Reporting in CommunitySuite provides several options for analyzing and exporting data, including default reports, custom reports, filter reports, and financial reports.
Who: Users who need to access, analyze, or export data from their site.
Use reporting in CommunitySuite to:
- Access prebuilt default reports for a quick summary of data in main system areas.
- Build custom reports for non-financial data that requires customized field selection, filtering, aggregations, or sort orders beyond what a basic report can offer.
- Use filter reports to narrow down specific transactions or records throughout the system.
- Review financial reports for transactional and financial data.
- Export any report type to a .pdf or .csv file for use outside of CommunitySuite.
CommunitySuite hosts a variety of different reporting options including custom reports and default reports. Below are some brief descriptions of when and why each type of reporting might be used.
There are four different types of reporting in CommunitySuite. Each report type differs in where it is accessed, the level of customization available, and what data it displays.
| Report Type | Location | Use |
| Default Reports | Click Reports in the Reporting column on the Home page. |
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| Custom Reports | Click Reports in the Reporting column on the Home page. |
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| Filter Reports | Found in numerous places throughout the system, these are prebuilt reports that can be filtered. |
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| Financial Reports | Click Financials in the Reporting column on the Home page. |
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When to Use Default Reports
Use default reports to see a summary of data in several of the main system areas. This may be helpful to find a count of donation by campaign or at scholarship payments to each school at the end of scholarship season.
Default reports summarize in-system data utilizing pre-defined criteria. Each report has an input parameter, generally a date range, and produces a report with pre-defined columns. To access the full list of default reports:
- Navigate to the Reports page and click Default Reports in the left-side menu to access the full list of default reports.
Each default report can also be accessed from its respective page. For example, the Donations Report can also be accessed by clicking Reports in the left-side menu on the Donations page.
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When to Use Custom Reports
Custom reporting is the most comprehensive reporting option for non-financial information. This option is best used for any need that is beyond what a basic filter or default report can offer. These reports will allow for aggregation, grouping, additional filter fields, etc. If a list of donors to invite to a campaign based on the total amount of donations they gave last year or a list of funds that have not granted recently is needed, then a custom report is the reporting option to use.
Keep in mind that filter, default, and custom reports are not necessarily looking at real-time transactional data, so there may be discrepancies between these report amounts and your financial statements.
Custom reports offer the most flexible view of your data. These reports are most useful for non-financial data and allow a user to customize the field selection, filtering, aggregations, and sort orders.
Resources:
This video demonstrates how to create, manage, filter, and summarize custom reports.
When to Use Filter Reports
Filter reports are available throughout the system. They have a pre-defined set of columns on exports. The criteria you can filter by is also predetermined and varies by page. For instance, general ledger and profile filter reports will have different filter options. If you are looking for a specific transaction, then the filter report available in the General Ledger area allows you to filter down to transactions by things like the amount or date. This may also be helpful determining how many donations came in on a certain date.
Filter reports are available on the following pages: profiles, donations, grants, scholarships, pledges/promises, general ledger, logs, and notes.
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When to Use Financial Reports
Financial reports offer a look into the transactional and financial aspects of data entered into the system. The correct financial report will vary based on the information that is wanted. For example, reviewing fund balances for upcoming grant commitments or seeing transactional totals of donation revenue can be accomplished by using a financial report.
To access financial reports:
- Navigate to the Financials page and click the financial report name in the left-side menu.
Resource:
Export Report Data
All reports can be exported, and the export will reflect all filters. In the left-side menu of any default, filter, or financial report you will see the options to Print Page and Export CSV. Print page exports a .pdf of the visible data on the page. Export CSV exports all report data with applicable filtering and formatting to Excel.
Custom reports may also be exported using the Export button at the top of the report once it has been run. The Print Page option will also be visible in the left-side menu of any custom report.
In addition to these export options, the entirety of any report can be selected and then copied and pasted into an Excel sheet. This option will maintain the page formatting as well as any link directly back to the data displayed.