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How to Generate and Build Reports in Smartsheet Project Management Platform

As an experienced project manager, I often get asked about how to effectively generate and build reports in Smartsheet to track project progress. Smartsheet’s robust reporting capabilities allow you to easily work with real-time data from multiple sheets and provide visibility into the status of tasks, milestones, budgets, resources, risks, and more.

Overview of Smartsheet Reporting

Smartsheet offers two main types of reports:

Row Reports

Row reports allow you to aggregate row data from multiple sheets into a consolidated view. For example, you can see all incomplete high priority tasks across projects in a single report.

Sheet Summary Reports

Sheet summary reports allow you to aggregate summary data from multiple sheets to get a high-level overview. For example, you can view total budget vs actual costs for multiple projects.

Reports in Smartsheet are bi-directional, meaning any updates made in reports automatically sync back to the source sheets. You can also share and publish reports.

Step-by-Step Process to Build Reports

Follow these steps to generate reports in Smartsheet:

1. Select Report Type

From the toolbar, click Create > Report and choose either a row report or sheet summary report.

2. Give Your Report a Name

Give your report a name that summarizes its purpose.

3. Select Source Sheets

Choose which sheets to pull data from. You can select multiple sheets across folders and workspaces.

4. Pick Columns to Display

Select the specific columns you want to include in the report from the source sheets.

5. Set Filter Criteria

Filter rows to only show relevant data. For example, you may filter tasks by Priority = High.

6. Group and Summarize

Group data into categories and define totals or averages. For example, group tasks by Owner to summarize totals.

7. Sort Columns

Choose how you want to order the data in the report. For example, sort tasks by Due Date.

Advanced Reporting Tips

Here are some pro tips for building more advanced Smartsheet reports:

  • Use formulas like SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, MAX, etc. to calculate metrics within reports.
  • Add reports directly to dashboards to share an up-to-date view with stakeholders.
  • Format reports using conditional formatting rules to visually highlight important data.
  • Schedule reports to automatically generate PDFs on a recurring basis.
  • Publish reports to create a live, read-only link to share.
  • Restrict report access using sharing and permissions.

Example Reports

Here are some examples of useful reports I build regularly in Smartsheet to manage projects:

Portfolio Summary Report

  • Source Sheets: All project sheets
  • Columns: Project Name, Owner, Status, Start Date, Due Date, Budget
  • Group By: Status
  • Summarize: SUM of Budget

This report allows me to see a high-level overview of the health of my entire project portfolio.

Cross-Project Task Report

  • Source Sheets: All project sheets
  • Filter: Priority = High AND Status != Complete
  • Columns: Task Name, Owner, Due Date, Days to Due Date
  • Sort By: Days to Due Date

This report lets me quickly see all incomplete high priority tasks across multiple projects in order of upcoming due date.

Resource Utilization Report

  • Source Sheets: All project sheets
  • Filter: Assignee != Blank
  • Group By: Assignee
  • Summarize: SUM of Duration

I use this report to analyze the workload distribution across my project team members.

Budget vs Actual Report

  • Source Sheets: A specific project sheet
  • Columns: Expense Category, Budget, Actual Cost
  • Group By: Expense Category
  • Summarize: SUM of Budget, SUM of Actual Cost

This report allows me to easily track total budget vs total actual costs for a project by expense category.

Key Takeaways

  • Smartsheet reports consolidate data from multiple sources into unified views
  • Filter and group data to focus reports on specific information
  • Add formulas to calculate totals, averages, and other metrics
  • Format reports using conditional formatting and custom columns
  • Share, publish, and restrict access to reports
  • Include reports in dashboards to provide visibility into project health

With these reporting capabilities at your fingertips along with the other robust project management features Smartsheet offers, you have immense power to control your projects and drive them to success. Let me know if you have any other questions!

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