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Report Types

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In this lesson, you will learn:

  • What a report is in ServiceNow
  • The most common report types
  • How to pick the right type for your question

1 Turn data into answers

SNWR’s IT manager asks: “How many open incidents do we have, and which team has the most?” You could count rows in a list… or you could build a report. 📊

Key term: Report

A saved chart or table that shows data from one table, often grouped and counted. Reports update every time you open them.

2 Common report types

Six common report types with small example charts. Bar chart: compares groups, like open incidents per assignment group. Pie or donut chart: shows parts of a whole, like incidents by category. Line chart: shows change over time, like incidents opened per day. Single score: shows one number, like 42 open P1 incidents. List: shows the records themselves. Pivot table: counts across two fields, like priority by state.
Figure 1. Pick the report type that best answers your question.
Type Best for Example question
Bar Comparing groups Which team has the most open incidents?
Pie / Donut Parts of a whole What share of incidents is Hardware?
Line / Trend Change over time Are incidents going up each week?
Single score One important number How many P1 incidents are open right now?
List Seeing the records Which incidents are breaching their SLA?
Pivot table Two fields at once How many incidents per priority and state?

💡 Good to know: Start with the question, then pick the chart. If the question is “how many?”, a single score may be all you need.

⚠️ Heads up: Pie charts get hard to read with more than about 6 slices. Use a bar chart instead when there are many groups.

3 Where reports live

  • Open Reports > View / Run to see saved reports.
  • Reports can be added to dashboards (Chapter 23).
  • Reports only show data the viewer is allowed to see.

⭐ Remember: Bar = compare. Pie = share. Line = over time. Single score = one number.

4 Let’s try it: explore reports

  1. Open Reports > View / Run.
  2. Open two ready-made reports. What type is each one?
  3. Click a bar or slice on a chart. What happens? (It opens the list of those records!)

5 Quick recap

  • A report turns table data into a chart or table
  • Common types: bar, pie, line, single score, list, and pivot
  • Pick the type that answers your question
  • Click a chart to open the records behind it

6 Check yourself

Think of your answer first. Then tap to check.

1 You want to show whether incidents are rising week by week. Which type? Show answer

A line (trend) chart.

2 Your manager only wants to know how many P1 incidents are open. Which type? Show answer

A single score.

3 Can a report show records the viewer isn’t allowed to see? Show answer

No. Reports follow the same security as everything else.

Nice work! You finished this lesson. 🎉

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