. Apart from the data points of the Main Entity, you have the option to choose other Entities that are up to four relationships away from your Main Entity. This allows for much more data to be included in your Custom Report.

Each column's data point can be selected from the available Entities and subsequent Property drop down options. For convenience, you can also customize the Display Name of your column which will change the header of any exported CSV files.

Here we selected the following data points:

  • Entity: Pickup | Property: Pickup - Pickup Date
  • Entity: Pickup | Property: Pickup - Service ID
  • Entity: Pickup > Location | Property: Location - Name

These data points will give us the Pickup Date, the Service ID and the Location name as our columns.

4
Next, we'll need to leverage Filters to further refine the range of data you wish to incorporate into your Custom Report.

You can filter data based logical operations. In this example, we will apply a Filter to include only Pickups Dates that are greater than (older than) April 1, 2023.

When only a single Filter is used, Filter Group Mode and Filter Mode can both be set to either AND or OR.

This will return only Pickup data from April 2, 2023 to current.

5
Click Save and your report data will display as a paginated table.

Filter Groups

When filtering records, there are 2 possible logical operators: AND / OR. Filter Groups are a powerful way to combine and interchange these 2 logical operators for different fields.

As an example, let's change our filtering options to only include Pickups for the months of April 2022 and April 2023. First, consider the logic using the classic order of math operations: Parenthesis > Exponents > Multiplication > Division > Addition > Subtraction (Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally).

(pickup date >= 04/01/2022 AND pickup date <= 04/30/2022)

OR

(pickup date >= 04/01/2023 AND pickup date <= 04/30/2023)

Let's review how to construct more complex logic like this using Filter Groups.

1
The logic for the first Filter Group would get all pickups between April 1 through 30, 2022. Here, we're using the OR operator for the Filter Group Mode and AND operators for each filter.
2
Next we will add a new outer Filter Group for Pickup dates of Apr 1 through 30, 2023. Click the + Filter Group button outside of the first Filter Group. Again, we're using the OR operator for the Filter Group Mode and AND operators for each filter.

As a rule of thumb, we don't advise using Inner Filter Groups to generate nested logic scenarios. Using Outer Filter Groups keeps your logic "flattened." The need for nested logic is rare and can be challenging. Although logically equivalent, "A or B or C" is simpler than "(A or B) or C" . Your future self will thank you if you stick with outer top-level Filter Groups.

3
Below is the finished Filter logic grouping. Take notice of the different Filter Modes and Filter Group Modes used in the red boxes. Notice that the Filter Group Mode is set to OR for both Filter Groups.

This arrangement allows us to get records for both years of April for later comparison in a CSV export.

4
Click on the Save button to save your report. Once saved, you will be able to view and export the results of your work.

Limitations

  • A custom reports can export up to 1,000,000 records.
  • A report must be able to execute within 20 seconds.

If your filters and fields combined exceed this limit, you will receive a notification and your report will be temporarily disabled if active.

Viewing and Exporting a Custom Report

Once you have created a custom report, you can view its results it by clicking on the Custom Report Name on the Custom Report index page (Records > Reports > Custom Reports). You may also edit it by clicking on the Edit icon.

Once the Custom Report results are displayed, click the Export to CSV button to create a downloadable CSV file you can open and manage in a spreadsheet application such as Excel. All Data Exports can be found under My Profile > Data Exports.

Deleting a Custom Report

You may find that a Custom Report is no longer needed. Permanently deleting a Custom Report is a simple process. Locate your custom report under the Custom Report index page (Records > Reports > Custom Reports).

Click on the trash can icon of the report that you want to delete. Confirm that you would like to permanently delete this Custom Report. This action is irreversible.

If you have additional questions or need more in depth information, please feel free to send us a message using the help beacon in the lower right-hand corner.