Advanced Reporting Fundamentals
In this article
How advanced reporting works
Example use cases
The uses of the advanced reporting tool are endless and well beyond the scope of any help article. However, basic examples of what you could use this tool for include:
- Analyzing historical project costs by linear yard, ton or any other production metric to refine future bids
- Tracking daily costs from vehicles idling while stationary
- Measuring efficiency gains after adding new equipment or adjusting maintenance schedules
- Tracking profitability in real-time by monitoring labor and material costs against project budgets
Advanced reporting helps you turn operational data into insights you can use to make informed decisions.
Active project tracking
You can use advanced reporting to monitor all active projects in one place. This helps you track project status and quickly identify projects that are on track, at risk, or over budget.
You can track:
- Completion percentages
- Upcoming milestones
- Overdue tasks
Advanced reporting provides a single view of all projects, reducing the need to review each project individually.
Budget and cost tracking
Advanced reporting can help you understand project profitability by analyzing costs and budget performance. You can use this data to monitor margins and identify potential issues early.
You can track and analyze:
- Budget versus actual cost
- Cost overruns
- Labor cost by project
- Material costs
- Subcontractor costs
Labor and productivity tracking
You can use advanced reporting to evaluate workforce efficiency and identify areas for improvement. This helps you understand how labor is allocated and where time may be lost.
You can track and analyze:
- Hours worked by project
- Productivity by crew
- Overtime trends
- Resource allocation
- Idle time
Understanding Questions, dashboards, and documents
The advanced reports system uses three core building blocks: Questions, Dashboards, and Documents. Each serves a different purpose when creating and sharing reports, and it's important that you understand what they do and how they differ from one another:
Questions
A Question is an individual report that queries your data and displays the results as a table or chart.
You use questions to:
- Select data to analyze
- Apply filters
- Choose visualizations
- Save and share reports
Questions form the foundation of dashboards and can also be shared on their own.
Example usage:
- View total labor hours for a single project
- Analyze fuel costs over the last 30 days
- Compare material costs across suppliers
Dashboards
A Dashboard lets you combine multiple questions into a single view. Dashboards help you see related metrics together and monitor performance at a glance.
You use dashboards to:
- Add multiple reports
- Arrange visualizations
- Apply dashboard-level filters
- Share insights with other users
Dashboards are ideal for tracking key metrics across projects, costs, or operations.
Example usage:
- Track active project status, budget, and labor metrics together
- Monitor daily operational KPIs
- Review cost, productivity, and equipment usage in one view
Documents
A Document lets you add text, context, and explanations alongside reports and dashboards. Documents help others understand what the data shows and how to use it.
Use documents to:
- Explain reports and dashboards
- Add instructions or guidance
- Share insights and commentary
Documents provide context and clarity to support data-driven decisions.
Example usage:
- Explain how a dashboard should be interpreted
- Provide instructions for reviewing weekly reports
- Add commentary on trends or anomalies in the data
Which should I use?
| Feature | Purpose | Best used for |
|---|---|---|
| Question | An individual report that queries data and displays results | Analyzing specific data points or answering a single question |
| Dashboard | A collection of questions shown in one view | Monitoring multiple related metrics at once |
| Document | Text-based content that adds context to reports | Explaining data, providing guidance, and sharing insight |