Understand levels of detail in Cloudbeds Insights reports

Gabriela Garcia

Updated September 24, 2026 20:25

Purpose	Understand why some fields in a Cloudbeds Insights report can be combined or broken down together while others cannot.
Best for	Anyone building or troubleshooting a custom report in Cloudbeds Insights.
Use this when	A report shows dashes in some cells, a figure cannot be divided by another field, or you need to understand which fields can be used together.
Requirements	A custom report in Cloudbeds Insights with fields you want to combine, filter, or break down.
Expected result	You can recognize when fields are being combined at incompatible levels of detail and choose a report structure or field that better matches the analysis you need.
Limitations	A summary figure cannot be meaningfully divided by detail that exists at a finer level than the figure itself. When this happens, affected cells may show a dash, while the report totals remain correct.

Introduction

Cloudbeds Insights lets you create custom reports by combining fields from different parts of your property's data. However, those fields are not all recorded at the same level of detail.

A reservation is one level. The rooms included in that reservation are more detailed. Each night of each room is more detailed again, while individual charges, payments, payouts, and invoices are recorded at even more specific levels.

These differences determine how a field can be grouped, filtered, or displayed alongside other fields. When a report asks Cloudbeds Insights to divide a summary figure into detail that the figure does not contain, the affected cells can show a dash instead of a number.

This article explains how levels of detail work, why they affect some field combinations, what the dashes mean, and how to adjust your report when this happens.

Understand the levels of detail in a report
Why levels of detail affect report results
What a dash means in your report
What to do when fields do not combine

Understand the levels of detail in a report

Every field in Cloudbeds Insights belongs to the part of your property's data where that information is recorded. Understanding that level helps explain why a field works in some report combinations but not others.

Level	Example fields recorded at this level
Reservation	Grand Total, Room Revenue Total, Check-In Date, Check-Out Date
Room on a reservation	Room Rate Total, Room Total Price, Room Type, Meal Plan
A night of that room	Total Room Revenue, Rooms Sold, Stay Date
A charge on that night	Debits, Transaction Amount, Transaction Status, Service Date
A payment, payout, or invoice	Payment Net, Payout Amount, Document Amount, Payout Date

A broader level contains less detail. A reservation, for example, represents the booking as a whole. A transaction-level field describes one individual charge associated with that booking.

Why levels of detail affect report results

A figure can be displayed at its own level or rolled up into a broader view. For example, Total Room Revenue is recorded per night, so it can be summarized by month, room type, or reservation. Those views all roll the same nightly figures into a broader total.

The reverse does not always work. One night's revenue is a single figure, but the same night can have several individual charges posted at different times. There is no correct way to decide how much of that one nightly revenue figure belongs to each individual charge.

When the report asks for that type of split, Cloudbeds Insights does not assign an arbitrary value to the detailed rows. Instead, the summary figure is not shown where that breakdown would be misleading.

What a dash means in your report

When a summary figure is combined with detail that it cannot be divided into, the affected cells show a dash instead of a number. A short in-product message may also explain why the fields do not work at the same level.

Your totals are still correct. The dashes change which individual cells can display a meaningful number. They do not change the underlying totals, which are calculated from the report data rather than by adding the visible rows on the screen.

This behavior prevents a summary figure from appearing against detailed rows where there is no accurate way to divide that value.

What to do when fields do not combine

The best adjustment depends on whether you need the detailed breakdown or the summary figure.

Use the detailed figure instead. If you need revenue broken down by individual charges, use Debits or Transaction Amount. These figures are recorded per transaction, so they can be divided by transaction-level fields.
Remove the more detailed field. If the summary figure is what you need, remove the field that is asking the report to split it into a finer level. The summary figure can then display at the level where it is recorded.
Build two reports. A report focused on nightly revenue and a separate transaction-level report can each show the correct information at its natural level. The issue occurs when incompatible levels are combined in the same grid.

Adding more detail to a report is supported

This behavior does not prevent you from creating detailed reports. For example, a report with one row per guest per night is a normal supported output, and some statutory reporting workflows require that level of detail.

The restriction applies only when a summary figure is placed next to detail that the figure itself cannot be divided into.

Now that you understand how levels of detail affect Cloudbeds Insights reports, review these scenario-specific articles for more guidance on transaction detail, date combinations, reservation and nightly totals, and Dynamic metrics: