Standard and custom report types for Life Sciences engagement reporting
Key Takeaway
To report on a child object together with its parent's fields, such as ProductDisbursement with Visit fields, use a custom report type with the parent as the primary object. For the Life Sciences Cloud mobile app, use a tabular, summary, or matrix report, not a joined report.
A report type decides which records and fields a report can use. Salesforce provides standard report types for most data. When users need extra objects or fields in one report, such as Visit fields next to Life Sciences visit execution data, an admin builds a custom report type. The report format also matters, because joined reports appear blank in the Life Sciences Cloud mobile app.
What a report type does
Choosing the report type sets the limits of what any report built on it can show. There are two kinds: standard report types and custom report types.
| What it gives access to | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| Standard report types | Most Salesforce data | The Opportunities report type, for reporting on Opportunity Amount or Probability |
| Custom report types | Custom objects, or custom views of standard objects that an administrator configures | Opportunities plus related fields from Products, for reporting on Opportunities for a given product |
You can tailor the standard collection to your requirements, so you rarely need to create a brand-new report. Some Salesforce features also come with pre-designed custom report types, so check for an existing one before you create a new one.