By default, a report displays the current month-to-date period. To change the date range, do one of the following:

• On the toolbar, click the arrow next to Date Range and select a preset period. Or, select Custom, and then enter specific dates in the From and To fields.
• On the toolbar, click Filter Options, and then modify the period in the Select Filter Options dialog box.

From a report, you can view individual transaction details.

 Note   When you hover the pointer over report information that contains details, the pointer changes to a pointing finger. The pointing finger indicates that you can double-click the information to obtain further details about it.

1. To view an individual transaction report, double-click a row or a line item. A new report opens.
2. In the new report, double-click a line to open the original transaction form.
3. If you want, make any changes to the transaction, and then click Save and Close on the toolbar.
4. To refresh the report, click Refresh on the toolbar.

 Note   If you open a report and edit an underlying document, to see the effect of your edit, you need to refresh the report. Because you can turn off the Refresh reminder (a check box in the Refresh dialog box that appears when you edit a document within a report) in Office Accounting 2008, you might forget to do this. Therefore, it is a good practice to always refresh a report (click Refresh on the toolbar, or press F5) after making any changes to it or to any documents in the report.

1. On the toolbar, click Modify Report.
2. In the Modify Report pane, click Filters, Columns, Fonts and Numbers, or Header and Footer to modify your report. To resize a column, click a column divider, and then drag it to a new position.

Apply filters to the report

Do one of the following:

• To display the Predefined filter options, click Filters.
• To select filter options, click View Filter Options.

   Note   To select filter options in the report, click Select Options on the toolbar.

Add or remove columns to view additional information

Click Columns, and then select or clear check boxes to add or remove columns. Adding columns can help you view additional information. For example, for some reports, you can compare results to previous periods. If a column heading appears dimmed, it is a required column and cannot be changed.

Modify fonts and numbers styling

Click Fonts and Numbers, and then use the options to modify the font and number styles used for selected elements of the report.

Modify header and footer information

Click Header and Footer, and then select or clear header and footer areas to modify them. For example, you can add notes to the header by typing information into the Notes box.

To view the report data graphically, click Show Chart on the toolbar.

Graphic presentation of data can be useful to help assess performance over time. You can view important details in graphic form that might not be apparent in a text-based report.

• To save a report, click Save Report on the toolbar.
• To revise a saved report, on the Reports menu, click Saved Reports to find and open it from the list.

• To print a report, click Print on the toolbar.
• To preview what your printed report will look like, on the File menu, click Print Preview.

To export a report, click Export to Excel on the toolbar.

 Note   To export a report, you must have Office Excel installed on your computer. In Excel, you can create additional graphs and customized reports, or send the report in an e-mail message.