Understanding Report Types

Choose the report's scope first, then choose its delivery format. In GrantLink, report type means the entity that owns the report: one grant, one program, or one funder. Web, PDF, Excel, and CSV are output formats, not additional report types.

Important: A report can be scoped to exactly one entity. A grant report cannot also be a program or funder report. Use a program or funder report when several grants belong in one deliverable.

Compare the Three Report Scopes

Report type	Use it when…	Default grant population	Where to start and find it later
Grant	One award is the reporting unit	The selected grant only	Grants > select grant > Reports
Program	One initiative combines multiple linked grants	Linked grants in Awarded, Active, or Closeout status	Programs > select program > Reports
Funder	One funder needs a consolidated view across its grants	That funder's grants in Awarded, Active, or Closeout status	Funders > select funder > Reports

The Create Report button on each Reports tab opens a pre-scoped Chats > New Chat page. The report appears back on the same entity's Reports tab after Chat creates it.

For program and funder scopes:

• Current is the default and includes linked Awarded, Active, and Closeout grants.
• All includes every linked grant, including earlier or inactive lifecycle states.
• Custom includes only the exact linked grants selected for that report.

Custom selections are validated against the chosen program or funder. A grant that is not linked to that entity is not silently added.

Grant Reports

Choose a grant report for a progress report, final report, reimbursement support package, or other award-level deliverable. Depending on the request and available data, it can use:

• Award and reporting-period details
• Budget, actual, variance, and budget mappings
• Allocated transaction detail
• Fund receipts
• Funding-share classifications
• Reporting cycles and previous report snapshots
• Uploaded program context and stored organization branding

A reporting cycle can be associated only with a grant report. When the report is explicitly linked to a cycle, creating it moves that cycle to In Progress. Merely mentioning a deadline or period in an ordinary chat does not guarantee that link; verify the report and cycle association rather than assuming it.

Program Reports

Choose a program report when the audience needs one initiative-wide view across linked grants. State whether the audience needs current, all, or a custom grant set. Also state whether totals should be consolidated, broken out by grant, or both.

Program reports cannot use a grant reporting-cycle ID. Give exact dates and verify that grants with different award periods are treated consistently.

Funder Reports

Choose a funder report when one funder has several awards and wants a consolidated relationship, portfolio, or board-style view. Confirm the included grants because the default excludes grants outside Awarded, Active, and Closeout status.

A funder report is not a substitute for separate award forms when each grant has its own certification, reporting period, or submission requirement.

Choose the Output Format

Rich web report

Use a rich web report for a designed, mobile-friendly deliverable with a live Chat preview. It can be published to a shareable web URL after review. Creating and editing the report workspace requires a Professional, Enterprise, or qualifying agency plan.

The report record has two user-facing content states:

Status	Meaning
Draft	The report exists in Chat and can be reviewed or revised; it is not a recorded approval state
Published	The current report has been successfully deployed to a shareable web URL

Deployment also passes through operational states such as queued, deploying, ready, or error. Wait for the successful published result before sharing a URL.

PDF

Use PDF for a fixed reviewed snapshot, email attachment, or upload to a funder portal. Ask for it in the report chat after checking the web preview, then select Download PDF. The standard exporter supports Letter and A4 output and adds the report footer and page numbers by default.

The PDF is not automatically refreshed after later edits. Generate a new one from the revised report.

Sponsor Excel workbook

Use a sponsor workbook when the funder supplied a required Excel form:

1. Open the grant's Details tab.
2. Upload the original under Excel templates.
3. Ask Chat to generate a report-specific copy for the exact period.
4. Review every populated and missing field in the downloaded workbook.

GrantLink does not overwrite the saved template, complete unsupported fields, file the form, or submit a draw request.

Generic Excel or CSV export

Use a generic export for tabular internal review, reconciliation, or supporting detail when no sponsor form is required. Chat can produce download cards labeled Download .xlsx and Download .csv for supported export scopes.

An export is not a Draft or Published report, and it does not appear in an entity's Reports tab merely because the data came from that entity.

Chat answer or summary

Use a normal Chat response when the user needs an analysis or explanation, not a designed deliverable. Examples include checking sync freshness, explaining a variance, listing upcoming deadlines, or identifying uncategorized transactions.

Do not ask Chat to create a report when a verified answer or one tabular export is the actual goal. Creating a report consumes report usage and creates a persistent report record.

Review, Approval, and Sharing Boundaries

• GrantLink does not provide a report-level Ready for Review or Approved status. Use your organization's review process before publishing or downloading a final file.
• Publishing does not submit a report to a funder, update a reporting cycle to Submitted, or record acceptance.
• A published URL is accessible to anyone who has it unless working password protection is applied.
• Password options are no password, a saved grant default for grant reports, or a custom password. Password protection requires a Professional, Enterprise, or qualifying agency plan.
• The current Visibility and Customize Domain controls do not establish working private access or a custom domain. Do not rely on them.
• The report screen does not currently expose an unpublish action. Archiving a chat is not a substitute for removing a published deployment.

For the complete creation and review flow, see Generating Funder Reports. For safe interpretation of the generated content, see Understanding AI-Generated Summaries.