OPFS Salesforce
Reporting & Dashboards
Understanding and using Salesforce reports and dashboards across OPFS services
Who this guide is for
- Family Support Workers
- Team Managers
- Local Salesforce Champions
What you will be able to do
- Locate and run reports
- Apply and modify filters
- Create simple reports
- Understand dashboards
Why reporting matters at OPFS
Good reporting turns the work you record every day into meaningful insight — for families, for teams, and for the whole organisation.
Understand service demand
See how many referrals are being received, from where, and by whom — so resources can be planned effectively.
Demonstrate impact
Show funders, commissioners, and partners the difference OPFS services make for families and communities.
Support operational management
Give managers a real-time view of caseloads, activities, and workload distribution across their teams.
Drive service improvement
Identify patterns and gaps in service delivery so that decisions are based on evidence rather than assumptions.
Every record you create in Salesforce contributes to this chain. Accurate recording leads to meaningful reporting.
What is Trailhead?
Trailhead is Salesforce's free online learning platform — available to everyone with a Salesforce login. It's designed to help you build real skills at your own pace.
Module
A short, focused learning unit on a specific topic — such as Reports & Dashboards. Includes reading, exercises and a quiz.
Trail
A curated collection of modules grouped around a theme or skill area — like exploring Lightning Experience reporting.
Badge
An achievement you earn by completing a module or trail. Badges are displayed on your Trailhead profile and evidence your learning.
Recommended Trailhead learning
These modules and trails are recommended for OPFS staff learning to use reports and dashboards. Work through them at your own pace — each one builds your confidence further.
Reports & Dashboards: Quick Look
Beginner — A short overview of what reports and dashboards are and how they work in Salesforce.
trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/reports-dashboards-quick-look
Reports & Dashboards for Lightning Experience
Intermediate — Hands-on module for working with reports and dashboards in the Lightning interface.
trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/lex_implementation_reports_dashboards
Explore Lightning Experience Reports & Dashboards
Advanced — A full learning trail covering reports and dashboards in depth across Lightning Experience.
trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/trails/explore-lightning-experience-reports-dashboards
Joined Reports: Quick Look
Advanced — Learn how to combine multiple report types into a single view using joined reports.
trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/joined-reports-quick-look
What is a report?
A report is a list of records from Salesforce that meet specific criteria. Think of it as a filtered, organised view of your data — answering a specific question about your work.
Reports organise data
Records are displayed in rows and columns — grouped, filtered, and sorted to show exactly what you need.
Reports answer questions
How many referrals this month? How many open cases per worker? What financial gains have been recorded? Reports give you the answers.
Reports power dashboards
Every dashboard component is built from a report. Without reports, there are no dashboards.
Examples of OPFS reports
Referrals Received
New referrals in a given period
Open Cases
All currently active cases
Financial Gains
Recorded financial gains for families
Outcomes Achieved
Progress recorded against My Life & Me outcomes
What is a dashboard?
A dashboard displays information visually — using charts, tables, and metrics built from report data. It gives you an at-a-glance view of what is happening across your work or your team.
Charts
Bar, column, and line charts showing trends and comparisons over time.
Tables
Structured lists of records pulled directly from a report — showing key fields at a glance.
Metrics
A single, prominent number — such as total open cases or total financial gains this quarter.
Graphs
Pie or donut charts showing the proportion of records across categories — such as cases by office.
Reports vs Dashboards
Reports and dashboards work together — but they serve different purposes. Understanding the difference helps you choose the right tool for what you need.
Reports
- Detailed data — row-by-row records
- Lists of records — filterable and sortable
- Used for analysis — dig into the specifics
- Exportable — share outside Salesforce
- Source of dashboard data — reports come first
Dashboards
- Visual summaries — charts, counts, tables
- High-level view — designed for monitoring
- Used for oversight — spot trends quickly
- Auto-refreshing — always shows current data
- Built from reports — cannot exist without them
Finding and running reports
All reports in Salesforce are stored in folders within the Reports tab. Here is how to find and run a report step by step.
Open the Reports tab
Click Reports in your navigation bar. If you cannot see it, use the App Launcher (nine-dot grid) to search for Reports.
Browse report folders
Reports are organised into folders — such as OPFS Family Support or OPFS Management. Browse or expand folders to find reports relevant to your work.
Search for a report
Use the Search Reports bar at the top of the Reports page. Type a keyword — such as "Referrals" or "Cases" — to find matching reports quickly.
Open the report
Click the report name to open it. You will see the report builder view with all current results displayed.
Run the report
Click Run to view the latest results. The report will refresh and display current data based on the saved filters.
Understanding report filters
Filters control which records appear in a report. By adjusting filters, you can focus on exactly the data you need — without changing the underlying report structure.
Date ranges
Filter by when records were created, updated, or closed. For example: Referrals received this month or Cases closed in the last quarter.
Status
Show only records at a certain stage — for example, only Open cases or only Closed referrals.
Owner
Limit results to records assigned to a specific worker, your team, or all users.
Office
Filter by service area or office location to see data relevant to your team's geography.
Creating a simple report
You can create your own report from scratch in Salesforce. Follow these steps to build a simple, useful report relevant to your work.
New Report
From the Reports tab, click New Report. You will be prompted to choose a report type.
Select Report Type
Choose the object your report is based on — for example, Cases or Contacts. The report type determines which fields are available.
Add Filters
In the filter panel, add the criteria that define which records to include — such as Status = Open, or Created Date = This Month.
Add Columns
Use the Add column option to choose which fields appear in your report — for example, Case Name, Worker, Office, Date Opened.
Run Report
Click Run to preview the results. Check the output looks correct before saving.
Save Report
Click Save & Run. Give the report a clear name and choose the appropriate folder. Follow OPFS naming conventions.
Report charts
You can add a chart directly to a report to visualise the data. Charts make patterns easier to spot and are used as the basis for dashboard components.
Creating a dashboard
Dashboards are built by adding components — each one connected to a report. Follow these steps to create a simple, effective dashboard.
Create Dashboard
From the Dashboards tab, click New Dashboard. Give it a clear name following OPFS naming conventions (e.g. TEAM – Family Support Overview).
Add Components
Click + Component to add a chart, table, or metric to the dashboard canvas. You can add multiple components and arrange them on the grid.
Select Source Reports
For each component, choose the report it should draw data from. Select the chart type for that component — bar, donut, metric, or table.
Save Dashboard
Click Save when you are happy with the layout. The dashboard will refresh automatically when data changes in the source reports.
OPFS reporting examples
These are reports aligned to OPFS service recording. Each answers a specific question about your work.
Referrals Received
How many referrals have been received in a given period — helping to track demand and capacity.
Referrals by Office
Referrals broken down by office or service area — useful for comparing demand across locations.
Referral Outcomes
What happened to each referral — accepted, declined, signposted — to understand service pathways.
Active Cases
All cases currently open — grouped by worker, office, or stage to support operational oversight.
Closed Cases
Cases closed in a period — used to track throughput and service completion rates.
Cases by Worker
Caseload per worker — supporting workload management and equitable distribution of cases.
Financial Gains
Financial gains recorded for families — a key impact metric for demonstrating service value.
Demographic Reporting
Profile of families and individuals accessing services — used for equalities monitoring and reporting.
My Life & Me Outcomes
Progress recorded against the My Life & Me outcome framework — demonstrating the difference made for families.
Understanding outcomes reporting
OPFS uses the My Life & Me outcomes framework to record and evidence the difference services make for families. Reporting on these outcomes is central to demonstrating impact.
Money
Financial stability, debt management, and maximising income for families.
Home
Safe and secure housing, tenancy support, and housing-related issues.
Children
Children's wellbeing, parenting support, and family relationships.
Relationships
Support networks, social connections, and reducing isolation.
Health & Wellbeing
Physical and mental health, access to services, and self-care.
Work, Education & Training
Employment, skills development, and access to learning opportunities.
Practical exercises
Work through these exercises to put your learning into practice. You can complete them in Salesforce using reports and dashboards available in your organisation.
Exercise 1: Run an existing report
Navigate to the Reports tab. Open an existing OPFS report — such as a referrals or cases report. Click Run and review the results. What does the report show? What filters are applied?
Exercise 2: Apply a filter
Open an existing report. Apply a date range filter to show only records from the current month. Review how the results change. Try changing the filter to a different date range.
Exercise 3: Create a simple report
Create a new report using the Cases object. Add filters for Status = Open. Add columns for Case Name, Worker, and Date Opened. Run and save your report to your personal folder.
Exercise 4: Add a chart
Open the report you created in Exercise 3. Click Add Chart and choose a bar chart. Group results by a field such as Worker or Office. Review the chart output.
Exercise 5: Create a basic dashboard
Create a new dashboard. Add two components — one using your Exercise 3 report as a table, and one as a metric showing total record count. Save your dashboard to your personal folder.
Tips for success
You do not need to master everything at once. These habits will help you get the most from Salesforce reporting from day one.
Start simple
Begin with existing reports before creating your own. Get comfortable running and filtering reports first.
Use filters effectively
Always ask: what is the specific question I am trying to answer? Apply filters to focus the data on exactly that.
Focus on the question
A good report answers one clear question. If you find yourself adding lots of columns, you may need two separate reports.
Reuse existing reports
Before creating a new report, check whether one already exists. Clone and modify rather than starting from scratch.
Ask for support
Your Salesforce admin, team manager, or local champion is there to help. Ask early — it saves time and avoids errors.
Key takeaways
You are now equipped to find, run, and create reports — and to understand how dashboards bring that data to life.
Reports organise data
A report is a filtered, organised list of records that answers a specific question about OPFS work.
Dashboards visualise data
Dashboards display charts, metrics, and tables built from reports — giving an at-a-glance view of what matters.
Reporting supports services
Reporting helps OPFS understand service demand, demonstrate impact, and support continuous improvement.
Trailhead supports your learning
Free, self-paced modules are available to deepen your skills. Earn badges as you learn.
Complete the recommended Trailhead modules and explore the reports available within Salesforce. Your recording today is the insight of tomorrow.