Lesson 9.3: Report Filters, Email Logs, and Audit Logs
FastFund Online provides robust tools to help you extract specific data for analysis, track system communications, and monitor user activity for internal control purposes. This lesson covers three distinct but powerful utilities: Report Filters for customizing data output, Email Logs for tracking sent documents, and Audit Logs for security and accountability.
Part 1: Report Filters
Virtually every field in the FastFund database is searchable, sortable, and exportable using Report Filters. While standard reports provide fixed formats, Filters allow you to “mine” your data to answer specific questions, such as “Which vendors in California were paid more than $1,000 last year?” or “Which donors gave to the Building Fund but not the General Fund?”
Key Filter Rules: Before building a filter, you must understand three critical rules to ensure accurate results:
1. Mailing Lists: If you are creating a filter for a mailing list (labels or letters), you must include the condition: Address Select is equal to True. This ensures you only get the primary mailing address for each person, preventing duplicate labels for the same entity.
2. Transaction Data: If your filter involves financial transactions, you must specify the Transaction Type (e.g., Transaction Type is equal to Cash Disbursement).
3. Excluding Inactive Records: To prevent inactive records from appearing, include the condition: Inactive is equal to False.
Creating a Report Filter:
1. Navigate to Reports > Reporting Tools > Report Filters.
2. Click New + to create a filter.
3. Header: Name the filter and assign which users have permission to use it.
4. Define Criteria: Click Filter Criteria.
◦ Filter Object: Select the table (e.g., Vendor, Transaction, Entity Address).
◦ Field: Select the specific data point (e.g., State, Amount, Date).
◦ Condition: Choose the operator (Equals, Is Greater Than, Contains, Is Between).
◦ Value: Enter the value to match (e.g., “CA”, “1000.00”).
5. Click Update to add the line. You can add multiple lines to refine your search.
Boolean Logic (AND vs. OR): When using multiple criteria, you must decide how they relate:
• Match All Conditions (AND): Use this to narrow results. (e.g., Vendor is Active AND State is NY). Both must be true.
• Match Any Condition (OR): Use this to broaden results. (e.g., State is NY OR State is NJ). Either can be true.
Filter Branches: For complex queries, you can add a Filter Branch. This allows you to nest logic, such as finding (Condition A AND Condition B) OR (Condition C AND Condition D).
Part 2: Email Logs
FastFund allows you to email Client Bills and Donor Receipts directly from the system. The Email Log provides a history of these communications so you can verify delivery statuses.
Accessing the Log: Navigate to Utilities > Miscellaneous > Email Logs.
The log displays:
• Date Sent
• Sender and Recipient
• Subject Line
• Delivery Status
• Attachment (link to the PDF that was sent)
You can filter this log by recipient or date to quickly prove to a client that a bill was emailed on a specific date.
Part 3: Audit Logs
The Audit Log is a critical internal control feature that tracks data entry and modification. It allows the Company Administrator to trace the history of an entry and identify which user entered, modified, or deleted a record.
Access Rules:
• Only the Company Administrator can access the Audit Logs.
• Logs are retained for a rolling 24-month period. Once you enter the 25th month, the oldest month is automatically purged.
Using the Audit Log:
1. Navigate to Administration (Gear Icon) > Company Information > Audit Logs.
2. Log Type: Select the data type you want to investigate (e.g., Transactions, Vendors, Users, Budgets).
3. Filter: You can filter by Date Range, specific User, or Action (Create, Update, Delete).
4. Review: The log shows the ID, Item Description, Date, Action, User, and IP Address.
◦ Drill Down: Click the Magnifying Glass icon to see details. If a record was updated, the log will show the Before data and the After data, allowing you to see exactly what changed.
