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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2026-03-13
Concept: Report Step

Concept: Report Step

You can specify that Workday runs any standard or custom report as a business process step by adding a
Report
 type step and specifying which report to use.
When the business process runs, the security associated with the report is enforced (that is, the report displays only the information that is secured to the recipient). Therefore, if 2 recipients have access to different report data, then 1 recipient could receive a report with different data than the other recipient.
To specify the output type of the report:
  1. Select
    Business Process
    Configure Report Step
     as a related action on the
    Report
     step of the business process.
  2. Enter the
    Effective Date
    . The default effective date is the current date.
  3. Enter the
    Time Zone
    . The default time zone is the user's current time zone.
    You can only enter a time zone if you selected the
    Business Process Configuration Time Zone
     option on the
    Edit Tenant Setup - System
     task.
    • If you enter the current date in the specified time zone, the changes take effect immediately. Users in other time zones see the changes immediately.
    • If you enter a future date in the specified time zone, the changes take effect at midnight on the specified date in the specified time zone. Users in other time zones see the changes at the corresponding date and time in their time zones.
    • If you enter a past date in the specified time zone, the changes take effect at 23:59:59 on the specified date in the specified time zone. Users in other time zones see the changes at the corresponding date and time in their time zones.
  4. Define prompt values:
    • For supported report types, define prompt values on the
      Report Criteria
       tab to filter the data Workday displays.
    • For composite reports, you must define prompt values to ensure the multi-source data remains contextual to the business process assignee.
  5. Click the
    Output
     tab. These output types are available:
    • Excel
    • Report (PDF)
    • Business Form (PDF)
      If you select
      Business Form (PDF)
       as the output type, select the report layout to use from the drop-down list.
You can select both report designs, in the form of Report Designer design files or XSLT-based layouts from the drop-down list. However, note that Workday plans to retire XSLT layouts for custom reports in favor of report designs created in Report Designer in Workday Studio. For more information, see the
Retired Functionality Reference
 on Workday Community.
When a report runs as a business process step, its output is sent automatically to
My Reports
, rather than being displayed immediately. You can optionally create a
To Do
 step within the business process that consolidates the links to one or more reports within a single
To Do
 step. On the business process definition, add the
To Do
 step after the
Report
 step. Both
Report
 and
To Do
 steps should route to the same person, otherwise the report won't display to them. Make sure that you select a To Do that has the
Show Report Document
 check box selected. When the check box is enabled, Workday provides a link to reports and displays the report on the
To Do
 step. You can edit an existing To Do by accessing the
Maintain To Dos
 task.
You can also configure the business process not to wait for a
Report
 step to complete, but to move immediately to the next step in the business process.