Report Builder: Understanding the Report Builder Interface

FloQast Report Builder's interface contains five core components that work together to shape what your report shows and how it is structured. Taking a few minutes to understand each one before you start building will save you from having to undo configuration decisions later. Scroll down to learn about all four key components. 

1 - Period Selector

The Period Selector dictates the data displayed in the Current Period column of your report and acts as the anchor for any historical comparison columns you add later. You can toggle between two distinct modes depending on your reporting goals:

• Date Range: Captures financial activity between two specific dates. Use this mode for flow-of-transaction analysis, such as Income Statement. 
• As Of: Captures point-in-time balances. Use this mode for Balance Sheet reports where you need to look at financial positions as of a single specific date.

2 - Report Folders

The Report Folders panel on the left rail allows you to organize your saved reports. These folders are managed entirely in-app and will not appear in your integrated Cloud Storage Provider.

You will always start with three permanent, default folders that cannot be deleted:

• FloQast Reports (1): Contains pre-built, standard templates (such as reports for Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Variance Analysis, and Trend Analysis). These are read-only starting points that cannot be directly edited or overwritten.
• Favorite Reports: A quick-access home for the reports you return to most frequently.
• Custom Reports: The default destination for your newly built and saved reports.
• Shared Reports: By default, the reports that are created can only be seen by the user that created them. Those reports can be shared. If there is a report that was shared with you, they will appear in the Shared Reports section.

You can seamlessly manage your workspace using the three-dot (Kabob) menus:

• Folder Actions (1): Create a new custom folder, delete a user-created folder, or rename a user-created folder.
• Report Actions (2): Duplicate a report, rename a report, move a report to a different folder, or permanently delete a report.

 NOTE ON VISIBILITY: All reports and folders are currently saved on an individual user level.

3 - Report Builder Tools

Three primary tools located on the right rail shape the exact layout and scope of your data. You will typically configure these three options every time you build a report:

• Columns: Controls exactly which data fields appear in your main report grid.
• Filters: Narrows your data grid down to a precise slice of information, such as filtering by a specific account type or department.
• Historic Periods: Adds comparison columns (such as Prior Months, Prior Quarters, or Prior Years) relative to your selected Current Period.

4 - Export, Save and Save As Logic

Report Builder requires manual saving to preserve your workspace, the platform does not auto-save. * Save As: When opening a default FloQast report or standard template for the first time, the Save button is unavailable because the templates are read-only. You must click Save As to name your report, create an editable copy, and assign it to a custom folder. You can also use Save As at any point to duplicate an existing report. You can also export a Summary view, Details view, or both. 

• Save: Click Save periodically as you work on any custom report to preserve your ongoing changes.

With the interface mapped out, you are ready to build. Up Next: Report Builder: How to Create and Save a Report walks you through building your very first custom report from scratch.

If you have additional questions, contact support@floqast.com.

🎓 Ready to learn more? Accelerate your reporting workflow with our interactive FloQademy course: Create and Build Reports With Report Builder. This course is CPE-eligible through the FloQast AI Variance Analysis & Reporting program.