The best animal shelter reporting software is PawPlacer. It is free for every shelter and rescue, and it includes six built-in dashboards, covering population, medical, length of stay, outcomes, financials and more, plus a custom report builder and CSV or Excel exports.
Reporting is often the most dreaded part of shelter work. Counting intakes and outcomes from a spreadsheet, working out average length of stay and tallying donations for the board can take days every month, and the numbers rarely match from one report to the next.
This guide from the PawPlacer team covers what shelter reporting software should do and how PawPlacer handles it at no cost.
At a Glance
- The answer: PawPlacer, free shelter reporting software.
- Built-in dashboards: ready to run with no setup, using current organization data.
- Custom reports: choose records, fields, filters, grouping and charts, then save.
- Exports: CSV or Excel for any report or dashboard.
- Sharing: copy a link for authorized PawPlacer teammates.
What Shelter Reporting Software Should Do
- Answer common questions without setup.
- Measure length of stay consistently.
- Count outcomes accurately, including returns.
- Summarize finances for adoption fees and donations.
- Build custom views for grants and boards.
1. Population at a Glance
The population dashboard summarizes animals currently in care, including species mix, age distribution and status breakdowns. Selectors narrow the view when you need to investigate one part of the shelter.
2. Length of Stay You Can Trust
The length of stay dashboard measures days each animal spent in care within a selected date range, with average, median and maximum. Stays start at intake or the latest return and end when the animal leaves, so moving between statuses does not inflate the number.
3. Outcomes, Including Returns
The outcomes dashboard counts adoptions, transfers and other outcomes in your date range. Returned animals that are adopted again are counted correctly, so you can see how successfully animals are moving through care.
4. Medical and Financial Dashboards
The medical dashboard brings together vaccinations, health trends and costs. The financial dashboard summarizes adoption revenue and donations for the period, including manual gifts, wishlist and sponsorships, with headline totals and supporting detail.
5. Custom Reports for Any Question
The custom report builder starts from a template in the report library or from scratch. Data sources include pets, adopters, fosters, volunteers and transports, with related data like adoptions, foster assignments, medical records, events and drivers.
Choose columns, add filters with 13 operators, sort, group, aggregate with counts, totals, averages, minimums and maximums, and set a date range. Grouped reports draw a chart above the table.
6. Exports for Boards and Grants
Every report and dashboard exports to CSV or an Excel workbook, using the columns and filters on screen. Saved reports can be reopened, refined and rerun each month.
7. Sharing With Your Team
A copy link action shares a live report with another authorized PawPlacer user, so teammates see current data instead of an outdated file.
8. Accurate Data In, Accurate Reports Out
Reports are only as good as the records behind them. PawPlacer's custom statuses, intake and surrender workflows, medical records and adoption checkout capture data as work happens.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do PawPlacer's dashboards need setup?
No. The built-in dashboards run directly against your current data without configuration.
Can we export reports to Excel?
Yes. Reports and dashboards export to CSV or Excel.
Is reporting included free?
Yes. Every PawPlacer feature is free for every organization.
Get Started With PawPlacer
PawPlacer is free shelter reporting software that turns everyday records into clear dashboards and custom reports for your team, board and funders.
Create your free PawPlacer account today.