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5 easy ways to upgrade your Salesforce reporting

A quick guide for 5 easy Salesforce reporting features that will change how you run reports


Salesforce reports have only become more and more powerful over the years with new features that aren't always easy to find. Here's a list of my top 5 with some use-case ideas!


1. Unique Count

The Unique Count feature allows you to count each distinct value in a report column.


An Opportunities report with a Unique Count for Account Name
An Opportunities report with a Unique Count for Account Name

What can I use this for?
  • When building an Opportunity report, use the Unique Count feature on the 'Account Name' column to easily count the number of Accounts.

  • When building a Task and Events report, use the Unique count feature on the 'Subject' column to only count distinct values when there are many Tasks/Events with the same 'Subject' value.


How do I use this feature?

When in the report builder, select the down arrow on the column for which you would like a Unique Count. In the dropdown, select "Show Unique Count".


An Opportunities report with "Show Unique Count" highlighted

Once you run the report, this value will show in the upper left. This value can also be pulled into charts as a measure.


An example of Unique Count added to a Salesforce report

2. Summarize Number Columns

The Summarize feature allows you to report on the Sum, Average, Max, Min, and Median values of number columns.


An Opportunities report with number columns summarized

What can I use this for?
  • When building an Opportunity report, use the Summarize feature to determine the Average Opportunity 'Amount' by Fiscal Period to show the average deal size over time.

  • When building an Account report, use the Summarize feature to determine the Maximum number of 'Employees' on any Account.


How do I use this feature?

When in the report builder, select a number column (these should be blue). Once you've clicked on the column, a pop-up will appear with several checkboxes. Check the box for the Summarize options you'd like to add to the report for the selected column.


Adding number column summaries from the report edit screen

Once you run the report this value will show in the upper left. This value can also be pulled into charts as a measure.


How an Opportunities report looks when number summaries have been added

3. Row Limit

The Row Limit feature allows you to focus your report on the data that matters most and only show your preferred number of report rows.


An example of an Opportunities report with row limits

What can I use this for?
  • When building an Opportunity report, use the Row Limit feature to only show the Opportunities with the top 10 highest 'Amount' values.

  • When building a Lead report, use the Row Limit feature to only show the 20 newest Leads by Created Date.


How do I use this feature?

First, select the 'Filters' tab while in the report builder and click on the dropdown arrow. Select "Add Row Limit".


How to add Row Limit filters to a Salesforce report

Once the Row Limit has been added, populate the "Filter by Row Limit" filter with the maximum number of records you would like to see in the report.


Adding a Row Limit of 10 to a Salesforce report

Once you run the report, ensure you are properly sorting the correct column. For the Top 10 Opportunities by Amount, I'll sort the Amount column descending.


A top 10 Opportunities report example

4. $User Filters

The $User filter feature allows you to filter reports by information relevant to the user viewing the report.


An example report for $User filters

What can I use this for?
  • When building an Opportunity report for a team, use the $User filter to show all Opportunities where the viewing user is not the owner but instead listed in a custom User Lookup field.

  • When building a Lead report for a team, use the $User filter to show all Leads where the viewing user is populated in the Created By standard field.


How do I use this feature?

First, add a filter for a field that contains a user. These are fields such as Opportunity Owner, Created By, and Last Modified By where you can see the profile image and where clicking on the name will take you to the user record.


Adding a $User filter to a Salesforce report

Once the field has been added as a filter, click on the "Use relative value" link. You will then be able to use the dropdown to select "$USER".


Adding a $User filter to a Salesforce report

Once selected, the report will automatically filter to only show the records where the user viewing the report is also the user listed in the User Lookup field you selected for the filter.


5. Remove All Columns

The Remove All Columns feature is an efficient way to clean up a report when too many columns have been added.


How to remove all columns from a Salesforce report

What can I use this for?
  • When starting to build an Account report, use the Remove All Columns filter when too many irrelevant fields have been automatically added to the report type.


How do I use this feature?

When you open a Salesforce report edit screen, select the dropdown next to "Columns" and then select "Remove All Columns". Although simple, this feature can be a huge timesaver in comparison to removing each column individually when you need to start fresh.




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