5 Major Differences Between Reporting and Analytics

Reporting and analytics play a crucial role in helping business leaders to develop strategies, make informed decisions, and steer their companies responsibly. While the two processes go hand in hand, they are not the same. Reporting is the process of gathering and presenting data in a concise manner, in a way that makes it more understandable. Analytics involves reviewing that data to look for patterns and trends that help drive decision-making at all levels of a business.

With an in-depth understanding of the key differences between reporting and analytics, you’ll be able to put the right teams and procedures in place to gather and analyze essential information. This article explores how the two functions work and the benefits that each brings to several major aspects of business.

Data reporting involves gathering crucial information and presenting it in a way that makes sense to your intended audience.¹ Your report could consist of something as basic as a simple spreadsheet that allows decision-makers to compare financial information. Alternatively, you might submit a multi-page report with charts, tables, and other graphics to show the results of detailed research about a particular topic.

There are many possible uses for reports, which can sum up annual progress, research, marketing, analysis, and more. As an executive, you may be responsible for preparing or reviewing any of these to understand your business better or communicate about it to shareholders.

Analytics is used to gain as much knowledge as possible from data and reports in order to develop conclusions that drive decision-making.² With analytics, you won’t just present information—you’ll use the information you have available to develop and execute key business strategies. For example, as an executive, you may apply analytical tools to a set of financial reports in order to create strategies to maximize your profits and improve operational efficiency. You might also look through a market analysis report to guide you in developing advertising strategies to bring in new business.

Both reporting and analytics require you to interpret data, but you do it differently for each business function. When collating raw data for reports, you will gather, summarize, and present historical information from multiple sources.³

Many business reports feature a combination of charts, graphs, and text. Common presentation (or data visualization) methods for such reports include charts, scatter plots, and line graphs.⁴ To break up text and make your reports more visually appealing, you may also include photos or infographics, which use a combination of text and imagery to convey information.

A major difference between reporting and analytics lies in how you interpret data. Analytics involves delving deeper into your data to derive insights. You may apply data modeling tools, financial formulas, databases, and other tools to the raw data so you can more easily identify the patterns that will give you the right, actionable insights for decision-making.⁵

There are several common methods by which you can analyze data, each with different purposes. Whether you use descriptive analytics to understand the current situation, diagnostic analytics to work backward to find the most likely factors that brought that situation about, predictive analytics to extrapolate into the future, or prescriptive analytics to identify areas with weaknesses to improve, your detailed understanding and use of each method can help your business progress.⁶

In the business world, reporting allows you to evaluate your organization’s present or past performance based on a snapshot of information. Assessing historical and current data gives you a sense of your business and its overall health. It can also help you examine your recent business performance relative to how you were doing in the past.⁷ For example, if you set a marketing goal to increase lead generation by 20% after deploying your latest campaign, you would use reports to measure your progress.

Reporting and analytics both give you crucial information about your business, but analytics goes beyond surface-level data to identify trends, patterns, and underlying causes. Data modeling and analytics help guide big decisions.⁸ If you were launching a new product line, you might use predictive analytics to determine its potential market. Your market analysis would then guide your marketing and advertising strategy.

Business reports are useful for operational and tactical decision-making. As an executive, you would analyze financial reports to assess your cash flow and your ability to fund various parts of your business. If those reports show a substantial loss during the current year, you may consider cost-cutting efforts.

Depending on which department you oversee, you may be in charge of producing or reviewing weekly informational reports. For example, if you head up your company’s sales team, you will regularly look at sales volume and average dollar values to make sure your team is on track.⁹ In contrast, data analytics supports long-term planning and decision-making.

You may be familiar with financial analytics from your undergraduate program, but use of analytics is not limited to money. If you discovered you were operating at a loss, you might use prescriptive analytics to show inefficiencies in your current processes.

For example, Walmart used data analytics to gain a better understanding of consumer behavior and predict future customer choices based on historical patterns. With these insights, the company adjusted its stocking procedures, resulting in less wasted inventory and the costs associated with storing and disposing of it.¹⁰

Reporting and data analytics both involve distilling complex information into actionable insights. Reporting is usually less complicated and features straightforward data aggregation and presentation, while analytics involves more detailed processes.

At the reporting stage, you compile and combine various data sets for easier interpretation. For example, if you’re developing a report about your company’s quarterly sales numbers, you might enter the numbers from current and previous quarters into a spreadsheet and use the data sets to create a bar chart comparing results.

When you’re using data analytics to guide decisions, you’re likely using advanced data modeling techniques and statistical methods. If you’re using predictive analytics to optimize your inventory levels based on customer demand, you may use a time-series model to analyze historical data and make predictions.¹¹ Other common models include decision trees, regression analysis, and forecast models.

You’ll use statistical analysis software instead of running calculations manually, but an understanding of the methods and principles behind these models will help you use them better.

Develop advanced proficiency in data analytics and reporting. Santa Clara University’s Online Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program builds the expertise you need for the career you want. Whether you’re a seasoned professional looking to acquire new skills or an aspiring business leader seeking a strong career start, the robust Online MSBA curriculum will empower you to analyze complex data sets, quickly identify trends and opportunities, make informed decisions, and improve business performance.

Learn more about the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University: the expert faculty, networking opportunities, and admissions process. Schedule a call with an admissions outreach advisor today.