Custom field in standard object not available in reports on that object

Question

I have a custom field in Accounts called Total Quality Rating. When customizing a report with report type Accounts, Total Quality Rating does not show up in the field list. Why would this be?

Answer 1

One of three possibilities:

1. You're customizing a report based on a custom report type that doesn't include this field.

To resolve, go to Setup / Create / Report Types and add the field.

2. Your profile doesn't have read access to this field.

Even administrators can't view fields without permission. Go to Setup / Customize / Accounts / Fields, click on the custom field, click Set Field Level Security, and add Visible to your profile. If you're on Professional Edition or lower, you'll instead need to add the field to your account page layout. See Setup / Customize / Accounts / Page Layout.

3. You're using a standard report type that doesn't include custom fields.

Some report types don't allow custom fields. Try a different base report.