Many times you check two similar reports in software and notice a difference in data. The first thing we should understand is there are many reports in software and every report is created considering different criteria so it is quite possible to have a difference in data output.

You can follow the below checklist whenever you are comparing two reports.

  1. Every report has a Description added so check the description of reports you are comparing to get a basic idea on what is considered in the report and what is not.
  2. If there is a Date range parameter in the report always select a smaller Date range. This will help you in finding the root cause of the difference in data output.
  3. Check if there is a similar parameter in the reports you are comparing. If you select different parameters while executing the report it can give different outputs.

 

Now let us take an example of system reports Sales Report By Category In Date Range and Sales Summary By Month by Category

  1. Both the reports have similar parameters i.e. Business Location and Date range. Sales Summary By Month by Category report has a category parameter also but it is optional so at present, we will not select any category there.

 

  1. Below image shows the Sales Invoices created on 11th July 2020. And the total Sales amount is 292.

 

 

  1. Similarly below image shows the Sales Returns created on 11th July 2020. And the total Sales Return amount is 192.

  1. The output of Sales Report By Category In Date Range is as given below for the same Date range and Business Location.

  1. The output of Sales Summary By Month by Category Range is as given below for the same Date range and Business Location.

 

  1. The above example clearly shows Sales Summary By Month by Category Range does not consider sales return in it. So if you have more data you might easily get confused.

 

  1. So it is always recommended to not compare two reports. And if you are doing it you will have to carefully analyze the conditions used in the report.