Reporting in the Salesforce platform is one of the most powerful features available for all Salesforce users. With a bit of basic knowledge, you can create a report from scratch in less than 2 minutes, and get the report result within seconds!
You can simply drag and drop fields you need in the report, group the fields, add a summary, add filters, add a chart, etc. - all of these features available in the platform without having your IT guys or developers write script that would take weeks or months.
2. It's Your Record Visibility, and Accessibility
Salesforce is a record driven platform. You can report all records and fields that you are able to see, no matter who creates the record, who the record owner is, when the record is created, and even for fields that are not visible in the page layout or Lightning page.
Once the report is created, you can store it to your personal report folders, so no one will be able to view or modify it. When you need to share the report, just move or copy it to a public report folder accessible by other users.
3. Report Folder Control the Report Accessibility
Report visibility and edibility is controlled on where the report is stored, but not controlled by the report itself. A report is always stored in one folder only, whether it’s a public folder or a private folder. Users with special permissions will be able to view all reports stored in public folders, even if their name is not shown in the share folder detail.
4. Permissions Control Everything
Permissions can be set in Profile and Permission Set. Permissions don’t only control record accessibility, such as the ability to create Account, Contact, and so on, but it also allows you to run report, create report, subscribe report, and so forth.
5. Report is the "Parent" for Dashboards
Dashboards in Salesforce are built on components, and each component requires a report to serve as the data source. But, not all types of reports can be used as data sources for dashboard components.
6. Lock Your Report Filters
In the situation that you do not want your users to be able to change report filters, you can lock the report filters in Lightning Experience, as long as you have permission to edit the report.
7. Add Colors to Your Dashboard
Finally, in Lightning Experience, you can add color and theme to your dashboard and to each component. You can customize colors in your dashboard by choosing a light or dark theme and a color palette. Of course, you will need to have permission to make use of this feature.
8. Report Type is the Basic
Always think the basic, choose the right report type before creating your report, because you cannot easily change the report type after the report has been created. Report types determine default fields, field labels in report, and available fields on report creation.
9. Extend Your Reports
Rather than continually creating new reports when you just need to change filter values, you can make good use of report parameters. Report parameters are officially supported by Salesforce in Lightning Experience.
10. Subscribe to Your Most Important Reports
Always wondering how your team pipeline is holding up or how far they are from reaching your quarterly targets? Not to worry, because you can subscribe to the report and get it delivered directly to your inbox, for you and your team. With this option, you can monitor your team’s performances without having to manually check into Salesforce.
Get the Book Here
To get more tips and gain a thorough understanding of all the reports and dashboard features in Salesforce, make sure you check out my book on Amazon, available in paperback or Kindle version. A must-have for any Salesforce Admin or Developer.
This blog first published at CloudTech blog.
