Reporting pt. 2: Tabular Reports

By in
748
Reporting pt. 2: Tabular Reports

In the previous Salesforce Reporting blog, we learned about Report Types and Report Formats in Salesforce. For reference, the previous post can be viewed here: Reporting pt. 1: Report Types and Formats. Today, we will be reviewing and creating a specific Report Format in Salesforce – Tabular Reports.

 

What is a Tabular Report?

Tabular Reports are often considered the most basic type of report in Salesforce. They look very similar to spreadsheets since they have fields as ordered sets of information in columns. Additionally, each record that matches the report criteria is listed as a row of data.

 

Considerations for Tabular Reports

Due to the simple nature of the Tabular Report, it does have some restrictions.

Tabular reports are supported in Dashboards**, but only when a row limit exists. These row limits on dashboards help us ensure our dashboards provide at-a-glance information and that our dashboards can run quickly and efficiently. Additional information on how to use tabular reports in a dashboard can be found at the bottom of this post.

Bucket Fields** can also be used in Tabular Reports. However, Report Charts**, Formulas, and Cross-Object Formulas are not supported with the Tabular Report Format.

**Bucket Fields, Report Charts, and Dashboards will be covered in later posts. Check out the bottom of this page for related posts!

 

How to Create a Tabular Report in Salesforce

As mentioned in Part 1 of the reporting series, we create reports to answer business questions. Let’s create a report to answer the following question: “How many Opportunities in Salesforce that have a documented Lead Source exist?”

To answer this question, we will create an Opportunities Report Type with a Tabular Report Format.

Note: To follow along with the steps below, use or create a Playground from Salesforce Trailhead or a Developer Edition org.

 

  1. In Salesforce, navigate to the Reports tab and click New Report.New Report
  2. Select the Opportunities Report Type, and click Continue.Opportunities Report Type
  3. Notice that when the report generates, it starts by displaying the Report Outline. The Report Type and Report Name are in the top left of the report just above the outline. While the actions are in the top right of the report.Report OutlineReport Actions
  4. Update the Close Date to All Time. Next, add the Lead Source as a Report Filter since we want to see all of the Opportunities that include a Lead Source. To do this, click on the Report Filters tab, search for the Lead Source field in the search bar, and select it. Report Filters
  5. Next, filter the Lead Source field so that undocumented values (aka blank values) don’t show by changing the Operator to not equal to and selecting the blank, “” (No Selection) value from the list. Click Apply to save this filter.Remove No Lead Source
  6. Next, navigate back to the Report Outline to select which sets of information to include in our report.
  7. Toggle the Update Preview Automatically to on. Now we can see that the Columns in the Report Outline match the columns in the report preview. We can also see that the report preview updates in real-time when columns are added or removed.Update Preview AutomaticallyColumn Preview
  8. Drag and drop Columns in the Outline to reorder them, and click the X on the Columns we don’t want to be displayed on this report to remove them. Let’s update the Columns on this report to the following order and remove the rest: Account Name, Type, Opportunity Name, Amount, Close Date, Lead Source.Remove Lead Source
  9. In the report preview, we can see that there doesn’t appear to be any order or sorting of the records in the report.Report Preview
  10. Let’s organize the information in the report to make it easier to quickly view information. Click the Lead Source column header to sort the report by the Lead Source in ascending order. We can see an up arrow appear when we sort the report in ascending order, and a down arrow when we sort in descending order.Sort by Lead Source
  11. Finally, click the Run button in the top right corner to run the full report.Run Report
  12. In the full report view, we can see the answer to our question above, “How many Opportunities in Salesforce that have a documented Lead Source exist?” is 24. The Total Record count displays at the top of the report. The numbers for the records that match our criteria also display on the far left of the report.Organized Report
  13. Next, click the down arrow in the top right corner of the report to see more report actions. Then, click Save.Save Report
  14. To save the report, we have to name it and decide where to store it. Enter the below information for the report:
    • Report Name: All Opportunities with Lead Sources
    • Report Unique Name: Either enter a unique name, or tap the Tab button on your keyboard while the cursor is in the Report Name textbox to have Salesforce generate a unique name for you
    • Report Description: Tabular Report that shows all Opportunities with Lead Sources
  15. Then click Select Folder to select the Public Reports folder to store this report, and then click Save.Report Information
  16. Upon saving the report, we can see the Report Name and Description update in the header.Report Header
  17. Next, navigate to the Reports tab again. From here, we can locate our report by either viewing it in the default “Recent” reports list or by clicking on “Public Reports” list. In this view, we can also see the Report Name, Description, and other information.Report Location

 

Summary

Tabular reports are best used for lists of records, and they’re ideal for tasks like producing mailing lists and complete lists of specific objects. However, due to the simplicity of the report, they do have some restrictions.

Start at the beginning of the reporting blog series with “Reporting pt. 1: Report Types and Formats.” Or continue learning about Salesforce Reporting in the next post, “Reporting pt. 3: Summary Reports.”

 

Additional Resources:

Cover Photo by NORTHFOLK on Unsplash

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *