How to Set Up and Manage Report Schedules

Report Schedules can be used to automate the running of Reports. 

Report Schedules email Reports on a recurring schedule and can also be used to give partner companies (organizations you work with such as promoters or other third parties) access to run Reports from the Partner Companies Interface.

To set up and manage Report Schedules, you’ll need access to the Insights & Mailings Interface. 

What are Report Schedules?

Report Schedules automate the running of Reports by:

• Emailing Reports to a specified group at a specific time
• Giving a specific set of users the ability to run and download Reports in the Partner Companies Interface

Report Schedules can be used to:

• Automatically run a Report at regular intervals. This is particularly helpful if you have a Report that needs to be run at a certain time. 
• Provide access to Reports for staff who don’t have access to Insights & Mailings.
• Provide Reports to a partner company, promoter or producer who wants regular Reports about their events.

How do Report Schedules work?

Report Schedules can be run either: 

• As a schedule
• On demand 

You can set a schedule to use one or both of these methods but if there are multiple Reports in the schedule they all must use the same.

Run as Schedule

By choosing Run as schedule, you can:

• Automate the email delivery of Reports to members of your team or external partners such as promoters and producers 

  TIP: If there are multiple Reports, each Report will be sent individually.

• Provide Reports as an attachment to the email or via a download link 

  TIP: Report files that are too large to send will always be sent as a download link. Downloading requires the user to log in as a Collect Reports User.

If you decide to run a Report as a schedule, consider the following:

• Will you send the Reports one time or at recurring intervals?
• When do you want to start sending Reports?
• When do you want to stop sending Reports?
• How frequently would you like to send Reports?
• At what time would you like to run and send Reports?

Run on Demand

Choosing Run on demand gives users permission to run a Report at any time using the Partner Companies Interface.

In the Partner Companies Interface, users are assigned Reports and data is limited to preselected Criteria Sets and Output Columns. 

If there are multiple Reports, each Report must be run separately.

There is no start or end to when a user can access the Report. They will continue to have access to the Report so long as the Report is made available and the Report Schedule and their user account is active.

What do I need before setting up Report Schedules?

Consider the following details before setting up a Report Schedule:

• Which Reports do you want to run?
  Decide which Reports and Criteria Sets to include in the Schedule. You can select any Standard or Custom Report and run multiple Reports in a single Schedule.
   
• Who should receive each Report?
  Decide who will receive each Report. If you need to run multiple Reports, different users can be assigned different Reports.
   
• How do you want the users to receive the Reports?
  Decide if you’d like the users to receive the Reports on a schedule via email, on demand via the Partner Companies Interface or both. All Reports in a Schedule will be run the same way. If running multiple Reports in a single Schedule, you cannot mix how they are run, for example, one Report on demand only and a second Report on email only.

Before setting up Report Schedules, you’ll need to:

• Set up your Reports and Criteria Sets
  Prepare your Reports and Criteria Sets for your Report Schedules in advance. Criteria Set values and Parameter values can be selected during the setup of the Schedule.
• Set up your Collect Report Users
  To access Reports through Report Schedules, users must be set up as Collect Report Users. To do this, follow these steps in How to Create and Manage Collect Report Users.
   

• Set Up Report Schedule System Emails
  Report Schedules are sent through System Emails. We recommend setting up a subdomain for your System Emails. You’ll also need to contact Support to request an alias (email address) for Reports.  

  TIP: You may already have  a subdomain set up for other System Emails such as confirmation emails and E-tickets. If you’re unsure, you can contact Support to confirm.

• Understand the Partner Companies Interface
  If you set up Report Schedules to run on demand, these Reports will be run and downloaded from the Partner Companies Interface. Learn more about the Partner Companies Interface.

Where do I view, set up and manage Report Schedules?

Report Schedules can be found in Insights & Mailings > Report Schedules. 

TIP: You’ll need the Insights & Mailings User and the Insights & Mailings Administrator Role. If you don’t have these Roles, ask the Settings Administrator in your organisation to add these Roles to your User Account.

You'll see existing active and inactive Report Schedules listed:

From Report Schedules, you can Add new Report Schedules and Edit or Delete existing Report Schedules.

Report Schedules can be searched by Name, assigned Report (sorted by Report Type) or Active status:

Each Report Schedule will list its Name, Description and run schedule or “Only available on demand.”

If you hover over a Report Schedule, you can see a full list of included Reports:

How do I set up a Report Schedule?

To create a new Report Schedule, click the Add button on the lower right of the screen.

There are two sections to a Report Schedule setup:

1. Basic Details
2. Reports

1. Basic Details

Complete the Basic Details to set up your Report Schedule:

• Name (Required): Give your Report Schedule a clear, descriptive name. This is only visible in the Insights & Mailings Interface.
   
• Description: Enter a description to detail what the Report Schedule is for. This is only visible in the Insights & Mailings Interface.
   
• Active: This is checked by default and makes your Report Schedule active.
   
• Run on demand: Check this box to access the Reports on the Partner Companies Interface. If you only check this option and do not check Run as schedule, then you don’t need to fill in the remaining information and click Next to move forward to the Reports tab.
   

• Run as schedule: Check this option to schedule your emailed Reports. You’ll need to fill in the remaining fields on the Basic Details page. 

  TIP: It is possible to have a Report Schedule run both on demand and as a schedule.

The following details are only for Report Schedules that run as schedule:

• Run from (Required): Choose the date you want the Report Schedule to become active. This defaults to the current day, but you can change it to start on any date in the future.
   
• Run until: Choose an optional date for your Report Schedule to stop. To have your schedule run indefinitely, you can leave this blank.
   
• Occurs: Choose the frequency at which the Schedule runs. You can choose from: Daily, Monthly (specific day), Weekly, Monthly.
   
• Recurs every: Depending on what you choose in the Occurs field, you can choose from:
  • Daily: Choose an interval between every 1 (everyday) and 30 days from the dropdown.
     
  • Monthly (specific day): Choose the exact date of the month (1-28) and an interval between every 1 (every month) and 12 months from the dropdowns.
     
  • Weekly: Check the box for the day or days of the week, and choose an interval between every 1 (every week) and 52 weeks from the dropdown.
     
  • Monthly: Choose a relative day of the month and an interval between every 1 (every month) and 12 months from the dropdowns. Options include first, second, third, fourth and last week, and days of the week, “week day” (all days Monday through Friday) or “weekend day” (both Saturday and Sunday).
     
• Daily frequency: Select the time to send:
  • Runs before 08:00: Choose this option to send before 8am local time. If your Report does not need to be generated at a specific time but does need to be delivered by the morning, we recommend that you use this option.
     
  • Runs every: Choose an interval between every 1 (every hour) and 23 hours from the dropdown. You can also set start and end times for this frequency.
     
  • Runs once at: Choose the exact hour to send from the dropdown.

Click Next to move to Reports, where you can choose the specific Report(s) you want to include. You can also click Cancel to abandon the Schedule.

2. Reports

Choose which Reports to include and who to assign them to. You can choose as many Reports and users as needed.

From Reports, you can view all listed Reports in the Report Schedule:

To add a new Report, click Add Report. You’ll see the Select a Report and Criteria Set screen, similar to the Report Explorer:

Search for the Report and expand to view all standard and custom Criteria Sets. Click Select this report and criteria set.

You’ll be taken to the New scheduled report options screen:

You’ll need to complete the subsections:

1. Delivery Details
2. Criteria
3. Parameters*

* Report Parameters are currently available for a limited number of Standard Reports (formatted version only). Where Report Parameters are unavailable, you won’t be able to select or set Parameters. For more information, read Report Parameters. 

1. Delivery Details

Complete the Delivery Details:

• Name: Give the Report a descriptive name that will be visible to your users. You don’t have to use the actual name of the Report. For example, you might want to use Yesterday’s Sales for a daily schedule of the Payments & Activities Report (detailed) that runs with the Criteria Set of yesterday’s date.
   

• Email to: Enter the email addresses of every person you want to have access to or receive this Report. To include more than one email address, separate them with a comma. Email addresses are case sensitive and should exactly match the email address used for their Collect Report User Account. 

  WARNING: You must add the email address of anyone you want to access the Report, regardless of whether you’re running on a schedule or on demand.

• Custom subject: Enter a subject line for the email. For example, the subject can be the same name as the Report. If you leave this blank, your email subject will default as "Your report from {ClientName}".
   

• Deliver as: If you're running a report as a schedule, choose whether to attach the file to the email or to send a link instead. If the file is too large to be sent as an email, it will automatically send as a link. 

  WARNING: When Reports are sent by download link, the link will expire after 7 days.

• File format: Choose which format you want the report to be delivered as, either as a PDF, a formatted Excel file, an unformatted Excel file, a CSV file or an XML file.

Click Next to move to the Criteria section. You can also click Cancel to abandon the Report.

2. Criteria

Criteria values must be set in order to run the Report. Criteria values are set according to type and can be input by:

• Entering values or ranges
• Selecting dates
• Checking or unchecking boxes
• Selecting options from a dropdown

Depending on the Criteria Set, some values may be preset or have default values.

Here is an example of Criteria which is specifying individual Instances:

For more information about how to set values, read Criteria Sets.

The Criteria you choose here will apply every time the report runs as part of this schedule, whether that’s in a scheduled email or when a user logs in and runs it on demand.

Click Next to move to the Parameters section. If no Report Parameters are available, click Ok to add the Report. You can also click Back to return to Delivery Details or click Cancel to abandon the Report.

REMINDER: Report Parameters are currently available for a limited number of Standard Reports (formatted version only). Where Report Parameters are unavailable, you won’t be able to select or set Parameters. For more information, read Report Parameters.

3. Parameters

You can adjust the default Parameter values to change the display of Standard Reports. Each Report has Parameters and values unique to their formatted output.

REMINDER: Report Parameters do not affect the unformatted versions of Standard  Reports. Report Parameters are not available for Custom Reports.

Parameter values are set according to type and can be input by:

• Checking or unchecking boxes
• Selecting options from a dropdown

Here is an example of Parameters:

For more information about setting parameters, read Report Parameters.

The Parameters you choose here will apply every time the report runs as part of this schedule, whether that’s in a scheduled email or when a user logs in and runs it on demand.

Click Ok to add the Report. You can also click Back to return to Criteria or click Cancel to abandon the Report.

View and Add More Reports

Your Report will be listed in Reports and will include the following information:

• Scheduled Report Name
• Subject of the Email for the Report
• List of all users assigned to the Report
• Base Report Type
• Name of Report as listed in the Report Explorer

You can add more Reports to the Report Schedule by repeating the steps above in Reports.

Once all Reports have been added, click Ok to complete the Report Schedule setup. You can also click Back to return to Basic Details or click Cancel to abandon the Report Schedule.

Once complete, your new Report Schedule will appear alongside your other active Report Schedules.

How do I manage Report Schedules?

Once you’ve created a Report Schedule, you can make any changes including:

• Edit the Basic Details and Reports
• Delete Reports
• Add or remove Users
• Deactivate Schedules
• Reactivate Schedules

Each of these tasks require editing the Report Schedule. To edit a Report Schedule:

1. Navigate to Report Schedules
2. Find the Report Schedule you’d like to edit.
3. Click Edit.

Edit Basic Details and Reports

You can edit Report Schedules to change any aspect of the Report Schedule.

• For Basic Details, click Basic Details. Click Edit on the lower right corner of the screen. Make your edits and click Save. You can also click Cancel to discard any changes.

• For Reports, click Reports. Edit each Report individually and click Save. You can also click Cancel to discard any changes. 

  WARNING: You can only change Criteria values and cannot change the Criteria Set for the Report. To select a new Criteria Set, you must add a new Report.

Delete Reports

To delete Reports while keeping others in a Report Schedule:

WARNING: Deleting Reports in a Report Schedule is permanent and cannot be recovered.

1. Go to Reports.
2. Find the Report you’d like to delete and click Delete.

3. Confirm that you’d like to delete the Report by clicking Yes. You can also click No to keep the Report.

   

The Report will no longer be available for the Report Schedule.

Add or remove Users

To add or remove users to assigned Reports in a Report Schedule:

1. Go to Reports.
2. Find the Report you’d like to add or remove users and click Edit.
3. Under Email to, add or remove the email addresses of the users.
4. Click Save. You can also click Cancel to discard any changes.

Deactivate Report Schedules

You can deactivate a Report Schedule, which will stop emails and remove Reports from the Partner Companies Interface. You’ll be able to reactivate the Report Schedule at any time.

To deactivate a Report Schedule:

1. Go to Basic Details.
2. Uncheck the Active box.
3. Click Save. You can also click Cancel to discard any changes.

Reactivate Report Schedules

To reactivate a Report Schedule:

1. Go to Basic Details.
2. Check the Active box.
3. Click Save. You can also click Cancel to discard any changes.

How do I delete a Report Schedule?

You can delete Report Schedules, which will delete all Reports in the Report Schedule.

WARNING: Deleting a Report Schedule is permanent and cannot be recovered.

To delete a Report Schedule:

1. Navigate to Report Schedules
2. Find the Report Schedule you’d like to delete.
3. Click Delete.

4. Confirm that you’d like to delete the Report Schedule by clicking Yes. You can also click No to keep the Report Schedule.

   

The Report Schedule will no longer be available.

How do I run Reports in the Partner Companies Interface?

If you’d like to learn how to run a Report in the Partner Companies Interface, read How to Run Reports and Customer Lists in the Partner Companies Interface.

How do I troubleshoot Report Schedules?

If a user is not receiving Reports or is unable to run a Report from the Partner Companies Interface, check to make sure that the Report Schedule is set up correctly:

• Is the Report Schedule active?
• Has the Report Schedule started?
• Has the Report Schedule ended?
• Is the Report scheduled to be sent at the correct day and time?
• Are the correct Reports in the Report Schedule?
• Have you entered the user’s email address correctly? Email addresses are case sensitive.
• Have you separated email addresses by comma?

Check to make sure you can run the Report from the Report Explorer, using the Criteria Set and file formats you’ve selected in the Schedule.

TIP: If you’re unable to run the Report, you may need to make changes to your Report.

You can also advise the user to check their email inbox:

• Check if the emails are going to Spam
• Check if their email inbox is full

TIP: If they still don’t see the email, your user may need to whitelist the system email domain.

If the setup is correct but they are having trouble downloading the Report or cannot access the Partner Companies Interface, check if you’ve created a Collect Report User Account for them.

TIP: Even if a user is only retrieving Reports via email, they are still required to have a Collect Report User Account. Downloading links via email required login credentials.

If they are still not receiving emails or cannot run the Report in the Partner Companies Interface, you can contact Support. Please include in your request:

• User’s email address
• Collect Report Username
• Report Schedule
• Report