How to make a "custom" expense report [was Re: Report customization nightmare]

[Mike Leone]

On 7/1/2010 9:29 AM, David G. Hamblen had this to say:

> This one's easy. Simply deselect the income accounts (clear all and then
> reselect all the expenses on the accounts tab); then change the Report
> Name and Title to Expense Report (on the General tab), and save it.
> It'll have your new name on the Reports list (under Custom Reports), and
> won't say Income anywhere. It still will have a blank "Revenue" line,
> and a Year-to-date loss equal to the expense total.

Yes, but the point is that there is a Revenue line *at all*, in what 
should be *just* expenses. There's no way to not get unwanted sections 
(like Revenue and Net Profit/Loss) from appearing. And what the report 
is supposed to show is *not* a loss of any kind; it's just a listing of 
expenses. A summary of accounts, for a time period, with perhaps other 
criteria.

Yes, it's a minor thing, and can be ignored. The overriding point is ... 
you can't customize and re-save an existing report, to look like what 
you want, without having to live with extraneous information.

Suppose you wanted to buy a car ... but you can only own one that always 
has a trailer attached to the back of it. "Just ignore it, when you 
don't have anything to put into it" ... there's no way to not have the 
trailer, without the car.