What this page is for
This page creates a schedule that runs a report on its own and sends it to the people you choose, or changes an existing one. You can only schedule a report you could run yourself: choosing one your role cannot open, or a format or parameter it does not offer, is refused.
Every value you set here — the report's parameters included — is frozen the moment you save. A schedule for yesterday's takings keeps reporting on yesterday's takings even if the report definition changes afterwards; a relative date such as Yesterday is still worked out afresh each time the schedule runs, in its own time zone.
Everyone whose role holds reports.manage can open this page. Adding anyone other than yourself as a recipient needs users.manage as well; without it, the recipient list is locked to you alone and the page says so.
Fields
Report
Which report this schedule runs. Choosing one changes which parameters, formats and whether a branch can be set below.
Example: Branch end of day
Name
How the schedule is known on the Scheduled reports list and in the messages it sends.
Example: Westlands close
Branch
Shown only where the chosen report accepts a branch. Limits the schedule to one branch, or leave it on every branch you can see.
Example: Westlands
Repeats
How often the schedule runs: daily, weekly or monthly.
Example: Weekly
Day of the week
Shown only when Repeats is Weekly. Which day the schedule runs on.
Example: Monday
Day of the month
Shown only when Repeats is Monthly. A day from 1 to 28 only, so the schedule runs in every month, February included.
Example: 1
Time
The wall-clock time the schedule runs at, in the time zone set below, counted from midnight. There is no trading-day start to offset from, so a schedule wanting the whole of last night is set for the morning.
Example: 07:00
Time zone
Which time zone Time is read in. Leave it on the default to use the branch's own time zone, or the business's where there is none.
Example: Africa/Nairobi
Send as
Whether the report arrives as a message carrying its totals, or as a spreadsheet attachment. Only the formats the report itself offers are listed; a report with no export format sends only its totals as a message.
Example: An Excel spreadsheet attachment
Person
Who receives this schedule. Add as many as needed; each one's permission for this report is checked again every time it is sent, not only when you save here.
Example: Grace Wanjiru
Sent by
Which channel this person receives the schedule on: e-mail now, or WhatsApp once V1.1 arrives. Choose e-mail for anyone who must receive it today.
Example: E-mail
How to…
How to schedule a report
- Choose the Report, give the schedule a Name, and set a Branch where the report asks for one.
- Fill in any other parameter the report needs — these are frozen once saved.
- Choose Repeats, the day it falls on where that applies, the Time and the Time zone.
- Add at least one Person under Who receives it, and their Sent by channel for each.
- Choose Send as.
- Save.
How to change a schedule
Open it from Scheduled reports, change what is needed, and save. Changing the report resets its parameters and format to that report's own defaults.
How to add or remove a recipient
Press Add a person for another row, or the remove button on a row to take it off. At least one recipient is required.
If something goes wrong
If the report you choose does not accept a parameter you had already set, or has been retired, the page names the problem against the field it concerns rather than a general error.
If you choose a format the report does not export to, Send as shows the problem and asks you to choose a format the report offers.
If your role cannot run the report you have chosen, saving is refused and says so, because a schedule may only be created by someone who could run the report themselves.
If users.manage is missing from your role, the recipient list says you can add only yourself, and names the permission an administrator would need to add to let you add others.
Worked examples
Restaurant and bar
The Acacia Grill & Bar's owner schedules branch-end-of-day as Westlands close, Branch Westlands, Repeats Daily, Time 07:00, Time zone Africa/Nairobi, Send as A message with the totals, with themselves and the duty manager as Person entries, both Sent by E-mail for now since WhatsApp is not yet live.
Supermarket
Tumaini Supermarket's head office schedules a weekly stock sheet for each branch, Repeats Weekly, Day of the week Monday, Send as An Excel spreadsheet attachment, with the branch manager as the only Person. A month later the manager moves branch and loses the stock permission for this one; the next Monday's run skips them and records why, while the schedule itself stays active.