Standard and Custom Reports

Learn how to use the reporting features in the Shifts platform to gain actionable insights from your workforce data, create visualizations, and make data-driven decisions to optimize operations.

Overview

The Shifts platform provides powerful reporting capabilities that give you visibility into your workforce operations. This article explains the standard reports available in the system and how to customize them to meet your specific business needs.

Accessing Reports

To access the reporting features:

1. Log in to your Shifts account with admin or manager credentials
2. Navigate to Reports in the main navigation menu
3. Select the report type you wish to view from the available options
4. Use the filters at the top of the page to customize your view

Standard Reports

The Shifts platform includes several built-in reports that provide insights into different aspects of your workforce management:

User Activity Report

The User Activity Report tracks all user interactions with the system, helping you monitor usage patterns and security events.

What it shows:

• Login and logout events
• Failed login attempts
• Record creation, updates, and deletions
• System access patterns

Available filters:

• Date range
• Business (for multi-business admins)
• Location
• Activity type

Visualizations:

• Activity distribution by type (pie chart)
• Activity trends over time (line chart)
• Top 10 most active users (bar chart)
• Login success vs. failures (doughnut chart)
• Activity by hour of day (bar chart)

Shift Assignments Report

The Shift Assignments Report provides a comprehensive view of how shifts are assigned across your workforce.

What it shows:

• All shift assignments with user details
• Assignment status (confirmed, pending, etc.)
• Shift duration and timing information
• Location distribution of assignments

Available filters:

• Date range
• Business
• Location
• User
• Assignment status

Visualizations:

• Status distribution (pie chart)
• Assignments over time (line chart)
• Top locations by shift count (bar chart)
• Shifts by day of week (bar chart)
• Shift duration distribution (doughnut chart)

Utilization Report

The Utilization Report measures how effectively you’re using your available workforce capacity.

What it shows:

• Percentage of available shifts that are filled
• Utilization rates by location
• Scheduling efficiency metrics
• Coverage analysis

Available filters:

• Date range
• Business
• Location
• Role type

Visualizations:

• Utilization rate by location (bar chart)
• Utilization percentage (progress bars)
• Key metrics summary (cards)
• Trends over selected period (line chart)

User Shifts Report

The User Shifts Report provides individual employees with a view of their scheduled shifts.

What it shows:

• Personal shift schedule
• Weekly hours summary
• Location assignments
• Shift details

Available filters:

• Date range
• Location

Visualizations:

• Weekly hours scheduled (bar chart)
• Shift count by location (pie chart)
• Summary metrics (total shifts, hours, locations)

Customizing Reports

While the Shifts platform does not currently have a fully custom report builder, you can customize the standard reports in several ways:

Applying Filters

All reports include filtering options that allow you to focus on specific time periods, locations, or other parameters:

1. Open the desired report
2. Locate the filter panel at the top of the page
3. Select your desired filters (date range, location, etc.)
4. Click Apply Filters to update the report

Sorting and Ordering

You can reorganize tabular data to highlight the information most important to you:

1. Click on column headers to sort the data
2. Use the search field to quickly find specific entries
3. Some reports offer additional sort options in the settings menu

Exporting Data

All reports can be exported for further analysis in external tools:

1. Navigate to the report you wish to export
2. Click the Export button in the top-right corner
3. Select your preferred format (CSV, Excel, or PDF)
4. The system will generate your export for download

Data Visualization

The Shifts platform uses interactive visualizations to make data more accessible and actionable:

Chart Types

• Bar Charts: Compare values across categories
• Line Charts: View trends over time
• Pie/Doughnut Charts: Show proportions of a whole
• Progress Bars: Display completion or utilization percentages
• Heat Maps: Identify patterns in complex data sets

Interacting with Charts

All charts in the reporting interface are interactive:

1. Hover over elements to see detailed values
2. Click on legend items to hide or show specific data series
3. Use date range selectors to zoom in on specific periods
4. Export charts as images for use in presentations

Best Practices

For optimal results when using Reports:

1. Start with standard reports: Begin with the built-in reports to understand the available data
2. Use consistent time periods: Compare data over consistent intervals for meaningful trend analysis
3. Export for deeper analysis: Use the export feature when you need to perform custom calculations
4. Combine report insights: Look across multiple reports to get a complete picture of your operations
5. Schedule regular reports: Set up scheduled exports of key reports to maintain awareness
6. Filter strategically: Apply filters to focus on problem areas or opportunities

Upcoming Report Builder

The Shifts platform is developing a more robust custom report builder that will allow you to:

• Select from multiple data sources
• Choose specific fields to include
• Apply advanced filtering conditions
• Create custom calculations
• Design your own visualizations
• Save and share custom report templates

This feature is currently in development and will be announced when available.

Related Resources

• Dashboard Widgets
• HRIS Integration
• Report Scheduling

This article should be updated when:

1. The custom report builder is fully implemented
2. New standard report types are added
3. Additional visualization options become available
4. Changes are made to filtering capabilities
5. Export options are expanded