Reports and Ask VendOrca

Ask about your program in plain language and get a figure, a chart and a short summary. Use Reports to ask, save and pin questions, or the Ask VendOrca bar to ask from any page.

Who can do this#

• Reports and Home: all staff roles.
• Ask VendOrca bar: every role, including workers and billing entities. Workers and billing entities get answers about their own records only.
• Choosing which metrics can be asked about: Program Admin, in Config.

Ask a question in Reports#

1. Open Reports#

   Select Reports in the nav rail.

2. Type your question#

   For example: "Invoiced total by supplier for July to September 2026". You can also pick a suggestion under the field, such as Headcount by supplier. A suggestion fills in the field. It doesn't run the question.

3. Select Ask#

   The answer appears in the main column.

There is one answer slot. A new answer, refusal or error replaces the one before it. Your question stays in the field so you can ask it again.

If a question could match more than one metric or breakdown, you get a clarifying question instead of a guess. VendOrca has no fiscal-year setting, so give calendar dates for fiscal periods.

Available metrics#

Available metrics in the Reports sidebar lists what your workspace has turned on. You can ask about anything on that list. The figures you can turn on include:

You can break results down by org unit, supplier, month, assignment status, timesheet status, work week or month, invoice status, invoice period, currency, and onboarding run kind or completion month. Not every metric supports every breakdown.

What happens when you ask about a metric your workspace hasn't turned on depends on where you ask. The Ask VendOrca bar says it isn't one of your workspace's metrics and lists up to three of the closest ones you do have. AI agents using agent access get a reply that names the closest metrics. Reports asks you a clarifying question instead. A Program Admin changes the list in Config, by describing the change or with the Report library editor.

Save to the library#

1. Ask your question in Reports.
2. Under the answer, edit the Name to save to the library field. It starts as your question. Rewrite it as a short label you'll recognize later, since the library only shows the name.
3. Select Save to library.

The question appears in Saved Questions in the sidebar. Select Run to run it again. The answer appears in the same answer slot. Saved questions can't be deleted, so name them with care. Saved questions and pins are shared with all staff in the workspace.

Pin to Home#

1. In Saved Questions, find the row.
2. Select Pin. The row shows a Pinned chip and the button changes to Unpin.

Pinned questions run as tiles on Home each time the page loads. Select a tile's title to open Reports with that question already answered. Home holds up to six pinned tiles. To make room, select Unpin on another row.

The Home page#

Home is the staff start page (the page is titled Dashboard). It shows:

• tiles for Active headcount, New assignments this quarter, Timesheets awaiting and Invoices (draft)
• Recent activity in the workspace
• Program insights: your pinned tiles, or a panel that links to Reports when nothing is pinned
• Consoles: shortcuts to the main areas. Some appear for Program Admins only.

If one figure can't be loaded, that figure or tile shows as missing and the rest of the page still loads.

The Ask VendOrca bar#

The Ask VendOrca about your program bar sits on every page for staff, workers and billing entities, except Reports, which has its own ask field. Type a question and the answer appears in place, without leaving the page.

The assistant can:

• answer questions about your data, using the same metrics as Reports
• read records you're already allowed to see
• describe your current program rules (staff only)
• answer how-to questions from the help articles, with citations
• ask you a clarifying question, or decline

The assistant only reads. It never changes anything and never drafts a change to your program rules. For changes, it points you to Config. A question can have at most two parts.

Limits#

When you go past the per-person limit, the bar asks you to try again shortly. Once a workspace reaches its daily limit, the bar says so until the next day starts and links a help article instead.

Common questions#

How are "last month" and "last quarter" worked out?#

In the Ask VendOrca bar and for AI agents, they're calendar months and quarters, counted by Greenwich Mean Time. In Reports, give exact dates, including the year, in your question.

A worker says the assistant has nothing to look up. Why?#

Their sign-in isn't linked to their worker record yet. A Program Admin arranges the link with VendOrca support; see Worker and supplier sign-ins.

Can an AI agent ask VendOrca questions?#

The Ask VendOrca bar is in the app. AI agents read the same report figures through agent access. Developers can find the details in the Reports reference.

Next steps#

• Change which metrics are available
• Let AI agents read your reports
• Invoicing and tie-out