Although reporting tools have become a crucial part of business decision-making, you may not have used any till now. These apps can provide reports on any preferred query or topic.

Since the organizational requirements and tool features can vary, you need to choose the software carefully. In this article, you can learn about reporting tools and how you can select the perfect tool for your team or organization.

What Is a Reporting Tool?

A visualization of a reporting tool

As the name suggests, reporting tools provide reports to organizations by parsing and structuring necessary data from various sources. These tools help teams and organizations to make data-backed decisions by showcasing all information in one place. As a result, you can quickly locate the necessary data.

With such tools, teams don’t need to gather data manually. Instead, they can invest that time in something more productive. Depending on the type of organization, reporting tools can generate various reports like sales report, task performance report, budgeting report, team efficiency report, etc. Users can also customize the business reports based on the specific queries they have.

What to Look for in an Ideal Reporting Tool

It often becomes difficult to choose the right tool as there are various reporting apps on the market. Here are the top features a reporting tool should have:

1. Data Visualization

Some is working on data visualization

The reports a reporting tool generates should be able to give you insights at a glance. A reporting tool should have multiple data visualization types.

Clients and teams can have varying demands on how they want to visualize their data. Hence, the more visualization variety a reporting tool has, the better.

Some data visualization methods are pie charts, slice charts, timeline charts, line graphs, data maps, scatter plots, Venn diagrams, etc. When you have a variety of visualizations available in the reporting tool, you can choose the one that best suits your needs and comfort level.

2. Drag-and-Drop Reporting

If you use a tool to create a report, you should be able to add components without any difficulty. The drag-and-drop feature has become a must-have for any sophisticated reporting tool. This feature will enable anyone to include data, visualization models, or any other elements in a dashboard.

Your teammates won’t even need any training on report creation if they can drag and drop elements in the dashboard. Once the dashboard contains everything you want, populating a report from it is a breeze.

3. Interactive Reporting Dashboards

An interactive chart in Google Data Studio

There is no alternative to an intuitive and interactive dashboard of a reporting tool. It's the place where reporting tools display their data. Your app should be interactive to find the data you want using different filter options.

At the same time, this feature helps you view the data from different perspectives. It also assists you in providing transparent and compact business data in the report, crucial to making well-informed decisions.

4. Static Reports

Static reports refer to reports that include data from a specific point in time. This report shows you the information of a predetermined period to guide you to make the right decision. When choosing a reporting tool, you need to make sure it can provide a static report.

You’ll need this report to discuss the employee performance of one month or the progress of a project. While good reporting software should have a static reporting feature, this should not be the only factor you should focus on. It should also be able to offer real-time reports.

Related: What Is Universal Reporting in Asana? Why Should You Use It?

5. Live Reporting

An illustration of live reporting

Any report you create with a reporting tool without specifying it to be a static one is a real-time report. A real-time report offers you the most up-to-date information, essential for making updated and relevant decisions. Your reporting tool should be able to generate real-time reports as well.

Accurate data ensures that you make wise business decisions. Being able to access real-time data, every team member will be on the same page. Besides helping you evaluate stats and performance, this report also reduces delays in workflow.

Get a reporting tool that can offer you live reporting on any topic for optimizing team goals and making strategies for the future.

6. Integrations Support

There is no single tool in the world that can fulfill all the requirements of an organization. Hence, modern business organizations need a connected ecosystem of multiple apps to complete all the tasks efficiently. By integrating various tools, you can keep them in sync.

Your reporting tool should also offer an integration facility with numerous other apps. The integration will make data collection and analysis automated and hassle-free.

Before selecting a reporting app for your team, check out its list of supported apps for integration. Go for it only if the list contains all the major apps you use. A good reporting tool should also offer email integration and let you share the report with others via emails.

7. Flexibility for Customizations

Some is customizing reports in a reporting tool

No one wants to see the report of the same format in every meeting. You can always add a touch of creativity and innovation to your reports by customizing them.

The reporting tool you choose should offer you complete flexibility to modify it. You should be able to change colors, tables, layouts, and other elements according to your brand. While generating a report for your client, customizing it based on your brand image will increase your value to them.

8. Ready-to-Use Templates

Creating a report from scratch can be difficult, especially when there is a shortage of time. In such situations, a report template should come in handy. If your reporting tool has built-in templates for various purposes, you can easily choose one and get started with it.

Making a report can take a lot of your time and effort. You can save these both by using the templates. All you need to do is select a template and link it to the data resource. The tool will put the data in the right place, and your report will be ready in a short time.

Reporting Tools for Confident Decisions

Choosing the right reporting tool for your team is key to quick and correct decision-making. Now that you know the features a reporting tool should have, choose your software wisely.

With these apps, you can always analyze and manage the productivity of your team. Reporting tools are the crucial tech stack of any project, whether your team works on-site or from remote places.