Method:Classic General Q&A

Re: Create a Report from Scratch - mimic QuickBooks stock report

Method_Adam — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 13:47:30 GMT

Hi David,

Looking into this further, creating the report would be quite simple since you're not using the PDF version of it and instead are just making a CSV.

Then, for your Generate report action, be sure to set the Report Type as CSV. That will create the report as a file you can load into Excel. The action result can also be attached in an email action that you can mail to yourself or someone else. The action can look something like this:

While you can't automate this, you could create a screen where a simple button click can run this every morning.

Hope this helps.

- Adam

Re: Create a Report from Scratch - mimic QuickBooks stock report

Method_Adam — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 21:35:22 GMT

Hi David,

Considering your needs, Scheduled Reports may not be the best course of action. I believe you might be better off using the Report Designer and the Generate Report action to get your desired results.

I haven't done this myself just yet, but you can create a report similar to the QuickBooks report in the Report Designer. Then, instead of generating the report as a PDF file, you can generate is as a CSV file that you can load into Excel. The report is even saved as an ActionResult. Therefore, you can even add it as an attachment in a Send Email action.

I'll try to setup up something similar for myself and post back here with a bit more detail. Let me know if this general framework would work for you.

- Adam

Re: Create a Report from Scratch - mimic QuickBooks stock report

DavidD — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 15:18:05 GMT

Great information, thanks Adam. Follow up questions: 1) You say that i can view the report as an HTML page. Do i have the option to export to Excel? My goal of setting up this report is to pull information from Method into excel and then pull information from UPS (in a separate system) into excel and merge the files to show shipping delays. If I can only view the report in HTML via method, then I'm best to just run the report out of QuickBooks to achieve my goal. 2) Assuming #1 isnt a deal breaker for me, is there anyway to add custom fields to these reports from QuickBooks? My purchase order screen has a few custom fields that I would like to sync into this report so that I can associate each Purchase Order with each buyer on our team. Quickbooks currently doesnt have this field, so there is no easy way to add this data to the quickbooks version of the report.

thanks for your help!

Re: Create a Report from Scratch - mimic QuickBooks stock report

Method_Adam — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 13:42:02 GMT

Hi David,

You can actually sync in some QuickBooks reports into Method, including the Open Purchase Orders report.

We have a screen under the QuickBooks tab that allows you to import/sync over your scheduled reports from QuickBooks. These are standard QuickBooks reports that you can setup to sync over into Method at specific time periods. The screen can be found by going QuickBooks > Scheduled Reports. Enter the name of the Report and click Continue. From there you will see a 13 step process to setup the report, including the option to setup your own columns for the Report.

On the next full sync, these reports will then show in the QuickBooks Home tab > QuickBooks Reports screen. You can also schedule these reports to run at specific times, like monthly or daily. Just note that any report scheduled to run at specific time periods (like the end of the month) won't sync until scheduled to do so.

Unfortunately, there is no way to email them at this time. You'll be able to view the report as an HTML page.

Hope this helps,

- Adam

Create a Report from Scratch - mimic QuickBooks stock report

DavidD — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 23:21:54 GMT

I would like to create a report that would mimic the "OPEN PURCHASE ORDER" report in Quickbooks. I would like this report to contain these fields: Order Date, Vendor Name, PO #, Amount, FOB, Ship Via, Due Date, and Buyer (which is a custom field). I have only modified existing reports, I have not created a report from scratch. How would I go about mimicing this QuickBooks report, or is there an existing report that I can just edit? Also, when I create new reports like this, where do I access them? Would I create a separate tab link? And finally, is there a way to schedule reports like this where they can run daily and email the results in a CSV file to an email address I specify? Thanks!