Video - Custom Reports & Planner Copy
11 March 2026
An edited version of this session is available here: https://myob-tv.wistia.com/medias/cw6w0f9zwp
Here is a copy of the transcript if you prefer it.
Transcript - Custom Reports & Planner
Paul Buchanan • 00:10
MYOB acknowledges the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today. We would also like to pay our respects to the Elders past and present. We extend that acknowledgement to the Tangata Whenua of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Welcome to today's drop-in session for MYOB Practice Management. We're really pleased to be able to showcase some of the features, innovations and evolutions of our solution. I'm Paul Buchanan. I look after a team of account managers across Australia and New Zealand that are responsible for helping you get the most out of your practice solutions.
Joining me today are Nasim and Deirdre. Nasim is a product adoption specialist based in Melbourne. He'll be showing us how advanced search can be used to gain deeper business insight much, much faster. Deidre, based in Brisbane, is also part of our adoption specialist team at MYOB. A little later, she'll run through some of the recent improvements to Planner that are all about unlocking time and productivity.
So Nasim, let's start with you. Given everything we have in Advanced Search, in your opinion, what's one of the things that holds a whole heap of value?
Nasim Karimi • 01:36
Paul, there are quite a few valuable reports under the advanced search. We have WIP summary, WIP transactions, data transactions, client listing, and so on. But here's one on the screen right now that will save a lot of time straight up.
This is a client contact details view that I have set up for my clients using the client inquiry report, which will enable you to access client contact details very quickly, as opposed to the traditional way of searching for client contact details through the client inquiry screen, which takes much longer.
So traditionally if you were looking for clients contact details you would go to the CRM drop down select client inquiry type your clients name Then you click on your client to open. Then you click on the addresses tab to be able to see their contact details. As you can see there are quite a few clicks before you get to their contact details.
On the other hand, With this report, you can see all your clients on the screen with their contact details. If you don't see the client that you're looking for, you can search by typing their name at the top in the search box. As you can see, very quickly the information is available to you. So this one definitely saves a lot of time.
Paul Buchanan • 03:33
It looks great, but I'd love to see far more information, maybe something like data balances
Nasim Karimi • 03:42
Yes, Paul, that's actually a great idea. What I'll do is I'll take you through how to set up this view from scratch using the you client inquiry report. I'll also show you how to add data balance column and any other columns that you may need from the list of available columns for this report.
To start with, you click on the CRM drop-down and select Advanced Search. You then select the Client Inquiry Report from the Source drop-down in here. This is a report that will show you detailed information about all your clients. You can also access client inquiry screen, edit client tasks and contacts directly from this report. This report is commonly used for onboarding checks, audits, general client reviews, and also a quick way to check WIP and data balances for your clients if needed.
I'll take you through how to set up a client contact details view using this report. Before we go any further, it is important to note that the best practice is to set up your layout and view for advanced search reports in the following order.
The first thing is that we will select the correct columns. So you click on visible columns at the top right to open the list of available columns. As you can see there's a lot of columns that we've got available for this particular report. Now the easiest way to set up a view is to remove all your columns first and then decide which columns you need by selecting them from the list in here. For this exercise we will select Client Name. "Manager", "TFN" and "ABN", "Contact details", And also, as you suggested Paul, we will add another column for debtor balance in here. And any other columns that you made from the list, in here you can select it.
The other cool thing that I really like about this report is that you can drag and drop columns in the order that you want to see the data. For example, we can drag the contact details columns and drop them next to the client column. So, that way it makes it easier for us to see the clients and their contact details you right next to their names.
The next thing is setting your global filters. So, once you've got your columns sorted, you will then need to select your global filters. You click on filters icon at the top and select the appropriate filters for your view. For example, if you wanted to take a look at your clients as a partner or manager, you drop down the partner from here or manager and select your name from the list. So for this exercise we will select Maurizio as our partner. And also these are multi-select filters, which means that you can actually select more than one value at the same time. So you can choose more than one partner, manager, office, group, type, and so on.
We will then take a look at column heading filters. In addition to our global filters, we can filter the report further by clicking on the filter icon on a column header, which is available on every column. These filters behave like Excel filters. We can select the value available on the list or we can choose a further filtering option. you For example, equal, not equal, contains, custom filter and so on.
So for this example, we want to see a list of clients with debtor balances more than $500. So we go across to our debtor balance column. Click on filter, then select number filters and greater than, then we'll type 500 here as the value and press ok. Now we have a list of clients on the screen that have greater than $500 in debt imbalance. you I'll just remove this filter for now.
Then comes the grouping option. Grouping will let you group your report by one or more options. And will give you totals per group as well for numeric columns, making it easier to analyze you your data. So, if you wanted to group the report by managers, you click on the group by drop down and you select manager from the list here. This will group the report by managers, as you can see here on the screen. You can also see that we've got totals for the data balances at the group level.
Exporting to Excel is another powerful option which is available if needed, so if you wanted to do further data manipulation, you can actually export the report to Excel by selecting the to Excel button here at the top and this will also keep the same formatting and grouping the way you see it on the screen in npm so we'll just wait for our Excel file to load up As you can see here, we've got the same layout and the same grouping and it kind of keeps everything exactly the same as you export it out of npm. So I'll close out of this.
We will then save and share the view. Once you are happy with your filters, grouping and columns, you can save this as a view so you don't have to rebuild this each time you run the report. you click on save view at the top and give it a simple name so for our example I'll just say client contact details grouped by manager Now, if you wanted to share this view with other users internally, you can click on "Save as Standard" and then save it. That will make it available for other users in the practice as well. But if you just wanted to save it for yourself, you just save it, click on the "Save" button here. You can also mark this new view that you've created as your favorite by clicking on the star next to it. So if you click on this star here, now next time you open the client inquiry report, this will be the view that will be displayed for you automatically.
So, that's the order that we should select our columns. There's a quick way to find information within your advanced search reports by using the search box. The search box is a global quick find tool that scans the entire report at once. And it's mainly used for fast lookups. For example, finding a client by name, code, email and any other information.
So now that I've built this view, this could be used in many different ways. For example, I want to contact my client Barry Miller and discuss his accounting affairs and planning for 2026 financial year. I'll search for his name by typing his name in the search box at the top here. which will quickly bring up his information and contact details. Then I grab the phone and contact him and have a chat with him. As I'm speaking with him, I see on this report that we actually have an outstanding data balance for him. I bring it up with him as a friendly reminder and he makes the payment. So while I'm on the phone with him, he tells me that his email address has changed and that's why he didn't receive our invoices. I can easily grab the new email address and change it by clicking on the actions drop down menu next to his name and select edit client. Then I update his email address in here and save it. So all of this could be done from within this report without having to go to multiple screens or reports.
Now, in addition to all that, with this particular report, you can click on Clients Name and Drill into the full client enquiry screen to see all details from here. Or, as you saw it before, you can click on the Actions drop-down menu, which will allow you you to edit client information, tasks and contacts directly from here. So again, it's all about accessing the information quickly and saving time.
So these are the key functionalities of the advanced search reports and how they should be used. We will continue adding more reports in here, so it is important to familiarize yourself with the way advanced search works and start using it. so thank you very much Paul I'll hand it back to you thanks the same really Thanks Nasim.
Paul Buchanan • 17:04
Really appreciate you taking us through advanced search I'm sure everyone joining us today can see the value in the data and how they can maximize it it's now time to shift gears a little and take a dive into how we can use planner to unlock time in productivity So Deirdre, if there was one thing that you wanted people to take away from today's session and really understand how it was going to improve their day to day life, what would
Deirdre Thomson • 17:47
Thanks Paul. I'd say that being open to exploring new ways of managing your jobs and utilising the many fantastic features in Planner. Even if you've had Planner for some time, it's not too late to start including these in your day-to-day workflow.
What I'd like to do now is show you how Planner fits into your day-to-day workflow and how it helps you manage jobs end-to-end in one place. Naz has just shown you around advanced search reports and we're going to stay in advanced search for a moment. For those who've previously used AE or AO Job Manager homepage, what you're about to see will feel very familiar. This is the modern equivalent. It shows you all your jobs, who they're assigned to and when they're due.
From here, we're going to move out of reporting and into Planner, the workspace that sits behind these reports and shows you the live job list in real time. So on the screen, I've already set up a simple advanced search view over the jobs. It shows all the jobs assigned to me. I can see details like statuses, due dates and tags. I've sorted the list by end date, so the work that's due first is right up the top. This view may seem familiar if you've used AE/AO before, but the power now comes from the fact that this is just one way of looking at the same underlying job data.
Planner is where the data is managed from creation right through to completion and review. Before I show you a job, it's important to understand how a planner is structured. At the top of your screen you'll see project boards. These group related work together, for example, activity statements, marketing, SMSF, year end compliance. Within each board, you'll see projects. They are a collection of jobs. For example, 2025 Year in Compliance and here I've set up a board for 2026 Year in Compliance. Inside each project, you'll see the individual jobs, the actual pieces of client work that your team completes.
So today I'm going to focus mainly on the job level because that's where most users spend their time. On the screen now is the planner list view. Here I can see all my outstanding jobs for the selected project in one place. In this view I can see the client, the assignee and the due dates. I can also see job statuses which quickly tell me where each job is sitting in the workflow. I can also quickly filter the jobs by assignee, so just so I see all my jobs. And maybe I'd also like to just see what the job statuses are and see what I might be waiting for in review. As a manager, I can also get a view of all the jobs that I am managing.
Statuses tell me where a job is at, but tags give more context about the job. For example, what you're waiting for. could be waiting for a signature on a job. Tags can be used for any other information that you would like to filter by or have visible for quick information, even things like client software or high priority. So I can tag a job as waiting for client so everyone knows why it hasn't moved or I might be in a weekly workflow meeting and we decide that a particular job is high priority. I can simply tag it as high priority so that it stands out on everyone's list. So when you're reviewing workflow in a team meeting, you immediately understand what's holding things up and where to focus on first. Tags are fully customizable, but today I'm just showing you how they're used, not how to set them up.
So let me show you how easy it is to set up a new job from scratch. So on the screen, I'll add a new job for year-end 2025 compliance for Grandeur Global. We'll just put in their customer number. And then we'll click on the next job. the task which is compliance 2025. I'm going to assign this job to me and we'll just give it the same date range as the other jobs. Bearing in mind you will normally put down what the start date of the job is and when you're expecting to finish it. For this particular job, I'm just going to say, "Look, the job's just come in," but I'm going to add a tag saying, "We're waiting on some information from the client."
Now that the job is created, I can open it and look at the job detail. This is where the notes become a powerful tool for collaboration. A common scenario might be that a partner or manager has a conversation with a client and they need to pass on important details to the person who will be doing the work. And instead of scribbling on a piece of paper or sending another email, we can capture the context directly into the job. The note is then stored in the job. It also triggers a notification at the top of the screen which appears here in the little bell. The message recipient can go straight into the job.
With full context, it also works the other way around. If I'm the preparer and I'm sending the job to a partner or manager to review, I can tag them in a note and highlight anything I want them to focus on during the review. This means that the person doing the work has everything they need without chasing emails or messages and reviewers know exactly what to look for.
So far, I've been working in list view because that's how many of you are used to seeing your jobs. Some teams though really like a more visual view. I'm going to show you the board view, which is similar to a Kanban board. Each column represents a status. Not started, in progress, queries and each card is a job. I can simply drag and drop the jobs to move the status. This is great for workflow meetings, for example you can focus just on the not started column and work down the list. Where are we at with this job? Why haven't we started it yet? We're getting close to due date. What needs to happen? It's a visual way to manage the work. But today I'm going to switch back and keep working the list view as that is where most people start.
Now let's move to a powerful feature for recurring work like BAS or year end jobs. So let's say we're preparing for the next period, for example, Q3, and we want to set up our new project board. So rather than starting from scratch, we can roll jobs forward from the previous period. So you can see I have all these jobs sitting here. at various different statuses. So from the list view, I can go to settings and I can select duplicate projects. I'll select the board that I want to duplicate and that takes me into the project where I can actually replace the name here, which is BASQ2 with the name of the project. Actually I can just replace Q2 with Q3. I'll add on three months so that brings the project forward and I'll save the changes. and here we have our Q3 project board. So all the statuses are sitting at not started. You could have all those reassigned perhaps to somebody who's receiving the information from the client. So that is a really time-saving feature that you can utilized today.
Finally let's look at this from a manager's perspective. Because we saved our advanced search filters, as a manager I can open a view that shows all the jobs where I'm a manager, who the job is assigned to, I can filter by particular job statuses, and I can also sort by end dates. This becomes my weekly workflow view. I can see what's due soon, what's overdue, where we're waiting on clients or internal review, and combined with tags, it's ideal for a weekly workflow meeting. We can see which jobs are waiting on clients, which are waiting for signatures. and which has simply not started yet. We can talk through why haven't we started this job yet, or we're getting close to the due date, what needs to move. Again, this is about visibility and conversation, not about building complex reports.
So that's a quick walkthrough of how Planner supports job management end-to-end. from creating jobs, assigning and tracking them through statuses, collaborating via notes and notifications, recording times directly against jobs, and rolling recurring work forward quarter to quarter or year to year. There's a lot more capability within Planner, but today was about showing you how it fits into your daily workflow and how it can replace those old homepages with something more flexible. I'll now hand back to Paul, who'll talk you through the next steps. Thank you.
Paul Buchanan • 28:04
How great does that look? The visibility that creates for all in the team is exceptional. I'm personally incredibly grateful for the time which you have given us today. I know how valuable it is. I really hope that we've been able to repay it in the value that we have shown you today.
The team have been busy answering questions as we've gone, but if you haven't got the answer to your question, we'll be in touch pretty soon. Alternatively, here's my personal contact details, the link to this recording, and a link to our knowledge base. Please use them as you see fit. I'd love to hear from you.
Huge thanks to Nasim and Deirdre for taking us through on the time they've invested. It's been a real pleasure hosting you all today. Thanks again for joining. Please reach out any time and take care.