# Report Grids

How to sort, filter, choose columns, group, save a layout as a template and export to Excel on the report grid shared by the dashboards, the company reports and Job Explorer.

Source: https://getjobbook.com/help/Report_Grids
Last updated: 2026-09-17

## Key Concepts

Nine screens in Job Book show their rows in the same grid, with the same toolbar above it and the same ⋮ column
menu in every column header. Learn it on one screen and you know it on the others. This page describes the grid.
The page for each screen describes that screen's columns and what its rows mean, and says which parts of the grid
the screen has.

![The toolbar and grouping bar above a report grid](https://getjobbook.com/_astro/report-grid-toolbar.BnTHBBnO.png)

*Nothing you do in this grid changes a record; it only changes what you see, and a template remembers that.*

From left to right and top to bottom:

- **Export to Excel**: downloads what the grid is showing as an Excel file.
- **template toolbar**: **Select Template...**, **Reset**, **Delete**, **Load**, **Save** and **Save As**. It
  remembers a layout so you can come straight back to it.
- **the count**: at the right of the toolbar, reading "Showing 12 of 12 jobs" above. The first number is the rows
  on screen after your filters and the second is the rows the grid holds, so the count is how you confirm a filter
  took effect. Each screen names its rows: jobs, tasks, assets, records, expenses, employees or leave requests.
- **grouping bar**: the strip reading "Drag a column header and drop it here to group by that column".
- **column header**: click it to sort. The ⋮ at its right edge opens the column menu: **Sort Ascending**,
  **Sort Descending**, **Columns** and **Filter**.

### Where you will find it

- [Active Job Dashboard](https://getjobbook.com/help/Active_Job_Dashboard)
- [Task Dashboard](https://getjobbook.com/help/task-dashboard)
- [Asset Management](https://getjobbook.com/help/Assets#managing-assets-in-the-grid)
- [Job Explorer](https://getjobbook.com/help/Job_Maps#the-locations-tab), on the **Locations** tab
- [Line Item Report](https://getjobbook.com/help/Reports#line-item-report)
- [Time Card Report](https://getjobbook.com/help/Time_and_Expense_Reports#time-card-report)
- [Expense Report](https://getjobbook.com/help/Time_and_Expense_Reports#expense-report)
- [Utilization Report](https://getjobbook.com/help/Time_and_Expense_Reports#utilization-report)
- [Leave Request Report](https://getjobbook.com/help/leave-request-report)

Some other screens have part of the grid. **My Expenses**, **Invoice Export** and the three reports on a job have
the grouping bar and **Export to Excel** but no template toolbar, so there is nothing to save on them. A funnel in
each column header opens the same Filter panel the column menu does. The **Jobs** tab of Job Explorer has the
grouping bar and **Export to Excel** and no filters at all; its filtering is the **Filters** dialog above the tabs.
**My Time Cards**, the **Time Grid** and the **WIP Report** have **Export to Excel** and the funnel in each header,
with no grouping bar and no template toolbar. Their own pages say what they carry. The backlogs share a grid of
their own, built around ticking rows and a batch button; see [Backlog Grids](https://getjobbook.com/help/Backlog_Grids).

### What differs from screen to screen

Every one of them has **Export to Excel**, the template toolbar, header-click sorting and the **Columns**
checklist. The rest varies:

| Screen | Grouping bar | Filter in the column menu | Clicking a second header | Drag a header to move it |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Active Job Dashboard | Yes | Yes | Adds a sort | Yes |
| Task Dashboard | Yes | Yes | Adds a sort | Yes |
| Asset Management | Yes | Yes, and a filter row | Replaces the sort | Yes |
| Job Explorer, Locations tab | Yes | No, use the **Filters** dialog | Adds a sort | Yes |
| Line Item Report | Yes | Yes | Adds a sort | No |
| Time Card Report | Yes | Yes | Adds a sort | No |
| Expense Report | Yes | Yes | Adds a sort | No |
| Utilization Report | No | Yes | Replaces the sort | No |
| Leave Request Report | No | Yes, a shorter list | Replaces the sort | No |

The Leave Request Report is also the only one that pages: it shows 100 rows at a time to start with, and the
paging bar across the foot offers other page sizes. The others show every row.

## Performing Common Tasks

### Sorting

Click a column header to sort the grid by that column. An arrow appears in the header. Click again and the sort
reverses. Click a third time and the column is unsorted again. **Sort Ascending** and **Sort Descending** in the
column menu do the same without the cycling.

What happens when you click a second header depends on the screen, as the table under Key Concepts says: on most
of the nine the first sort stays and the second is added inside it, and on the other three the second click
replaces the first. Sort the Active Job Dashboard by **Project Manager** and then by **Status**, and each project
manager's jobs are in status order. The order you click the headers is the order the sorts apply.

![The Active Job Dashboard sorted by Project Manager and then by Status, with an arrow in both headers](https://getjobbook.com/_astro/multi-column-sort.mwWrSGic.png)

*To take a sort off, click that header until its arrow disappears.*

The Line Item, Time Card and Expense reports open already sorted by more than one column. Clicking a header there
changes only that column and leaves the rest. Nothing puts the opening order back short of reopening the report
from the dashboard: **Reset** on the template toolbar stays greyed out until you load a template.

### Filtering

Open the column menu on the column you want to narrow and hover over **Filter**. The panel reads "Show items with
value that:" and holds an operator dropdown, a box for the value, an **And** / **Or** choice, a second operator
and value, and the **Filter** and **Clear** buttons.

![The Filter panel open on the Client column, with the operator dropdown showing Is equal to, Is not equal to, Starts with, Contains, Does not contain, Ends with and Is null](https://getjobbook.com/_astro/filter-panel.iNuWI8Bq.png)

*The count in the toolbar drops when the filter takes effect.*

Choose an operator, type the value, and click **Filter**. To take the filter off, open the same panel and click
**Clear**.

The operators depend on what the column holds:

- **Text columns**: **Is equal to**, **Is not equal to**, **Starts with**, **Contains**, **Does not contain**,
  **Ends with**, **Is null**, **Is not null**, **Is empty**, **Is not empty**, **Has no value** and **Has value**.
  **Contains** is the forgiving one; **Is equal to** needs the whole value, spelt as the grid shows it.
- **Date columns**: **Is equal to**, **Is not equal to**, **Is after or equal to**, **Is after**, **Is before or
  equal to**, **Is before**, **Is null** and **Is not null**, with a date picker for the value.
- **Number columns**: **Is equal to**, **Is not equal to**, **Is greater than or equal to**, **Is greater than**,
  **Is less than or equal to**, **Is less than**, **Is null** and **Is not null**, with a number box for the value.

A second condition goes in the lower half of the panel, joined to the first with **And** or **Or**. **Status**
**Is equal to** Scheduled **Or** **Is equal to** Processing shows both. Filters on different columns always
combine with And: a filter on **Client** and a filter on **Status** shows only the rows that pass both.

Some screens filter a little differently:

- **Leave Request Report**: the text columns offer only **Starts with**, **Contains**, **Is equal to**,
  **Is not equal to**, **Has no value** and **Has value**. The **Status** and **Leave Period** columns show a
  checklist instead of operators: tick the values you want and click **Filter**. The **Status** column of the
  Task Dashboard filters with the same kind of checklist.
- **Asset Management**: as well as the column menu, a filter row sits under the column headers. Type in a box and
  the grid narrows to the rows containing what you typed. See
  [Managing assets in the grid](https://getjobbook.com/help/Assets#managing-assets-in-the-grid).
- **Job Explorer, Locations tab**: the column menu has no **Filter**. Use the **Filters** dialog above the tabs,
  described on [Job Maps](https://getjobbook.com/help/Job_Maps#filtering-what-you-see).

![The Status column filter on the Leave Request Report, a checklist of Select All, Not Submitted, Submitted, Approved and Rejected](https://getjobbook.com/_astro/checkbox-filter.BYRjur5q.png)

*A column with a fixed set of values filters by checklist.*

![The column menu on the City column of the Locations tab, showing Sort Ascending, Sort Descending and Columns only](https://getjobbook.com/_astro/locations-column-menu.DuQhuals.png)

*The Locations tab is the one report grid without Filter in its column menu.*

### Choosing columns

Open any column menu and hover over **Columns** for a checklist of every column the grid can show. Ticked columns
are on screen. Untick one and it disappears; tick it and it comes back. The checklist is the same whichever
column's menu you open it from.

![The Columns checklist open on the Active Job Dashboard, with Project Name, Ordered and Office unticked](https://getjobbook.com/_astro/columns-checklist.FfKfcs7Z.png)

*Unticking a column hides it from the grid and from the Excel export.*

Some screens keep columns hidden until you tick them; each screen's page says which.

To change a column's width, drag the edge of its header. On the Active Job Dashboard, the Task Dashboard, Asset
Management and Job Explorer you can also drag a header left or right to move the column; the reports keep
their columns in a fixed order. The Time Card Report's columns cannot be resized either.

### Grouping

Drag a column header onto the grouping bar and the rows are gathered under one heading per value, each heading
reading the column name and the value, such as "Project Manager: Lance L". Click the triangle at the left of a
heading to collapse or expand that group. The header you dragged becomes a chip on the grouping bar, with an arrow
to sort the groups and a × to take the grouping off. Where the grid has a totals row, each group gets a subtotal
row of its own under its last row.

![The Active Job Dashboard grouped by Project Manager, with a collapsible heading and a subtotal row for each project manager](https://getjobbook.com/_astro/grouped-by-project-manager.sn-KxTAW.png)

*Grouping lets you read one project manager's jobs on their own.*

Drop a second header onto the bar to group within groups. Grouped by **Project Manager** and then **Status**,
each project manager's group holds one sub-group per status.

### Saving a layout as a template

Once the columns, filters, sort and grouping are the way you want them, a template keeps that layout so you do not
have to build it again. A template remembers:

- which columns are shown and hidden, their order and their widths;
- the filters in force;
- the sort, including a sort on more than one column;
- the grouping.

The template toolbar sits beside **Export to Excel**. **Reset**, **Delete**, **Load** and **Save** are greyed out
until you choose a template from **Select Template...**, so on a screen with no templates yet **Save As** is the
only one you can click.

- **Save As**: saves the current layout as a new template. A prompt asks "Please enter a template name:"; type a
  name and click **OK**.
- **Select Template...**: choose one of your saved templates.
- **Load**: applies the selected template. The screen also opens with that template from then on, until you
  click **Reset** or load another.
- **Save**: overwrites the selected template with the current layout. It asks first: "Are you sure that you want
  to replace the template 'Name'?"
- **Delete**: removes the selected template, after asking "Are you sure that you want to delete the template
  'Name'?"
- **Reset**: puts the grid back to the layout it opens with by default, and stops any template loading on its own.

![The Save As prompt asking for a template name, above the dimmed grid](https://getjobbook.com/_astro/template-save-as.BHkGdpDU.png)

*Name the template for what it shows.*

Templates are kept in your browser on the computer you saved them on. Nobody else sees them, they do not follow
you to another computer, and clearing the browser's stored data removes them. Each screen keeps its own set, so a
template saved on the Task Dashboard does not appear on the Active Job Dashboard. Template names ignore
capitalization: saving "Overdue" when you already have "overdue" replaces it.

### Exporting to Excel

**Export to Excel** is at the left of the toolbar. Clicking it downloads a file named Export.xlsx holding what the
grid is showing: only the columns on screen, only the rows that pass your filters, in the current sort order, with
the totals row where the grid has one. Hide the columns you do not need and filter before you export, so the
spreadsheet holds only what you want.

## Related Guides

- Report Grids
- [Active Job Dashboard](https://getjobbook.com/help/Active_Job_Dashboard)
- [Task Dashboard](https://getjobbook.com/help/task-dashboard)
- [Assets](https://getjobbook.com/help/Assets)
- [Job Maps](https://getjobbook.com/help/Job_Maps)
- [Reports](https://getjobbook.com/help/Reports)
- [Time and Expense Reports](https://getjobbook.com/help/Time_and_Expense_Reports)
- [Leave Request Report](https://getjobbook.com/help/leave-request-report)
- [Backlog Grids](https://getjobbook.com/help/Backlog_Grids)