i have a report that lists all the light bulbs we use and the amounts purchased in 03,04 and 2005...however the report only shows bulbs purchased in all 3 years...how can i have the report place a zero in the year none were purchased.....for example in 05 the most bulbs were purchased the report should show all those bulbs

I imagine you have a field in your query called something like " "amount purchased" In this control source of the field in the report type something like this:

IIF([Amount Purchased] Is Null,0,([Amount Purchased])

This will place a zero in the field when the amount purchased was zero if the original table field is left blank when nothing is purchased.