Microsoft Reporting Services (SSRS)

Overview

Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) powers many enterprise reporting systems, especially in organizations with legacy applications. Scoop can ingest SSRS reports—including complex banded reports with subtotals—preserving your existing business logic while enabling AI-powered analysis, modern visualization, and data blending.

Why Import SSRS Reports?

Many organizations have years of business logic embedded in SSRS reports:

• Complex calculations and aggregations
• Validated business rules
• Regulatory compliance reports
• Departmental standards

Scoop lets you preserve this logic while adding modern capabilities:

• AI-powered investigation ("Why did this metric change?")
• Natural language queries
• Blending with data from other systems
• Historical snapshots and trending

What You Can Analyze

Importing SSRS Reports

Option 1: Scheduled Email Delivery (Recommended)

Set up automated ingestion from SSRS subscriptions:

1. In SSRS Report Manager, open your report
2. Click Subscribe → New Subscription
3. Set delivery method to E-Mail
4. Add your Scoop ingest email address as recipient
5. Select CSV or Excel as the render format
6. Set your delivery schedule

Scoop automatically processes incoming reports and handles:

• Banded report detection
• Subtotal row identification
• Column type inference

See Email Automated Imports for Scoop setup.

Option 2: Manual Export and Upload

1. Run your SSRS report
2. Click Export → CSV or Excel
3. Upload to Scoop as a new dataset

Option 3: Direct Database Connection

For maximum flexibility, connect Scoop directly to your SQL Server database:

1. Use the same connection SSRS uses
2. Query the underlying data directly
3. Apply filters and calculations in Scoop

See SQL Server Connection for setup.

Banded Report Handling

SSRS commonly produces banded/grouped reports with subtotals. Scoop automatically:

Example: A sales report grouped by Region → Territory → Rep with subtotals at each level is automatically parsed into clean, analyzable data.

See Grouped Reports for more details.

Key Report Types to Import

Operational Reports

Day-to-day business metrics:

• Sales summaries
• Inventory levels
• Production output
• Service metrics

Financial Reports

Accounting and finance data:

• P&L statements
• Budget vs. actual
• AR/AP aging
• Cost center reports

Compliance Reports

Regulatory and audit data:

• Required filings
• Audit trails
• Exception reports
• Validation reports

Management Reports

Executive summaries:

• KPI dashboards
• Departmental rollups
• Variance analysis

Blending with Other Data

Example: Cross-System Analysis

Ask Scoop:
"Compare SSRS sales report totals with
Salesforce pipeline by region"

Best Practices

Preserve Report Logic

• Import reports with their existing calculations
• Use SSRS for validated business rules
• Let Scoop handle analysis and blending

Use CSV Format

• CSV exports are cleaner than HTML for data
• Excel works but may include formatting issues
• Avoid PDF for data analysis

Schedule Strategically

• Daily for operational reports
• Weekly for summary reports
• Monthly for financial reports

Include Identifiers

Ensure reports include:

• Date/period columns
• Region/territory codes
• Account/customer IDs
• Any keys needed for blending

Common Use Cases

Modernize Legacy Reporting

Add AI capabilities to existing reports:

"Why did this region's numbers drop compared to last month?"

Cross-System Reconciliation

Compare SSRS data with other sources:

"Do SSRS totals match our Salesforce pipeline by rep?"

Historical Trending

Track report changes over time:

"Show how this monthly report has trended over the past year"

Self-Service Analysis

Let business users explore SSRS data:

"Break down this report by customer segment and product line"

SSRS vs. Scoop: Complementary Tools

Best approach: Keep SSRS for your validated, standard reports. Use Scoop to investigate, explore, and blend that data.

Troubleshooting

Subtotals Not Detected

• Ensure subtotal rows contain "Subtotal" or "Total" text
• Check that subtotals are in consistent positions
• Very complex nested reports may need manual review

Column Alignment Issues

• CSV exports from SSRS are usually clean
• If columns misalign, check for embedded commas in data
• Try Excel format if CSV has issues

Missing Data

• Check SSRS report parameters match expected date range
• Verify subscription schedule is running
• Ensure report hasn't errored in SSRS

Formatting in Data

• SSRS may embed formatting (currency symbols, percentages)
• Scoop auto-strips common formatting
• Verify numeric columns are detected correctly

Related Resources

• Grouped Reports - Banded report handling
• SQL Server Connection - Direct database access
• Email Automated Imports - Subscription setup
• Power BI Integration - Modern BI comparison
• Crystal Reports Integration - Another legacy BI tool