Overview
Scheduled reports in Acorn automatically run and deliver a report export (CSV or PDF) to specified email addresses on a recurring schedule — daily, weekly, or monthly. Recipients do not need to be Acorn users to receive reports.
What do you need before creating a scheduled report?
You need Admin access in Acorn to create scheduled reports. You will also need at least one saved report preset — you can create one during the setup steps below.
How do you create a scheduled report?
- Go to Admin > Reporting > Reports > New Report or Past Report, then select the report you want to schedule.
- Apply the filters you want (date range, cohort, course, etc.).
- Click the Settings (cog) icon, then select Save Preset. Enter a name for the preset and click Save Preset.
- Back in Reporting, click Scheduled Reports > New Scheduled Report. Enter a name, select a preset from the dropdown, then click Next.
- Set the frequency: Daily, Weekly (choose day of week), or Monthly (choose day of month). Click Next.
- Add recipients: enter the email addresses that should receive the report. Make sure Send Email Alert is selected — if it is not selected, no email will be sent and recipients will only see a notification inside Acorn.
- Click Next > Yes, Save Schedule.
How do you manage or edit a scheduled report?
- Go to Admin > Reporting > Reports > Scheduled Reports.
- Click View on your specific report.
- Click Edit to modify the name, schedule, frequency, recipients, or preset filters.
- To delete a scheduled report, first toggle off the Active button to deactivate it, then click Edit > Delete.
Dynamic date ranges
Use dynamic date ranges in your scheduled reports so each report always covers a rolling time period. Available dynamic date ranges include:
- Last 7 days: Always covers the 7 days before the report runs.
- Current month: Covers the month the report runs in.
- Last month: Covers the previous calendar month.
Troubleshooting scheduled reports
- Report not arriving: Check the recipient's spam or junk folder and confirm the sender address is not on their email suppression or block list. Also verify that Send Email Alert was enabled when the schedule was created or last edited.
- Empty report: No data matched the filters for that period — open the preset and review the date range, cohort, and course filters to confirm they are returning active records.
- Wrong data: Review the saved filters in the preset — a cohort or course filter may be too narrow or set to the wrong value.
Who receives scheduled reports?
Scheduled reports can only be accessed by users within your Acorn tenancy. People outside your organization can’t view them.
How it works
- Recipients get an email with a link to the report, not an attached file.
- The link opens Acorn PLS, where the recipient is prompted to log in.
- Only users with an account in your tenancy can log in and view the report.
Why reports work this way
Keeping reports behind a login protects your data. Confidential information isn’t left sitting in a CSV in someone’s inbox