Creating Reports using Report Designer – Part 2 · 2018-08-01 · Our Training Scenario The best...

Creating Reports using Report

Designer – Part 2

Training Guide

Copyright © 2018 Ceridian HCM, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Contents 3

E18A1301

Course name Contents 5

Copyright © 2018 Ceridian HCM, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Contents

Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 7

Learning Objectives .................................................................................................................................. 7

Prerequisites ............................................................................................................................................ 7

Available Resources ................................................................................................................................. 8

Our Training Scenario............................................................................................................................... 8

Review of Reporting in Dayforce ............................................................................................................. 9

Conceive .................................................................................................................................................. 9

Discover a Reporting Need................................................................................................................. 9

Review ..................................................................................................................................................... 9

Review Fixed Format Reports ............................................................................................................ 9

Create .................................................................................................................................................... 10

Create a New Report from the Chosen Topic ................................................................................... 10

Use Field Options .................................................................................................................................. 11

Sort Fields .............................................................................................................................................. 12

Group Fields........................................................................................................................................... 12

Apply Totals ........................................................................................................................................... 18

Column Totals .................................................................................................................................. 18

Summary Totals ............................................................................................................................... 28

Filtering Data ......................................................................................................................................... 34

Filters..................................................................................................................................................... 35

Field ................................................................................................................................................ 35

Operator.......................................................................................................................................... 35

Value or Compare to Field ............................................................................................................... 37

Editable and Required ..................................................................................................................... 38

Multiple Conditions ......................................................................................................................... 39

Grouping Multiple Filters ................................................................................................................. 41

Run a Report with Filters ................................................................................................................. 41

Parameters ............................................................................................................................................ 46

Effective Dates ................................................................................................................................. 46

Run a Report with Parameters ......................................................................................................... 49

Relative Dates .................................................................................................................................. 50

Schedule Reports .................................................................................................................................. 52

General Tab ........................................................................................................................................... 53

Distribution ............................................................................................................................................ 54

Filters..................................................................................................................................................... 56

Options .................................................................................................................................................. 57

Schedules ........................................................................................................................................ 58

Wrap-Up................................................................................................................................................ 62

6 Overview Course name


Creating Reports using Report Designer – Part 2 Overview 7


Overview

This course expands on the Creating Reports using Report Designer – Part 1 course where you learned

how to create basic reports from topics and templates. In this course, you will learn how to group fields,

apply totals, and create filters to retrieve relevant data. In addition, you will learn how to schedule

reports.

The following sections are included in this course:

Module Description

Review of Reporting in Dayforce

Recaps the fundamentals of the report creation process in Dayforce.

Use Field Options Explains how to use field options to enhance the way your data displays on reports you create. This includes sorting, grouping, and applying functions to fields.

Create Report Filters Explains how to configure filters that control which data appears in a report and how to specify how users can interact with the filters.

Schedule Reports This module discusses how to schedule reports to run automatically at specified intervals.

Learning Objectives By completing this course, you will be able to:

• Group data to quickly and easily categorize the data in your reports

• Use totals and functions to aggregate data

• Configure filters to refine the data in the report

Prerequisites Certain Dayforce courses are required as prerequisites prior to attending this course. The following

courses will provide the foundational knowledge you need to understand the key Dayforce features

discussed in this course.

• Using Fixed Format Reports in Dayforce – Explains how to use fixed format reports found within several features in Dayforce.

• Create Reports using Report Designer - Part 1 – Provides an understanding of creating basic reports using Report Designer.

8 Overview Creating Reports using Report Designer – Part 2


Available Resources A variety of supporting guides are available through the Ceridian Support Portal (support.ceridian.com) using the Knowledge Articles search feature. Talk to your organization’s support user or Implementation Consultant for help with obtaining these guides, depending on if you are in implementation or live

• Fixed Format Reporting Guide

• Ad Hoc Reporting Guide

• Reporting Reference Guide

Our Training Scenario The best way to learn how to create reports in Dayforce Reporting is to practice using it. The following

training scenario will be used throughout the class to reinforce conceptual discussions.

XYZ Company is a multinational company using Dayforce for Time and Attendance, Payroll, and Benefits.

XYZ Company has found a need for additional reporting. Today you will act as a Power User as you

create and run the required reports.

Creating Reports using Report Designer – Part 2 Review of Reporting in Dayforce 9


Review of Reporting in Dayforce

In previous reporting courses, you have learned how use and run fixed format reports. You have also

learned how to create report from topics and templates and work with reports, completing tasks such as

editing and copying. You will build upon that foundation in this course, but first review the fundamentals

of the report creation process.

Conceive

Discover a Reporting Need

The reporting process always starts with an idea or a need – the conception of a report that needs to

contain specific data grouped and arranged in a precise way. Some examples are:

Review

Review Fixed Format Reports

Once you determine a reporting need, you should review the fixed format reports to see if any of them

meet your reporting requirement. The fixed format reports have a variety of parameters to fine tune

what details are included when you run them, so you can pick and choose what data to report on.

10 Review of Reporting in Dayforce Creating Reports using Report Designer – Part 2


Review Report Templates If you find that your reporting need is not covered by a fixed format report, review the list of report

templates that is included with Dayforce. You might find that using a report template as a starting point

for a report and making the necessary modifications to it is the fastest way to meet your reporting

requirement.

Review Report Topics If you find that your reporting requirements are not covered by a fixed format report or a report

template, you will need to examine the different topics available within Reporting. You can create a new

report based on any of the predefined report topics available.

Each topic focuses on a set of related data and provides access to many fields. The reports you create

can contain any (or all) of a topic’s fields, arranged and grouped according to your specifications. The

data in these fields can be further filtered according to parameters you define when configuring the new

report.

Create

Create a New Report from the Chosen Topic

After choosing an appropriate topic, you create a new report in the Reporting feature using the Report

Designer. There are several steps involved in creating the report, including selecting a topic, defining

what fields are included, sorting and grouping those fields, and defining filters.

Today, you will learn how to apply report options to templates and custom reports to provide more

relevant data in your reports.

Creating Reports using Report Designer – Part 2 Use Field Options 11


Use Field Options

When creating reports from templates or topics, there are many ways that you can manipulate how the

data appears on the report. This can be achieved using field options. For example, you can sort fields,

group fields, and apply totals to fields.

These options can be found in the toolbar in the Report Designer.

During this module, you will learn about some of the additional options available to you when working

with fields.

12 Use Field Options Creating Reports using Report Designer – Part 2


Sort Fields Path: Reporting > Reports > (Report Name) > Sorting

Sorting allows you to order the report records. To sort the data for a record, click Sorting on the toolbar

in the Report Designer. Then click Add in the Sorting screen and choose the fields from the list that you

want to use for sorting. You can sort by additional fields by clicking Add.

The data type of the field in the Fields column determins which sorting options are available in the Sort

Order column. The sort options are listed below by data type.

Data Type Sorting Options

String A to Z

Z to A

Numeric Smallest to Largest

Largest to Smallest

Date and Time Oldest to Newest

Newest to Oldest

All Others

(Reference, Bolean, etc.)

Ascending

Descending

Group Fields Path: Reporting > Reports > (Report Name) > Grouping

You can group fields to quickly and easily categorize the data in your report. For example, in an

employee list, you might want to clearly distinguish the pay groups. To do this, you would include the

Pay Group column in the report and group it. You can also group multiple columns to create subgroups.

Often grouping is combined with field functions to further enhance the report. This will be examined in

the next topic.



The following example illustrates how grouping can be used to categorize the data in your reports.

For example, you can group the Job field so that you can more easily compare the employees’ base rate

based on the job they have.

To group a field, click Grouping on the toolbar in the Report Designer, then select the Group By check

mark next to the appropriate field. Grouped fields must appear before ungrouped columns in the

report. When you select Group By, the field moves to the top of the list so that it appears before any

ungrouped field.

Grouped fields always take precedence in the Sorting arrangement. Grouped and sub-grouped fields are

always sorted first, in the order in which they are grouped. After grouped fields, other fields may be

optionally sorted.



For example, the above configuration of selecting the Group By check mark for the Job field and

applying the Ascending Sort to the Employee field enabled the report to be easily categorized as seen

above.

Now review the report and examine how grouping can better categorize the data.

Above is an example of a report that has no grouping applied to any of the columns.



Initially, the fields used to create this report are configured without any grouping.

To group data on the report by Job, click Grouping from the toolbar and then select the Group By

checkbox beside the Job field. When the Group By checkbox is selected for a field, it automatically

moves to the top of the list and will be the first column in the report.

For example, in the above screenshot the Job field has the Group By check mark selected, causing this

field to move to the top of the list of fields. When the report is generated, Job will be the first column in

the report. As you can see below, the data has been grouped by the Job. In addition, the count of the

number of records in each grouping displays, as well as a total for the entire report.



By default, the grouping displays the total records in the report in the top row, followed by the detail

rows. You can configure the report to have the totals appear at the bottom of each grouping. This is

controlled using the Display Column Totals button, which appears in Totals. Display Column Totals at

the top is enabled by default.

Activity: Apply Grouping and Sorting to a Column in a Report Time: 5 minutes

XYZ Employee Roster by Job Report: XYZ Company wants to create a version of the XYZ Employee

Roster report that groups the employees by job.

Details:

1. The report name should be “XYZ Employee Roster by Job”.

2. Base the new report on the existing XYZ Employee Roster0 report.

3. The description should be “All employees grouped by Job: For verification.”

4. The report should be available in the same place as the original report.

5. Group the report by the Job column.

6. Sort by Job and Employee.

7. The same roles that could run the original report should be able to run this one.

8. Preview the report to verify that the grouping is correct.

9. Save the report.



The report will appear as follows in Report Designer:

Solution: Create the XYZ Employee Roster by Job report based on an existing report:

Path: Reporting > Reports > XYZ Employee Roster0 > Edit

Define Report Properties:

1. Double-click the XYZ Employee Roster0 report in the Reports list.

2. Click Properties.

3. Type “XYZ Employee Roster by Job” for the Report Name.

4. Type “All employees grouped by job: for verification.” for the Description.

5. Click Apply.

Save the New Version of the Report

6. Click Save As and Apply.

Group the Fields:

7. Click Grouping.

8. Select the Group By checkbox for Job.

9. Click Apply.

Sort the Fields:

10. Click Sorting.

11. Click Add.

12. Click Employee from the Fields item list.

13. Click A to Z in the Sort Order list for Employee.

14. Click Apply.

Preview and Save the Report:

15. Click Preview.

16. Click Save.



Apply Totals Path: Reporting > Reports > (Report Name) > Totals

Column Totals

You can apply a function to a field that is included in the report in Column Totals in order to perform

some sort of calculation on the data in that field. Combined with grouping, functions can produce useful

results in a report. For example, you would use field functions to create the following types of reports:

average age of employees in a certain job, count of employees with a specific benefit election, earliest

date and time of someone’s punch at a work location, or a sum of earnings by pay category.

One function can be applied to each field chosen when you are creating a report. The functions are

selected in the Column Totals tab.

The following functions are available:

• Average – Calculates the average value

• Minimum – Reports the record with the smallest value

• Maximum – Reports the record with the largest value

• Sum – Calculates the sum total

• Count – Calculates the total number of records

• Custom – User defined custom total



The field’s data type determines which functions can be applied. The data types used in Dayforce are

described in the following table.

Data

Type

Description Example

Boolean A true or false value; a checkbox on a screen True / False

Currency Formatted as currency with appropriate

rounding

$3,400.50

Date A single date 06/14/2015

Date

Time

A date and time stamp 06/14/2015 10:34:26

Decimal Numeric values that contain decimals 10.5

Integer Numbers without decimals; absolute values 10

String Text of any kind John Smith

Time A specific time of day; based on a 24 hour

clock

15:34:26

The table below summarizes the functions that can be used with each data type. Note that some of the

data types have been combined. “Date” includes the Date and Date Time data types. “Numeric” includes

Currency, Decimal, and Integer data types.

Data Type

Available Functions

Average Count Maximum Minimum Sum

Boolean

Date

Numeric

String

Time

For fields that contain numerical values, you can select from a list of common arithmetic operators, such

as sum or average. For fields that contain strings (text), such as names or titles, or Boolean fields, you

can only count the number of rows. With date fields, you can report either the earliest or most recent

date, using maximum or minimum, as well as count them.



Aggregation All the functions aggregate the data in some manner. When calculating an average, you combine the

values from multiple records to arrive at a single value: the average of the records. Similarly, when

calculating the maximum value, you look at the values of multiple records and only report the record

with the largest value.

When using functions, it is the columns of the report that determine at what level the data is

aggregated.

To ensure that the functions aggregate data correctly, you must sort the columns preceding a field with a function.

The following example illustrates how functions can be used to aggregate the data in your reports.

For example, you can calculate the average Base Salary for each Location in the report to more easily

compare the salaries at each store.

To apply a function to a field, select the necessary function in the Function list next to the appropriate

field in the Totals window. The report is aggregated by the columns that precede the calculated column.

For example, the above configuration uses the Average function for the Base Salary Average field. This

aggregates the report data for the Location column because it is the column to the left of the calculated

column in the Report Designer. In the Totals window, it’s the field before the calculated field with the

function. In the generated report, for each location the average base salary will display.



Let’s take a look at a few examples of real reports and their configuration to see how functions can

enhance your reports. To begin, below are the fields and preview results for a report with no functions.

Based on this configuration, the report displays a base salary for each employee record for every

location.

If you want to create a report that displays average salaries for each location, you can click Totals from

the toolbar and select the Average function for the Base Salary column. As a result, the function icon

gets added to the title. You can change the title if desired.



Now when you preview the report, the results are different. The value for the average salary is

calculated per Location.

In this next example, the Job field is added to the report. When you preview this version of the report,

there is an average salary value for each location and job combination. Each time you add a field before

a field with the function, the aggregated value is calculated at a more granular level.

Use a Field Multiple Times with Different Functions You can use the same field multiple times in the same report, using a different function with each

occurrence of the field. You can drag or insert the field into report more than once.

In the above example, you will see the field Base Salary has been added into the report three times.

Then the report can include the three Base Salary fields to calculate the salary average, minimum, and

maximum.



In the report results, there are three Base Salary columns to display the average, minimum, and

maximum records. You can hover over the function icon and see which function is being used in the

column. As best practice, rename the columns to be descriptive.

In this example, the labels are changed to Base Salary Average, Base Salary Minimum and Base Salary

Maximum.

Combine Functions with Grouping Earlier, you saw how to categorize data in a report by grouping. When you combine functions with

grouping, the combined result is somewhat different.

In the Totals screen, the functions remain the same.



Now we are grouping the data by Location and Job.

Here is the same report that we examined earlier that displays the average salary for each location and

job combination. Now, the report is grouped by the Location column.

As you can see, grouping breaks the report out into more distinct subsections. There are average

salaries for every location, combination of location and job, as well as for the entire report. In addition,

there are counts of the number of records in each level of the report.

If you are creating a report for the purpose of further manipulating the data in a spreadsheet, you probably do not want to use grouping with the functions. However, if the report is meant to be viewed as is, grouping can make a large amount of data easier to understand.



Activity: Create a Report using Functions and Grouping Time: 7 minutes

XYZ Salary Information Report: XYZ Company needs a new report that provides salary information.

Details:

• The report name should be “XYZ Salary Information”.

• The description should be “Average, minimum, and maximum salaries per location and job.”

• The report should be available in Payroll.

• Base the report on the Employee topic.

• Include the following fields:

• Location > Location

• Job > Job

• Employee Employment Status > Base Salary

• The report should list the average, minimum, and maximum base salary per location and job.

• In addition, the report should list the average, minimum, and maximum base salary information per location and for the entire company. Payroll administrators need to run the report.

• Preview the report to verify that it is configured correctly. The report will appear as follows in Report Designer:

Solution: Create the XYZ Salary Information report:

Path: Reporting > Reports > New


1. Click New.

2. Type “XYZ Salary Information” for the Name.

3. Click Employee in the Topic list.

4. Click Create Report from Topic.



Add Fields to the Report:

5. Move the following fields to the report:

o Location > Location

o Job > Job

o Employee Employment Status > Base Salary

o Employee Employment Status > Base Salary

o Employee Employment Status > Base Salary Group the Fields and Apply Totals:

6. Click Grouping.

7. Click Group By for Location.

8. Click Group By for Job.

9. Click Apply.

10. Click Totals.

11. Click Average in the Function list for the first Base Salary field.

12. Click Minimum in the Function list for the Base Salary2 field.

13. Click Maximum in the Function list for the Base Salary3 field.

14. Verify that Add Column Totals to grouped data and At the top are selected.

15. Click Apply.

16. Rename titles by clicking on them and changing the Display Name as follows:

o Base Salary to “Average Salary”

o Base Salary2 to “Minimum Salary”

o Base Salary3 to “Maximum Salary” Update Properties:


18. Type “Average, minimum, and maximum salaries per location and job.” for the Description.

19. Click Change under Category.

20. Click Payroll in the Select Category list.

21. Click Apply.

22. Move Payroll to the SELECTED column under Security.

23. Click Apply.


24. Click Preview.

25. Click Save.



Count Function You can use the Count function to report the number of items per category. Count simply keeps track of

the number of rows reported per aggregation level in the report. Typically, you would use a text column

as the basis for the count.

For example, to create a report of the number of employees per job, create a report that includes the

Job column, which serves as the category, and a Count of the Number (employee number) of the

employees. When the Count function is used, there will be a Count Function icon in the Title of the

column that has the function applied. You can rename the column as you wish.

This report shows a count of the number of employees in each job. For example, there are 19 Assistant

Managers.

The Display unique results checkbox is disabled when one or more fields on the report are configured with a Function.

For more information on Fields, Field Sort, Function, and Group By features see the Add Fields section of the Ad Hoc Reporting Guide.



Summary Totals

Summary Totals allow you to display a total for any field within the report topic. If you have grouped

data, you can include Summary Totals for each group or you can display only one overall total for the

report. Summary Totals are not limited to fields included in the report.

In this example, the report shows a list of employees grouped by Location.

To add a Summary Total, click the dropdown by Add and click Total. This will allow you to use the

standard functions to create a Summary Total. Custom Totals are not discussed in this course.

If you wanted to find the average base salary for each location, you could use a Summary Total.

In this example, the Average function is applied to the Base Salary in the Summary Totals tab. The Add

Summary Totals to grouped data checkbox is indicated, so each total will be applied to each group.



Now the Average Base Salary is displayed for the entire organization along with each location within

that location.

To only display the totals without the detail information, click Show only totals.



Now the report only shows the totals without the employee names and numbers.



Activity: Create a Report using Summary Totals Time: 5 minutes

XYZ Average Salary by Location: XYZ Company wants an employee roster that includes the average

Details:

• The report name should be “XYZ Employee Roster with Average Salary by Location”.

• The description should be “Employee Roster with average salaries by location.”


• Base the report on the XYZ Employee Roster0.

• The report should include the average salary by location in the summary.

• The report should not include the base salary or base rate for each employee.

• Preview the report to verify that it is configured correctly. The report will appear as follows in Report Designer:



Solution: Create the XYZ Roster with Average Salary report:

Path: Reporting > Reports > XYZ Employee Roster0 > Edit


1. Double-click the XYZ Employee Roster0 report in the Reports list.


3. Type “XYZ Employee Roster with Average Salary by Location” for the Report Name.

4. Type “Employee Roster with average salaries by location.” for the Description.


6. Click Apply.


8. Move Payroll to the SELECTED column under Security.

9. Click Apply.



Delete unneeded fields:

11. Click Base Salary in the report.

12. Click Remove Column.

13. Click Base Rate in the report.

14. Click Remove Column.

Group the Fields:

15. Click Grouping.

16. Select the Group By checkbox for Location.

17. Click Apply.

Apply Summary Total:

18. Click Totals.

19. Click Summary Totals.

20. Click the Add down arrow.

21. Select Total from the list.

22. Click Base Salary from the Fields list.

23. Type Average Base Salary for the Label.

24. Choose Average for the Function.

25. Verify that Add Summary Totals to grouped data is selected.

26. Click Apply.




27. Click Preview.

28. Click Save.

34 Filtering Data Creating Reports using Report Designer – Part 2


Filtering Data

Path: Reporting > Reports > (Report Name) > Filtering

You might only want to see certain information on your report such as full-time employees, or you may

be interested in viewing time away from work requests made within a certain span of time. To narrow

down the data included on reports, you can create and define filters and parameters. Filters are defined

at the report level. So you can add criteria that restricts the report records to show only the relevant

data that you want to see. Parameters are defined at the topic level and allow you to restrict the data

that is presented from the topic. This allows you to set editable parameters from the topic, like date

parameters, within your report. Both filters and parameters are set in Filtering on the Report Designer

tool bar.

When you click Filtering, it opens a dialog window that has two options for restricting data within the

report. There is a Filters tab where the report creator can define the filter for the report. There is also a

Parameters tab that allows the report creator to view the topic parameters and set the values and

requirements for the parameter within the report, if editable.

This example shows the Filters and Parameters tabs from a report created from the Employee Payroll

topic. The Filters tab displays the report level filters that can be used to restrict the data returned. The

Parameters tab displays the effective start and end date parameters from the topic that also restricts

the data in the report.

Creating Reports using Report Designer – Part 2 Filtering Data 35


Filters You can specify multiple criteria for narrowing down the report’s data by configuring multiple conditions

in a single filter or add multiple filters.

Filters are accessed on the toolbar. To create a filter, click Filtering on the toolbar and go into the Filters

tab. To add a new condition, click Add. Each filter condition you define typically has three components,

two of which are required:

The Field and Operator are required. However, most filters use all three components. Each of these

components is described in more detail in the following sections.

Field

The Field specified in the filter determines whether or not to include records in the report’s results. You

can use any field in the topic you have selected for your report. Fields that are used in filters do not have

to be included in the report’s results. For example, you could base a filter on employees’ Base Rate but

not actually have the Base Rate appear as a column in the report. Custom fields can also be used for

report filters.

Operator

The Operator determines whether the field’s value qualifies a record for inclusion in the report. For

example, the operator could specify that the Job field must equal a certain value, or the Base Rate must

be less than a certain amount. Any record that does not meet the operator criteria will not be included

in the report.

In the above example, a filter is used to only retrieve records of employees who have the Sales Associate

Job.



In the above example, a filter is used to only retrieve records of employees who have a Base Rate of less

than $12.00.

The Within Operator offers several options for configuring a filter based on a relative date. Using filters

with relative dates is useful when you schedule reports to run on a regular basis. For example, you could

use the Within Operator to get a list of employees who were terminated in the last calendar month.

For example, if the above report were run in April, it would only retrieve terminations that occurred in

March, which was the last complete calendar month.

The configuration of this filter is as follows:

You would base the filter on the Termination Date, use the Within Operator, and then use the Last

Complete Calendar Month as the Value.



The data type of the field determines which Operators can be used for that field. The table below shows

the operators that can be used with different data types.

Value or Compare to Field

Specify the value that the filter condition’s field is compared to in the Value field.

In the example above, the filter is based on the Pay Class Field, the Operator is Equal and the Value is

FT. This means that only records of employees who have FT as their Pay Class will appear on the report.

In the example above, the filter is based on the employee’s Base Rate Field, the Operator is Greater

Than Equal, and the Value is 8.00. This means that the report will only include employee records if their

Base Rate is greater than or equal to $8.00.



In the example above, instead of specifying a precise value that the application uses for each record, you

can select another field from the Compare to Field list and leave the Value field blank. The blank field in

Value tells the filter to perform the selected Operator on the Field from the Compare to Field. For

example, to produce a list of terminated employees whose benefits have not been properly canceled,

you would use Termination Date as the Field, and then use the Greater Than operator and Benefit Plan

Effective End Date as the Compare to Field.

Editable and Required

After you record the three required components for the filter condition, you can use the Editable and

Required checkboxes to specify how the user running the report can interact with the filter. Whether or

not you specify a Value in the filter also has an effect.

• Value – Enter a value either to hard code what the filter retrieves or to provide a default value for the filter.

• Editable – Allows the user running the report to enter a value or change the default value.

• Required – A value must be specified; you cannot leave it blank.

When you include a filter in a report, you can configure it so that the person running the report can

specify the filter criterion.

In this example, you can choose to run the report to display FT (full-time) or PT (part-time) employees.



The following table shows the result of different combinations of Value, Is Editable, and Is Required

specified for the filter. The End Result column describes how the end user who runs the report can work

with the filter.

Multiple Conditions

Often you want to filter the data included on reports by multiple criteria. If that is the case, you must

decide if you want all the conditions to be true or if you need some of them to be true. This decision can

be accomplished using “And/Or” logic for the condition. For example, you may want to report on full-

time employees who make more than $50,000 a year. In this case, your filter would have two

conditions: one for the Pay Class (full time) And the other for the Base Salary.

To configure a filter with multiple conditions, first create the filter and configure the first condition.

Make sure the filter is selected and click Add on the toolbar. Then configure the second condition.

When you create an additional condition, you can specify whether the condition’s logic should be

applied to the filter using And logic or Or logic. It is important that you select the correct condition to

ensure your filter works as intended.



In the above example, records will be retrieved if the employee’s Pay Class is FT And if the Base Salary is

greater than $50,000.

Whereas, in this example, records will be retrieved if the employee’s Pay Class is FT Or if the employee’s

Base Salary is greater than $50,000.

When all the conditions are joined using the same logic, you can create a single filter with multiple

conditions. The two examples below could each be done as multiple conditions in a single filter, whether

And logic or Or logic.

• Pay Class = FT and Pay Type = Hourly and Department = Maintenance

• Pay Class = FT or Pay Type = Hourly or Department = Maintenance

Once you add a filter to a field in the report, you will see the filter symbol on the report header indicating that the field is filtered. In this case, the Pay Class, Pay Type, and Department fields have filters applied to them.



Grouping Multiple Filters

Grouping filters allows a way to create multiple sets of filter requirements in one report. Any one of

these sets of filters must be true in order to have the data appear on the report. Highlight the rows that

are within the filter group that you want to create and then click Group. You will see the bracket that

shows which rows are in each filter group.

Breaking down multiple filters:

Run a Report with Filters

When you run a report with filters, you will see the filter criteria at runtime. If the filter condition is

Editable, then you will be able to update the filter condition when running the report.

In this example, the Pay Class condition was set as Editable. When you run the report, you can update

the filter by clicking the drop down or accept the default. However, the Status and Pay Type are not

Editable, so the report will always return results for Active and Hourly employees.



For more information, see the Configure Filters section of the Ad Hoc Reporting Guide.

Activity: Create a Report with Filters Time: 12 minutes

XYZ Full or Part Time Hourly Employees by Job Report: XYZ Company wants a version of the XYZ

Employee Roster by Job report that displays data only for hourly employees, but you can select either

full time or part time employees when you run the report.

Details:

• The report name should be “XYZ FT or PT Hourly Employees by Job”.

• The description should be “Full-time or part-time hourly employees grouped by Job: for verification.”

• The report should retrieve records for active employees whose pay type is either Hourly(Non-Exempt) or Hourly(Exempt). The report is never supposed to retrieve Salaried employees.

• When you run the report, you must select a pay class (e.g., FT or PT).

• There are no other changes to the report.

• Preview the report for part-time employees to verify that the filters return the correct information.

• Save the report. The report will appear as follows in Report Designer:

Solution: Create the XYZ Full or Part Time Hourly Employees by Job report:

Path: Reporting > Reports > XYZ Employee Roster > Edit


1. Double-click the XYZ Employee Roster by Job report.


3. Type “XYZ FT or PT Hourly Employees by Job” for the Name.

4. Type “Full-time or part-time hourly employees grouped by Job.” for the Description

5. Click Apply.Save the New Version of the Report




Create Report Filters:

7. Click Filtering.

8. Click Add.

9. Click Pay Class in the Field list.

10. Click Equal in the Operator list.

11. Choose FT in the Value list.

12. Select the Editable checkbox.

13. Select the Required checkbox.

14. Click Add.

15. Keep And in the And/Or list

16. Click Status in the Field list.

17. Click Equals in the Operator list.

18. Click Active in the Value list.

19. Verify that the Editable checkbox is clear.

20. Verify that the Required checkbox is clear.

21. Click Pay Type in the Field list.

22. Click In in the Operator list.

23. Select Hourly(Exempt) and Hourly(Non-Exempt) in the Value list.

24. Verify that the Editable checkbox is clear.

25. Verify that the Required checkbox is clear.

26. Click Apply.


27. Click the Preview down arrow.

28. Click Set Filter Values for Preview.

29. Click PT in the Pay Class Equal list.

30. Click Preview.

31. Click Save.



Activity: Create a Report with Filters XYZ Active Employees within the Current Calendar Year Report: XYZ Company wants a report that lists

anyone that was active during this calendar year.

Details:

• The report name should be “XYZ Active Employees within the Current Calendar Year Report”.

• This report will always display employees who were active within this calendar year. Users running the report cannot alter this.


• Payroll administrators need to run the report.

• Preview the report to verify that the filters return the correct information.


Solution: Create the XYZ Active Employees within the Current Calendar Year report:

Path: Reporting > Reports > New


1. Click New.

2. Type “XYZ Active Employees within this Current Calendar Year” for the Name.

3. Click Employee in the Topic list.

4. Click Create Report from Topic.

Add Fields to the Report:

5. Drag or Insert the following fields to the report header:

6. Employee > Employee Name Number

7. Employee Employment Status > Hire Date

8. Employee Employment Status > Termination Date

9. Click Employee Name Number in the report header.

10. Change the Display Name to “Employee.”

11. Click Apply.



Create Report Filters:

12. Click Filtering.

13. Click Add.

14. Select Status in the Field list.


16. Click Active in the Value list.

17. Ensure Editable checkbox is clear.

18. Click Add.

19. Click Or in the And/Or list.

20. Select Status in the Field list.


22. Click Terminated in the Value list.


24. Click Add.

25. Click And in the And/Or list.

26. Click Termination Date in the Field list.

27. Click Within in the Operator list.

28. Click This Calendar Year in the Value list.


30. Use <Ctrl>+click to highlight the last 2 rows.

31. Click Group.

32. Click Apply.

Update Properties




36. Click Apply.

37. Move Payroll to the SELECTED column.

38. Click Apply.


39. Click Preview.

40. Click Save.



Parameters Parameters restrict data and work similarly to report filters, except parameters are defined at the topic

level. Parameters also allow you to define values in one place that would require multiple report filters,

like start and end date. Some topics support relative dates, such as Last Complete Calendar Month or

Calendar Year to Date, which can be useful when scheduling a report.

Parameters can be viewed and the values set from the Parameters tab in Filtering. Like filters,

parameters have the options of Editable and Required.

This example comes from the Pay Summary template, based on the Pay Summary topic. You can

determine if the end user can update the effective Start Date and End Date fields by updating the

Editable checkbox, or you uncheck the box and hard code the Value. This topic requires a Start Date, so

the Required option is not updateable in the Report Designer. This requirement is set at the topic level.

Effective Dates

Effective date allows you to look at a snapshot of the employee records returned on a specified date or

date range. Effective dates can be used to reflect a single point in time, a date range, and if using

relative dates, a date variable. Relative dates will be discussed in more detail in the next section.

If you run a report that reflects a single point in time, you will receive different results on different

dates. For instance, the active employee list would be different on 1/1/2000 than on 1/1/2018, as

employees are hired and terminated. You may also want to view records of employees who were active

during a particular time span. Effective dating allows you define the date or date range that you want to

view.



The following example illustrates how you can determine which employees are active during a point in

time, a date range, or using a date variable.

Point in Time Point in time reporting allows you to determine if a record or records are effective on a specific date. In

Dayforce, use the As Of operator to capture point in time data.

For example, if you want to view employees who are active on 2/1/2018, define that day in the

Parameter tab using the As Of operator.

In this example, if you view which employees are active As Of 2/1/2018, you see that Angela Brown and

Bob Dash were active on that date. The remainder of the employees were either terminated before

2/1/2018 or are hired after 2/1/2018.

Date Range Using a date range in a report allows you to determine if records are effective between a specified start

and end date. In Dayforce, use the Between operator to capture date range data.

For example, you if you want to view employees who are active between 1/1/2018 and 1/31/2018,

define that date range in the Parameter tab using the Between operator.



In this example, if you view which employees are active Between 1/1/2018 and 1/31/2018, you see that

Angela Brown, Bob Dash, Jamil Williams and Tonya Smith were active on that date. Wendy Bofill was

hired after the end date in the date range.

Date Variable When scheduling a report, you may not want to manually define the dates each time the report is

scheduled to run. Some topics allow you to select a date variable to define the date or date range. Date

variables include values like Yesterday, This Calendar Month, Last Complete Calendar Month, or Next

Complete Calendar Week.

For example, you if you want to view employees who are active during 2017, define that date variable in

the Parameter tab using the Within operator and specifying a value of Last Complete Calendar Year.

In this example, if you view which employees are active in the 2017 calendar year, you see that Angela

Brown, Bob Dash, and Tonya Smith were active during 2017. Wendy Bofill and Jamil Williams were hired

after the date range.



Run a Report with Parameters

When you run a report with parameters, you will see the parameter criteria at runtime. If the parameter

condition is Editable, then you will be able to update the parameter condition when running the report.

Since Editable is checked when previewing or running the report, you can specify the date range for the

report at runtime.

In this example, the user defined a date range of February 5, 2018 through February 11, 2018.

So, the report yields results for that specified date range.



Relative Dates

Some topics use relative dates. Relative dates allow you to set the effective date or date range using a

date variable, such as Yesterday, Last Calendar Month, This Calendar Quarter, and Next Complete

Calendar Week when the Within operator is used. Not all parameters allow the use of relative dates.

Parameters that are available for topics with relative dating will reflect Within, Between and As of in the

Operator list.

The parameter below is from the Leaves of Absence report, that uses the HR Profile topic with relative

dates. If you wanted to see employees who were on leave during last calendar year, you could update

the Operator to Within and Value to Last Complete Calendar Year. This will display the employees who

were on leave anytime during the last calendar year.

Now the output reflects records for employees who were on leave during the last calendar year. Notice

that only those who were on leave last year are captured in the output.



Activity: Change Parameters Time: 4 minutes

XYZ Leaves of Absence: XYZ Company wants to update the XYZ Leaves of Absence report to default to

retrieving records for the last calendar quarter.

Details:

• The report name should be “XYZ Leaves of Absence”.

• The report should retrieve records for employees that were on leave during last quarter.

• There are no other changes to the report.

• Preview the report.


Solution: Edit the XYZ Leaves of Absence0 report:

Path: Reporting > Reports > XYZ Leaves of Absence0 > Edit


1. Double-click the XYZ Leaves of Absence0.


3. Type “XYZ Leaves of Absence” for the Report Name.

4. Click Apply.



Set Default Parameter:

6. Click Filtering.

7. Click Parameters.

8. Click Within in the Operator list.

9. Choose Last Complete Calendar Quarter in the Value list.

10. Select the Editable checkbox.

11. Click Apply.


12. Click Preview.

13. Click Save.

52 Schedule Reports Creating Reports using Report Designer – Part 2


Schedule Reports

Path: Reporting > Reports > Schedule

You can schedule reports to automatically run at specified times or recurring intervals. The scheduling

functionality allows you to also set any editable filters for the report, determine the output formatting

and distribute the scheduled report to users.

Select the report you want to schedule and then click Schedule or right-click the report and select

Schedule. This brings up the Schedule Report window. Complete relevant information on the General,

Distribution, Filters and Options tabs to schedule the report.

Creating Reports using Report Designer – Part 2 Schedule Reports 53


General Tab The information on the General tab allows you to set up the schedule name, description, start and end

dates and the interval information. Every schedule must have the required information configured at a

minimum.

Below is an example of the General tab in the Schedule Report box:

This is an explanation of the fields in this screen:

• Schedule Name –The name should contain an indication of how the report is scheduled.

• Enabled – Displays the status of the schedule.

o Defaults to enabled during report creation.

o Allows you to disable the schedule. For instance, if there is a problem with the report, or you are not ready to start the report schedule, you can disable the schedule.

• Description – Optional description of the scheduled report.

• Start Date – When you would like this schedule to begin.

• End Date – Enter an end date if the report should not run after a certain date.

• Task Recurrence – The frequency that the report should run: Daily, Weekly, or Monthly.

o If you select a Weekly task recurrence, select a value for Recurrence. If you select Every 2 weeks for the recurrence value, the report will run every two weeks. You also need to select the day of the week that the report should run, such as Monday or Tuesday.

o If you select a Monthly task recurrence, select a value for Recurrence. To run a report quarterly, select Every 3 months as the recurrence value. You also need to select the day of the month that the report should run.

• Start Time – Time of day the report should run.



Distribution The Distribution tab allows you to specify recipients for scheduled reports. When the scheduled report

is run, it will always be delivered to the recipient’s Message Center. Recipients with an email address in

their profile will also receive an email notification with a link to the report. If the recipient already has

Dayforce open, he or she can download the report by clicking the link. If the recipient is not logged into

Dayforce, the application login page opens when they click the link, and they must supply their

credentials. After that, the download will commence.

Below is an example of the Distribution tab in the Schedule Report dialog box:


• Roles – Scheduled reports can be sent to all users in one or more roles.

• Employee – Scheduled reports can be sent to specific users.

• Include myself as a recipient – Ensures that the schedule creator is included on the report distribution list, even if he or she is not in the list of Roles or Employees specified in the schedule.



To distribute the report to everyone within one or more roles, select the role from the AVAILABLE list

and then click the right facing arrow to move it to the SELECTED list. Every person within the roles

selected will receive the report when it is scheduled to run.

To select individual employees that should receive the scheduled report, click To, and the employee

pickers appears. Use the filter or scroll to through the employee list to select the report recipients. Click

Add and then click Select.

This action places the recipients in the Employees list.

You can use a combination of Roles and Employees to ensure that all intended recipients are included. If a recipient is included in a selected Role and in the Employees lists, they will only receive the report once.



Distribution is not available for reports based on V1 topics. You will receive the message “This report is not suitable for Distribution” on the Distribution tab for V1 topics. You can find more information on the topic type in the Reporting Reference Guide.

Filters The Filters tab shows you which filters are used in a report. If a filter is editable, you can set the filter

value that will be used each time the report is run. You could schedule the same report multiple times,

using different filter values.

Below is an example of the Filters tab in the Schedule Report dialog box:

Reports that use filters that are based on a date field and that use the Within Operator are good candidates for scheduling. For example, a report that retrieves data for the Last Complete Calendar Month could be scheduled to run monthly near the beginning of the month. You would then get a report for each month of the year without manually changing the filter values.



Options The Options tab allows you to determine the report output and format.


• Report Header Display Name – Allows you to rename the scheduled report when it is run. If blank, it defaults to the report name.

• Include filter criteria – Inserts the header information on the report output.

• Only include unique records – Limits the results to include only unique records.

• Max Number of Records – Defines the maximum number of records in the report output

• Send a notification if the report is empty – Enables notification to report recipients of a report with no data

• Output Format – Determines the type of the report output (Excel, PDF, or CSV).

• Suppress formatting Excel output – Report output will only have column headers and records

• Suppress formatting A – Report output will have totals, column headers and records

• Orientation – Choose between landscape or portrait orientation of the PDF report output

• Paper Size – Allows you to choose from preconfigured paper sizes

• Repeat Column Headers on each page – Determines if the column headers are displayed only on the first page or on all subsequent pages.



Schedules

Path: Reporting > Reports > Schedules

Once you have created a scheduled report, you can view, modify, or delete it in Schedules. From here,

you can view all scheduled reports and determine if they are distributed or enabled by reviewing the

Report Distribution and Schedule Enabled fields.

To edit the schedule, you can highlight the report name click Edit, which brings up the Schedule Reports

window. Here you can make any necessary changes.

If a report fails to generate, the user who set up the report distribution receives a notification in the Message Center. In this situation, the application disables the report schedule. After corrective action is taken for the report, the schedule must be re-enabled to resume distribution.



Activity: Schedule Report Time: 7 minutes

XYZ Company wants to schedule the following report:

XYZ FT or PT Hourly Employees by Job

Details:

• The schedule name should be “Monthly Full-Time Hourly Employees by Job”.

• The report should run on the 5th day of every month at 4:00 AM.

• The report’s start date should be today’s date.

• There isn’t an end date.

• Default format and orientation.

• The report should be for full-time employees. XYZ Active Employees within this Current Calendar Year

Details:

• The schedule name should be “Yearly XYZ Active Employees within the Current Calendar Year”.

• The start date should be the 1st of December of this calendar year.

• The report should run on the last day of each calendar year at 11:45 PM.

• There isn’t an end date. XYZ Leaves of Absence

Details:

• The schedule name should be “Quarterly XYZ Leaves of Absence”.

• The start date should be the first day of the next calendar quarter.

• The report should run on the 2nd day of each calendar quarter at 3:00 PM.

• The report should show the data within the last calendar quarter.

• There isn’t an end date.

• The report should be sent to everyone in the HR role.

• The report should also be sent to Andy Cooper and Chelsie Ng.



Solution: Schedule the report:

Path: Reporting > Reports

Schedule the XYZ FT or PT Hourly Employees by Job report:

1. Click the XYZ FT or PT Hourly Employees by Job report.

2. Click Schedule.

3. Type “Monthly XYZ FT Hourly Employees by Job” for the Schedule Name.

4. Select today’s date as the Start Date.

5. Click Monthly in the Task Recurrence list.

6. Select Every month in the Recurrence list.

7. Select 5 in the Day of the Month list.

8. Select 4:00 AM in the Start Time list.

9. Click the Filters tab.

10. Click FT in the Pay Class Equal Filter list.

11. Click OK.

Schedule the XYZ Active Employees this Calendar Year report:

12. Click the XYZ Active Employees within this Current Calendar Year report.

13. Click Schedule.

14. Type “Yearly XYZ Active Employees this Current Calendar Year” for the Schedule Name.

15. Select December 1st of the current year as the Start Date.


17. Click Every 12 months in the Recurrence list.

18. Click Last in the Day of the Month list.

19. Click 11:45 PM in the Start Time list.

20. Click OK.

Schedule the XYZ Leaves of Absence report:

21. Click the XYZ Leaves of Absence report.

22. Click Schedule.

23. Type “Quarterly XYZ Leaves of Absence” for the Schedule Name.

24. Click the first day of the next calendar quarter (Jan 1, Apr 1, Jul 1, Oct 1) as the Start Date.


26. Select Every 3 months for Recurrence.

27. Click 2 in the Day of the Month list.

28. Click 3:00 AM in the Start Time list.

29. Click the Distribution tab.

30. Click HR in the Roles list.



31. Click the right-facing arrow.

32. Ensure that HR in the SELECTED box is highlighted.

33. Click To.

34. Select Andy Cooper and Chelsie Ng.

35. Click Add.

36. Click Select.

37. Click the Filters tab.

38. Select Within for Time Period under Filters.

39. Select Last Complete Calendar Quarter for Time Period under Filters.

40. Click OK.

41. Review the three scheduled reports in Reporting > Reports > Schedules.

62 Wrap-Up Creating Reports using Report Designer – Part 2


Wrap-Up

In this course, we expand on the concepts from Creating Reports using Report Designer – Part 1. You

should have new skills after completing this course including:

• Using field options, such as sorting, grouping and totals

• Filtering data using filters and parameters

• Scheduling and distributing reports

To learn more about the reporting, consider the following courses:

• Creating Custom Fields with SQL using Report Designer – This course teaches you how to create custom fields that manipulate date and time data, reformat text, and perform arithmetic calculations on numeric data. You will use one or more Structured Query Language (SQL) functions to create an expression that displays the data you want in the custom field.

• Creating Custom Topics using Topic Builder – This course teaches you how to create reports by creating custom topics using existing query entities available in Topic Builder. Learn how to identify which query entities to include in your topic, and understand and modify the relationships between these entities.

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