> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dualentry.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to Ask Accounting Intelligence About a Report

> Ask Accounting Intelligence for a Report Center report, apply filters from a report card, drill into a line, and save the view as a custom report.

Use this guide when you want a [Report Center](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/reporting-analytics/index.md) view without setting every filter by hand. You ask [Accounting Intelligence](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/ai-automation/accounting-intelligence/ai-accounting-intelligence.md) in plain language. It reads the same report engine as Report Center, quotes the figures, and returns a report card you choose to open or update that view. For what it can read, filter, save, and export, see [Accounting Intelligence Reports](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/ai-automation/accounting-intelligence/reports-in-accounting-intelligence.md).

## Before you start

Confirm these before you ask for a number you will reuse. A wrong company or a missing permission looks like a precise answer rather than an error.

* **Report access**: Your role can open the report you want. Accounting Intelligence inherits your [role-based permissions](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/platform-configuration/user-roles-and-permissions.md) and cannot return a report you could not open yourself.
* **Company**: The company the figures belong to is set in the composer before the first question. The entity selector scopes the whole conversation. A consolidated balance quoted to a single-entity reader is wrong in a way the wording of the answer will not reveal.
* **Accounting basis**: You know which basis you want cited (**GAAP** or **IFRS**). The basis does not change balances.
* **Posted activity**: The period you ask about has posted activity. Reports read posted ledger data only, so drafts and records awaiting approval do not appear.

If you plan to save the view, you also need permission to create custom reports. If you plan to email an export, the [Gmail connector](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/ai-automation/accounting-intelligence/connect-an-mcp-connector.md) must be connected on your own account.

## Ask for a report from the Agents panel

This path starts from a question, not from an open report. Accounting Intelligence returns the figures and a report card. The card is how you get to the matching Report Center view.

1. Open the [Agents panel](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/ai-automation/accounting-intelligence/agents-panel.md) with **Option+Cmd+]** (Mac) or **Ctrl+Alt+]** (Windows), or choose **Ask Accounting Intelligence** from [global search](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/ai-automation/spotlight-search.md).
2. Set the company selector and the accounting-basis selector under the composer.
3. Name the report, the period, and any filter that Report Center itself offers. For example:

```text theme={null}
Show the income statement for Q3 2026 for this company, grouped by department.
```

4. Read the figures in the reply, then choose the report card in the reply. The card lists the report and the filters Accounting Intelligence used.
5. Confirm that Report Center opens the same report, period, and filters the card named. The totals should match the quoted figures unless postings landed after the chat read, because Report Center reruns the view against the current ledger.

The page does not change until you choose the card. Accounting Intelligence never replaces the open report on its own. If you asked from the full Accounting Intelligence page rather than from Report Center, choosing the card opens Report Center on that view and keeps the same chat open in the embedded panel.

Report Center has no account-number range filter, so a question that names a range, such as accounts 5000 to 5999, is read through the filters the report accepts. If most of an account type falls in the range, the card shows that type (for example Cost of Goods Sold) and the total covers the whole type. Accounting Intelligence tells you how it read the range, or asks when the range splits a type. An unfiltered card means the range was not applied.

After completing these steps, you have a Report Center view whose filters match the card. The figures in chat came from that same query at the time it was read.

## Ask about the report you already have open

This path starts from a report you are already reading. The embedded panel answers about that report, and a new card is how you apply a different period or filter without leaving the page.

1. Go to **Reports → Report Center** and open the report you want to work from.
2. Open Accounting Intelligence from the panel on that page. On most reports, the report on screen is already in scope, so you do not have to name it. On Flux, VAT, 1099, and CTA balance audit reports, name the report in your question.
3. Ask for a change the report already supports, or for an explanation of a line you can see. For example:

```text theme={null}
Change the date range to last quarter and filter to Department Marketing.
```

```text theme={null}
Why did travel expense move this month, and which transactions make up the line?
```

4. Choose the report card in the reply. The open report updates to the filters on that card.

The open report stays as you left it until you choose the card. If you change filters by hand after a card appears, the page and the card can disagree. Choose the card again to apply its filters, or ask a new question so Accounting Intelligence reads the page as it stands.

Use this path when you already have the right report open and want a different period, company, classification, grouping, or a line explained. Use the Agents panel path when you do not yet know which report to open.

## Drill into the transactions behind a line

A follow-up that names one account and one period returns the transactions behind that line. Ask it after a report card, not as a first question that covers the whole statement. The card already fixed the period, company, and filters, so the drill uses those rather than a new guess.

1. Ask for the report first, so the reply carries a report card.
2. Ask a follow-up that names one account and one period. For example:

```text theme={null}
What transactions are behind Travel Expense for 08/01/2026 to 08/31/2026?
```

3. Read the transactions in the reply, listed largest first, with the line total.

The total in the reply is the report line itself, not a sum calculated from the listed rows. When a line has too many postings to list, Accounting Intelligence returns the count and a breakdown by vendor or customer, month, and size instead of the rows. A request for every transaction on the statement returns the report card instead of a dump of rows, because a full posting list is what Report Center's detail view is for.

Aging, the fixed-asset register, and similar line-item reports already list their rows as the report content. On those reports, ask for a named vendor, customer, or asset rather than for all transactions. This is the same drill you get by expanding a line on the [standard financial statements](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/reporting-analytics/standard-financial-statements.md). Use the card when you want the full detail view in Report Center.

## Save the view as a custom report

Once a card shows the filters you want to reuse, you can save that view as a [custom report](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/reporting-analytics/custom-report-builder.md) without rebuilding it in Report Center.

1. Ask Accounting Intelligence to save the view you just read, and give the saved report a name. For example: `Save this as Board P&L.`
2. Approve the confirmation card. Nothing is written until you do.
3. Confirm the name appears under **Report Center → Custom**. A later question such as `Run Board P&L` reads that saved report.

The saved query is the card's report, view, period, and filters. It does not add formula rows, group rows, or other Customize-builder layout. Build those in the [custom report builder](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/reporting-analytics/custom-report-builder.md), then ask Accounting Intelligence to run the saved report.

A name already used by another posted custom report is refused. Accounting Intelligence returns the existing report and asks whether to replace it or pick another name. A name held by an archived report is also refused, so choose a different name. Saving a rolling date preset from chat is not supported: the saved period is the dates that were read.

## Troubleshooting

Most problems are a card you have not chosen yet, or a conversation scoped to the wrong company. The table below maps each symptom to the fix.

| What you see | What to do |
| - | - |
| The open report did not change after the reply | Choose the report card in the chat. The page never updates on its own. |
| The card is missing, but the reply says a report ran | Scroll to the message above the reply. If there is still no card, ask again and name the report, period, and filter in one sentence. |
| The quoted total does not match the page | Choose the card so the page uses the same filters, or set the company selector to the entity you meant. If the filters already match, a posting after the chat read can change the page total, so ask Accounting Intelligence to refresh the figures. Chat reads also leave out adjusting entries unless you ask for them, so a page that includes them can differ. |
| Figures look consolidated | The composer is set to **All companies**, or the question named no company. Set the selector and ask again. |
| A department or classification filter did not appear | Name the classification exactly as it is stored, then choose the new card. Filters apply only after you choose the card. |
| An account number range was ignored | The range was not applied, or the card used a broader account type. Read the card for the filter it carried, or name the accounts or account type instead. |
| Save was refused | Your role lacks create or edit permission for custom reports, the name is already in use, or you asked it to invent a Customize layout. |
| An export did not complete | Ask Accounting Intelligence to export again, or check **Recent exports** in the report's **Export** menu. |
| An emailed export did not send | Connect [Gmail](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/ai-automation/accounting-intelligence/connect-an-mcp-connector.md) on your own account, then approve the send. |
| A Flux card is missing for a comparison | Flux reports don't offer year over year or non-adjacent periods. For those, Accounting Intelligence reads each period separately and gives a calculated difference. Use YTD vs Prior YTD on the [Flux Income Statement](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/reporting-analytics/flux-reporting.md) for a year-scale Flux view. |

## Related reading

* [Accounting Intelligence Reports: Cards, Filters, and Limits](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/ai-automation/accounting-intelligence/reports-in-accounting-intelligence.md)
* [How Accounting Intelligence Works](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/ai-automation/accounting-intelligence/ai-accounting-intelligence.md)
* [How to Run the Financial Statements and Trial Balance](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/reporting-analytics/run-financial-statements.md)
* [How to Use the Custom Report Builder](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/reporting-analytics/custom-report-builder.md)
* [Flux Analysis](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/reporting-analytics/flux-reporting.md)
* [Aging Reports Reference](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/reporting-analytics/aging-reports.md)
* [Exporting and report packages](https://docs.dualentry.com/accountants/reporting-analytics/exporting-and-report-groups.md)


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