There are over 150 built-in reports in Fishbowl Inventory. However, not all of those reports are helpful in their default settings or configurations. In this two-part series, we will discuss some changes you can make to the reports, and some settings that can help make your life a little easier.
(if you need a little primer, check out our video on reports)
Use the “Modify Report” Feature
When you first view a report, the default filters for that report will be used. For many, the standard filters are not sufficient. So, to change the report filters, just click the “Modify Report” button at the top-left of the report. This will open a window that allows you to change date ranges, statuses, details, displayed fields, etc. Changing some of these simple filters can help change a useless report into a valuable tool.
After you have changed your filters, don’t forget to click the “Save Filters as Default Filters” icon (the one that looks like a little disk and is located at the bottom-left of the “Modify Reports” window). Then, your filters will be applied every time you open the report.
While in the “Modify Report” window, don’t forget to check out the “Printer” tab, which allows you to choose which printer your report will be sent to when printed. You can choose a specific printer for each of your Location Groups that you have set up in Fishbowl.
Finding Your Favorite Reports
In the Reports Module, you can add your most-used reports to your “Favorites” folder. This not only helps you to find your reports quickly and easily, but you can also save specific filters to these reports.
To add a report to your “Favorites” folder, right-click on it in the search pane of the Reports Module, and click “Add to Favorites”. In addition to setting your favorite reports, you can also copy your reports, rename them, and have multiple versions of the same report, but with different filters set on each one.
Make Your Reports More Accessible
Not everyone wants to go to the Reports Module to open their reports. Luckily, you have the option of assigning your reports to your chosen modules. For example, if you want to see the “Purchase History” report in the Sales Order Module, you can assign it to the Sales Order Module, and then you will be able to find the report in the “Reports” drop-down menu within the module.
To make reports available within the modules, you will go to the Reports Module and open the report you want to assign to a module. Once open, click on the “Details” tab at the top of the report. In the Details Tab, you will see a list of all of the modules in Fishbowl. Simply check the boxes next to the module(s) you want to associate the report with, and then click the “Save” icon at the top-left of the screen.
Get a Custom Report (or a modification)
If you can’t get the information you need from the default Fishbowl reports, you can build the reports yourself, if you have some programming knowledge. Or, you can call on us to write the report for you. We have built many reports over the years that have helped save time and money for our clients. After all, Fishbowl Inventory is just a tool that relates information, and the better your reports are, the more informed you will be.
If you create your own report, it will need to be installed on your Fishbowl Server. To install the reports, you will paste the files into the correct directory, and then use the “Upload” button in the Reports Module to load the report into your Fishbowl Database. Once you have installed the reports, make sure you assign them to the correct modules in Fishbowl.
Stay tuned for part 2 of our story on Fishbowl Inventory Reports.
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