Frequently Asked Question
The Report Generator builds your own reports from your Counterpoint data: you choose what each row is, what to total, and what to leave out. Open it from Report Center > Custom Reports.
1. Report type
Pick the data the report draws on. Each type has its own columns.
| Type | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Customer Sales | Invoiced sales lines, by customer, item, branch, clerk and so on |
| Inventory | Stock on hand, on order and demand for each item and branch, as of last night |
| Outstanding POs | Purchase orders not yet received |
| Purchase History | Purchase orders already received |
| Supplier Sales | Sales of each supplier's items |
2. Descriptive columns: what each row is
Tick the columns that describe a row. The report has one row for each different combination of them. Tick Account Number and you get one row per customer; tick Account Number and Category and you get one row for each category each customer bought.
3. Calculated columns: the figures
These are totals, averages and counts worked out for each row, such as sales, cost, gross profit or quantity on hand. New in 2.0:
| Column | Report type | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Average Invoice Value | Customer Sales | Sales divided by the number of invoices |
| Average Selling Price (Per Unit) | Customer Sales | Sales divided by the quantity sold |
| GP$ Per Unit | Customer Sales | Gross profit divided by the quantity sold |
| Customers Buying | Customer Sales | How many different customers bought |
| Days Since Last Sale | Customer Sales, Inventory | Days from the last sale to today |
| Months of Cover | Inventory | How many months the stock on hand lasts at the last 12 months' rate of sale |
| Stock Turns (12 Months) | Inventory | The last 12 months' demand at cost, divided by the cost of stock on hand |
A figure that would mean dividing by zero, such as the average price of an item with nothing sold, is left blank.
4. Date range
Sales, purchase and supplier reports use the dates you choose. Inventory has no dates: it is always as of last night.
5. Filters: what to leave out
Click + to add a filter, pick a column, a condition and a value. The conditions are Is Equal To, Is Not Equal To, Is Less Than, Is Greater Than, Is One Of and Is NOT One Of. For Is One Of, separate the values with a |, such as 01|02|05. A column appears in the filter list once it is ticked above; if one is missing, tick it, then remove the filter and add it again.
Values are matched exactly as typed, including any /, comma or apostrophe.
6. Generate Report
Click Generate Report. The table shows "Loading..." while it runs. Search, sort and export it as you would a prebuilt report. To keep it, type a Report Title and click Save Report; saved reports run again with the same columns and filters, and every filter is kept.
Reports that list every item or customer
A report with a row for each item or each customer and no filter can take a long time, because it reads every item or customer you have. CP2 asks before running one. If you go ahead, AMS is told it ran and may reach out to help you get the same answer faster, usually with a filter on a category, branch or customer. Adding any filter skips the question.
If a report will not run
A message says what was wrong, such as a date that does not exist, a start date after the end date or a column the report type does not have. Anything else is logged for AMS; contact support if it keeps happening.
Reports use the data Counterpoint sends to CP2 each night, so figures are as of the end of the previous day.