# Run and Filter a Report

Change the range first, then the entities, then the columns, then export.

Doing it in that order avoids re-fetching a large result twice and avoids the most common reason two people get different answers from the same report.

## Highlights of running a report

- **The toolbar sits above the result**, so everything that changes the answer is visible while you read it.
- **The toolbar is not the same on every report.** Sales by Customer carries Entities, Account Transactions carries Group, Journal Report carries neither.
- **Run Report re-fetches**; changing a filter does not, until you ask for it.
- **Compare** puts a second period beside the first in the same table.
- **Fifty-six columns** are available on a report like Sales by Customer, and four are shown by default.
- **Every setting is on the report**, not in preferences, so nothing you do here changes what a colleague sees.

## The filter bar

![The Sales by Customer report open in Finance, headed with the organisation name, the report name and the SALES category. A filter row carries Entities, Compare, Columns and the date range 01/10/2025 to 30/09/2026, with a Run button beside them.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/reports/report-run.png)

*The period is printed twice: once in the filter bar you set, and once on the result you send.*

Every report opens on a sensible default period, usually the current financial year to date. Three controls change the answer, and everything else changes only the presentation.

- **Date range** is the single most common cause of a report disagreeing with a dashboard tile.
- **Entities** decides which documents are counted at all.
- **Comparison periods** put last year beside this year in the same table.

> **Note:**
>
> **There is no accrual and cash switch**
>
> Every report in this module is worked out on an accrual basis, and nothing on the screen changes that. A cash-basis view of the same figures is not available today, in the report or in settings, so a question phrased "is this cash or accrual" has one answer here.

## Entities

**Entities** opens **Filter entities**, a short list of the document types the report can read: **Invoice**, **Credit Note** and **Journal**, with **Apply** and **Cancel** beneath. Untick one and its documents stop being counted, which changes the total rather than the layout. This is the only control in the toolbar that removes rows.

> **Warning:**
>
> **Drafts are not in your reports**
>
> A draft invoice or bill has posted nothing to your books, so it is invisible to every financial statement. If revenue looks low, check Sales for invoices still sitting in Draft.

## Comparing two periods

**Compare** opens a small panel under its own button in the filter row. Pick a comparison type and apply it, and the table gains a second set of figures beside the first.

![The Sales by Customer report with a Compare With panel open beneath the Compare button in the filter row. It holds a single Comparison Type dropdown set to None, with Apply and Cancel buttons below it. The report table showing Name, Invoice Count, Sales and Sales With Tax stays visible behind.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/reports/report-compare.png)

*Comparison Type defaults to None. The panel hangs off the Compare button rather than covering the report.*

> **Warning:**
>
> **A comparison doubles the columns**
>
> That is fine on screen and awkward in a PDF, which has a fixed width. Check the shape of the table before exporting a comparison, or export to XLSX instead.

## Choosing the columns

**Columns** opens a checklist under its own button: every column the report can carry, with the ones currently shown already ticked. Tick to add, untick to remove, then **Apply**.

![The Sales by Customer report with a Customise Columns panel open beneath the Columns button. It holds a Search columns box and a checklist headed Reports: Name, Invoice Count, Sales and Sales With Tax are ticked, while CN Count, Sales Without Discount and Sales in foreign currency are unticked. Apply and Cancel sit at the foot.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/reports/report-columns.png)

*Fifty-six columns, four of them on by default. Search rather than scroll.*

> **Note:**
>
> **The order is the report's, not yours**
>
> There is no way to reorder columns. They appear in the order the report defines, whichever ones you tick, so the picker controls what is shown and never the arrangement.

> **Tip:**
>
> **Add the foreign-currency columns only when you need them**
>
> Several columns come in a base-currency and an FCY pair. Showing both doubles the width for a number most readers will not use, so add the FCY version for the one report where the customer trades in another currency, not by default.

## Filters and columns together

Filters narrow the rows; columns decide what is shown about them. Set both before exporting, because the export honours exactly what is on screen and trimming a spreadsheet afterwards is slower than trimming the report.

- Grouping by account, customer or item changes the shape of the report rather than its total.
- Filters persist while you stay on the report and reset when you leave it.
- The toolbar carries whichever of **Entities**, **Group**, **Compare** and **Columns** the report supports, beside the date range.