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Trend Reporting

Grace
Updated

Visualize how a single record's data changes over time

Trend Reports are a new type of Visual Report that show how a single field on a single record changes over time. A Trend Report currently can track one Custom Number or Calculation field on one record — for example, watching a risk's residual score move month over month, an assessment verdict trend across a year, or KRI improvements or outliers.

Trend Reports currently support Line, Area, and Bar charts, one field per report, and one record per report.

How to create a Trend Report

 

  1. Navigate to Reports > Visual Reports using the menu. Click +New Visual Report.
  1. From the dropdown, select Trend Report (as opposed to Standard Visual Report). This opens the Create New Trend Report page.
  1. Fill in the Report Details:
  • Report Name (required)
  • Workflow (required): your selection displays as the Application/Workflow
  • Record (required): This field is disabled until you select a Workflow. Once enabled, it's type-ahead searchable and lists records by their Name (primary) field
  • Insights Summary (optional checkbox): include an AI-driven report summary and the ability to ask Spark AI about the report's data
  • Report Description (optional)
  1. Click Save. The Configuration and Chart Preview sections appear below.
  1. Review Report Details — it now shows a read-only summary of what you selected in step 3. Click Edit if you need to change any of those settings.
  1. In the Configuration tab, set up your axes:

X-Axis

  • X-Axis Label defaults to "Time" and can't be edited - the X-axis on a Trend Report is always time-based.
  • Time Period: defaults to the last one year, up through the current date. Choose a start and end date (date-to-date; no specific time needed). Trend Reports use your browser's timezone, consistent with standard Visual Reports. You can only select dates as far back as field audit history exists for the record.
  • Group By: defaults to Month. Options are Day, Week, Month, or Year. Available options depend on the length of your time period — for example, you can't group by Month if your range only covers the last 7 days. If you narrow an existing range to something that no longer supports your current grouping, it will automatically switch you to the largest available option.
    • Months run calendar-style (1/1–1/31, 2/1–2/28, etc.) and weeks run Sunday–Saturday.
  • Aggregate By: Average, Minimum, or Maximum (defaults to Average). This determines how multiple data points in the same grouped period are combined.

Y-Axis

  • Y-Axis (required) — the field you're tracking. This must be a Custom Number, Calculation, Date Calculation, or Linked Record Count field.
  • Y-Axis Label automatically populates with the Y-axis field's name once you select it, and can be edited.
  1. Once you select a Y-axis field, the Chart Preview renders. Before that, it shows a "Preview not available yet — select a field for the Y-axis to see a preview of your chart" message.
  1. Choose a Chart Type — Line, Area, or Bar (defaults to Line). Each type has its own sub-style options:
  • Line: Line, Spline, Step (defaults to Spline)
  • Area: Line, Spline, Step
  • Bar: Vertical or Horizontal orientation

Your X-axis and Y-axis labels, along with your Report Description, display underneath the chart in the preview. You can hover over the preview to interact with it just like a saved report.

  1. Switch to the Colors tab to customize your chart's color. Select a Y-axis field first, then choose a color for it. We currently support a single color per report. Click Reset All to restore the default color.
  1. Click Save Report (or Create Report, depending on where you are in the flow) to save your Trend Report.

 

Viewing and using Trend Reports

  • Historical data: Once saved, you can view your Trend Report's historical data and hover over any point for a tooltip with details.
  • Gaps in data: If a bucket (day, week, month, or year) has no new data, the previous period's final value carries forward for aggregation. For example, if a value ended at 4 in January and nothing changed in February, February will also show 4.
  • No data yet: The chart only plots points once data exists. The axis still starts at your selected start date, but no points render until the first value appears.
  • Large date ranges: If you set a start date far in the past, you may see a warning before the report loads.
  • Spark AI Reporting Insights: If enabled, a report summary and Spark AI section load alongside your chart.

Finding and managing Trend Reports

On the Visual Reports page:

  • A new Data Type column shows whether each report is a Standard or Trend report.
  • Use the filter buttons, All Visual Reports, Standard, or Trend, to narrow the list.

Trend Reports support the same actions as Standard Visual Reports:

  • Export: Click the download button to open the same Visual Report export modal used for Standard reports.
  • Add to Dashboard: Add a Trend Report to a Dashboard just like any other Visual Report.
  • Toolbar icons: Refresh, export, favorite, and edit work the same as they do on Standard Visual Reports.
  • Settings (gear icon): Copy Report or Delete Report.

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