Lesson 10.1: Understanding FastFund Reports and Lists

FastFund Online organizes all the data you enter—transactions, names, accounts, and budgets—into meaningful, easy-to-read reports. Whether you need a simple list of your vendors, a detailed transaction journal for your auditors, or FASB-compliant financial statements for your Board, the Reports module is your central hub for information.

This lesson introduces the FastFund Report Center, explains how to generate basic List Reports, and details the common parameters and output formats available across the system.

The Report Center Overview

All reporting functions are accessed by selecting Reports from the Main Menu. The Reports dashboard categorizes reports into logical groups to help you find what you need quickly:

• Control Account Registers: These are your “Books of Original Entry” or source journals (e.g., Cash Disbursements Journal, General Journal, Revenue Journal). They list every transaction entered during a specific period.

• Accounting Reports: Includes the Trial Balance and General Ledger Activity Report.

• Financial Statements: FASB-compliant reports including the Statement of Activities (Income Statement), Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet), and Statement of Functional Expenses.

• Budget Reports: Detailed comparisons of actual revenue and expenses against your budget.

• List Reports: Static lists of your data, such as the Chart of Accounts, Vendors, Clients, and Project Codes.

• AP/AR Reports: Subsidiary ledgers and aging reports for detailed management of payables and receivables.

Generating List Reports

List reports are the simplest type of report. They provide a printout of the static data you have set up in the system. This is often the first step in reviewing your system setup.

Common List Reports:

1. Chart of Accounts: You can print the entire linked chart of accounts or individual segment lists (Funds, Cost Centers, Object Codes).

2. Entity Lists: You can print lists for Vendors, Clients, and Other Names. These can be generated in Summary format (Name, Type, Contact, Phone) or Detail format (includes Address, Email, Web Address).

3. Codes and Projects: Lists of your tracking codes and active projects.

To Print a List (Example: Vendor List):

1. Navigate to Reports > Lists-Accounting Entities > Vendors.

2. Report Type: Select Summary or Detail.

3. Sort By: Choose to sort by Name or Number.

4. Filters: You can choose to include or exclude inactive records.

5. Generate: Click Generate Report.

Common Report Parameters

While every report has unique options, most FastFund reports share a common set of parameters that allow you to customize the output.

1. Date Selection For reports that require a date range (like a General Journal or Statement of Activities), FastFund offers a quick-select tool.

• Click the Three Horizontal Lines icon in the Date field.

• Select from dynamic options like This Month, Last Month, Fiscal YTD, or Last Calendar Year.

• Selecting these dynamic dates ensures that if you save the report parameters, they will automatically update to the correct dates the next time you run the report.

2. Comments Most report windows include a Comments field. Anything you type here will appear in the header of the printed report. This is useful for adding context, such as “Draft – For Review Only” or “Board Meeting Packet.”

3. Filters and Sorting

• Sort By: Allows you to organize data by Date, Reference, or Name.

• Report Fields: On many register reports, you can click the Report Fields dropdown to check or uncheck specific columns (e.g., adding “Created By” user to a transaction log).

Output Formats and Drill-Down Capabilities

When you generate a report, FastFund provides multiple formats to suit your needs:

1. HTML (Interactive Preview)

• Best for: On-screen review and investigation.

• Drill-Down: In the HTML view, data that appears in Blue is a hyperlink. Clicking a blue Transaction Type or Reference Number opens the original transaction entry screen in a new tab. Clicking a blue Name opens the entity record. This allows you to investigate discrepancies immediately without navigating away from the report.

2. PDF (Print/Save)

• Best for: Formal presentation, emailing to the Board, or physical filing.

• Fixed Format: PDF reports have a fixed layout designed for standard paper sizes. Note that if you add too many custom columns in the Report Fields options, they may not all fit on a PDF page.

3. Excel / CSV (Data Analysis)

• Best for: Further analysis, complex calculations, or importing into other software.

• Excel (.xlsx): Exports formatted data.

• CSV (.csv): Exports raw comma-delimited data.

To Export: After clicking Generate Report, look for the format icons (PDF, HTML, Excel, CSV) at the top of the window. Click the desired icon to download or view the file.