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Exporting reports

What this is for​

Reports on screen answer questions about a period. Exports let you do things the screen can't: compare twelve months side by side, hand figures to an accountant, or build your own view.

How​

Most reports have an Export control. Set the date range and filters you want first — the export carries them, so exporting is the last step, not the first.

Common formats are CSV and Excel, depending on the report. Inventory stock exports to Excel; the POS machine report exports to CSV.

Permissions​

Export Report is a separate permission from Show Reports.

That separation exists for a reason: reading a figure on screen and walking out with a file of your customer list, supplier prices and margins are different acts. Plenty of people should have the first; fewer need the second.

Set it deliberately — see What each role can do.

What to export, and when​

Monthly, for your accountant:

Quarterly, for yourself:

  • Items — to review the menu properly, which is easier in a spreadsheet where you can sort and add your own cost column.
  • Sales by month — for a trend longer than any one screen shows.

When something needs investigating:

Building a comparison the screen won't give you​

The screen shows one period. The useful view is often several.

A practical approach: export the same report monthly into one spreadsheet, one row per month. After six months you have a trend line for revenue, average order value, food cost share and refund rate that no single screen can produce.

Ten minutes a month, and it's the most valuable thing in this section.

Handling exported files properly​

An export is a file of your business, sitting outside the system's permissions.

  • Don't email customer data casually. Exports can contain names, phone numbers and addresses.
  • Store them somewhere controlled, not a shared desktop.
  • Delete old ones. An export from two years ago is a liability with no remaining use.
  • Remember exports don't update. A figure in a spreadsheet is a snapshot; a refund processed afterwards changes the report but not your file.

Getting data out continuously​

If you're exporting the same thing every week to feed another system, that's an integration rather than a report.

Both need a developer, and both beat a recurring manual export.

Good to know​

  • Exports carry the filters and date range on screen. Check them before exporting.
  • Periods follow your operating shifts, so an exported month may not match a calendar month exactly. See Opening hours and shifts.
  • Exports are per branch, like the reports themselves. A group figure means exporting each branch and combining.
  • Large date ranges take longer. Export a year in months if it struggles.

Next​

Reports are covered. Next: who gets told what.