A scheduled report emails a table of records on a daily, weekly or custom schedule. An alert works the same way but only sends when records match conditions you set. Both live on the Scheduled Reports tab of Analytics & Reports, and every run is recorded in a run history.
In this guide
Scheduled reports vs alertsWho can create and receive themHow to create a scheduled reportSetting the schedule, recipients and formatHow to set up an alertHow to test a report and read the run historyLimits and practical tipsFrequently asked questions
Scheduled reports vs alerts
Both types are built on the same data types as the Custom Report builder: Tasks, Projects, Time Entries, Expenses, Invoices, Accounts, Contacts and Deals.
- Report: every scheduled run emails the records that match your filter, even if the list is empty.
- Alert: every scheduled run checks your Alert Conditions. If no records match, nothing is emailed and the run is logged as skipped. If records match, they are emailed in a message titled Alert: your name (N matches). While the matches persist, each scheduled run sends again.
Reports arrive with the subject Scheduled Report: your name. Good uses include a Monday digest of open deals, a daily list of overdue tasks, or an alert when an invoice balance is overdue. If you have not built a custom report yet, start with Analytics and reports.
Who can create and receive them
- Permission: seeing the Scheduled Reports tab and its history needs Analytics read. Creating, editing, deleting and sending a test needs Analytics update. Admins have both; Managers and Finance have read by default.
- Data you can schedule: unless you are an admin, you can only schedule a report on a data type you can read yourself. For example you need access to Invoices to schedule an invoice report.
- External recipients: unless you are an admin, you can only email people who are users in your organization. Only admins can add outside email addresses.
Reports are not filtered per recipient. A scheduled report is built from your organization's data as configured, not trimmed to what each recipient could normally see. Choose recipients carefully, especially for finance or HR data.
How to create a scheduled report
- Open Analytics in the sidebar and choose the Scheduled Reports tab. Existing reports are listed on the left with a report or alert badge.
- Click New.
- Enter a Name, such as "Weekly Overdue Invoices".
- Under Type, choose Report or Alert.
- Choose a Data Type. Optionally pick a Use Saved View: a shared or personal saved view for that data type. When you select one, its filter and columns are used and the filter and column builders below are ignored.
- Otherwise set the Filter (which records to include) and tick the Columns you want. Select All and Clear All help here.
- Set the schedule (next section), recipients and format.
- Leave Active (runs on schedule) ticked and click Create Scheduled Report.
To change a report later, select it in the list, edit the form and click Save Changes. To stop it temporarily untick Active; to remove it use Delete at the top of the form.
Setting the schedule, recipients and format
Schedule
- Recurrence: Daily, Weekly or Custom (cron).
- Time and, for weekly, Day of Week (Sun to Sat).
- Timezone: pick the timezone the time refers to. It defaults to your browser's timezone.
- Cron Expression: for custom schedules use the standard five-field format, for example
0 9 * * 1-5for 9:00 on weekdays. An invalid expression is rejected when you save.
Recipients
Add Recipients - Org Users by searching for people, and Recipients - Email Addresses by typing an address and clicking Add. At least one recipient is required.
Format
- HTML: a formatted table in the email body.
- CSV and HTML + CSV: the data as CSV text.
The CSV is placed inside the email body as plain text, not as an attached file, so copy it into a spreadsheet if you need one. For file downloads use Export CSV on the Custom Report tab.
Let reports come to you
See how scheduled reports and alerts keep your team informed without logging in.
How to set up an alert
- Create a new item and set Type to Alert. The Alert Conditions (only send when these match) box appears.
- Build one or more conditions. Numeric thresholds, date comparisons and text matches are supported, such as Balance Due greater than 10000 or Days Overdue greater than 7.
- Keep the main Filter as the scope of records to look at, and use Alert Conditions for the trigger.
- Pick a daily or weekly schedule that fits how fast you want to react, then save.
Alerts repeat. An alert emails every time it runs while there are matching records. If it becomes noisy, tighten the conditions, lower the frequency or deactivate it once the issue is handled.
How to test a report and read the run history
Select a saved report and click Send Test Now. The run is queued and processed in the background, so wait a few seconds and look at Run History at the bottom of the form. The form also shows Last run time.
- Green (success): shows the date and the number of records, and a log such as Emailed 3 recipient(s).
- Grey (skipped): an alert ran but nothing matched, so no email was sent.
- Red (failed): hover the log text to read the reason.
Run History keeps the latest 50 runs. If you see No recipients were configured - nothing sent, the recipients no longer resolve to active users or valid addresses, so edit the recipient lists.
Limits and practical tips
- Row cap: a scheduled run emails at most 5,000 matching rows. Narrow the filter for larger data sets.
- Start with a saved view. Build and check the report on the Custom Report tab, click Save View, then select it under Use Saved View.
- Check your timezone before relying on a morning delivery, especially for teams in several regions.
- Nothing arriving? Confirm Active is ticked, check Run History, check spam folders, and make sure your organization's email sending is configured under Settings, Company Settings, Email.
- Event-based instead? To react the moment something happens rather than on a clock, use an automation rule.
Frequently asked questions
Open Analytics in the sidebar, choose the Scheduled Reports tab and click New. You need Analytics update permission to create or edit them; Analytics read lets you view them.
A scheduled report emails matching records on every run. An alert only emails when records match the Alert Conditions you set; if none match, the run is logged as skipped and no email is sent.
No. If you choose CSV or HTML + CSV, the CSV content is included as plain text inside the email body. Use Export CSV on the Custom Report tab when you need a downloadable file.
Only admins can add email addresses that are not users in your organization. Other users can only choose people from the organization.
Select the report and click Send Test Now, then check Run History after a few seconds to see whether it succeeded and how many recipients were emailed.
Yes. A scheduled run includes at most 5,000 matching rows, so narrow your filter if you need to stay below that.