How to Use the Custom Report Builder

A custom report in DualEntry is a saved configuration of a standard financial statement: its filters, date range, comparison columns, and, for the four statements that support it, a customized row and column layout. The standard reports are the templates you build from. You open the one closest to what you need, adjust it, and save that version under its own name.

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Create a new report

Create a custom report by starting from a standard report and saving your version of it. The standard report acts as the template: you set it up the way you want, then save that setup under its own name.

1. Open the standard report you want to base it on from Report Center.
2. Set it up the way you want it: date range, filters, comparison columns.
3. Select Save report in the report header, give it a Report Name, and select Save.

Your saved report appears under Report Center → Custom Reports, and in the Custom Reports section of the Report Center menu. Save report is the equivalent of a New Report button, so start from the report closest to what you need rather than looking for a blank one. Once a saved report is open, the header changes: Save writes changes back to the existing report, and Save As creates a new report from the current view. Both buttons stay hidden until you actually change something, so a report you just opened shows no save prompts.

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Reshape rows and columns with Customize

For four statements, a Customize button opens a builder that lets you restructure the report itself rather than just filter it. This is a Beta feature. Customize appears only when all three of these are true:

• The report is the income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, or trial balance.
• You are on the Summary view tab, not the Detail view.
• The custom reports feature is enabled for your organization.

Selecting Customize opens the builder in place, headed <Report name> → Customize. If you have already customized the report, the button reads Edit instead.

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Add rows

The Add row menu inserts:

• Group: a collapsible section with a subtotal.
• Account: a single account as its own row.
• Account Type: every account of a given type, rolled up.
• Formula: a calculated row that references other rows.

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Add columns

The Add column menu inserts:

• Date: an additional period column, which is how you place a prior month or prior year beside the current period.
• Budget: the budgeted amount for the same rows and period.
• Variance: the difference between two columns, in dollars or percent.
• Formula: a calculated column such as percentage of revenue or gross margin, referencing other columns.

Formulas are validated as you build. Invalid formulas surface in a callout and block saving until you fix them. The builder supports undo and redo, expanding and collapsing one outline level at a time, and a panel of rows you have removed so you can restore them.

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Save from the builder

The builder header offers three actions:

• Save as: create a new custom report from this layout.
• Save: write changes back to the report you opened.
• Save and Run: save, close the builder, and run the report.

Saving creates the report and takes you straight to it.

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Filters on a custom report

A custom report stores the filters that were active when you saved it, so it reruns with the same criteria every time. Filters come from the report’s own filter bar (company, date range, accounts, classifications), not from a separate step in the builder. What DualEntry saves is the report’s configuration, not a snapshot of its numbers. Reopening a custom report reruns the underlying standard report against current ledger data with the saved filters applied, so a report saved in March returns March’s criteria against today’s balances. Change a filter on an open custom report and the Save and Save As buttons reappear. Save updates the stored criteria, Save As keeps the original untouched and creates a second report, and navigating away without choosing either discards the change. Because the buttons stay hidden until something actually changes, a report you have only opened and read shows no save prompts to dismiss.

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Find and manage saved reports

Report Center → Custom Reports lists every custom report in your organization. The table shows Report Name, Report Type, Base Report, Created By, Last Modified By, and Status, and you sort by any of those columns. Use the search box to filter the list by name. Report names are unique per organization, so a name already in use is rejected when you save. Reopening a report from this list, or from the Custom Reports section of the Report Center menu, returns you to the underlying standard report with the saved configuration applied. Favoriting a report pins it for quick access. Favorites are stored in your browser rather than on your account, so they do not follow you to another browser or device. Archiving requires permission to archive custom reports. Archived reports leave the default list view but are not deleted, so an archived report can be brought back rather than rebuilt. Select several rows to archive them together.

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Export and delivery

Any report, custom or standard, exports from the report header to Excel, PDF, or CSV. The export respects the filters currently applied, so exporting an open custom report gives you exactly the rows on screen. Exports run as background jobs and arrive in the Exports panel, where you download or cancel them, which means a large report does not tie up your session while it generates. See exporting and report packages for the full export behavior. Individual custom reports have no delivery schedule of their own. To email reports automatically, bundle them into a report package, which handles frequency, time zone, export format, cover page, recipients, and permissions. A single custom report can belong to several packages, so the same saved report feeds both a monthly close package and a quarterly board deck without being duplicated. For a visual summary rather than a delivered file, add your report to a dashboard.

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What custom reports do not do

Custom reports are a saved view of a standard statement, which sets some firm limits:

• Sharing controls: a saved custom report has no per-report share list and no view-only versus edit distinction. It is visible to anyone in your organization with permission to view custom reports, and each viewer sees data filtered to their own permissions. Recipient-level control lives on report packages.
• Descriptions: the save dialog captures a report name only.
• Some builder options: Multiple Accounts rows and Note columns appear in the Customize menus but are not yet available, and the builder’s search box is inactive. These are Beta gaps, not permissions problems.
• Forecasting: custom reports read posted and draft ledger data. They do not project forward, so a forward-looking model such as a 13-week cash flow forecast is not something you can build here today, and the cash flow statement reports history rather than a forecast.