Documentation/ Dashboard and reports/ A bespoke spreadsheet
A bespoke spreadsheet: asking for a report built to order
Where no export gives exactly what is needed, you can define the report column by column and send it to the support team, who build it. The screen does not generate the spreadsheet: it generates the request.
Tools › Custom spreadsheet set-up
On this page
What it is and what it is not
| It is | It is not |
|---|---|
| A form for describing the report you need. | A report generator. |
| A structured request to the support team. | An immediate download. |
| The way to have the report built once and kept available. | Something redone every month. |
The screen puts it plainly: set out the columns of your custom spreadsheet report, fill the form in with as much detail as you can and send it to the support team.
The form
It is a table where each row is a column of the spreadsheet you want back. Add as many rows as the report needs columns.
Above the table is a set of switches that show or hide each row's advanced fields. They save having ten columns in front of you when only two are going to be used.
What each column defines
| Field | What it is for | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Column | The column's position or name in the spreadsheet. | Yes |
| Content | What you want there. The invoice date, for instance. | Yes |
| Source | Whether the value comes from the document or from outside it. | Depends |
| Fixed value | A text repeated on every row. | No |
| Empty column | A column that should be left blank. | No |
| Formula | A calculation, in spreadsheet notation. | No |
| Kind of nominal account | Which account should appear. | No |
| Comments | Notes for whoever builds it. | No |
| Other | Anything else. | No |
Column and content are the two that always have to be filled in. The rest is used where it adds something.
Source: the document or outside it
Each column can take its value from two places:
- The document: one of the fields that already exist in the application. Choosing this source means saying which, from a list.
- Outside: something not on the document, defined with a fixed value, a formula or a note.
Fixed-value columns are useful for what the other program's importer insists on and that does not depend on the document: a company code, an entry type, a financial year.
What it checks before sending
| Message | What is missing |
|---|---|
| You have to add at least one row to set up | The form is empty. |
| Row N is incomplete. Fill in Column and Content | That row's two required fields are missing. |
| Row N needs a document field selected | The document source was chosen without saying which field. |
The messages give the row number, so there is no going through the whole form looking for the gap.
Sending it to support
The send button passes the set-up to the support team. It confirms that the request was sent to support.
From there it is an ordinary support conversation: the request is looked at, anything unclear is settled and the report is built.
How to ask well
- Start from a real example. If your program imports a file in a particular format, attaching that format saves half a dozen emails.
- Use the comments field. It is where the rules that do not fit in a column go: which documents are included, on what date rule, what to do with the ones at zero.
- Say what it is for. Knowing whether the destination is an importer, a control sheet or an audit changes how it is built.
- Ask for what you need, not everything. A report with forty columns is harder to maintain and to read than one with twelve.
Things that come up
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| It will not let you send | There are incomplete rows. | Look at the row the message names. |
| You do not know which field to choose | The content does not correspond to a field on the document. | Use the outside source and explain it in the comments. |
| The request was sent and no report arrives | Building it is not instant: the team does it. | Wait for support's reply. |
| The report received is not what was expected | The request did not capture some rule. | Reply on the support thread with the specific correction. |
| The report is needed every month | That is the usual case. | Say so when asking: it is built to be repeated. |