Reports — Understanding Your Business Numbers

Reports are your window into how your business is performing. RetailMan ERP System includes over 30 built-in reports covering sales, purchases, stock, expenses, taxes, and more. This guide explains each report and what it tells you.

What You'll Learn

• Where to find reports
• What each report shows
• How to filter and export reports
• How to use reports for better business decisions

How to Access Reports

1. Go to Reports from the left sidebar.
2. You'll see all available reports organised into categories.
3. Click any report to open it.
4. Use the date filter and other options at the top to focus on what you need.
5. Most reports can be exported to Excel, CSV, PDF, or printed directly.

📸 [Screenshot: The Reports menu showing all report categories]

Business & Profit Reports

Profit & Loss Report

Shows your overall business performance — are you making money or losing it?

• Total Sales minus Cost of Goods Sold = Gross Profit
• Gross Profit minus Expenses = Net Profit
• When enabled in sales settings, sale-return discount and sale-return discount 2 totals appear in the right-hand summary.
• Payroll, HMS, and Production Cost totals appear only when the business package includes the corresponding module.
• Expense, stock adjustment/recovery, transfer shipping, and type-of-service totals appear when their modules are enabled in Business Settings > Modules, or when there is a report-period amount greater than zero.
• Shipping, additional-expense, invoice-discount, ledger-discount, and reward totals appear when their related Business Settings options are enabled, or when there is a report-period amount greater than zero.
• Ledger Discount 2 and Ledger Discount 3 totals appear separately for suppliers and customers when enabled, or when the report-period amount is greater than zero, using the labels configured in Contact settings.
• Total Sell Round Off appears when Amount Rounding Method is enabled, or when the report-period round-off amount is nonzero.

📸 [Screenshot: The Profit & Loss report showing totals and net profit]

💡 Tip: Run this report monthly to track your business health over time.

Purchase & Sell Report

A combined view of all purchases and sales, with totals and difference calculations. Useful for getting the big picture.

Sales Reports

All Sales Report (Sale Invoices)

A list of every sale with:

• Invoice number, date, customer, total, payment status
• Filter by date, customer, payment status, or location

Product Sell Report

See which products are selling and how much:

• Product name, quantity sold, total revenue
• Filter by product, category, brand, or date range

Sell Payment Report

1. Module Overview

The Sell Payment Report shows payments linked to customer transactions, with Summary, Customer Summary, and Detail tabs.

2. Purpose of the Feature

Use the report to review and reconcile customer payments, compare totals by payment method or customer, and narrow results to transactions created by a particular user.

3. User Access / Permissions

Users need the View Sell Payment Report permission. Users with location restrictions only see payments from their permitted Business Locations.

4. Step-by-Step Usage Instructions

1. Open Reports from the left sidebar.
2. Select Sell Payment Report.
3. Optionally choose a User, payment location, payment method, customer, transaction location, customer group, or date range. All Users is selected by default.
4. Open Summary, Customer Summary, or Detail to view the results in the format you need.
5. Use the print button on the active tab to print or export that tab with the same filters.

5. Field Descriptions

6. Business Logic / Workflow

The selected User is matched against the user who created the underlying transaction. The filter is applied consistently to the detail list, both summary tabs, and printed or exported reports. When All Users is selected, the report retains its existing unfiltered-by-user behavior.

7. Notes or Important Considerations

• The User filter defaults to All Users.
• Existing report access and permitted-location restrictions still apply.

Sales Analysis

Compare sales across time periods, products, or locations to spot trends.

Customer Sale by Categories

1. Module Overview

The Customer Sale by Categories report shows each customer's sales grouped by product category, with one column for each month in the selected date range.

2. Purpose of the Feature

Use the report to compare monthly category sales across customers and identify changes in buying patterns.

3. User Access / Permissions

Users need the Customer Sale by Categories Report permission. Users with location restrictions only see sales from their permitted Business Locations.

4. Step-by-Step Usage Instructions

1. Open Reports from the left sidebar.
2. Under Sales Reports, select Customer Sale by Categories.
3. Choose a start date and end date. The report creates one column for each month touched by this date range.
4. Optionally select a Business Location, customer, or product category.
5. Select Apply Filters to view the results.

5. Field Descriptions

6. Business Logic / Workflow

Sales and linked sale returns are grouped by customer, product category, and transaction month. Sale returns reduce the amount for their month. The report uses the product's category and the customer's saved contact details.

7. Notes or Important Considerations

• A date range that starts or ends partway through a month still displays the full month column, but only transactions inside the selected dates are included.
• Negative monthly amounts are displayed in parentheses. A dash means there were no net sales for that month.

Trending Products

Discover your best-selling products over any time period. Use this to make sure you always have popular items in stock.

📸 [Screenshot: The Trending Products report showing top sellers]

Purchase Reports

Product Purchase Report

See what you've been buying:

• Product name, quantity purchased, total cost
• Filter by supplier, category, or date

Purchase Payment Report

Track all payments made to suppliers:

• Payment date, amount, method, reference

Stock Reports

Stock Report

The most important stock report — shows current stock levels for every product:

• Product name, SKU, current stock, stock value
• Filter by location, category, brand

📸 [Screenshot: The Stock Report with location filter]

Stock Value Report

Shows the total financial value of your stock — useful for accounting and insurance.

Stock Reorder Report

Lists all products that are below their reorder level and need to be restocked.

Stock Expiry Report

Shows products approaching or past their expiry date. Only available if expiry tracking is enabled.

Lot Report

Track products by lot/batch number — see which batch went to which customer.

Stock Adjustment Report

View all stock adjustments, including the reason and value of each.

Stock Transfer Report

Track all transfers between your locations.

Expense Reports

Expense Report

See all your business expenses:

• Broken down by category with totals
• Filter by date range, category, or location
• See trends in your spending

📸 [Screenshot: The Expense Report with category breakdown chart]

Tax Reports

Tax Report

Summary of all tax collected and paid:

• Tax collected on sales (output tax)
• Tax paid on purchases (input tax)
• Net tax payable or refundable

💡 Tip: Use this report when filing your tax returns. It gives you all the numbers you need.

GST Reports (India)

If you're in India with GST enabled:

• GST Sales Report — Sales with GST breakdown
• GST Purchase Report — Purchases with GST breakdown

POS Reports

Register Report

Module Overview

The Register Report lists cash register sessions and summarizes their opening cash, payments, and closing differences.

Purpose of the Feature

Use the report to review register activity and compare the counted cash, card, and bank transfer amounts with the amounts expected by the system.

User Access / Permissions

Users need the Register Report permission. Users with location restrictions only see register sessions from their permitted Business Locations.

Step-by-Step Usage Instructions

1. Open Reports from the left sidebar and select Register Report.
2. Optionally filter by Business Location, User, register Status, or Date Range.
3. Review each register session's opening cash and payment totals.
4. For a closed register with cash denominations recorded, review Net Difference immediately after Total.

Field Descriptions

Business Logic / Workflow

The report displays payment columns in the order configured on the Business Location page and only shows payment methods enabled for the selected location. Cash Skimmed appears when Cash Skim Protection is enabled in Business Settings. The footer totals opening cash, cash skimmed when enabled, payment methods, advance payments, Net Sales, and Net Difference for the displayed page. Net Sales is calculated as paid sales plus credit sales minus sales returns, matching Cash Register details. Net Difference follows the Cash Register details calculation: counted cash minus expected cash, plus any card and bank transfer differences.

Notes or Important Considerations

• Net Difference is blank until cash denomination counts are recorded for the register.
• When no single Business Location is selected, payment columns appear if the method is enabled at any location the user can access.

Sales Representative Report

Module Overview

The Sales Representative Report shows sales performance by staff member, customer, and commission assignment. Its tabs include sales, sales with commission, and product summaries.

Purpose of the Feature

Use the report to review sales activity for a selected customer or customer group and to distinguish sales assigned to Commission Agent and Commission Agent 2.

User Access / Permissions

Users need the Sales Representative Report permission. Users with location restrictions only see activity from their permitted Business Locations.

Step-by-Step Usage Instructions

1. Open Reports from the left sidebar and select Sales Representative Report.
2. Optionally choose a Business Location, user, date range, customer, customer group, Commission Agent, or Commission Agent 2.
3. Optionally narrow the results by the product filters shown for your business.
4. Review the Sales, Sales with Commission, Product Summary, or Product Detailed tab. The selected customer, group, and commission-agent filters are applied to the sales-related results.
5. Clear a filter or choose All to include all values for that filter.

Field Descriptions

Business Logic / Workflow

Customer and customer-group filters use the customer on each sale. The Commission Agent filter matches the sale's first commission-agent assignment; Commission Agent 2 matches its second assignment. When more than one filter is selected, a sale must satisfy all selected filters. These filters update the sales totals and the Sales, Sales with Commission, Product Summary, and Product Detailed results.

Notes or Important Considerations

• The two commission-agent filters are independent; selecting both narrows results to sales matching both assignments.
• Commission-agent choices include business users so they cover the commission assignment modes configured for the business.
• Blank filters do not restrict results.

Service Staff Report

Track performance of service staff (restaurant/hospitality).

Table Report

For restaurants — see revenue and order counts by table.

Other Reports

Activity Log

Track who did what in the system:

• User actions (login, create, edit, delete)
• Timestamp and details
• Useful for security and auditing

Contacts Report

Summary of customer and supplier accounts — total sales/purchases, outstanding balances.

Customer Groups Report

Performance breakdown by customer group (e.g., retail vs. wholesale).

How to Export Reports

Most reports include export buttons at the top:

📸 [Screenshot: The export buttons at the top of a report]

Settings & Options

Common Questions

Q: Why are some reports empty? A: Check the date filter — it might be set to a period with no transactions. Also, make sure you have the right permissions to see report data.

Q: Can I schedule automatic reports? A: Currently, reports are available on-demand. Export them regularly and save for your records.

Q: Who can see reports? A: Only users with the "Reports" permission can access the Reports section. Administrators control this through role-based permissions.

Tips & Best Practices

• 📌 Review Profit & Loss at least monthly to track business health
• 📌 Check Trending Products weekly to keep top sellers in stock
• 📌 Use the Stock Reorder Report to create your next purchase order
• 📌 Export the Tax Report before each tax filing deadline
• 📌 Review the Activity Log if you suspect any unusual activity
• 📌 Use date range filters to compare performance across months or years