The report I want isn't there

Finding the report that replaced the one you used to run, shaping it to the question you actually have, and knowing when to ask us.

Step 1 of 7

There are two lists, not one

Reports and Queries are separate, and the thing you are looking for is in one or the other. Reports are laid out and printable; queries give you a table you can sort, filter and export. People regularly search one, find nothing, and conclude it has gone.

Star the ones you run often and they move to Favourites at the top, which saves the search every time.

Use the arrow keys to move between steps.

1. There are two lists, not one

   Reports and Queries are separate, and the thing you are looking for is in one or the other. Reports are laid out and printable; queries give you a table you can sort, filter and export. People regularly search one, find nothing, and conclude it has gone.

   Star the ones you run often and they move to Favourites at the top, which saves the search every time.

2. The old name is probably gone

   Reports carried over from the desktop and from Ensemble came across under clearer names, so searching for the screen you used to use will not find them. Search for the subject instead - invoices, receipts, waiting list - and read the description, which usually names the report it replaced.

   Debtor Ledger Registers is the one that catches people. Invoices raised in a period are now Sales Invoice Register, and money in is Sales Invoice Receipts Listing.

3. Set Filter By before you look for dates

   A report's date options follow its Filter By setting. Leave it on Academic Year and you are offered a year and a term; change it to Date Range and From Date and To Date appear, each with a calendar.

   If you cannot find anywhere to type a date, this is why - the boxes are not there until you ask for a date range.

4. The column you want is often already there

   On a query's results, Columns lists every column it returned, each with a tick box - and a query usually returns far more than it shows. Before asking for a column to be added, look here; where there are a lot, a search box appears at the top of the list.

   Each heading also has its own filter box underneath, and clicking a heading sorts by it. Rows per page is at the bottom if ten is not enough.

5. Shape it rather than replace it

   Group By, Pivot and Visuals will reorganise what you already have, and Export to Excel or CSV takes it away with you. The export contains what you can see - the columns you have ticked and the filters you have set - so set the view up first and export second.

   Save as Dashboard Item puts it on your dashboard, and Alerts will watch the row count and tell you when it changes.

6. Still not there? Ask us

   Reports and queries are held centrally and are read-only in your database - every one says so on its own page. That is deliberate: when we add a column or build a new report, every customer gets it, and it keeps working through upgrades. So the answer to "can we have a report of X" is yes, ask.

   Say what question you are trying to answer rather than naming columns. Several of this term's reports came from exactly that kind of request.

7. One report worth knowing exists

   Pupil - Subject Access Request pulls together everything held about one pupil, under a heading for each part of the record, ready to print or save as a PDF. Switch on Show Archive first if they have left.

   When a parent asks for the information you hold on their child, that is usually a Subject Access Request and the clock is one month. Worth knowing where it lives before you need it.

Why this one is worth knowing

"The report I want isn't listed" is the single most common query and reporting ticket, and it is usually one of three things.

It is in the other list. Reports and Queries look similar and are not the same place.

It is there under a different name. The desktop and Ensemble reports were renamed on the way over.

It is there, and the column is hidden. Columns shows everything the query returned, which is normally much more than the table is showing you.

And when none of those is true, asking is the right move rather than a work-around — it is built once, centrally, for everybody.

The same ground, as reference

• Queries — query types and what each is for
• Running a query — filters, exports and alerts in detail
• Emailing a lot of people at once — when the list is who you want to write to