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Two Small Summer '26 Reporting Changes That Will Save Admins Time
Some release notes are small because they are unimportant.
These are small because they solve ordinary problems.
Summer ’26 adds governed brand palettes for report and dashboard charts and allows two row-level formulas in one report. Neither is dramatic. Both remove work admins repeat every week.
1. Brand palettes make charts governable
Chart colours look cosmetic until hundreds of reports use different shades for the same ideas.
Admins can now configure a palette through Themes and Branding, then select Brand in report and dashboard properties. The colour decision moves from each chart into a governed theme.
That helps executive, sales, and service dashboards share one visual language. “At Risk” should not be red in one dashboard, orange in another, and purple in a third.
Brand still needs accessibility review. Test contrast, colour-blind distinguishability, light and dark backgrounds, screenshots, and exports. Do not make two shades of corporate blue the only difference between good and bad.
The value is consistency, not merely prettier charts.
2. Reports can use two row-level formulas
One row-level formula was often one too few.
An Opportunity report can now calculate both time to close and estimated commission:
CloseDate - DATEVALUE(CreatedDate)Amount * 0.08A Case report can show age and a simple escalation flag without creating object fields or exporting to a spreadsheet.
Keep calculations in the report when they answer a report-specific or exploratory question. Move them into the data model when many reports, automation, or business rules depend on the same result.
The rule remains simple: if it is report context, use a row-level formula. If it is business truth, model it properly.
Why these two belong together
Both changes move reporting decisions to the right level.
Colours belong in governed theme settings. Report-specific calculations belong beside the report question. Neither should require dashboard-by-dashboard repair or unnecessary object fields.
Start with high-traffic dashboards that already drift from brand standards and reports exported only so somebody can add a second calculation.
Small changes are valuable when they remove repeated compromises. These two do exactly that.