If you’re on a go-to-market (GTM) team, you know the pain: endless data, a dozen dashboards, and yet it’s still a struggle to get your hands on the numbers you actually need. You want fast answers, not a BI project. This guide is for anyone who wants to build and share custom reports in Attio that make real decisions easier—not just prettier charts for the slide deck.
Let’s cut through the noise and get you up and running with reports your team will actually use (and maybe even thank you for).
Why Attio? And Why Custom Reports?
Attio is a flexible CRM that lets you organize, track, and collaborate on customer data without wrangling clunky legacy tools. Unlike some older CRMs, it doesn’t lock you into one view or workflow. But with that flexibility comes a little learning curve—especially when it comes to reporting.
If you’re in sales, marketing, or customer success, you probably need to answer questions like:
- Which deals are stuck in the pipeline?
- Who’s bringing in the most revenue this quarter?
- Where are leads dropping off?
Attio’s default views and templates are a decent start, but serious GTM teams need more:
- Custom fields and filters
- Easy sharing with context
- Reports you can tweak, not just static charts
Let’s get into exactly how to do that, step by step.
Step 1: Get Your Data in Order
Before you try to build a fancy report, make sure your data’s not a mess. A report is only as good as the info feeding it.
Checklist:
- Fields: Do you have all the fields you need? (e.g., Deal Stage, Owner, Lead Source, Close Date)
- Consistency: Are people filling out fields the same way? (“Webinar” vs. “webinar” vs. “Event”)
- Duplicates: Any duplicate records? Clean those up first.
Pro tip: If your team’s not using required fields or dropdowns, expect chaos. Lock down your data model now—it’ll save you headaches later.
Step 2: Decide What You Actually Need to See
Don’t start by building a report just because you can. Start with a question.
- What problem are you solving?
- Who’s the audience? (Sales managers? Execs? CS reps?)
- How will people use this info?
Example:
Instead of “I want a pipeline report,” try “I need to see all deals over $50k closing this quarter, broken down by stage and owner.”
The more specific you are, the more useful the report will be.
Step 3: Build a Custom View (The Real Secret to Reporting in Attio)
In Attio, “reports” are really custom views—filtered, grouped, and sorted lists or kanban boards that show just what you need.
How to Build a Custom View
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Go to the relevant collection.
For GTM teams, this is usually “Companies,” “People,” or “Opportunities.” -
Add or adjust fields.
If you need a new field (e.g., “Lead Source” or “ARR”), add it now. Use dropdowns for consistency. -
Filter your data.
- Click the filter icon.
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Stack filters to narrow down exactly what you want (e.g., “Stage is Negotiation” AND “Amount > $50,000” AND “Close Date is this quarter”).
-
Group and sort.
- Use “Group by” to break things down (e.g., by Owner, Stage, or Region).
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Sort by what matters—maybe “Amount (descending)” or “Last Activity Date.”
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Choose your layout.
- Table view: Best for detailed lists and exporting.
- Kanban view: Great for pipelines, moving deals between stages.
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Board view: Useful for account segmentation, but don’t overcomplicate it.
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Save the view.
- Give it a clear name (“Q2 $50k+ Deals by Owner”) so people know what they’re looking at.
Honest take:
You don’t get full-blown charting or pivot tables in Attio right now. What you do get is a fast, flexible way to slice and dice your data for most day-to-day GTM needs. If you want deep analytics, you’ll need to export to Excel or a BI tool.
Step 4: Share Your Report (The Right Way)
A report’s useless if it lives in your private workspace. Here’s how to get it in front of your team without creating confusion.
Sharing in Attio
- Workspace-wide:
When you save a view, you can make it visible to everyone or just certain teammates. - Click the “Share” icon on the view.
- Set permissions—can people edit, or just view?
- Send a link:
Copy the URL and drop it in Slack, email, or your team hub. Links are live, so people always see the latest data. - Embed in docs:
For now, Attio doesn’t have native embeds for Notion or Confluence. If that’s a dealbreaker, you’ll need to screenshot or export.
Pro tip:
Don’t spam people with too many links. Curate a handful of “source of truth” reports and pin them where your team works.
Step 5: Set Up Automated Updates (If You Want to Get Fancy)
Attio lets you set up notifications and some limited automations, but it’s not Zapier-level yet. Here’s what you can actually do:
- Watch a view:
Get notified when records in a saved view change. Useful for high-value deals or urgent CS tickets. - Create reminders:
You can set reminders on records, but not on views as a whole (yet). - Export to Google Sheets:
There’s no built-in sync, but you can export a view as CSV and upload to Sheets. For live syncs, look into third-party integrations—just know you’ll be babysitting them.
What doesn’t work:
- No automated chart snapshots or scheduled PDF emails out of the box.
- No true dashboarding (yet).
Step 6: Iterate—Don’t Aim for Perfection
You’ll get requests to add fields, tweak filters, or break things down differently. That’s normal. Treat each custom view as a draft, not a final product.
- Ask for feedback:
Do people actually use it? Can they find what they need in under 30 seconds? - Update fields and filters:
Don’t be precious—if a report isn’t working, change it. - Archive old or unused views:
Too many reports = confusion and “which one do I trust?”
What to ignore:
- Don’t try to make Attio your single source for every metric. Use it for what it does best: showing you what’s happening with your pipeline, customers, and relationships in real time.
- Ignore requests to build a report “just in case.” If nobody’s going to use it, skip it.
Quick Reference: Common GTM Reports in Attio
Need ideas? Here are a few custom views most GTM teams actually use:
- Pipeline by Stage:
Group by deal stage, filter for deals closing this quarter. - Lost Deals Analysis:
Filter for “Closed Lost,” group by loss reason. (If you’re not tracking loss reason, start now.) - Top Accounts by ARR:
Sort by annual recurring revenue, filter for active customers. - CS Churn Risk:
Filter for accounts with no activity in 30 days, group by CS owner.
Pro tip:
If a report takes more than 10 minutes to build, it’s probably too complex for day-to-day use in Attio.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Keep It Useful
Custom reporting in Attio isn’t about building the flashiest dashboard—it’s about helping your GTM team make decisions faster. The best reports are the ones people actually check. Start with clear questions, build simple views, and don’t be afraid to delete what’s not working.
Iterate often, keep your data clean, and remember: no one ever complained about a report that was too easy to use.
Now go build something your team will actually thank you for.