# Why some figures show "<5"

> A group of fewer than five people is hidden from anyone who cannot open the member list, so a figure by age, type or suburb never points to one person.

Who this is for: Anyone with “Committee reports” or “Build reports” or “Club settings” (by default: Administrator, Head Coach, Casual Staff, Sports Convener, Reporting, Treasurer).
Last checked in release 2026.10.23, on 23 October 2026.
Source: https://sportsclubos.net/help/reports/small-numbers/

A widget that counts people by something that could single one of them out shows a small group as **<5** instead of its number, unless you can open the member list. "Two members aged 75 and over" can tell you who they are; "<5" cannot.

## When it applies

All three of these must be true:

1. **You cannot open the member list.** Anyone who can see members sees every group, because they can already see each person. The Administrator, Head Coach, Casual Staff and Reporting roles can see members by default; the Treasurer and Sports Convener roles cannot.
2. **The figure counts people**, such as **Members**, **Joined**, **Left** or **Average age**. A figure of money or bookings is not hidden this way.
3. **It is grouped or filtered by something that could point to a person**: **Age band**, **Gender**, **Membership type**, **Suburb**, **Postcode**, **Tag** or **Why they left**.

## How it works

- Each group of 1 to 4 people shows **<5**, and is not drawn on the chart.
- If exactly one group would be hidden, the next smallest is hidden too. Otherwise the hidden one could be worked out by taking the others from the total.
- The total is still shown.
- Under the figures the widget says, for example, **Groups under 5 people are not shown.**
- A hidden group cannot be pressed to list the people in it.
- The same groups stay hidden on a report page shared with you, in a print, and in a download.

For example, a club has 8 Adult members and 3 Junior members. To someone who cannot see members, **Members by type** shows 11 in all, with Junior as **<5**, and Adult as **<5** as well: otherwise 11 less 8 would give the Juniors away.

## Who sees what

The rule is worked out for whoever is looking, every time. The same widget on a shared report page shows every group to someone who can see members, and "<5" to someone who cannot.

> **Your club decides:** the smallest group shown, from 3 to 20, on the **Reports** tab of Admin > Settings. Most clubs use 5. With 10, for example, groups of 1 to 9 show as "<10". See [Change the reports settings](https://sportsclubos.net/help/reports/settings/index.md).

## What it does not do

- It does not hide anything from people who can open the member list.
- It does not change any record or count: the counts are worked out in full, and the small groups are left out of what is sent to you.
- It does not apply to money, bookings, classes or matches, which are not counts of people.