8 Best Reporting Tools & Software for 2023

Reporting is the presentation of data in an easy-to-understand format. Reporting tools that are well-designed will provide you with a chart, graph, or other visual representations of information to aid you in making decisions. If the representation is relevant and accurate, you can gain actionable insight.

Reporting is also about how complex the data is. Semi-manual reports can be done with non-complex data in a spreadsheet like a Google Sheet. As the data becomes more complex, you will need other tools to aggregate it. Some even use AI and machine learning to make sense of the information.

If you need to deal with company-wide data, you may be considering a big analytics platform. But that is a separate topic. Whether you’re using a BI tool or project management software, the tool must be able to adapt to your business, handle multiple data sources, and provide you with the information you need.

The Key Features of Reporting Tools & Software

• Robust Reporting: This is usually seen as interactive reports, where you can click on the items to drill down into the source of the information. The number of filters you have available can also be used to measure robust reporting.
• Dashboard customization: This customization allows you to change the visual composition of your board. You can also drag and drop to change colors and chart types, or personalize the board with drag-and-drop. You can create a dashboard for digital marketing, finance, budgets, and any other type of dashboard with relative ease.
• Source options: This tool should be capable of pulling information from multiple sources. These sources are usually the tools in the integrations listing.
• Sharing options: You should be able to share your information with others using a variety of options on the platform. These options can include a specific file format or printing options, as well as sharing to other apps such as Slack.

Also read: How To Create Reliable Test Automation Reports

8 Best Reporting Tools & Software for 2023

1. ProWorkflow

ProWorkflow was created in 2002 as a project management tool that could support analytics and reporting. Logging in to the tool will immediately show you a dashboard that provides a visual summary of your current stats, including completed, active, and upcoming work.

Standard reports give detailed information about your workload and performance, as well as the tasks and financial data. You can create your own custom reports, choose the data you want, and share it with your team.

The reports screens and the downloads are not very appealing visually. Although the data is well-organized and easy to understand, you may want more physical pizzaz. You might have to perform some manual graphic design interventions.

You can access key features such as resource reports on staff, time, workload breakdown, time summary, individual project reports, and task reports. Reports can also be exported to multiple formats.

ProWorkflow can be integrated with tools such as Quickbooks, KashFlow, FreshBooks MYOB AccountRight, Box Storage, DropBox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and hundreds more through Zapier.

ProWorkflow is $10/month and includes up to 10 active projects.

2. Hive

Hive is an excellent tool for project management, reporting, and task coordination. Hive Analytics leverages AI and machine learning to provide interactive dashboards that give you actionable insights about team productivity and help you spot potential risks. Hive Analytics provides interactive dashboards that allow you to manage team utilization for specific clients or projects by precisely allocating future and current resources based on real-time data.

Reporting tools can also track and estimate time spent on projects to ensure accurate resource allocation, billing, and future project planning. You can track time spent on particular projects and tasks directly from Hive by filling in timesheets. You can access timesheet reports to make it easy for your staff to see the whole picture.

It is worth noting, however, that you can import data from other tools such as Trello, Basecamp, and Smartsheet if you are switching to Hive.

Hive can be integrated with Google Drive and Salesforce, Jira. Dropbox, Slack. Zoom. One Drive. Box. And more than a thousand other tools via Zapier.

Hive costs start at $12/user/month

3. Google Data Studio

Google Data Studio is a tool that allows you to create dashboards and reports from data. Google Data Studio can be used to pull data from spreadsheets, Google Analytics, or Google Ads. Google Data Studio dashboards can be shared and enable team members to have access to critical information that is crucial to their decision-making.

Google Data Studio is a free tool that allows you to create reports. It has a simple interface that anyone can use, even those who don’t have any experience in data analytics. It includes useful features such as pre-built data connectors and data visualization. You can add custom filters to make sure you present your data in the best possible way.

Google Data Studio integrates easily with Google Ads and Google BigQuery. It is also compatible with YouTube and MySQL.

Google Data Studio is a free reporting tool.

4. Power BI for Office 365

Power BI, a cloud-based suite that provides analytics and reporting tools, is available with Office 365 Enterprise. You can also download the mobile app version. It has an analytics feature that allows you to dig deep and identify patterns in your data. This can be used to generate actionable insights. Power BI allows you to access cloud-based data sources such as Salesforce, SharePoint, and Azure SQL DB.

Power BI is one of the best reporting tools for scaling businesses because instead of charging per user, you can pay per computing capacity so that your business uses the most computing power. Power BI can be used to create interactive data visualizations to make it easier to understand information. You can create customized reports by using themes, formatting, or layout tools.

Power BI can also be used to create mobile-optimized reports, which are viewable on smartphones.

Power BI pricing starts from $9.99/user/month. They offer a free trial on request.

5. Tableau

Tableau is a visual analytics platform that allows you to explore, understand, and manage business data. You can create reports by simply dragging and dropping the widgets and data visualizations that you have access to. Tableau uses interactive data visualizations So you can create visually compelling reports that viewers will click to explore.

You need powerful dashboards built quickly. Because of its embedded analytics, Tableau is the best reporting tool. An API allows you to customize the embedded analytics. So you can add data collection and reporting functionality to your existing workflow. This will allow you to personalize the data experience of your customers.

Tableau can be integrated with other business tools such as Google Cloud, Microsoft SQL Server, and Google Sheets.

Pricing for Tableau starts at $12/user/month. They also offer a 14-day trial.

Also read: Top 5 Wireframing Tools For Product Managers

6. ThoughtSpot

ThoughSpot is a platform for developers that allows users to build custom data apps to connect with their cloud systems. Users can also share data models, charts, and dashboards, with other employees and customers.

ThoughtSpot is a great option for beginners looking for a reporting tool. It uses artificial intelligence to aid users. It helps analysts save time by helping them spot trends and anomalies.

ThoughtSpot offers a variety of charts that can be used to tell a story. ThoughtSpot offers a drag-and-drop feature that allows you to easily arrange, customize, pin, and modify tables and charts. When ThoughtSpot detects key metrics changes that require human intervention, ThoughtSpot sends out real-time notifications and alerts via email or mobile.

ThoughtSpot can provide customized pricing for customers who request it. You can try it for free for 30 days.

7. Octoboard

Octoboard is a self-service software, that helps you to monitor your business data such as KPIs, financial information, and project status. You can customize reports to your company’s specifications using the white-labeling function. Octoboard offers more than 300 pre-built templates for creating reports. It’s easy to set up, making it an excellent option for start-ups and businesses that don’t have dedicated IT staff.

Octoboard is a great option for anyone looking for reporting software that automates reporting. Octoboard automatically collects, visualizes, and updates data from the cloud and workstations. This ensures that you are always working with updated information. It automates reports such as SEO, PPC, and social analytics.

Octoboard can be integrated with other business tools such as Constant Contact and Google Analytics, LinkedIn Pages, Zendesk, and Zendesk.

Pricing for Octoboard starts at $16.41/user/month (EUR15). On request, they offer a free trial.

8. Zoho Analytics

Zoho Analytics are the best reporting tools that be used to convert business data into detailed reports and dashboards. It can be used to enrich, filter, and collect data for easier analysis. The AI assistant function allows you to generate insights, spot patterns, and forecast trends. Zoho Analytics offers a mobile app that can be used on both iOS and Android.

Zoho Analytics allows you to use charts, widgets, and pivot tables, allowing you to present data in the most effective way. Zoho Analytics lets you collaborate with other users to create and share custom dashboards and reports. You can set permissions to control who can see and edit your data based on need and authority.

Zoho Analytics costs start at $24/month/with up to 2 users. You can try it for free for 15 days.