Dashboard or Report?

RU dashboard component doesn't need a report as the data source. RU dashboards could be built separately without any RU report. RU dashboard is for visualization and interactions. On the other end, a RU report needs to be displayed on a dashboard after it's built.

When Should I Build a Report instead of a Dashboard?

In most situations, a dashboard should satisfy your data viewing needs, but, there are 3 major reasons to build a report instead...

•For formatting purposes.

By using a report, you can group data, add pictures, change fonts, customize colors, change size, as well as arrange fields in different sizes and by different locations. The ability to create a highly formatted report is a key differentiation from Salesforce's standard report.

•For Exporting and Scheduling Deliveries.

A report can be exported or scheduled to be sent by email as an attachment document such as a PDF or Excel. On the contrary, dashboards can only be viewed online and can not be exported or scheduled for delivery.

•For Data Joining purposes.

As opposed to the limited Data Joining capabilities of the Dashboard component, reports can contain data joined from different objects, queries or data sources, allowing data to be grouped in a single place.