The Ultimate Menu of Best Practice Salesforce Reports (Organized by Object)
Salesforce analytics can feel a bit overwhelming since there’s literally no limit on what you can do. Unfortunately most of the out-of-the-box report and dashboard apps just add clutter instead of giving your team the actionable insights they really need.
Instead of starting from scratch or with a cookie cutter dashboard that takes forever to customize, use this menu to cherry pick the reports that resonate most with you.
Then you can quickly build exactly what you need and surface valuable insights that will leave your team members feeling like they owe you one.
We scoured the Salesforce ecosystem, all of our previous work, and the orgs of our most advanced clients to ensure no best practice was left out. We also merged together similar ideas, sorted them all by Object, and recommended a chart type for each.
Whether you want to define success, provide accountability, encourage competition, or take your org to the next level in another way, these analytics are key to maximizing return on your Salesforce investment.
Table of Contents:
Reports vs. Dashboards
Reports provide details.
You build them by filtering your data down using criteria, then choosing which fields you want to include.
Each report can only display data from one or two Objects.
A Salesforce Object is just a type of data, like an Opportunity or an Account. That’s why we’ve grouped our menu of options by object.
Dashboards provide overviews.
You build them by combining up to 20 reports.
Our Golden Rule of Analytics
Salesforce Analytics is an umbrella term for Reports and Dashboards.
At Wolfic, the golden rule of Analytics in Salesforce is the “Need to Know.”
We believe that a Dashboard should only include things which its users actually need to know to do their job. You should get a dopamine hit when you refresh it because it’s giving you such valuable information.
There should not be any distracting charts which don’t provide massive value.
A good analogy is the dashboard on your car. It only shows you what you need to know to operate the vehicle.
For example, a sales person needs to know what the most valuable deal in their pipeline is.
Beware of AppExchange apps that offer bunches of pre-built dashboards. They’re tempting, but they end up being the fastest way to violate the Golden Rule. It often takes more time to customize a pre-built dashboard than it does to just build what you need from scratch.
The 11 Chart Options
When you add a Report to a Dashboard, you have to choose how to display it. There are 11 options:
Horizontal Bar Chart
Vertical Bar Chart
Stacked Horizontal Bar Chart
Stacked Vertical Bar Chart
Line Chart
Pie Chart
Summary Number
Gauge Chart
Funnel Chart
Scatterplot
List View
Open Opportunity (Deal) Reports
Total Open vs. Target
Recommended Chart: Gauge showing Amount
Total Weighted Open vs. Target
Note: to get the Weighted Amount, multiply the Amount by the Probability (which is based on the Stage)
Recommended Chart: Gauge showing Amount
Total Won + High Probability YTD or QTD
Note: Use a filter for Probability > 75% to reveal “High Probability” Opportunities
Recommended Chart: Summary Number showing Amount
Top 10 Open Deals
Recommended Chart: List View sorted descending by Amount
Pipeline Forecast by Month
Recommended Chart: Vertical Stacked Bar by Close Month and Stage
Open Pipeline by Stage
Recommended Chart: Funnel showing Amount
Biggest Deals Closing This Month
Recommended Chart: List View sorted descending by Amount
Stalled Opportunities
Note: “Stuck” is usually defined as being in any Stage for more than 30 Days. Use the Stage Duration field as your filter
Recommended Chart: List View sorted descending by Stage Duration
Overdue Opportunities
Note: “Overdue” is usually defined as having a Close Date in the past
Recommended Chart: List View sorted descending by Close Date
Opportunity Generation by Quarter
Recommended Chart: Summary Number of Record Count or Amount
Open Opportunity Amounts by Rep
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Open Opportunity Record Count by Rep
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Short-Term Pipeline Trend
Note: Usually defined as total size of the pipeline grouped by Stage as it was at the start of the week for the past 5 weeks
Recommended Chart: Vertical Stacked Bar by Week
Long-Term Pipeline Trend
Note: Usually defined as total size of the pipeline grouped by Stage as it was at the start of the month for the past 5 months
Recommended Chart: Vertical Stacked Bar by Month
Pipeline Coverage QTD
Note: “Coverage” is usually calculated by taking the total Amount of open qualified opportunities divided by the a coverage goal for the period, such as 3x the desired result
Recommended Chart: Gauge showing ratio
Quota Discrepancies by Rep
Note: “Discrepancy” is usually calculated by taking comparing total weighted open Amount vs. quota for the period
Recommended Chart: Vertical Bar by Close Month and Rep
Closed Opportunity (Deal) Reports
Won vs. Target YTD or QTD
Recommended Chart: Gauge showing Amount
Win Rate by Month
Note: Shows the calculation both by record count and by Amount
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar by Close Month
Pipeline Velocity YTD or QTD
Note: “Velocity” is a fancy term for Average Days to Close
Recommended Chart: Summary Number
Average Won Opportunity Amount YTD or QTD
Recommended Chart: Summary Number
Sales Rep Amount Won Leaderboard YTD or QTD
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar sorted descending by total Amount Won
Sales Rep Win Rate Leaderboard YTD or QTD
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar sorted descending by Win Rate using Amount calculation method
Sales Rep Velocity Leaderboard
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar sorted descending by Average Days to Close
Total Won by Month
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar by Close Month, last 12 months
Revenue Year-over-Year
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar by Close Year, last 5 years
Revenue: Recurring vs. Non-Recurring
Recommended Chart: Pie
Revenue: New Business vs. Renewals
Recommended Chart: Pie
Won by Lead Source
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar by Amount
Won by Primary Campaign
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar by Amount
Sales by Region
Recommended Chart: Pie
Sales by Opportunity Record Type
Recommended Chart: Pie
Count of Won Opportunities YTD or QTD
Recommended Chart: Summary Number
Count of Lost Opportunities YTD or QTD
Recommended Chart: Summary Number
Pipeline Leakage
Note: “Leakage” is used to identify the Stage that Opportunities were in before they were marked as Closed Lost.
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Lost Opportunities by Loss Reason
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Lost Opportunities by Competitor
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Lost Opportunities by Lead Source
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Account (Organization) Reports
Top 10 Pipeline Accounts
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar by total open Amount
Top 10 Client Accounts All Time
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar by total won Amount (Customer Lifetime Value)
Top 10 Client Accounts Won YTD
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar by total won Amount YTD
Neglected Top Accounts
Note: Usually defined as Accounts with over a certain CLV and no activities in the last 3 months
Recommended Chart: List View descending CLV
Newest Accounts
Recommended Chart: List View descending by Created Date
Accounts with No Activities Logged
Recommended Chart: List View descending by Rating (A/B/C/D or equivalent)
Accounts with Lowest CSAT Scores
Recommended Chart: List View descending by CSAT
Top Competitors
Note: Usually defined as those responsible for the most associated Lost Opportunities.
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
T12 Renewal Rate
Recommended Chart: Summary Number (percentage), trailing 12 months
T12 Churn Rate
Recommended Chart: Summary Number (percentage), trailing 12 months
Revenue Backlog
Note: “Backlog” is usually calculated by comparing contracted revenue with recognized revenue.
Recommended Chart: Summary Number
Lead Reports
Hot Leads Without Activity
Note: Usually defined as Rating = Hot and Last Activity logged over 96 hours ago
Recommended Chart: List View descending by Created Date
Open Leads by Status
Recommended Chart: Funnel showing Record Count
Open Leads by Rep
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar, descending by Record Count
Open Leads by Source
Recommended Chart: Pie
New Leads by Rep
Note: “New” is usually determined by the Status indicating that no work has been done yet on the Lead
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar, descending by Record Count
Stuck Leads
Note: “Stuck” is usually defined as being in any Status for more than 30 days
Recommended Chart: List View descending by Rating
Total Leads Converted YTD or QTD
Recommended Chart: Gauge showing Record Count
Total Leads Converted with Opportunities YTD or QTD
Recommended Chart: Gauge showing Record Count
Leads Converted by Month
Recommended Chart: Vertical Bar by Converted Month
Leads Converted by Rep YTD or QTD
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar, descending by Record Count
Total Lead Conversion Rate YTD or QTD
Recommended Chart: Gauge showing Record Count
Lead Conversion Rate by Rep YTD or QTD
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar, descending by Record Count
Leads Created by Month
Recommended Chart: Vertical Bar by Created Month
Total Value Converted YTD or QTD
Note: Value is usually calculated by summing the Amounts of the resulting Opportunities
Recommended Chart: Summary Number
Value Converted by Lead Source YTD or QTD
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Activity Reports
Activities is an umbrella term that includes Tasks, Events, Emails and Calls.
Completed Tasks by Owner MTD or QTD
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Open Tasks by Owner MTD or QTD
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Open High Priority Tasks by Owner
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Delegated Tasks by Current Owner
Note: A “Delegated” Task is one that is assigned to someone other than the person who created it.
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Overdue Tasks by Owner
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Newest Open Tasks
Recommended Chart: List View descending by Created Date
Recently Completed Tasks
Recommended Chart: List View descending by Completed Date
This week’s Planned Activities
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Stacked Bar by Owner and Type
This week’s Completed Activities
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Stacked Bar by Owner and Type
Total Completed Activities by Rep QTD or YTD
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Case Reports
Open by Status
Recommended Chart: Pie
Open by Owner
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Open by Account
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Open by Origin
Recommended Chart: Pie
Average First Response Time MTD
Recommended Chart: Summary Number
Average Resolution Time MTD
Recommended Chart: Summary Number
Lingering Cases
Note: Usually defined as being open for more than the average number of days.
Recommended Chart: List View, sorted by number of days open.
Newest High Priority Cases
Recommended chart: List View, sorted by Created Date
Overdue Cases
Note: “Overdue” is usually defined as having an Expected Close Date in the past
Recommended Chart: List View, sorted by Expected Close Date ascending
Recently Closed Cases
Recommended Chart: List View, sorted by Close Date descending
Project Reports
The Project Object is a common custom Object. No additional license add-ons are required.
Total Active Projects
Recommended Chart: Summary Number (record count)
Active Projects by Owner
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Hours Logged by Month
Recommended Chart: Vertical Bar
Project Revenue by Month
Recommended Chart: Vertical Bar
Biggest Open Projects
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar by Total Hours
Projects Creation by Month
Recommended Chart: Vertical Bar by Created Date
Projects Completion by Month
Recommended Chart: Vertical Bar
Average Project Margin YTD
Recommended Chart: Summary Number (Margin Amount)
Top Open Projects by Margin
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Utilization Rate by Team Member QTD or YTD
Note: “Utilization Rate” is usually calculated by comparing actual hours logged with a target
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Total Days Available by Month by Team Member
Recommended Chart: Horizontal Bar
Project Workload Supply vs. Demand
Recommended Chart: Gauge showing Ratio
Data Quality Reports
Used to audit and maintain data hygiene by highlighting key missing fields on the main Standard Objects.
Opportunities Missing Amount
Note: Usually defined to include Opportunities with a $0 or $1 Amount
Recommended Chart: Summary Number (record count)
Accounts Missing Website
Recommended Chart: Summary Number (record count)
Contacts Missing Email Address
Recommended Chart: Summary Number (record count)
Tasks Missing Due Date
Recommended Chart: Summary Number (record count)
Common Dashboards
Once you’ve picked the Reports that resonate from the menu above, you’ll want to start grouping them into Dashboards so the data that they surface is easily digestible.
If you’re just starting out, you may be able to just combine them all into one Dashboard. If you’ve got multiple stakeholders to serve, here’s some inspiration.
Let’s say you have Sales Representatives that you want to help. You can provide them with a "My Pipeline" dashboard which shows them the following:
MTD Your Revenue
FYTD Your Opportunity Pipeline
FYTD Your Top Open Opportunities
Your Neglected Accounts Based on Activities
Your Stuck Opportunities
Your Opportunities with Past Due Activities
FYTD Your Revenue
QTD Your Revenue
Your All Time Top 10 Accounts by Revenue
It may end up looking something like the example below, which uses a good mix of chart types to keep the Dashboard engaging.
Other common dashboards include:
Company Overview
Provides a summary of top-level performance compared to target KPIs. Used for reporting to board members, investors, and other key stakeholders.
Pipeline Overview
Used by Sales Managers to view the overall health of the pipeline. Can be upgraded with a Dashboard Filter to allow quick viewing of any particular Sales Rep’s pipeline.
Sales Activities Overview
See what your Sales Team is doing to stay on top of active deals. Look at their total, completed, and overdue tasks and review each rep’s call and email logs. This dashboard is key for monitoring rep engagement.
Service Leader Overview
Tracks Case-related metrics such as resolution times, first-response rates, and customer satisfaction scores. These insights help teams gauge service efficiency and identify areas for improvement.
Marketing Leader Overview
Highlights marketing campaign performance, including metrics such as lead conversions, website traffic, and ROI. This equips teams with actionable insights to optimize campaigns and achieve better outcomes.
Your Turn: Make Them Your Own
Feel free to use these ideas as they’re presented or tweak them to fit your unique requirements by simply using a different key field, time period, or other creative change.
With Salesforce there are truly no limitations on the analytics you can create. If you find yourself wanting to test the validity of that statement, take a peek down the Tableau rabbit hole.
