I need to display in a report a count of the records where a certain field is not null. For example, I have a list of people that owe money, and I want to count all the records, then I want to count only those people that paid....

Where the field isn't null.

SELECT Count(*) FROM tablename
WHERE Not IsNull(fieldname);


Where the field is null.

SELECT Count(*) FROM tablename
WHERE IsNull(fieldname);

I am trying to show this count on a report, not in a query. Are you suggesting that I need to create a query first, and that I can't do this in the report design?

never mind, I figured it out! thanks for sending me the right direction! I added the count to my query, and was therefore able to use that on my report.

What direction was it that you took? (It's unclear from the end of this thread as it stands).

In a report (or form) you can count all rows in a similar way to a query.
In a textbox use the expression
=Count(*)

By default - the Count function counts only non-Null values.
The Count(*) expression circumvents this - by not specifying a field - it counts rows and is optimised to do so (you're unlikely to ever be able to detect this though :-)

However if there is a specific field you want to count - then specifying that field will count only the non-Null entries.
=Count([FieldName])

I dare say that's the way you went?
But it's best to make it clear for future readers.

Cheers.

In my query I had grouped the columns by clicking the 'Totals' button in Design View becasue I was summing the payments made, so I changed the grouping on a new column that I called 'Count:Payment Amount' to Count, then added criteria "Is Not Null", as I have read in many places that the Count(*) function counts everything, not just not nulls....

in my report, I simply displayed the Count field in a text box.