Data Analytics lets you build your own reports from live Synergist data, without waiting on a fixed report template. You choose the data, filter it down, lay it out and format it to match how your agency talks about numbers. Once built, a report can be saved for others to use, or scheduled to run and email out automatically.
This article walks through how to build a report in Data Analytics, from choosing your data type through to saving and publishing the finished view.
Note: Some steps may be restricted depending on your role. Check what's available to you within your organisation before you start.
1. Choosing your data type
When you first open Data Analytics, you're prompted to choose a data type. This tells Synergist what kind of information you want to report on. You can only choose one to begin with, but you can add more data types to the same report later.
- Timesheets: actual time posted against jobs.
- Time booked: time allocated using calendar bookings.
- Time estimated: use this for capacity planning reports.
- Time available: use this for capacity reports, to see how much time is available in a period.
- Targets: targets set within an organisation record.
- Sales invoices: actual sales invoices only, not drafts. Filter further to show gross profit or net profit.
- Billing plans: only available if billing plans have been activated in your Company settings.
- Opportunities: uses quoted values and the sales expected close date.
- Purchases: can be filtered to show purchase order estimates.
- Expenses: can be filtered to show expense estimates.
- Purchase invoices.
- Materials: if used by your organisation.
- Tasks.
Each data type has its own further filtering options based on the value you want to report on, for example hours, units, cost or charge for time, or invoiced value, gross profit or net profit for sales invoices.
2. Setting your date range
Unlike the standard reports interface, Data Analytics gives you two ways to set dates: a start date, or an up to date.
- Date: choose a date from the calendar, or use a preset range such as This month or This financial year, to report from that point forward.
- Up to date: report up to a chosen point instead of from it. This is useful when combining two data series in one report, for example showing sales invoices up to this month alongside billing plans from this month onwards.
Preset ranges are relative to today's date, so they move forward automatically each time the report runs. If you're saving a report to run regularly, a preset range is usually the better choice over a fixed calendar date.
- Choose whether to view your data daily, weekly, monthly or by a custom period you've set up.
- Set the number of units, for example how many days, weeks or months. This determines your end date, or your start date if you're using an up to range.
- Select Add entry to confirm.
If your report needs more than one data type, for example time and sales together, repeat steps 1 and 2 and select Add entry again for each one.
3. Filtering your data
Filters narrow your report down to exactly what you need. Which filters you use depends on the report you're building.
Common filters include:
- Internal or external client: report on internal time only, external client time only, or both.
- Job status: for example quote, live, internal, on hold or special. Filter to quote only if you're reporting on opportunities.
- Financial status: open, completed or closed, for example live open jobs.
- Job type or phase type: filter using types set up specifically for your organisation.
- Resource team, charge code or resource: narrow the report to specific people or teams.
Find out more about Filtering data in Data Analytics.
4. Choosing your layout (rows and columns)
Rows and columns control how your data is laid out. This is also where you decide whether your report shows a simple summary, or a more detailed cross-tab breakdown.
Adding a field as a row
Choose a field from the dropdown list and select Add as row. Fields added as rows are typically descriptive, such as client, handler or job, and appear in-line across the row.
For example, a report with client, handler and job added as rows, and nothing added as a column, summarises its values by the date range and number of periods you set earlier, such as weekly totals.
Adding a field as a column
Choosing Add as column instead cross-tabs your data by that field. For example, adding job type as a column replaces the weekly summary with a breakdown of every job type in your date range.
You can add more than one field as a column for even greater detail. Find out more about Setting a cross tab in Data Analytics.
The default field list is ordered alphabetically. Use Add new field if you need a custom or advanced field that isn't in the standard list. Find out more about Adding new fields in Data Analytics.
To reorder your columns, select the radio button next to a field and use the Move up or Move down options.
5. Adding calculations
Calculations let you combine multiple data types into a single figure, for example working out a percentage or a variance.
To add a calculation, the data type must already be set as a column. Once it is, each data type is given a letter. Use these letters to build your formula.
- Addition and subtraction: A+B, A-B, or A-(B+C)
- Multiplication and division: A*B or A/B
- Percentages: A*B/100 or A/B*100
6. Formatting your report
Formatting makes a report easier to read and matches it to how your organisation talks about its numbers.
- Only show whole numbers: rounds figures up. Useful for capacity reports.
- Number formatting: use the # symbol to format numbers, for example ###% for percentages.
- Currency formatting: for example £###,###.##.
- Include thousand separators: improves readability on larger numbers.
- Rename a data type: update the label in the name column to match your organisation's terminology. For example, rename "sales plan GP" (gross profit, the profit left after direct costs) to "forecast fee income".
- Add currency symbol.
- Chart type: choose a bar, column or line chart to visualise the data.
7. Saving and publishing your report
Once your report is built, select one of the create options, then save it as a view so you don't have to rebuild it next time.
- Select the views icon.
- Select Save.
- Give your report a name.
If you're set up as a views administrator, you can also choose who the view is saved for: the whole company, specific groups, or just yourself.
To make the report available as a dashboard tile, select the option to save it to the Data Analytics dashboard. Summary-style reports tend to work best here, since dashboard tiles are designed for quick, at-a-glance figures rather than detailed breakdowns.
Saved views aren't only accessible from Data Analytics itself. You can also find them from the Reports menu under Saved reports, and they can be scheduled to run and email out automatically.
Suggested useful reports
Not sure where to start? These common combinations cover some of the most useful reports agencies build in Data Analytics.
| Data type | Date range | Columns |
|---|---|---|
| Sales invoices — turnover or gross profit | This financial year, 12 months, or this month | Client, handler or job as rows. |
| Billing plans — planned value | 6 months in the future | Client, handler or job as rows. |
| Billing plans (planned value) plus sales invoices | This month, 1 month | Client, job or handler as rows. Set the data type as a column to show this month's billing plan and this month's sales invoices side by side. |
| Timesheets plus time booked | Yesterday, 1 day. This week, 1 week | Staff, client or job as rows. Set the data type as a column to compare yesterday's calendar bookings against actual time in a side-by-side view. |
| Opportunities (using expected close date) | 3 or 6 months, this month | Opportunity weighting, rating or pipeline stage, plus client, job or handler as rows. Filter by quote status only, and exclude completed. |
Tips
- Use a preset date range rather than a fixed calendar date for any report you plan to save and run regularly. It moves forward automatically each time.
- Use an up to date range when you need to blend two data series in one report, such as sales invoices to date alongside future billing plans.
- Set a data type as a column early if you know you'll need calculations later. It saves rebuilding the layout afterwards.
- Rename data types to match your organisation's own terminology. It makes reports easier for the whole team to read, not just the person who built them.
- Select Create table whenever you make a change to the data. This lets you check the output after each amendment, rather than building the whole report before finding out it's wrong.