If you are reading this book, then you already know how reports are built, so how a report can be filtered is not a secret to you. However, I bet there are some configuration options that you are not aware of or that you may have never used before. One of them may be the filter by role hierarchy. As the name suggests, it is possible to filter the results based on the roles of the users who own the records.

To access this option, on the Report Builder, click on Filters | Show Me and select the role you want to narrow:

Another important option is the cross filter feature. With this feature, you can filter with a condition on a related object.

If we are creating an opportunity report, for example, we can decide whether we wish to host records that have products with a quantity greater than 1.

To achieve this, click on the Filters menu and choose Add Cross Filter. This will set up filters on opportunities with products that have a quantity greater than 1:

Great power comes with great responsibility, so be cautious when you're using these kinds of filters as it will slow down your report's performance.

Moreover, you can only choose the related objects that have been set up on the report type, so choose your report type wisely.

We can use no more than three cross filters per report and five subfilters per cross filter.