Report Cards are a great way to update your clients on all of their pet's progress and successes during their booking with you. From training advancements to daily activities, BusyPaws allows you to design your report cards to include all the information you want to pass along to your customers. In this guide we will take a look at how to set up report cards and how to complete them.

Let's start by taking a look at where your report card template list lives. To locate your Report Card Templates page, start by clicking the "Settings" icon in the bottom-left corner of the page.

Then select "Report Cards" under the "Product Configuration" section.

This page includes three tabs, "Report Cards", "Custom Fields", and "Completed Report Cards". The Report Cards tab will list the name and creation date of all the report card templates you currently have on your account. The Custom Fields tab will list all of the fields you have created to include in your report cards. Each field will display with the field name, the display text, and the field type. The Completed Report Cards tab will include a full list of all the report cards that have been submitted for any client in your system.

Unlike intake forms, report cards have no default fields. This means that, before you can begin putting together any report card templates, you will first need to determine what kind of information, and therefore what kinds of custom fields, you want to include. To create a new report card field, click "Add Field" in the "Actions" button menu at the top of the Report Card Templates page.

That will take you to the Add Field form. This form includes fields for the Field Name, the Display Text, and the Field Type. The Field Name is the name that will display on the custom field list, while the Display Text will show on any report card that the field has been added to. The Field Type dictates the type of input that the field will display with.

There are a variety of types to choose from when setting up your fields. Clicking on the "Select a Type" field will open a drop-down menu with the full list of available options for your new field.

Once you have completed the selections for your Custom Field, click the "+ Add Field" button to create it. Your new field will now be listed under the "Custom Fields" tab on the Report Card Templates page.

You can easily edit the name or display text for any of your existing custom fields by selecting its name.

To delete a field, click its name to open the Edit Field form, then select the "Delete" button at the top of the page.

Once you have created a few custom fields, check out the next section of this guide for more information on using those fields to create a new report card.

With a few of your custom fields in place, you are now ready to create your first report card! To get started, select "New Report Card" from the top menu bar on the Report Card Templates page.

The New Report Card form will have sections for the Report Card Title, the Body Text, and the Report Fields.

As an example, let's walk through the creation of a Dog Daycare report card. First, we'll add a name to the Report Card Title field. This title will be used to identify the template within our system and will be visible to any clients receiving it, so it's best to choose something concise. For our example report card, let's use "Dog Daycare Pupdate".

With our template's name chosen, we can begin working on the content for the report card. The Body Text field allows you to choose anything you want to display at the top of the report, above the input fields. This section will display for all clients who receive a filled copy of the template, so you may use it as an opportunity to explain the standard services (i.e. "Daycare starts with a walk, then some enrichment followed by quiet time", etc.), give context to the report (i.e. "This is your daily daycare pupdate!"), add general photos (i.e. photos of the facility or staff or facility), and more. For our example, we'll just add a quick description of the service. Note that this field supports text formatting and the addition of photos, videos, or other files.

The Report Fields make up the largest and most important part of the report card. This is where you will add information specific to the client and give them a snapshot of what happened during their pet's booking. The form will default with a single "Select a Field", but clicking the "Add More Fields" button will add as many fields as needed for the template. Each field added will have a drop-down to select the field you want to include, a toggle to set it as required or not, and a trash can icon to remove the field from the form.

For our example, we'll add a variety of fields about the pet's behaviour and daycare experience. Once we've added a few fields, clicking the two lines to the left of any field and dragging it allows us to change its place in the list.

When you're done setting up your report card template, click the "Add Form" button at the bottom of the page to save your selections and go back to the Report Card Templates page.

The new template will now be listed here. You can edit any template listed on this page by clicking its name to open the Edit Report Card page. To delete a template, click its name, then select "Delete" at the top-right corner of the page.

With one or more report card templates saved, you are ready to start sending them out to your clients. This is done through any booking's info page, whether for a group or individual service.

Once you've navigated to the booking page, select the "Actions" button at the top-right and choose "Create Report" from the drop-down. Note that this option will only display after you have created at least one report card template.

This will open a pop-up with a variety of options for the report card. The top of the pop-up includes a drop-down for client selection (for group bookings only) and buttons for pet selection. If you have created more than one report card template it will also include a drop-down allowing you to select the type of report card you wish to fill.

Selected pets display in purple, and will be listed on the report card when it is completed and/or sent to the customer. Pets that have not been selected (i.e. those showing in grey) will not be listed on the report card. Click on any pet to include them on the report card, or click on an already selected pet to remove them.

Once you've selected a template, you can begin adding inputs to any of the included fields. Any fields that have been set as required will be marked with a red asterisk. These fields must be completed for you to be able to save or send the report card. Note that any fields left blank or incomplete will display with the field name followed by a hyphen when the report card is sent.

If you need to save your progress partway through, click the "Save Draft" button at the bottom of the form. This will save your entries but will not submit or send the report card, allowing you to go back and make any changes or additions at a later time.

When editing an existing report card draft the button at the bottom of the form will switch to "Update Draft".

When you are happy with the information you have inputted and do not wish to make any further changes, click either the "Complete" button or the paper airplane icon. Marking a report card complete will save it to the associated customer's profile without sending it to them.

If you instead click the paper airplane icon, the report card will be marked complete, saved to the customer's profile, and emailed to them.

When a report card is saved, regardless of its status, it will be listed under the "Report Cards" tab on the booking's information page as well as on the client's profile.

Each report is listed with the associated pet and client name, the template used, the name of the user that completed it, and information about when it was completed and/or sent to the customer.

If you want to redo a completed report card for a client, click the trash can icon at the right end of the client's line entry delete their report, then submit a new copy as before.

There are three different places you can find the report cards you have submitted for your clients: booking information pages, client profiles, and the Report Card Templates page. In this section of the guide we will take a quick look at the specifics of each.

As discussed at the end of the previous section of this guide, completed report cards will be listed under the "Report Cards" tab on any booking info page.

This tab displays all of the saved report cards associated with the booking. Each report card is listed with the associated pet and customer, the type of report card completed, the name of the user that filled the report, and the date(s) it was completed and sent (if any).

Report cards are also listed with a few icons that allow users to complete various actions. The available icons will vary depending on the status of the report.

All of a client's previous report cards will also be listed on their Customer Profile. Once you have navigated to a customer's profile, select the "Report Cards" tab.

That will open a full list of the client's report cards. Each completed report card will have its own line entry showing the profile photo for any associated pets, the booking it was for, the type of report card, which team member completed the report, and the date(s) on which it was completed and sent (if any). As on the booking information page, each report will also have its own set of action icons for viewing, printing, sending, editing, or deleting the report.

Hover your mouse over the profile photo for any associated pet to see their name.

Select the listed booking to navigate to its information page.

Finally, you can easily view all of your completed and drafted report cards from your Report Card Templates page. Selecting the "Completed Report Cards" tab will open a full list of all of the report cards you have sent, completed, or saved as a draft on your account.

Entries on this list are sorted by the date and time at which they were last sent or saved. Each report will be listed with its associated client, pet(s), and booking. They will also display with the date and time at which they were completed and sent. Draft report cards will display with hyphens next to the completed (check mark) icon and the sent (paper airplane) icon.

You now know everything you need to make the most of your report cards. Use them to update your clients on their pets' progress and provide them with a window into all the amazing things you do!