# Run a report

Opening a report, setting the period it covers, and narrowing it to the rows you actually meant.

Every report opens the same way and carries the same toolbar, so learning one is learning all twenty-seven. The only thing that varies is which controls a particular report offers.

> **Before you start:**
>
> Nothing beyond access to Repairs. Reports read data that is already there and change none of it.

## Highlights

- **A report opens already run**, using its default period.
- **The date range is the control that matters most**, and it holds ten presets.
- **Run Report re-reads the data** after you change anything.
- **Columns are sortable**, and a totals row sits under the last one.
- **Not every report offers every control.**

## The toolbar

![The Repair Summary report, badged BUSINESS OVERVIEW, with a breadcrumb reading Reports then Repair Summary and the organisation name Ironvale at the right. A toolbar holds FILTERS, Group: None, Compare and Columns on the left, and a date range reading 01/10/2025 to 30/09/2026, a Run Report button and a three-dot export control on the right. The table has columns Period, Tickets, Devices, Service Value, Parts Value and Total, listing May to September 2026 and ending in a Total row reading 64 tickets, 119 devices, 201,243 pounds of service value, 24,537 pounds of parts value and 225,780 pounds in total.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/repairs/reports/repair-summary.png)

*One report, and the toolbar every report shares. The totals row is the one people read first.*

- **Group**: Rolls the rows up by a field, so a list of jobs becomes a count per month or per technician. Only on reports where grouping makes sense.
- **Compare**: Puts a second period alongside the first, which is how you see whether a figure is going the right way.
- **Columns**: Adds and removes columns. Useful for taking a wide report down to the three columns you meant to look at.
- **The date range**: The window the report covers. It carries the report's default until you change it.
- **Run Report**: Re-reads the data with whatever you have set.

## Set the period

![The date range popover open on a report, headed DATE RANGE with ten presets: This Month, Last Month, This Quarter, Last Quarter, This Year, Last Year, Last 3 Months, Last 6 Months, Last 12 Months and Last 24 Months. Below them a CUSTOM RANGE section holds Start Date and End Date fields in day, month, year format and an Apply button.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/repairs/reports/date-range.png)

*Ten presets and a custom range. Last Month and Last Quarter are the ones that give you a finished period rather than a part-finished one.*

- **Go to Reports and open the report you want**

  Use the category chips or the search box to find it.
- **Select the date range and choose a period**

  Pick a preset, or enter a start and end date under **Custom Range** and select **Apply**.
- **Narrow the columns if the report is wide**

  **Columns** turns off anything you are not reading, which matters more once you export it.
- **Select Run Report**

  The table re-reads with your settings.
- **Sort by selecting a column heading**

  Most reports open sorted sensibly already, oldest first on an ageing report and largest first on a value one.

> **Note:**
>
> **The controls differ from report to report**
>
> Repair Summary offers grouping because a summary is worth rolling up; Aged Repairs and Technician Performance do not, because their rows are already one per job or one per person. A missing button is not a fault, it is a control that would do nothing on that report.

> **Tip:**
>
> **Compare a finished period, not a running one**
>
> A report set to This Month is comparing a part-finished month against a whole one, which makes every trend look like a collapse. Use **Last Month** or **Last Quarter** for anything you are going to show somebody.