Custom reports are the Perk reporting export that combines a fixed catalog of static columns with the dynamic columns each account sets up, such as custom trip fields and groups.
This article covers the admin and analyst custom report. For the approver custom report, see Explore custom reports for approvers.
What custom reports are
Custom reports in Perk are configurable exports of trip and booking data from Travel reporting. Custom reports let you filter results and choose which columns to include, then download the result as a CSV or Excel file.
They run through Looker using a separate reporting database that syncs with Perk’s main system. Because of that, they’re designed for reporting and analysis, not real-time operational data. The reporting sync runs overnight with a cutoff around 1am. Anything added to Perk after that time won’t show up in that day’s export. As a result, custom reports — like all Perk reporting — are usually about 24 hours behind live data, so same-day numbers may not be available.
Exports include two types of columns:
- Static columns: Standard fields available to every account, such as traveler name, trip status, and spend.
- Dynamic columns: Custom fields and groups set up by your company, so these can vary between accounts.
When to use custom reports
Custom reports are the right tool when you need a flat, row-per-booking dataset that you can open in a spreadsheet, hand to your finance team, or load into a downstream system. Custom reports cover travel and spend reporting, approvals analysis, sustainability reporting, and reconciliation against your ERP or accounting tools.
Use them when you want to slice and dice trip data on your own terms — for example, pulling all hotel bookings for a given cost center over the last quarter, exporting flight emissions across your business units, or building a finance reconciliation file that lines up bookings against invoices. Because you control the filter and the column selection, you can tune each export to a specific question rather than working with a fixed report.
Generating and downloading a custom report
Custom reports are generated on demand from Travel reporting in Perk. You choose the filters and columns at the time of export, then download the result as a CSV or Excel file. The export reflects the selections you made at that moment—if you want a different view, run the custom report again with a new selection.
For step-by-step instructions, see Download a custom report.
Field reference—every column explained
The custom report exposes every reporting column Perk publishes for the Admin export, grouped here by category. Use the field reference below to look up what each column means and to explain individual columns to colleagues or your team.
Traveler and trip information
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Traveler first name | The traveler's given name as recorded on their Perk profile. |
| Traveler last name | The traveler's family name as recorded on their Perk profile. |
| Traveler email | The login email of the person traveling. |
| Traveler Unique ID | The user’s unique ID, typically used for identification and coming from the HR/ERP system. |
| Booker email | The login email of the person who made the booking on the traveler's behalf. |
| Trip ID | The unique identifier Perk assigns to the trip. It's useful for cross-referencing in support cases. |
| Trip status | The current state of the trip, for example confirmed, canceled, or in progress. |
| Trip purpose | The purpose entered by the traveler or booker when starting the trip. |
| Trip created at | The timestamp when the trip was first created in Perk. |
| Is concierge | Whether the booking went through Perk's Concierge team rather than self-serve. |
Booking and service details
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Booking ID | The unique identifier for an individual booking within a trip. A trip can contain more than one booking, for example a flight and a hotel. |
| Booking description | A human-readable description of what was booked. |
| Booking status | The current state of the booking, for example confirmed, canceled, or pending. |
| Service type | The type of travel service: flight, hotel, train, or car. The value is localized to the user's language. |
| Service start date | The date the service begins. For transport, that's the departure date; for hotels, it's the check-in date. |
| Service end date | The date the service ends, such as the arrival or check-out date. |
| Service departure time | The local departure time, where applicable. |
| Service arrival time | The local arrival time, where applicable. |
| Cabin class | The travel class booked, such as economy, premium economy, business, or first. |
| Itinerary type | The shape of the journey: one-way, return, or multi-city. |
| International or domestic | Whether the journey crosses an international border. |
| Booking window (days) | The number of days between when the booking was made and when the service starts. It's useful for analyzing how far in advance travelers book. |
Cost, currency and tax details
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Spend per traveler (original currency) | The total spend for the booking in the currency it was charged in. |
| Spend per traveler (user currency) | The total spend converted to the company's reporting currency. |
| Spend per traveler without tax (original currency) | The net spend, excluding tax, in the original currency. |
| Tax per traveler (original currency) | The tax amount applied to the booking in the original currency. |
| Non-taxable amount per traveler (original currency) | The portion of the spend not subject to tax. |
| Estimated spend per traveler (original currency) | The estimated total at the time of booking, in the original currency. It's used when the final amount has not yet settled. |
| Estimated spend per traveler (user currency) | The estimated total in the company's reporting currency. |
| Estimated spend without tax (original currency) | The estimated net spend, excluding tax. |
| Currency | The three-letter currency code for the booking, for example EUR, USD, or GBP. |
| Unified expense date | A normalized date used for reconciliation across services. It helps line up expenses for accounting periods regardless of when the trip happened. |
| Tax regime | The tax regime applicable to the booking. |
Policy and approval details
| Column A | Column B |
|---|---|
| Policy violations | The list of travel policy rules that the booking breached, if any. |
| Out-of-policy reason | The justification the traveler gave when booking outside policy. |
| Approver | The email addresses of all approvers who actioned the request, listed as a comma-separated list. For trips with an advanced rule setup where more than one approver approves, all approvers appear in this field. |
| Original requested approvers | The approvers the request was originally sent to. It's useful when the eventual approver was different from the one initially asked. |
| Approval request message | The message included with the approval request when it was sent. |
| Request date | The date the approval was requested. |
| Review date | The date the approval was actioned. |
| Time to review | The duration between request and review. It's useful for measuring approval responsiveness. |
Payment and card details
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Payment method | How the booking was paid for, for example corporate card or invoice. |
| Payment profile | The name of the payment profile used. |
| Payment recipient | The entity receiving the payment. |
| Payment status | The current state of the payment, for example paid, pending, or failed. |
| Card number | The masked card number used for the booking. Only the last digits are shown. |
| Invoice number | The invoice number associated with the booking, if it was invoiced. |
| Issued date | The date the invoice was issued. |
| Finance ID | The internal finance reference for the transaction. |
Flight specifics
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Flight PNR | The Passenger Name Record, which is the airline's booking reference. |
| Flight numbers | The flight number or numbers for the booking. |
| Flight route | The origin and destination as a route string, for example BCN to LHR. |
| Flight hours | The total flight duration in hours. |
| Departure airport code | The IATA three-letter code for the departure airport. |
| Departure airport name | The full name of the departure airport. |
| Departure airport country | The country in which the departure airport is located. |
| Arrival airport code | The IATA three-letter code for the arrival airport. |
| Arrival airport name | The full name of the arrival airport. |
| Arrival airport country | The country in which the arrival airport is located. |
| Marketing airline(s) | The airline or airlines that sold the ticket. This often differs from the operator on codeshare flights. |
| Operating airline(s) | The airline or airlines that actually operated the flight. |
Hotel specifics
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Hotel name | The name of the hotel booked. |
| Hotel city | The city where the hotel is located. |
| Hotel country | The country where the hotel is located. |
| Hotel external ID | The external reference identifier for the hotel, used for matching against external systems. |
| Hotel nights | The number of nights stayed. |
| Hotel star rating | The star rating of the hotel. |
| Hotel room type | The room type booked, for example standard double or junior suite. |
| Hotel breakfast included | Whether breakfast was included in the rate. |
| Hotel corporate rate | Whether the booking used a negotiated corporate rate. |
| Hotel fee | Any extra fees charged on top of the room rate. |
| Cost per night per traveler (original currency) | The nightly rate per traveler in the booking currency. |
Train and car specifics
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Departure train station | The name of the station the journey departs from. |
| Arrival train station | The name of the station the journey arrives at. |
| Train supplier | The train operator or supplier that provided the service. |
| Car origin city | The city where the car is picked up. |
| Car destination city | The city where the car is dropped off. |
| Car pick-up country code | The country code of the pick-up location. |
| Car drop-off country code | The country code of the drop-off location. |
| Car type | The vehicle category booked, for example economy, intermediate, or SUV. |
| Car supplier | The car rental supplier. |
| Car insurance level | The level of insurance selected at booking. |
Pollution and account details
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| CO₂ distance (user preference) | The distance metric used for the CO₂ calculation, formatted to the user's distance preference in kilometers or miles. |
| CO₂ emissions per traveler (user preference) | The estimated CO₂ emissions per traveler, formatted to the user's weight preference. |
| CO₂ engine version | The version of the CO₂ calculation engine used. It's useful for reconciling figures across reports run at different times. |
| Account ID | The Perk account identifier for the company. |
| Company name | The name of the company or account. |
| Cost center / cost object | The cost center the booking is allocated to. |
| Cost object ERP code | The reference code used to map the booking into your ERP system. |
| Event name | The name of the event the trip is associated with, if any. |
Dynamic columns: custom fields and groups
Custom reports include a dynamic column for every custom trip field and every group category set up on the account. In the custom report, each name you define is published as its own column, and the column header carries a type prefix that names what kind of dynamic column it is — Custom field - for custom fields and Group - for groups. Although the type prefix is rendered at the end of the visible header, it's still treated as a prefix on the dynamic column name.
For example, a custom field you've named Project appears in the export as a column headed Project - Custom field. A group category named Region appears as a column headed Region - Group.
The type prefix is applied to every dynamic column, every time. It keeps headers predictable for downstream consumers, makes exports easier to debug, and prevents data collisions when a custom field or group you've set up shares a name with a static column.
Archived custom fields and groups
Custom reports still surface custom fields and groups after they've been archived, so historical bookings keep the values that were set on them. In the custom report, archived dynamic columns are labeled with an (archived) suffix appended after the type prefix.
For example, an archived custom field originally named Old project appears in the export as Old project - Custom field (archived).
CSV and Excel exports
Custom reports are available in two formats: CSV and Excel. Custom reports behave identically in both—the same columns are available, the same filters apply, and the same naming rules govern the headers.
That includes the type prefix on dynamic columns. Whether you export Project - Custom field to CSV or to Excel, the column header reads the same way, and archived columns carry the (archived) suffix in both formats. Choose the format that fits your downstream tooling; the data and the headers are consistent either way.