10 Exceptional Tools to Effortlessly Create Work Reports

If you’re looking to boost productivity and efficiency, automating tools to create work reports is a game changer — whatever your industry. 

Whether you’re tracking employee performance, monitoring project progress, sticking to deadlines, or chasing marginal gains, having the right tools in place can save you a serious amount of time and effort.

But what are the key qualities of efficient report-creation tools?

• Automated data collection from projects, tasks, customer relationship management (CRM) systems

• Customizable pre-built report templates that generate standard and customized  reports quickly

• Real-time updates that automatically reflect the latest changes in your tasks and projects

• Seamless integrations with native tools or third-party apps to create comprehensive reports without extra effort

• Various dashboard visualizations to better interpret data and spot trends at a glance 

This article will cover ten exceptional reporting tools designed to automate and simplify work report creation, giving you more accurate insights and more time to apply them. So if you want to enhance your operations, make data-driven decisions, and keep advancing your business, read on. 

1. Bitrix24 — The all-in-one solution for automated work reports

Bitrix24 is the ultimate platform that centralizes data from a vast range of business tools to create work reports that are detailed, customizable, and actionable. It’s a flexible and diverse app that gathers data and produces reports on desktop and mobile, with all your devices staying in sync.

Integrate work report automation directly into their workflows for accurate data flow from your native CRM, task management software, and HR tools. You can draw team and individual performance metrics such as deals closed, time tracked at specific stages of the sales funnel, and involvement in tasks. In addition to the quantitative metrics, supervisors can add their qualitative rating, generating a color-coded task efficiency score out of 100. 

With all this data in one place, you can populate work report templates or generate custom reports at the click of a button for reliable, real-time performance monitoring. Choose between pie charts, bar charts, or whatever visualization suits you best to spend less time digesting data and more time putting new strategies into action. 

Bitrix24’s daily reporting software takes the stress out of employee monitoring with a detailed analysis of progress. It reminds users to send a daily summary of tasks, complete with time taken on tasks, so managers can see how well their team is coping with goals and tasks and manage their workloads. 

In short, Bitrix24 hits the sweet spot of a user-friendly interface and huge amounts of data to give you clear, well-designed reports that point the right way forward for your team. 

2. Asana — Simplified report creation with intuitive workflows

Asana offers simplified but intuitive tools to create work reports based on task tracking, deadlines, and progress. It is a project management platform with customizable workflows and built-in reporting, giving you a real-time overview of your team and project performance. 

Asana’s reporting tools save you time by automating key processes, such as pulling in data on project status, task completions, and team workload. It converts the information into visually appealing bar charts, donuts, and more, generating easily absorbable reports. With its customizable dashboards, Asana lets you visualize your data in line with your business goals, making it easier to monitor performance and adjust strategies. 

Limited to task management functions, Asana’s reporting software doesn’t provide the same scope of data as Bitrix24, specifically customer-facing figures from a CRM. However, you can connect to third-party tools via integrations. This expands the app’s capabilities to generate comprehensive and accurate reports without manual data transfer. 

3. Monday.com — User-friendly, good-looking work reports

Monday.com supports its work management tools with efficient report-creation tools to track project progress and team performance.

User-friendly flexibility is Monday.com’s modus operandi, offering customizable workflows and color-coded Kanban boards, and the same applies to its digital report generation. On customizable dashboards, you can prioritize the most important metrics for your departmental goals. Visual alerts for overdue tasks or stalled projects draw your attention, making it simple to spot trends and bottlenecks. 

Work report templates allow you to track budgets, with warning messages when departments overspend. Monday.com also has tools to create work reports on performance metrics like task duration, sales made, and individual workloads. 

Data collection is automated, saving time and improving the accuracy of the reports it informs. Monday offers work management tools and a CRM, so you can compile a lot of interrelated data from a single platform, giving you more detailed insights into your operations. 

4. Basecamp — Basic reporting on an extensive collaboration platform

Basecamp is a stalwart in the world of online collaboration that sits somewhere between a task management app and a communication platform. It comes with some software for generating work reports that show you how your tasks are progressing — what’s overdue, which tasks are assigned to which people, and other project-related information. 

However, many users feel that Basecamp’s tools to create work reports are limited. It lacks automated reporting tools and time-tracking tools to estimate how long a task will take. This has knock-on effects on critical functions like invoicing, which translates into a lot more manual work and opens the door to human error in a way that the best tools for creating work reports don’t.

You can link it up with third-party tools to add more comprehensive data to your reports. Basecamp isn’t as smooth as apps such as Bitrix24, which provides all your apps on one platform. So, while it has a strong reputation for a reason, it’s not for its digital report generation. 

5. Smartsheet — Hyper-customizable reports on a spreadsheet interface

Smartsheet is an enterprise work management system that facilitates task assignments, project progress tracking, calendar management, and document sharing. It has the appearance of a standard spreadsheet, but you can adapt it to work as a project management platform, workflow automation tool, or CRM. 

The customization does make setup noticeably more time-consuming than the purpose-built apps on this list. Once you get over the considerable learning curve, it is well-suited to work report automation. 

Conditional formatting defines the parameters of your cells, for example, task start and finish times, that you can then feed into your reports. This form of data consolidation can feel shakier than dedicated software but offers serious customization if you’re willing to dig deep into the details. 

For a simpler fix, Smartsheet does provide premade templates designed for categories like clients and customers, finance and accounting, or general marketing. These all come with tools to create work reports on budgets, deadlines, and resource management. 

6. Trello — Intuitive work reports that lean on integrations

Trello is one of the go-to drag-and-drop Kanban boards that is easy to use straight out of the box. Its core focus is project management, making reporting for sales and finances somewhat unintuitive. 

The basic platform is relatively limited in features but the Power-Up (add-on) section offers time trackers, deadline monitors, analytics, and other tools to create work reports. Power-Ups are generally free, built by users or third parties, and can be hit-and-miss in terms of performance. The consensus among users is that these add-ons are passable, but nowhere as near as powerful as native reporting in more comprehensive project management apps. 

Paid Trello accounts open up a world of integrations with other business apps from recognized names. Some of these will provide better software for generating work reports than Power-Ups, and you can pull any data you need from your Trello boards. 

However, Trello ultimately isn’t built with quality reporting in mind, so reporting workarounds are always likely to be clunky. 

7. Wrike — Clever report generation with visualizations that leave a lot to be desired

Wrike provides user-friendly collaboration software that gives you many options for project management planning and analysis. 

It only offers time tracking to its Business tier and beyond, but it works well as an in-app timer or for manual entries, with logs converting into reports for your whole team. Automated reporting tools mean you can schedule reports for the days or times you want to receive them, giving you an update on workloads without actively seeking them out. For teams that are often on the move, mobile tracking maintains the data transfer, and offline records sync with your system when you reconnect. 

One of the drawbacks of Wrike’s reporting is the lack of diversity in layouts. The tables and columns it offers can hold a lot of data from various sources, but the text-based format makes them rather dry compared to other tools to create work reports in interesting visualizations. 

8. Harvest — A time-tracking platform for reporting hours worked

Harvest’s main goal is to track time for invoicing and it’s hardly surprising that it has tools to create work reports. Managers and business owners can monitor the amount of time their employees spend on tasks, and by default, the number of hours they are available to work. This makes it a strong option for planning schedules for remote colleagues or teams of freelancers. 

The reports themselves are aesthetically pleasing and easy to digest. Each employee appears next to the hours worked the hours they have free, and you can dig into more details on how they divide their time between projects. 

These reports are limited to time tracking and don’t explore other areas of your business. Invoice-generation tools show how much money each colleague has billed, giving a reasonable indicator of return on investment. However, it’s far from the wealth of data you get from multi-function apps like Bitrix24. 

9. Toggl Track — Automated time-tracking and reporting for small teams and solopreneurs

Toggl Track is another app dedicated to tracking time and is known for having strong capabilities, even on the free version. With automated tools to create work reports, Toggl Track soaks up time spent on tasks and combines it with billable rates, so you can generate invoices and quickly see which of your clients gives you the best return on investment. 

Solopreneurs and small businesses are especially fond of Toggl Track’s ability to start timing based on open windows and end timing due to inactivity. This increases the accuracy of your time reports while you have one less job to do. 

Toggl Track is a great alternative for work reports, offering excellent insights into how your organization spends its time and which tasks are most valuable per hour. Unfortunately, you can’t analyze data regarding sales, for example, which is a major drawback for teams that depend on winning deals. 

10. QuickBooks Time — Intuit’s time tracking software that adds efficiency metrics to accounting reports

Part of Intuit’s comprehensive accounting software, QuickBooks Time allows employees to clock in and out and update their timesheets, with all the information going directly to tools to create work reports. 

Interactive, real-time reports display how much time each employee spends on specific tasks and help you plan how long future tasks will take, which is ideal for budgeting. You can monitor time in offices and in meetings with online clock-in software. What’s more, QuickBooks segregates data by device for more reliable reports. 

Most of QuickBooks Time’s reports focus purely on-task time, which is great for contractors and business leaders to issue accurate invoices. However, you can integrate it with other QuickBooks accounting software to incorporate more data on money earned. 

Finding the best tool to effortlessly generate custom work reports

Combining data collection, preset templates, real-time updates, integrations, and a range of visualizations, the best tools for creating work reports take the time and effort out of reporting and free you up for more strategic tasks. 

While each has its own pros and cons, Bitrix24 stands out — and not just for its user-friendly interface and extensive visualization options. 

With CRM, task management, HR tools, and more all in one place, you can draw data from multiple sources from day one, without integrating a bunch of different subscriptions. This gives you far more options in your work reports, analyzing everything from task times and completion to sales recorded and manager comments. 

So for fuller reports with less effort, sign up for Bitrix24 today. 

FAQ

What are the best tools for creating detailed work reports?

The best tools for creating detailed work reports are: 

• Bitrix24 

• Asana 

• Monday.com 

• Basecamp 

• Smartsheet 

• Trello

• Wrike

• Harvest

• Toggl Track

• Quickbooks Time

These platforms offer features like automated reporting, customizable templates, and real-time data tracking for more efficient project management and decision-making.

How can automation improve work report generation?

Automation improves report generation by automatically pulling real-time data, eliminating manual entry, and updating reports as tasks progress. This makes your reports more accurate and efficient, allowing your team to focus on analysis and strategy rather than administrative tasks.

What features should a work report tool include?

A work report tool should offer: 

• Automated reporting

• Customizable templates 

• Real-time data integration

• Visual dashboards

• Project tracking

• Task updates 

• Mobile compatibility

• Reports sharing