In Salesforce, we have four different types of report. I will explain each of them below –

  • Tabular Report – This is the most basic report. It displays just the row of records in a table like format with grand total. Tabular reports cannot be used for generating dashboards. Below is a screenshot of Tabular Report on Opportunity object.

    • Summary Report – This is the most commonly type of report. It allows grouping of rows of data. It supports sorting and displaying subtotals. Summary Report can be used to create Dashboard. For example in the below report on Opportunity object, report is grouped by type as shown below –
    • Matrix Report – This is the most complex report format. Matrix report summarize information in a grid format. Matrix Report can be used to create Dashboard. Matrix reports allows records to be grouped by both columns and rows. Below is one example –
    • Joined Report – A Joined Report can have data from multiple standard or custom report types. A joined report can have five report blocks where you can add summary fields, apply sorting, filter. Below is one example of Joined Report (All Opportunity vs Open Opportunity) –

      

    [Note – Please refer Salesforce’s documentation on Joined Report. There you will get more examples and also the limitations of Joined Report. Here is the link – Joined Report