When it comes to choosing the right reporting tools for creating business reports, the good news is you have lots of options. Here's a quick rundown of some of those choices.
First, take a look at what you already have on your desktop. Microsoft Office includes thousands of templates for a wide range of industries and report needs. You may be able to find just the look you want, from business plans to cash flow projections to employee performance reviews, ready and waiting for you.
The template is only one piece of the business report creation puzzle. You also need to generate those reports. But manually inputting data can be tedious and lead to numerous errors. There are a few reporting software packages on the market that plug into these Office templates, allowing you to automatically generate reports with data that flows from your database, spreadsheet, or other data source.
For example, Windward Reports from Windward Studios lets you use Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint to design templates and then connect those templates to your data. Another company that offers Office-based reporting is LJZSoft, which has a suite of tools that work with an SQL database.
If you like the idea of using Microsoft reporting tools to create templates but Office's business templates don't meet your needs, you can design the templates inhouse or hire a report designer. If you opt for the latter, be prepared to pay – and possibly quite a bit – for that privilege.
Another approach to generating business reports would be to use a software program that includes a proprietary design interface. For instance, Jasper Reports is an open-source tool from JasperForge, and Cognos lets you create ad-hoc queries. And of course, no list of reporting tools would be complete without a mention of Crystal Reports. Keep in mind that these types of tools are typically less flexible to use, however, because the design component is banded and therefore inherently limited.
Windward Reports has all the resources you need to have the reports you need for your business. Find the real bottom line and make sure you're guiding your business the way it needs to go.
First, take a look at what you already have on your desktop. Microsoft Office includes thousands of templates for a wide range of industries and report needs. You may be able to find just the look you want, from business plans to cash flow projections to employee performance reviews, ready and waiting for you.
The template is only one piece of the business report creation puzzle. You also need to generate those reports. But manually inputting data can be tedious and lead to numerous errors. There are a few reporting software packages on the market that plug into these Office templates, allowing you to automatically generate reports with data that flows from your database, spreadsheet, or other data source.
For example, Windward Reports from Windward Studios lets you use Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint to design templates and then connect those templates to your data. Another company that offers Office-based reporting is LJZSoft, which has a suite of tools that work with an SQL database.
If you like the idea of using Microsoft reporting tools to create templates but Office's business templates don't meet your needs, you can design the templates inhouse or hire a report designer. If you opt for the latter, be prepared to pay – and possibly quite a bit – for that privilege.
Another approach to generating business reports would be to use a software program that includes a proprietary design interface. For instance, Jasper Reports is an open-source tool from JasperForge, and Cognos lets you create ad-hoc queries. And of course, no list of reporting tools would be complete without a mention of Crystal Reports. Keep in mind that these types of tools are typically less flexible to use, however, because the design component is banded and therefore inherently limited.
Windward Reports has all the resources you need to have the reports you need for your business. Find the real bottom line and make sure you're guiding your business the way it needs to go.
RSS Feed