HubSpot’s custom report builder gives marketing and sales teams the ability to go beyond the pre-built reports and answer specific questions about their pipeline, contacts, and campaigns using live CRM data. Custom reports combine data from multiple HubSpot objects (contacts, companies, deals, activities, emails, forms) into a single view – something not possible with HubSpot’s standard reports. This tutorial walks through the custom report builder interface, the most useful report types, and practical examples for common sales and marketing questions.
That makes them especially valuable when performance tracking needs to be more specific than standard summaries.
HubSpot custom reports are useful when managers need a more practical view than the default dashboards provide. They let teams shape reporting around the questions they actually need answered instead of forcing every insight into a preset view.
Where to Find the Custom Report Builder
Custom reports are under Reports ? Reports ? Create custom report. The custom report builder is available on HubSpot Marketing Hub Professional, Sales Hub Professional, Service Hub Professional, and above. On Starter plans, reporting is limited to pre-built reports and basic filtering.
Building a Report: Step by Step
- Select primary data source: Choose the object the report is primarily about (e.g., Deals for a pipeline report).
- Add secondary data source (optional): Add Contacts or Companies if you need contact/company properties alongside deal properties.
- Choose fields (columns): Select the properties to include in the report – these become the columns. For a deal stage analysis: Deal Name, Deal Stage, Close Date, Amount, Owner, Create Date, Days to Close.
- Add filters: Narrow the dataset – filter by date range (Create Date is in the last 90 days), by owner (for individual rep reports), by pipeline (if running multiple pipelines), or by any property value.
- Configure visualisation: Choose table, bar chart, line chart, pie chart, or summary metric. For deal stage distribution, a bar chart showing deal count or value by stage is typically most useful.
- Group and aggregate: For charts, set the X-axis dimension (e.g., Deal Stage or Close Date) and the Y-axis measure (count of deals, sum of Amount). Add a breakdown by Owner for stacked views.
Practical Custom Report Examples
Average Sales Cycle Length by Deal Size
Data source: Deals. Fields: Deal Name, Create Date, Close Date, Amount, Days to Close (calculated field: Close Date minus Create Date). Filter: Deal Stage = Closed Won, Close Date in last 12 months. Group by: Amount range (use HubSpot’s bucketing). Visualisation: average Days to Close by deal size bucket. This reveals whether enterprise deals close slower (justifying longer nurture sequences and more sales touches) vs SMB deals.
Rep Activity vs Outcomes
Data sources: Contacts + Activities + Deals. Fields: Owner, count of Calls Logged, count of Meetings Booked, count of Deals Created, sum of Closed Won Amount. Filter: Activity Date in last 30 days. Group by: Owner. This shows the relationship between activity volume (calls, meetings) and deal outcomes per rep – identifying both underperformers and overperformers in activity efficiency.
Form Conversion to MQL
Data source: Contacts. Fields: Original Form Submission (first form submitted), count of Contacts, count of Contacts where Lifecycle Stage = MQL. Filter: Create Date in last 90 days. Group by: First Form Submitted. This shows which forms are producing the highest-quality leads (those that progress to MQL) vs forms with high submission volume but poor lead quality.
Saving, Sharing, and Adding to Dashboards
After building a custom report, click Save to add it to the Reports library. Set access permissions: private (only you), team (specific users), or everyone. To add the report to a dashboard, click Add to Dashboard and select an existing dashboard or create a new one. Reports on dashboards refresh automatically with live data – no manual refresh required. Use the dashboard access settings to create a shared sales manager view, a marketing dashboard, or an executive summary dashboard with the right reports visible to the right audience.
Sources
HubSpot, Custom Report Builder Documentation (2026)
HubSpot, Multi-Object Reporting Guide (2026)
HubSpot Academy, Reporting and Analytics Certification (2025)
HubSpot, Marketing Attribution Reporting (2025)
HubSpot, Sales Analytics Custom Reports (2025)
Is HubSpot easy to learn for beginners?
HubSpot has a learning curve, but its official free training platform HubSpot Academy provides structured paths from beginner to advanced. Most users handle day-to-day tasks within 2-4 weeks. Admin and developer skills take 3-6 months to develop proficiently.
What are the biggest HubSpot mistakes to avoid?
Top mistakes include: over-customizing before understanding your process, skipping user training, importing dirty data without cleansing, and not establishing naming conventions. Avoid these four and your implementation will be significantly more successful.
How often does HubSpot release new features?
HubSpot releases major updates quarterly. HubSpot also ships smaller updates continuously to all tiers.
Does HubSpot offer customer support?
Yes. Support is available via chat, email, and phone depending on your plan tier. Enterprise plans include dedicated customer success managers. HubSpot Academy and the HubSpot Community are excellent free support resources.
Can HubSpot integrate with other business tools?
Yes. HubSpot App Marketplace has 1,500+ integrations including Gmail, Slack, Zoom, Shopify, and WordPress.
The best reporting setup is the one that answers a decision, not just a curiosity. If the report does not help someone act, it is not pulling its weight.
Common Challenges with HubSpot Custom Reports and How to Solve Them
Problem: Getting Your Team to Consistently Use HubSpot
Adoption gaps occur when teams revert to old habits after initial training. Fix: Identify the 2-3 daily workflows where HubSpot adds the most value for your specific role. Focus training on those workflows first. Use HubSpot in-app guidance to provide contextual help at the moment of need rather than relying solely on one-time classroom training.
Problem: CRM Data Quality Degrading Over Time
CRM data decays at approximately 30% per year as contacts change roles and companies. Fix: Schedule a quarterly data quality audit. Use HubSpot deduplication tools to merge duplicate records. Establish data entry standards enforced through validation rules. Consider a data enrichment tool like Clearbit or ZoomInfo to update stale records automatically.
Problem: HubSpot Reports Not Matching Actual Business Results
Reports are only as accurate as the data entered. Discrepancies between CRM reports and actual revenue indicate data entry gaps. Fix: Audit closed-won records against actual invoices monthly. Make CRM data the source of truth for commission calculations so reps have a direct incentive to enter accurate data.
Frequently Asked Questions
Report Builder: Data Sources and Object Relationships
When creating a custom report, the first step is selecting the primary data source – the HubSpot object that will be the foundation of the report. Options include: Contacts, Companies, Deals, Activities (calls, emails, meetings, tasks), Marketing Emails, Forms, Landing Pages, and more. After selecting the primary object, you can optionally add a secondary object to bring in associated data – for example, a Contacts + Deals report that shows contact properties alongside deal properties on the same row.
The relationship between objects matters: a contact can have multiple associated deals, so a Contacts + Deals report will show one row per contact-deal association (a contact with 3 deals will appear as 3 rows). Understanding this relationship is critical to building accurate reports – avoid summing deal amounts in a contacts + deals report without accounting for this fan-out behaviour.
Data sources: Contacts + Deals. Fields: Original Source, Original Source Drill-Down 1, sum of Associated Deal Amount (closed won), count of Deals. Filter: Deal Stage = Closed Won. Group by: Original Source. This report shows which marketing channels (organic search, paid social, direct, referral) are producing the most closed revenue – not just leads.