With the recurring reports function you can schedule reports to be pulled on a regular basis so you can save time and access the data you need on a schedule that works best for you and your organization.
How do I schedule a Recurring Report?
Definitions of recurring options
For details on each option within the Recurring drop-down please review the following table:
To Be Run | Description |
Daily | Will run the report every day, starting with the day it was requested. |
Weekly | Will run the report once every seven days, starting with the day it was requested. |
Monthly | Will run the report every month, starting with the day it was requested. This goes off calendar months, and not once every 30 days. |
Quarterly | Will run once every 3 months, starting with the day it was selected. This goes off calendar months (e.g. if requested on Nov 5, the next scheduled report is Feb 5). |
Yearly | Will run once every year, starting with the day it was scheduled. |
Definitions of relative dates
Relative dates offer greater flexibility for scheduling reports. When using relative dates, you don't need to specify exact start and end dates. Instead, the system uses predefined time periods to generate your reports.
For detailed explanations of each relative date option, please refer to the table below:
Relative Date | Start | End | Comments |
Today | This day at 00:00:00 | This day at 23:59:59 | Only on the current day |
This Week | Monday of the current week at 00:00:00 | Sunday of the current week at 23:59:59 | A week runs from Monday to Sunday |
This Month | 1st of the current month | Last day of the current month at 23:59:59 | The first of the current month to the first of the following month. |
This Quarter | Jan 1st of the current year at 00:00:00 | Mar 31st of the current year at 23:59:59 | If the current month is between Jan-Mar |
Apr 1st of the current year at 00:00:00 | Jun 30th of the current year at 23:59:59 | If the current month is between Apr-Jun | |
Jul 1st of the current year at 00:00:00 | Sep 30th of the current year at 23:59:59 | If the current month is between Jul-Sep | |
Oct 1st of the current year at 00:00:00 | Dec 31st of the current year at 23:59:59 | If the current month is between Oct-Dec | |
This Year | Jan 1st of current year at 00:00:00 | Dec 31st of current year at 23:59:59 | The first of the current year (Jan 1) to the first of the following year. |
Yesterday | Previous Day at 00:00:00 | Previous Day at 23:59:59 | |
Last Week | Monday of last week at 00:00:00 | Sunday of last week at 23:59:59 | Last week = last week (Mon-Sun) that does not include "today". |
Last Month | 1st of last month at 00:00:00 | Last day of last month at 23:59:59 | The first of the last month to the first of the current month |
Last Quarter | Oct 1st of last year at 00:00:00 | Dec 31st of last year at 23:59:59 | If the current month is between Jan-Mar |
Jan 1st of current year at 00:00:00 | Mar 31st of current year at 23:59:59 | If the current month is between Apr-Jun | |
Apr 1st of current year at 00:00:00 | Jun 30th of current year at 23:59:59 | If the current month is between Jul-Sep | |
Jul 1st of current year at 00:00:00 | Sep 30th of current year at 23:59:59 |
If the current month is between Oct-Dec |
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Last 6 Months | May 1st of current year at 00:00:00 | Nov 1 of current year at 23:59:59 |
*This one doesn't work like the others. See below. |
Last Year | Jan 1st of last year at 00:00:00 | Dec 31st of last year at 23:59:59 |
The first of the last year (Jan 1) to Dec 31 of the past year. |
Things to keep top of mind when creating recurring reports
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Reporting Periods: For reports covering periods such as "This Month," "This Quarter," or "This Year," the data includes up to and including the start of the following period. For example, a report for November 1 to December 1 will include data recorded on December 1. This is particularly relevant for periods like "Last Month," "Last Quarter," "Last 6 Months," or "Last Year."
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Handling Nonexistent Dates: If a target date does not exist in a particular month (e.g., February 30), the system will adjust the date to the beginning of the next month. For instance, a report requested for February 31, 2016 (which does not exist), will be adjusted to March 2, 2016, since February 2016 only has 29 days (leap year).
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Recurring Reports: Recurring reports scheduled to start in the future will appear in the recurring reports section, but will not display information about their last or next run until they are active.
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Email Notifications: Once a recurring report is completed and available in your Link2Feed inbox, you will receive an email notification at the address associated with your account. This email will inform you that your report is ready and will include a link to access it.
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Relative Dates: For relative time periods, such as "Last 6 Months," the report covers from the first day of the month 6 months prior to the first day of the current month. For example, if today is November 5, the last 6 months would be from May 1 to November 1.
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Post-Dated Recurring Reports: If you schedule a recurring report to start in the past, it will appear in your inbox as of the requested start date. The system will consider this date as the current reference point for scheduling future reports. For instance, a monthly report starting January 1 but set up on November 5 will show the first report on January 1 and schedule the next one for December 5.
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Weekly Reports: A weekly report for the current month generates data from the first day of the current month to the first day of the next month, repeating weekly. If you refresh this report, the updated numbers will reflect the time of the refresh rather than the original report date. Thus, refreshing three weekly reports from the same month last year will show the same updated values.
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Requested Date for Recurring Reports: The Requested Date indicates when the report request was created. For example, if you have a recurring monthly report that runs on the first of each month, the February 1-28 report would have a Requested Date of February 1. This is because the report for January, completed on February 1, triggers the request for the February report immediately.
Additional resources
If you are looking for some more details on recurring reports or reporting basics in general please check out the following article: