In Salesforce, when you create an object, define a master-detail or lookup relationship, Salesforce automatically creates a report type. When standard report types do not fulfill your requirements, you can create a Custom Report Type and let users create reports from that report type.
Design Possibilities with Custom Report Type’s Field Layout
With custom report type, you can create sections, add/remove fields, reorder them and edit its properties. You can also shuffle fields between sections, add fields via lookup relationship and mark fields as ‘Checked by Default’ so that they are added automatically to the report columns when users are creating the report. Finally, preview the layout once done designing and deploy it to the users.
If you design the Custom Report Type Field Layout with thoughtful consideration, your users are going to benefit from your efforts. They will be able to see only the selected fields relevant to them, grouped by sections, and the key fields added as default in the layout. There will be less clutter in ‘Fields’ pane when creating reports and the users will save a considerable amount of time & confusion when creating their reports.
Here is a step-by-step guide that just walks you through how to create a a Custom Report Type in Salesforce. Within the next 30 minutes or so, you will learn how to:
- Create a Custom Report Type
- Edit Layout
- Create New Section
- Edit Properties
- Preview Layout
- Create Custom Report Using the Report Type
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References & Useful URLs
- Criteria to Generate a Standard Report Type – Help Article (5 mins) – https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=000316872&language=en_US&type=1&mode=1
- Design the Field Layout for Reports Created From Your Custom Report Type – Help Article (10 mins) – https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=reports_report_type_layouts.htm