Workday Reports Not Working? Here’s How to Fix Common Issues

Workday reporting is essential to allow organizations to successfully analyze HR, financial, and operational data. However, sometimes reports fail to display accurate or complete data, causing inefficiencies and decision-making challenges. Regardless of whether filters are not applied, data is missing, or calculations are incorrect, the issues may be due to data access restrictions, report options improperly configured, or variable report design.

This guide discusses frequent reporting issues in Workday and offers systematic troubleshooting techniques to make your reports consistently trustworthy, efficient, and business-objective oriented.

1. Filters Are Not Applying Correctly

Filters are a powerful feature in Workday reporting, enabling the user to focus data and get meaningful information. Yet, filters sometimes do not work as anticipated, resulting in either excessive irrelevant information or the omission of key data points.

Possible Explanations:

• The filter is not compatible with the proper data type (i.e., applying a text filter to a number field).
• Default filters are overriding the user-defined choices.
• The user lacks security privileges to view some information.
• Filters are executed out of sequence, affecting report logic.

How to fix it:

• Check filter criteria – Make sure the filter used matches the right field type and layout.
• Check default filters – Proceed to the Filter Configuration section and search for pre-applied system defaults which may be overriding decisions.
• Verify security permissions – If the data does not appear after you apply a filter, make sure your Workday security role has permission to view the restricted dataset.
• Conduct tests with varying values by altering the filter parameters to determine whether modifications to the criteria affect the results.
• Utilize Workday's report preview function; prior to executing the entire report, utilize the preview feature to assess the application of filters.

2. Inadequate Data in Reports

A common frustration experienced in Workday reporting is the missing expected data in the reports. Missing data of this sort could lead to incorrect conclusions and further affect the decision-making process.

Possible Explanations:

• The report is utilizing an incorrect data source or dataset.
• Business processes are not finalized, and Workday only retrieves finalized data.
• Security settings are concealing particular information from particular users.
• The report utilizes customized filters that inadvertently exclude important information.

How to Fix It:

• Validate the data source; it is crucial to make sure that the report references the right dataset and pulls data from the right Workday domain.
• Confirm business processes are complete – In Workday, transactions in "In Progress" status or pending approval can be excluded from reporting.
• Check security role access – Work with your Workday administrator to review security permissions for the report.
• Examine the report filters to make necessary adjustments that will guarantee they do not inadvertently exclude essential data points.
• Run a comprehensive test report by creating a version of the report with minimal filters in order to ascertain whether data is being pulled.

3. Workday Reports Calculations that are Incorrect

When financial, payroll, or workforce reports contain anomalous totals or variances, such incidents undermine trust in the data. Calculation inaccuracies are usually due to incorrectly set up formulas, aggregation issues, or outdated data sources.

Possible Causes:

• Custom Calculated Fields (CCFs) have been defined incorrectly.
• Workday is improperly aggregating data, resulting in either inflated totals or missing totals.
• The report is pulling information from multiple sources, thereby causing discrepancies.
• Data is not real-time updated, resulting in calculation inconsistencies.

How to Fix It:

• Check custom calculated fields – Go to Report Designer and see how CCFs are defined. Ensure formulas are correctly referencing fields.
• Audit aggregation settings by reviewing the summary and group-by functions to ensure that Workday is not double-counting or miscalculating totals.
• It is recommended that you compare report logic to the source data by executing small test reports against each data source to identify where calculations may be incorrect.
• Make sure the data refreshes properly – Workday reports are not always updating automatically. Re-run the report or refresh it to ensure it is reporting the latest data.

4. Reports Running Slowly

Poor performance can impact productivity and lead to delays in making critical business decisions. Performance problems most commonly pertain to very large data sets, intricate calculated fields, or poor filtering.

Possible Causes:

• The report is considering large volumes of data without using efficient filtering techniques.
• The report has complex calculations that hinder execution time.
• The Workday system is under heavy traffic or peak use.

How to Fix It:

• Use indexed fields for filtering – Whenever possible, filter on indexed fields, which are processed faster by Workday than non-indexed fields.
• Reduce data scope – Instead of importing all the data available, limit the report to needed fields and date ranges.
• Optimize the calculated fields; if a report relies heavily on real-time calculations, one may wish to pre-calculate values and place them in custom fields.
• Run reports off-peak – Running reports when system usage is not at its peak can improve performance.

5. Standardizing Report Configurations for Accuracy

To achieve sustained success in reporting, organizations are required to implement standardized reporting configurations that uphold accuracy and consistency. Discrepancies in data and inefficiencies among teams may arise from misaligned report structures.

Best Practices for Consistent Reporting:

• Utilize reporting features within Workday; utilize Workday pre-formatted reports and calculated fields for consistency.
• Establish standard data sources – Ensure all reports are based on approved, consistent datasets to prevent variances.
• Review and update reports regularly – Business needs evolve, so should reports. Review quarterly to confirm and adjust templates.
• Train users on reporting best practices – Conduct training sessions where all Workday users are introduced to filter logic, data sources, and report configurations.

Final Thoughts

The key to avoiding these challenges in the future is standardization and continuous learning. Make sure your team is using consistent data sources, reviewing report templates regularly, and leveraging Workday’s built-in tools to maintain accuracy. If you’re looking to deepen your understanding of Workday reporting, Workday offers an in-depth training course for community members, which you can find here: Workday Reporting Course.

And if your team needs hands-on support with your AP Automation, Ascend AP specializes in Workday optimization. Whether you need help fixing a report or streamlining your entire reporting process, we’re here to help. Reach out today, and let’s make Workday reporting work for you.