Dynamics CRM Tip: Get a Count of records using Reports

Reports are among the most interesting value in CRM. The following is some helpful information I dug up which I had hoarded away in the past.

Reports  can be used to group records based on a specific criteria and provide a count of records in each group using the Report Wizard. The count option in the Report Wizard groups the records by a count of matching records. For example, if you have 10 accounts created in the month of July and another 20 created in August, and you configure the Report Wizard to group accounts by month, the report will show a count of 10 accounts under July and a count of 20 contacts under August, but it will not show the total count of accounts as 30.

To obtain a count of records using reports, group items so that they are organized together in the report by some common properties:

1. In the Navigation Pane, click Workplace, and then under My Work, click Reports.
2. To add a new report, click New, and then click Report Wizard.
3. Select Start a new report, and click Next.
4. Enter the name of the report, and specify which record types (primary and related record types) the report will use. To obtain a count of accounts, use accounts as the primary record.
5. Define which records to include by selecting a filter criteria.
6. For each grouping level you click to select, click Click here to add a grouping.
7. Define the grouping (Organizing the data in a report so that related data is grouped together. For example, you could group data by week the record was created or by the country.):
   • Record type. You can select records from the primary record type you selected, and from any related record types. If you selected a secondary record type, you can also select records from the secondary record type and its related record types.
   • Column. The name of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM field that contains the data to define the grouping.
   • Time interval. Specify the time interval to group the data by Month, Day, Week, or Year.

     This field is enabled only when the value specified in Column is of datetime type, for example, Records Created On, Created On, or Modified On.

   • Sort order. Sort order for displaying the groups.
   • Summary type. Select Count to group records by a count of matching records.

   For example, if you select accounts as Record type, Created On as Column, and Month as Time interval, the data in the report is grouped by Created On. The report provides a count of accounts created in any particular month.

8. To reorder the grouping levels, use the up and down arrows in the Common Tasks section.
9. Click OK.

This information should get you started in creating reports which count the number of records which match your filter criteria.

Jeff Loucks

Chief Strategic Architect | Winrox | 425-577-7377