What this article covers: How to read operational data as an interactive, OLAP-style report — opening a report, arranging fields on rows and columns, choosing the measure and period level, filtering, drilling to the rows behind a figure, and exporting or adding the result to an Insight Package.

Every operational dataset can be opened as a report. You choose what goes down the rows and across the columns, how values are measured, and which slice of the data is read; the grid updates as you change it. Datasets written from Xero, QuickBooks, Zoho Books and MYOB open the same way as uploaded ones.

1. Opening an Operational Report

1
Go to ReportsThe Operational Data section lists one card per operational source, with the entity or entities that hold it.
2
Click a cardThe report opens on the entity’s fiscal year to date, counted up to the latest month the data holds.
3
Star it (optional)Click the star on the card to add it to your favourites in the sidebar.

The search box on the Reports page also filters operational reports by name or entity. The address of an open report carries its full layout and filters, so a reload or a shared link opens the same view.

2. The Toolbar

Row What it holds
Selection Measure, Level, and the Total column switch
Fields The fields not yet on an axis, each with a funnel to filter it, plus the measures
Layout The Rows and Columns drop zones, and the From / To period range with All

3. Fields, Measures and Levels

Field What it is
Entity The entity that owns each row — useful when the report covers several entities
Dataset dimensions Named as the dataset names them, for example Tracking Option, Class or Job, and P&L Line
Period Shown as Quarter or Year when the level is changed
Account The account a row is tied to, where it has one
Scenario Actual, Forecast or Budget
Measure Result
Sum of Value The total of the values (default)
Count of rows How many rows make up each figure
Average of Value The sum divided by the number of rows

Level reads the period as Month, Quarter or Year. The report opens with the dataset’s second dimension (the P&L Line, for a connector dataset) down the rows and Period across the columns.

4. Arranging Rows and Columns

1
Drag a field onto Rows or ColumnsDrop a badge from the Fields row into a zone. Dropping a field that is already on the other axis moves it, so a field is never in two places.
2
Remove a fieldRemove it from its zone and it returns to the Fields row.
3
Expand and collapseWith two or more fields on Rows, each row can be collapsed. A collapsed row adds up the levels beneath it rather than hiding them.

Drag a measure onto the Measure box, or pick it from the list, to change what the grid shows.

5. Filtering

Click the funnel on a field to open its filter. The report behind the dialog updates as you change the filter; Keep filter applies it and Cancel puts it back.

Option What it does
Only selected Reads only the values you tick
Everything but selected Reads every value except the ones you tick
Text rule starts with, contains, ends with, does not contain or is exactly a term — for long lists
Search, Select all, Clear Narrow the list, then tick or untick everything shown

A filtered field’s badge shows what is applied — the number of values, ≠ for an exclusion, or the text rule. Use From and To to set the period range, or All for every month the data holds.

6. Totals

Switch Total column on to add a total beside the columns. No total is built across the dataset’s second dimension: for connector datasets that is the P&L Line, and adding Sales to Total Income to Gross Profit would count the same figures more than once. Subtotal lines from the source are shown in bold.

7. Drilling to the Rows Behind a Figure

Click any figure to list the rows that make it up — Period, Scenario, Dimension, Line, Account and Value — directly beneath it, with their total. Click the same figure again, or close the panel, to hide it. Up to 1,000 rows are shown.

8. Exporting and Sharing

Action Where
Export to PDF PDF icon in the page header — exports the view on screen
Export to Excel Excel icon in the page header — exports the view on screen
Add to Insight Package Plus icon in the page header, shown to users who manage Insight Packages. Choose an existing package or create one; the grid is added as a section with its layout and filters.

Insight Packages also offer an Operational Report section type when you build a package. See Creating & Configuring an Insight Package.

9. Reports Across Several Entities

Opened on a consolidated entity, a report can cover the datasets of several entities, converted into the group’s currency. Which datasets are combined, and how currency is handled, is explained in Operational Data Consolidation.

🌟 Tips for operational reports
  • Put Entity on Columns to compare entities side by side for one period range
  • Set Level to Quarter or Year and switch the Total column on for a period summary
  • Use Everything but selected to drop one or two values, such as Unassigned, without ticking every other value
  • Drill into a figure before exporting it to check which rows it includes

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Operational Data Operational Data Consolidation Built-in Reports in BrizoConsol Creating & Configuring an Insight Package