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The Ultimate Guide to Reports Now ™
The Ultimate Guide to Reports Now ™

Are you new to the Reports Now writing system? Read this article for everything you need to know to get started, fast!

Riley DiMarco avatar
Written by Riley DiMarco
Updated over a week ago

With Reports Now™, appraisers can build better reports faster and from anywhere, with a collaborative appraisal form filler that lives in the Cloud.

This isn't just another form filling software. Reports Now™ comes with an entire suite of tools and revolutionary features that are specifically designed for appraisers wanting to build better reports.

In this article we will give you all of the tools and resources you need to start using Reports Now in no time!


Phase 1: Getting Started!

Reports Now™ is available in 2 different ways. Through a subscription, or through the use of Anow Credits. For users who are on a subscription, you can purchase Reports Now™. For users on our Anow Direct platform without a subscription, you can do this by using Credits that you have purchased.

PURCHASING THE ADD-ON

If you would like to purchase the add-on instead of using credits, you can do so by clicking on your name at the top right and going to subscriptions. Then, click on "Reports Now™" and select which users you want to provide access to. Once finished, select "Save Changes".

***Note that after one admin license is purchased, all other admins / assistants are free!***

USING CREDITS

If you would like to use credits, click on the "Unlock Reports Now™" button and then confirm you would like to spend the credits. If you do not have any credits, you can view how to add credits here.

***Note that each report will cost 1500 credits and credits are non-refundable***


Phase 2: Starting a Report in Reports Now™

Login to your Anow account and choose the order you want to start working from the main dashboard. Once the details page loads, click the Reports Now™ icon towards the top of the page.

A new tab will now open allowing you to create a new report, where you will then choose the desired form. You can also choose to import the information from the Public Records or build off a previously designed template if you have created one. Now select "Build Report".


Phase 3: Form Filling and Formatting

After you've created your report and selected the form type, you'll see the standard page layout. Here is an example of what you'll see for a 1004 form:

You can add pages to your report by clicking the plus sign along the top of the page, and rearrange the pages by dragging and dropping them under the Your Report column.

Deleting pages is easy as well, just click the 3 lines to the right of the image, and then click remove. Then be sure to confirm if you would like to proceed with the removal.

When you're satisfied with the layout, you can begin working on filling out the form itself! To give you a quick glimpse of what fields you can fill out, here's a photo from the Subject Info page on the 1004:

DID YOU KNOW?

With Reports Now™, you can also collaborate with your team in the cloud! Anyone with access to Reports Now™ can watch or assist as your report is built, data is added and photos are uploaded in real-time, from multiple locations.

While typing out your report, you also have the power to choose how the text on your Reports Now™ form is displayed with size, color and other formatting tools. Learn all about it here!


Phase 4: Templates

Save time going forward by applying previously created templates!

There are a few important things to note about templates:

  • Templates can be applied when the report is initially being created.

  • There are two types of templates, Personal and Company. Templates you create will only be accessible by you. Templates shared to the Company section can be used by anyone in the company.

  • Templates are tied to report types. For example, if you built a new 1004 - Single Family Residential template in Reports Now™, you will only be able to apply it to the same report type.

You can edit, update and delete existing templates in Reports Now™ anytime by clicking the Templates icon from the toolbar. This will bring you to the list of your active templates

To create a new template, first locate the type of template you want to build off of and select "duplicate template". Then make sure you edit the name of the template, otherwise it will save as the same name as the previous template.

Now that the template has been duplicated, it will place it in the "Draft Templates" section where you can edit or delete it. Click the 'edit draft' button to begin filling out your custom template.

Go ahead and make the necessary changes to your custom template and select "publish draft" when completed. You can also adjust template settings such as a default number of sales or rental comparables as well.

Your custom template will now be visible to be applied to future orders! Just note, by default it will be a personal template only visible to yourself. If you'd like to share with everyone, click on the 'share template' button to make it a company template.


Phase 5: Understanding Comps in Reports Now™

Reports Now™ comes with lots of tools to make gathering and storing your Comps so much easier and more organized!

First, if you have a list of comparables, you can easily import them into Reports Now™! Click on the comparables tab on the left hand side and select "Import". This will bring up a window where you can click and drag / upload your CSV file.

Now you will need to match the columns in your uploaded file to the comparables fields. Once finished, make sure you take advantage of our 'save mapping' feature so that if you get another CSV file from the same source, you can apply the same fields.

Next, select the comparables you want to add to your side by side view and comp grid. These will also be added into your COMPVAULT for future use! You can also add as many comps as you want as our system will add any additional pages to your report if required.


Phase 6: Sketching Tools

The Sketch tool will allow you to draw out your own sketch of your appraisal, and have it automatically attach itself to your report!

Start by selecting the Sketch tab from the menu on the left side of your Reports Now™ report screen:

The icons along the left of the page will allow you to begin drawing your sketch, use the freeform tool, define your area's, custom label them add symbols like doors & windows and get a calculation of your defined area's!

When drawing, there's a menu on the right hand side that will allow you to enter in your dimenions of your sketch! This will also change based on what options you select (freeform, define, text, etc).

Watch the ApexSketch tool in action. It takes just a couple of minutes to find out what it's all about and how to get started!


Phase 7: Reports Now™ Companion

The Reports Now™ Companion Panel is your new best friend! Get quick access to the features you need to build your reports faster (UAD Assistant, Field Picklist, Data Source, Field History, Validation & Support Chat):

UAD Assistant

When using a UAD supported form, you will see there are some cells marked with a green flag. These are fields that have a specific formula or required formatting in order to pass validation - that is why they are flagged.

  • When a field is flagged, that means it still requires UAD validation.

  • Once a UAD field has been successfully validated, the green flag will be removed.

Please Note: There are many fields on the form that are not flagged but are still required to be filled out. These are fields that don't have a very specific formula or set of given options to choose from.

Select any of the UAD flagged cells and click on UAD assistant or CTRL + U and a pop up will appear. For example, I have a flagged field selected on the form (Subject Info > Report data source(s) used, offering price(s), and date(s) field), and the UAD panel automatically appeared to help me easily fill out this field.

As you fill out information in the UAD panel, it will update the form field as well:

Continue working through all of the different form fields and respond to them accordingly until you're all done!

Field Picklist

Picklists allow you to reference popular and recent responses for each field, ultimately speeding up the form-filling process.

Anow's Picklist items are automatic. This means you no longer have to manually add items for each field; we'll gather the most common and recently used responses for you!

Using Picklists: Easy as 1, 2, 3

After you have completed your first report, you can select any field that you would like and load the Picklist by clicking from the companion toolbar or selecting Ctrl + P. You will have 3 choices ; Top 10, most recent and custom.

With 'Top 10' you will see which responses have been used the most often and what date they were used, so you can pick the best response for your needs. With 'most recent' you will see a list of your most recent entries. With 'custom' you will be able to pick from a list of custom choices you have created for that field!


Phase 8: Validate your report

Easily run a validation review on your report and get an overview of all outstanding errors that require attention.

To start, click on the "validate" button at the top right and select the validation rules to run on your report. Please note that only supported forms will allow you to Validate.

You will now receive a list of all issues it will find. To resolve them, simply click on the issue and it will bring you to the field that needs to be adjusted!


Phase 9: Sign and Export

When a report has been completed in Reports Now™, click Sign in the upper right corner of the screen:

Now you will need to add and setup your signature! First, select if you are the Appraiser or Supervisor of the order. Then, choose your signature. If you don't have any created yet, you can upload or Draw your signature and add a 4 digit pin so that only you can add or remove the signature in the future.

Ready to export your report? Click Export PDF and choose whether you want to export as a PDF file, Mismo XML or ENV (If supported) file; that's all there is to it!


Phase 10: Additional Resources and Support

Live Chat

When you're using Reports Now™, you'll see the option for Live Chat in the Companion Toolbar:

Clicking this will reveal a window where you can start a new chat with someone at Anow. We will be more then happy to help or guide you along the process!

Phone: 1-800-403-7121

Knowledge Base

If you have a basic question or you simply want to learn more about Anow, you can visit support.anow.com to access dozens of helpful articles and videos.


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