Advanced Reporting Guide

Building, running, editing, and sharing custom reports, plus filters, charts, summary rows, and scheduled delivery. Reporting works for standard and custom objects.

On this page:

• Before you start
• Creating a report
• Filters
• Filter logic
• Summary rows
• Charts
• Running a report
• Editing a report
• Copying a report
• Exporting a report
• Bulk editing from a report
• Scheduled reports and alerts

Before you start

Reports answer a question, so decide what the question is and where the answer lives in Insightly before opening the report builder.

Two limits worth knowing up front. Each saved report counts toward your record limit, and free accounts can save ten reports. Scheduled reports and alerts require a paid subscription, and each plan level caps how many can be saved; the Insightly pricing page lists the limit for your plan.

Creating a report

1. Go to Reports in the left navigation menu.
2. Click New Report in the upper right. Selecting a report type from the Insightly template folders on the left skips you to step 5.
3. Choose a report type. Type a record name such as “Project” or “Lead” to search the list. Custom objects are under Other.
4. Click Create.
5. Drag fields from the Report Fields list into the preview grid. You can add up to 30 fields, and the grid previews the first 200 items as you build.
6. Add filters, described below.
7. Rearrange the view: drag a column header sideways to move it, drag it up into the grouping section to group by its values, click the X beside a field name to remove it, or click a column header to change sort order.
8. Click Save, name the report, and choose a folder. You can create a new folder here.

Report type determines what fields you get. A Contact report exposes contact fields. A Contact Activity report exposes contact fields plus fields from the tasks, emails, and events linked to those contacts. Activity in the name is the signal that a report type reaches across to linked activity records.

Filters

Filters decide which records appear. A report of new contacts in California and a report of new contacts across a scattered sales region need different filters to return the right rows.

Drag fields from the Report Fields list into Filters and Parameters, or click Add a Filter Row. You can add up to eight filters. Enter operators and values, then click Add; the preview grid updates. Filtering is not case sensitive.

AND narrows the report to records matching every value. OR broadens it to records matching either. If the preview comes back blank, either nothing matches or the filters conflict with each other.

To change or remove a filter, hover over it and click Edit or Remove.

For relative date fields, click the information icon to pick options such as Last 90 days, which is what makes a saved report useful for ongoing monitoring rather than a one-off.

Quick filters

The quick filter icons at the top right of the Filters and Parameters area add further AND conditions and apply when the filter runs.

The person icon limits the report to records created by whoever runs it. Set up a quick filter for My Contacts and share the report, and each colleague sees only their own contacts. The calendar icon filters on the date records were created, locking in a date or a range.

When adding a filter on a specific user, selecting ---Current User--- inserts the logged-in user’s ID once the report runs, which produces one report that stays correct for everyone who runs it.

Field-to-field filters

A field-to-field filter compares two fields against each other rather than a field against a value. Both fields must be the same data type, so a Date Time field can only be compared with another Date Time field. Each report can hold a maximum of two. Standard fields, custom fields, and custom calculated fields are eligible, in these types: Date, Date Time, Number, and Percent.

1. Click Add a Filter Row in Report Filters and Parameters.
2. Pick a field from the Filter By dropdown.
3. In the third dropdown, select field. Compatible fields of the same type then appear in the Value dropdown.
4. Set the Operator.
5. Select the comparison field in Value.
6. Click Add.

Filter logic

Once a report has more than two filters mixing AND and OR, the order of evaluation matters and the Filter Logic field is how you control it. The Configure Filter Logic icon does not activate below three filters.

Take a report of email or phone call tasks assigned to one user, Deb:

1. User Responsible = Deb
2. AND Category = Email
3. OR Category = Phone call

Read literally, the trailing OR returns every phone call task, assigned to Deb or not.

Filters are numbered on the left, and those numbers are what you write in the formula bar. Click Configure Filter Logic, edit the formula by adding parentheses or changing operators, then click OK. Changing 1 AND 2 OR 3 to 1 AND (2 OR 3) turns “tasks assigned to Deb in the Email category, or any Phone Call task” into “tasks assigned to Deb in either category.”

(1 AND 2) OR (1 AND 3) states the same report a different way and returns the same rows.

Parentheses inside parentheses is nesting, and Insightly evaluates the innermost set first, working outward. Five filters can be combined many ways depending on where the parentheses fall:

• (1 AND 2) OR (3 AND 4) OR 5
• 1 AND ((2 AND 3) OR 4 OR 5)
• ((1 AND 2) OR (3 OR 4)) AND 5

Read a complex formula one bracket at a time, applying the same reasoning to each argument that you would to a two-filter report.

Summary rows

A summary row calculates across a numeric column. It is computed for the whole report, and for each group if the report is grouped. Each numeric field can carry one summary row, and the option disappears once every numeric field has one.

1. Confirm the report includes a numeric field such as opportunity value, bid amount, or a numeric custom field. Numeric fields carry a # symbol in the Report Fields list.
2. Click the Add Summary Field icon above the filter options.
3. Choose the column to summarize. With only one numeric field in the report, only that column is listed.
4. Choose the summary type: Count for number of records, Sum for the column total, Average, Min for the lowest value, Max for the highest.
5. Name the row.
6. Click Add, then check the preview grid, which shows the new summary at the bottom.
7. Click Save.

Summaries work on calculated fields too, so Expected Revenue on opportunities can be summed.

Charts

A report can hold one chart, and it needs at least one grouped field. To plot anything other than a record count, such as a sum, average, minimum or maximum, add a summary row first.

1. Click the Chart icon above the report parameters. The chart panel shows Chart Type, Chart Properties, and a preview.
2. Pick a chart type.
3. Enter a chart title.
4. Set the remaining properties (X-Axis, Y-Axis, Values), which vary by chart type.
5. Click Save Chart, then Save or Save As at the top of the page.

Eight chart types are available:

Type	What it does
Line	Data points connected by a straight line.
Vertical Bar	Rectangular bars aligned vertically.
Horizontal Bar	Rectangular bars aligned horizontally.
Pie	A circle divided into portions making a whole. Values under 5% do not get a callout value or percentage.
Donut	A pie chart with the center cut out to carry additional data.
Area	Quantitative data, commonly used for values shifting over time.
Scatter	Points on a graph showing a relationship between variables. Needs data grouped by at least one numeric and one non-numeric field.
Funnel	Stages in a sales process. Opportunities and projects only. Sorts high to low, except Pipeline stages, which sort first stage to last.

Stacked bar charts are not available.

ℹ️ With multiple pipelines, filter a funnel chart report down to one pipeline. Otherwise stages from different pipelines are mixed into a single funnel.

Running the report displays the chart. Hovering over an element shows detail, and clicking a legend item hides or shows that data. To change a chart, edit the report and use the Edit or Delete icons above the chart.

Four things that catch people out:

• The preview shows up to 10 data points on the X-axis; the saved chart shows up to 50.
• Empty field values are grouped under a data point labelled None. Filter the field with Is not empty to drop them.
• Charts are not included when table data is exported.
• Colors, data point formats, and data labels cannot be customized.

Running a report

From the Reports tab, click the folder containing the report, then the report name. From the Report Editor, click Run Report.

A run displays up to 2,000 records in the browser. Beyond that, use Actions above the report and choose an export option to see everything.

Editing a report

Make a copy first and keep the original as a backup.

Open the report from its folder and click the pencil Edit icon to open the Report Editor. Change fields, filters, and summaries the same way you would when building a new report. Use Report Properties to change the report’s name or folder. Save with Save, or use the down arrow beside the button and choose Save As to create a copy.

⚠️ An active alert locks its summary row. A related summary row cannot be edited while an alert is active, because the alert uses that summary calculation as its trigger. Deactivate the alert first.

Charts are edited through the Edit and Delete icons above the chart rather than in the editor panel.

Report Properties also carries an editing-restriction checkbox. Enabled, only the report owner and administrators can edit or delete the report; everyone else sees those options disabled, bulk editing included.

Copying a report

From the Reporting View, click Actions and select Copy This Report. From the Report Editor, click the arrow to the right of Save and choose Save as. Name the copy, something like “Report-New Version”, pick or create a folder, and click Save.

Exporting a report

An export contains the raw data only. Groupings, summaries, and charts are not exported.

1. Run the report.
2. Click Actions and choose Export to Excel or Export to CSV.
3. A message confirms the export has been requested.
4. An email arrives with a download link. The link is valid for 30 days.

⚠️ Exporting requires permission. An administrator has to enable export for your user before any of this works.

If the email does not arrive, check your spam folder and email settings.

Bulk editing from a report

Bulk editing updates every record the report returned, not a selection of them.

1. Go to Reports and select a report.
2. Click Run Report.
3. Click Actions and select Bulk Edit All Records.
4. Set the changes on the Bulk Edit page.
5. Click Save Bulk Edits.

Options vary by object type, and may include:

• Add Tags and Remove Tags, entering tag names to apply or strip.
• Add Link, adding a linked record to every record in the report.
• Change Field Value, selecting a field and setting its value across all report records.
• Copy Phone Numbers and Copy Addresses, pulling those values across from linked records where they exist.
• Trigger any related workflow automation processes.

⚠️ Workflows do not fire unless you tell them to. If the workflow-trigger box is left unchecked, bulk edits made here will not trigger workflow automation even where the criteria are met.

Bulk editing is available on reports for Task, Lead, Call, Opportunity, Contact, Project, Organization, Product, Price Books, Quotes, and custom objects.

Scheduled reports and alerts

Both require a paid plan, and both require the report to be saved first. Run a saved report and the Schedule and Set Alert buttons appear above the report details.

A scheduled report runs at a time you choose and arrives as an email attachment: a monthly report of tasks the team completed, a weekly sales pipeline report, a daily report of new leads.

A Smart Alert runs a report on a schedule and checks it against a threshold. Alerts email only their creator. Examples: every time an opportunity worth more than $10,000 is created, using maximum bid amount as the summary, or when the team has completed 300 calls, using a count summary.

Setting up a scheduled report

1. Click Schedule above the report details.
2. Select the user account that will run the report. The report respects that user’s record permissions, so the choice determines what appears in it.
3. Select the recipients. Click more than one name to pick several.
4. Choose frequency and recurrence.
5. Set a start date, an end date if needed, and a delivery time.
6. Leave Report Schedule is Active checked. Unchecking it later pauses delivery.
7. Click Save Schedule.

A confirmation appears and the schedule shows in the Report Schedule and Alert area of the report.

⚠️ Delivery times are UTC/GMT. Both scheduled report times and alert times use Greenwich time, not your local timezone.

Setting up a Smart Alert

An alert needs at least one summary field on the report, because the trigger is a numeric limit across the whole report.

1. Confirm the report has a summary field.
2. Click Alert above the report details.
3. Choose whether to be alerted every time the condition is met or only the first time.
4. Enter the conditions, based on the report’s summary row: count, average, minimum, maximum, or sum.
5. Click Run Now at the top of the page to test against current results. Pass means current results would trigger the alert, Fail means they would not.
6. Set the times the alert runs and checks its conditions. If the conditions are met, the report is emailed. If not, no email is sent.
7. Leave Report Schedule is Active checked.
8. Click Save.

Editing and deleting

Reports with a schedule or alert show icons beside the report name; hovering over an icon shows the schedule or alert detail. To change either, delete the existing one and create a new one rather than editing in place.

To delete: open the report, click Schedule or Alert, then click Delete.

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• Custom Reports