# Filters, dates and favourites

> **You need:** *Sales reports*.

Every report is driven by the same filter set. Understanding it once covers the whole chapter.

## The filters

| Filter | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| **Brand** | Yes, on most reports | Reports are built per brand. With one brand it may be preselected |
| **Stores** | No | Empty means every store within your scope |
| **Sources** | No | Web, app, aggregators. Only applies where source filtering is active |
| **Business date** | Yes | The day the report covers |
| **End date** | Only in range mode | Turns one day into a period |
| **Time window** | No | Narrows to part of the day |

The available values are loaded from your own scope, so the store list is what you can see, not everything that exists.

## Day mode versus range mode

- **Day** — one business date. The default for operational questions.
- **Range** — a start and an end date, for a week, a month, a comparison.

Switching modes changes what some reports mean. A 15-day chart in range mode anchors on the **end** date, not the start.

## Business date is not calendar date

This is the one that catches people out.

A business date covers a trading day, which for late-night service runs past midnight. An order placed at 01:30 on Saturday usually belongs to **Friday's** business date.

So "yesterday's sales" means yesterday's *business date*, not the calendar day. When a total looks like it's missing the late evening, check which date the late-night orders landed on.

> Two reports disagreeing by roughly one evening's trade is almost always this, not a fault.

## The time window

Start and end times narrow a report to part of the day — the lunch service, the evening peak.

The window applies **within** each business date in your range. Setting 19:00–23:00 over a week gives you seven evenings, not one continuous stretch.

## Favourites and the dashboard

The dashboard pulls its widgets in one batch, so it loads as a single view rather than piece by piece.

Use it for the numbers you check daily. For anything you need to slice, go to the report itself — the dashboard is a summary, not a filtered view.

## Getting a report you can trust

1. **Set the brand first.** Most reports need it, and changing it later resets other choices.
2. **Confirm the mode**, day or range.
3. **Set the business date**, remembering it is not the calendar date.
4. **Add stores and sources only if you mean to narrow.** Empty means "everything I can see", which is usually what you want.
5. **Check the store count** against what you expect. Fewer stores than expected is a scope question — see [How scope works in practice](/books/console-yF7/page/how-scope-works-in-practice).

## Related pages

- [Reports and Metrics: which to use](/books/console-yF7/page/reports-and-metrics-which-to-use) — picking the right area
- [Operations report](/books/console-yF7/page/operations-report) — the most filter-sensitive screen
- [Exporting data](/books/console-yF7/page/exporting-data) — taking figures out of the console