---
title: Creating a custom report
description: "Columns, period, population, list or aggregate, live preview and chart: build your own report."
url: "https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/people-analytics-creating-a-custom-report/"
updated: "2026-11-01"
category: Core HR services / People Analytics
---

# Creating a custom report

A **custom report** answers a question the system reports do not cover: the fixed-term contracts of a department with their end date, the headcount by site and gender, the average age per team, the turnover rate of a sub-company… You choose the columns, period and population; Illizeo calculates the result with your permissions and shows it live while you build it.

## Before you start

- Creating a report requires the “Custom report” permission at the **Execute** level.
- Module columns (absences, attendance, payroll…) are only offered if those modules are open to you.

## Opening the creation window

In People Analytics, **Custom Reports** tab, click **Create Custom Report**. The **Create a report** button in the “Select an Analysis” window (dashboard) opens the same window.

The window has two columns: the form on the left, the **Report preview** on the right. If AI is enabled for your workspace, a **Describe your report** field can fill in the form for you (see “Describing your report to the AI”).

![The Custom Reports tab, with a report and the Create Custom Report button](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/people-analytics-creer-un-rapport-01.en_.png?resize=800%2C500&quality=80&ssl=1)
The Custom Reports tab and the create button.

## 1. Identification

- **Report name** (required, 50 characters at most): the name under which the report appears in the list.
- **Description** (optional, 255 characters at most): what the report is for.

## 2. Period

The **Report type** sets how time is read:

| Type | What it gives | To fill in |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Point in time | The state of the data on one date. | Date |
| Timeframe | What happened between two dates. Required for rates and series over time. | Start date, end date |
| Historical data | The changes recorded over the period, date by date. | Start date, end date |

## 3. Content

- **Table columns**: choose the information to show. Filter by domain (the sections of the employee file, then the modules: absences, attendance, payroll…) or search by name. Columns form the table in the order you pick them. You are only offered the columns you can read on at least one person in your population.
- **Employee status filter**: *Active at chosen day*, *Active during chosen timeframe* or *All*.
- **Population**: “Whole scope” by default. Add criteria to narrow the report: sub-company, site, department, team, position, manager, contract type, hire date, contract end… Dates can be compared (before, after, between). The population is saved with the report and always stays within your permissions.

## 4. Layout: list or aggregated

**List** shows one row per employee. **Aggregated** counts, measures and compares groups.

### An aggregated report

- **Group by**, then **Then by**: one or two axes, chosen among the report’s columns (for example department, then gender).
- **Measures**, one or more:
  - *Headcount*: the number of employees in the group;
  - *Share (%)*: the group’s share, of the total or, with two axes, of the parent group (“of total” or “of group”);
  - *Average*, *Median*, *Minimum*, *Maximum*: on a numeric column of the report (age, salary, activity rate…) or on seniority in years;
  - *Turnover rate (%)* and *Absence rate (%)*: on a Timeframe report.
- **Over time** (Timeframe): *Month*, *Quarter* or *Year*, and what to **Measure** at each step: *Headcount at end of period*, *Hires*, *Departures*. A series over time takes a single grouping axis.
- **Chart**: *Bars*, *Stacked bars*, *Line*, or none.

**Rate formulas**, the same as in the system reports:

- **Turnover rate** = departures in the period ÷ average headcount ((headcount on the first day + headcount on the last day) ÷ 2) × 100.
- **Absence rate** = absence days ÷ working days of the whole population × 100. An employee only counts working days in the months they were present.

## 5. The live preview

As soon as the report type, its date and at least one column are chosen, the **Report preview** is calculated on your real data, one second after your last change:

- the number of employees concerned;
- for a list, the first 20 rows; for an aggregate, the table of groups;
- the chart. The **Chart type** selector (Bars, Stacked bars, Line, None) changes it without recalculating. For a list, **Count by** chooses the column to count: the list then gets its own chart.

The preview saves nothing. Click **Add** to create the report.

![The window of an aggregated custom report: groupings and measures on the left, preview with chart and table on the right](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/people-analytics-creer-un-rapport-02.en_.png?resize=800%2C563&quality=80&ssl=1)
An aggregated report: presentation on the left, live preview on the right.

## After saving

The report joins the list in the “Custom Reports” tab. Each card shows its type and the date you last viewed it; **View report** opens it. On the report page:

- the table, with **Break by** (subtotals per group) and **Totals**; **Save the layout** keeps these choices with the report;
- the chart, whose type you can change;
- **Export**: an Excel workbook of the report, calculated with your permissions;
- **Schedule**: an automatic delivery (see “Scheduling a report”);
- **Edit** and **Delete**.

To show it as a tile on your dashboard, add it from “Select an Analysis” (see “The Employee Analytics dashboard”).

![The page of a custom report, with the Export, Schedule, Edit and Delete buttons](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/people-analytics-creer-un-rapport-03.en_.png?resize=800%2C500&quality=80&ssl=1)
The page of a custom report.

## Frequently asked questions

### A column I am looking for is not offered.

Either it belongs to a module that is not open to you, or your role does not let you read it on anyone.

### My colleague does not see the same figures as I do.

That is expected: each reader sees the report calculated on their own population, with their own permissions. See “Permissions and data confidentiality”.

### “This measure needs a numeric column of the report.”

An average, median, minimum or maximum is calculated on a numeric column: add it to the table columns first.

### I cannot see the creation button.

It requires the “Custom report” permission at the Execute level.

### *Similaire*