Looking for an in-depth tutorial on reporting? You can check out the webinar above for training on just reports! You can see more content like this (or join a live webinar) at smartservice.com/webinar.
If your profile has the permissions to do so, you can click on the “reporting” section to create your own reports on the data your company has entered into Smart Service. If you’re new to Smart Service reporting, it’s important to remember that where you store data will be reflected on your reports. When creating a customer, make sure to enter data into as many fields as possible to get the best results in reporting.
Navigating The Reports Section
Reporting is divided into two sides. On the left, you have categories of reports, which are used to report on various topics in Smart Service. After clicking on one of the categories, any reports in that category will be displayed on the right. Familiarize yourself with the symbols next to each report below.
Preview
You can preview the contents of a report by pressing this button.
This option allows you to print from your computer's default printer.
Customize
You can make edits to an additional report using this tool.
Filter
Filtering allows you to search for specific information on your report.
When you’re inside a report, you can click on the “Print Preview” button on the top left-hand side of the screen. Not only can you print from here, you have the option to export the report as a PDF, export to Microsoft Excel, or Email the report using Outlook.
If you can’t find a report that works for you, you have the option to create your own reports by clicking “New Report” at the top left-hand corner of your screen. We highly encourage this option as the default reports in Smart Service are less than a quarter of the possible reports.
Once you click “New Report”, the following window will be displayed.
When starting a new report, you’ll need a name and type. The name should be something that conveys what this report does, and you have a description field under that if needed. To the right of the name is the report type dropdown. The type of report you choose is the type of information that will be available. For example, a customer report will display information on your clients, a history report will display information about completed services.
The next step will be adding some reporting fields at the bottom. Click in the “Field Name” dropdown and select which columns should appear on your report. If you’re unsure which fields to choose, it’s a good idea to look at a record you want to appear on your report. Each field in Smart Service is labeled, making it easy to know which fields to choose.
Since we can’t anticipate what you’ll use the user definable fields for, they will be labeled “Customer User Definable Field 1” and so on.
You can use the “Alias” field to nickname the columns on your report. Doing so will replace the field name on the report. Options for “Format” and “Total” are useful when you want to add a dollar sign for money values or have Smart Service sum up a column.
You have the option of adding a “grouping” to your report. Grouping will place items with similar information next to each other on a report. For example, you can group customers together by city, or jobs by technician.
Adding sorting to your report will organize your records in A-Z order. You could order your report by date or by customer name.
When your report is set up, click the “Save” button in the top right-hand corner of the window. This will add your report into the corresponding category on the left.
Remember that you can add filters to your report to narrow down what records will be displayed. Filters will use the same fields that were available when you created your report. You can set options like: equals, greater than or less than, is not equal to, or a quick date range like “this week” when working with dates.
If you can’t find the date or result you’re looking for, remember that the options displayed are based on your previous entries. For example, if not jobs were scheduled for that day the date in question won’t be in the list.
Duplicating Popular Reports
Want to modify your report without losing the original? You can click the “duplicate” button to the right of the report name field to create a copy of your report.