HMIS Reporting Overview
With various reporting requirements – and just as many reports available in HMIS – knowing the purpose of each report and when to use it can be challenging. This overview is designed to provide clarity and guidance on commonly used reports so you can confidently utilize them.
Canned vs Business Object Reports
“Canned” means that the report is a tool within Community Services; these reports are available directly under the “Reports” tab once you’ve logged into your account. They run in real time and use live data, which gives you the ability to see corrections immediately. This also means that for canned reports, end dates are always the last day of the month for which you are running the report. They can be helpful tools during data cleanup efforts.
BusinessObjects (BO) reports exist outside of Community Services; you can connect to BO through the “Reports” tab or using the button in the top right of Community Services. These must use the reporting end date PLUS one day in order to capture all data in the reporting period, as the system updates at midnight daily. This means changes or corrections in data will not be reflected in BO reports until the following day.
Commonly Used Reports
Clients Served Report
- Canned report.
- Provides basic information on clients served through Service Transactions, including demographic breakdowns, service types, and funding source breakdowns. This report CANNOT be exported to Excel; however, it can be saved to PDF.
CoC APR (Annual Performance Report)
- Canned report.
- Provides information on clients enrolled through Entry/Exits. It covers client-level data for those served during the reporting period, including demographic information, disability information, income sources at entry/exit, length of participation, chronicity, housing destinations, and a lot more. This report can be exported to Excel; however, it creates separate files for every table (all 72 of them). It can also be saved to PDF.
- Typically captures a FY of data, but it can be used for monthly or quarterly reporting as well.
ESG CAPER (Emergency Solutions Grant Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report)
- Canned report.
- Very similar to the APR.
- Provides information on clients enrolled through Entry/Exits and is the primary mechanism for reporting to HUD on the use of ESG funds, including homeless prevention and rapid re-housing projects.
- Typically captures a calendar year of data but can be run for monthly or quarterly reporting.
Daily Unit Report
- Canned report.
- For providers that use the “Shelters” module. It generates a list of “unit stays” with an at-a-glance summary at the bottom, allowing you to monitor occupancy and track bed availability in real time.
- Typically captures a single day.
Data Quality Benchmarks Report
- BO report.
- Used to measure data quality against benchmark targets for projects using an Entry/Exit workflow.
- This report is required to be run and submitted via the Data Quality Benchmarks Certification Form monthly, however, it is highly encouraged for Agency Administrators to run and review it more frequently to monitor and maintain data quality.
Data Completeness Report
- BO report.
- Provides a data completeness score, and a Client Detail tab which shows where errors (or “Nulls”) are located. While similar to the DQ Benchmarks Report, this report is used by projects that use a Services Only workflow. Running and reviewing this report on a regular basis is encouraged to monitor and maintain data quality.
Timeliness Report
- BO report.
- Provides a grade for the timeliness of data entry, along with a breakdown of timeliness by service type.
- Typically used for Services Only projects.
Shelter Report
- Originally a custom report for taskforce meetings, now available through BO.
- The report shows the number of beds each shelter program has and their occupancy for a specific point in time. Shelter programs include Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, and Safe Haven.
- Shows shelters and the household types they serve, number of beds and units each shelter has, number of clients residing in those beds (or rooms) the night before, and utilization percentage based on the shelter’s occupancy.