Alter Flex Reports in Hospitality

Description: Review how to alter Flex Reports below by removing columns and filtering specific information, and getting totals that the report isn’t calculating by default. 

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Column Options

Below is a screenshot of the initial view of a Flex Report. On the right, there are several options to alter a specific column.

Name: The column name in SQL. Title: The display name on the report. Format: Allows to specify if the column has one of three formats (Currency, Number, Percent). Column Order: The arrows allow you to move the column left or right. Horiz. Align: 3 options to orient the data either to the Left, Center, or Right. Grouping: The + allows you to group by that column. The - removes that grouped column. (ie. Grouping by Employees will separate the report by those employees). Summaries: Allows to summarize the contents of a column by the report and/or by the grouping. Any summaries for that column will show up in the white box.  Sorting: Allows to sort the entire report by this column. Only one column can be sorted at any time however sorting one column after another will sort both by the second sort will take priority. Filter Mode: This allows you to filter out specific data by selecting what you want to see. This can be filtered by contents that either match all the filtered items or by any of the filtered items.

Summaries

Summaries are best used to tally a specific column on the Flex Report. It is best used for monetary columns such as a Transaction Amount column or Price column. Summaries can be done as Averages, Counts, Maximum Entry, Minimum Entry, or Sum.

Caption: The name of the Summary for the entire column. The name will show up on the bottom of the Flex Report. Note: If the name is too long the software will crash. Format: This is similar to the Format for the column however this formats the summary. The format options are Currency, Number, and Percent. Horiz. Align: This orients the data either to the Left, Center, or Right of the column. Type: These are all the types of summaries the POS system can do. They are Average, Count, Maximum, Minimum, or Sum.  Show summary for these groups: Below will show all the summaries you can apply for the grouping. Checking off the option and typing a caption will then summarize the group for whatever the Type is set up as. Note: If the name is too long the software will crash.

Example of a Summary

Filtering

Flex reports allow for filtering unwanted data off a report. This is mainly used to see what a specific employee did for sales or labor and see how popular a specific menu item is.

1. To filter data, select one of the options for the Filter Mode.
2. Then, hover over the column you wish to filter, and a new triangle will appear on the right side of the column.
3. Click on the triangle to display a drop-down box with all the entries of that column.
4. Check off what you want to see, and the report will now populate with the specific filter you selected.
5. If you wish to filter more than one column, ensure you are selecting the correct Filter Mode.
   
   

Save

The Save feature allows you to save the report's parameters, including the date range you selected. It is best to think of this process as creating a favorite report.

Export

Export allows you to export the report as either Excel or CSV. Generally, most of the functions should be left unchanged. The only thing that should really be altered here is the Details if Summaries are being used.

Column Headers: Allows you to add the column headers to the report. Can also set the columns to show their SQL name instead. The Excel option allows freezing the top row. Details: Allows to show the details specified within the Summaries and Group Summaries. Setting to No details will not grab that data.  Statistical Functions (Excel): Allows to show the stat functions on the report. Functions (CSV): Has options to format certain data with specific identifiers.