How to use "Now" Fields

How to use "Now" Fields

This guide will go over how to use "Now" fields in Report Toaster. 

What are "Now" Fields?


Long time users of Report Toaster may be aware that most of the attributes available on Sales reports show what was true at the time of sale. 
In contrast, a "Now" field displays what is true currently in your store. 

E.g. If you're looking at a Sales by Product report, Product title will be what the product was called when it was sold
Product / Now / Title will be what the product is called now

For example, suppose I had make a mistake in setting up the Product Type for one of my products. 
Originally, my 'Avocado Ahoy' float was classified as Product Type 'Other', but I changed it in my Shopify this morning to be classified as Product Type 'Food'.

Note - Due to the webhook updates, it can sometimes take a few minutes to see the updated change.
Give it 5-10 minutes and refresh your browser to make sure the "Now' field displays the most recent data.

Here's how this would be reflected on my historical sales for the Last 30 Days:



So, if I want my historical sales reports to reflect the Product Type as it is right now, I should use the Product / Now / Product type
If I want it to display what the Product Type was when it was sold, I should use Product / Product type

Nice and simple. 

What "Now" Fields are Available?

Now there are too many "Now" fields to list them all, but here are some that we anticipate being the most useful: 

Product
  1. Product Type
  2. Product Title
  3. Product Vendor
  4. Product Tag
  5. Product Description
Variant
  1. Variant Barcode
  2. Variant Option 1, 2, 3
  3. Variant Price
  4. Variant SKU
  5. Variant Title
Customer
  1. Customer Name
  2. Customer Email
  3. Customer Phone
  4. Customer Accepts Marketing
  5. Customer Orders
  6. Customer Tag

Using "Now" Fields as a Column

Just like any other attribute, "Now" fields are available as columns to add to any of the sales reports.

Click the grid button (top right) to access columns.
You can drag and drop these from those that are available to add vs. those that are currently on the report.  



See our main guide here for more information on changing columns on a report.

Some "Now" fields are already existing columns on the default reports. However, we have both versions of each attribute available so you can change them however you like. 

Using "Now" Fields as a Filter

Using "Now" fields as a filter option works the same way as any other attribute.
You can include them instead of, or in combination with, any other attribute in the filter:



See our main guide here for more information on adjusting filters on a report.

Exceptions

Finally, a quick note about some important things that always display a fixed value in Report Toaster: 

- Gross, Net Or Total Sales numbers for any past orders (This is because these calculations use the Line Item / Price on the order, not the currently listed price on the Product). 
- Cost will only overwrite on historical orders if there were no costs on those orders at the time of sale (Cost = 0.00).

If you have any further questions about "Now" fields, feel free to reach out to us and we'd be happy to assist. 



    • Related Articles

    • Whats New? - May 2023

      May is finally here, and we've got a nice new feature to show off for our Sales reports: "Now" fields! So what's a "Now" field? Well, long time users of Report Toaster may be aware that most of the attributes available on Sales and Financial reports ...
    • How to Use Calculated Fields

      In this article, we look at how you can use Calculated Fields to generate better reports for your storefront.  Note: Calculated Fields are created by our Report Toaster staff. Please contact support@cloudlab.com with the details and we will take care ...
    • Premium Report - First Time vs Returning Sales

      First Time vs Returning Sales First Time vs Returning Sales is used to compare orders within a select period and divide Sales numbers into First Time vs. Returning Customers for each. Unlike First Time vs Returning Customers, the date range for this ...
    • Premium Report - Shipping Labels Over Time

      Shipping Labels Over Time This report is used for seeing the Cost of your Shipping Labels plotted over time. This is determined by looking at the Shipping Costs you have in Shopify and comparing against the number of Orders to work out your total ...
    • Whats New? - September 2023

      This September, we thought it was time to do a year in retrospect - covering all the great new features we've added to Report Toaster! Every month we've aimed to introduce something interesting, whether it's new reports, enhanced options, or even ...

     Suggestion Box

    Didn't find what you were looking for in our knowledge base? Click here to suggest an article, and we'll try to put something together for you.