Not really an issue, but something that can be improved with the next Skyline update/release.
It would be helpful if under the "Help" tab in the menu bar you could access a menu that contained the definitions of every term in Skyline. For example "Total Background" and whether or not the "Total Area" in a report file does or does not give you the total area minus background.

I think you fixed this one with the report tips (now released in Skyline-daily), but maybe put a menu item on the Help Menu, e.g. Help > Document Grid or Report Columns as suggested to make it even easier to find the page you bring up when the ? icon is clicked on the view editor.

Checking the documentation there, though:

Total Area - The summed Area values of all individual transitions for the particular precursor.
Area - Area under the curve (AUC), minus background, for the transition peak. Double

It does seem possible to answer the question posed in the report.

In the View Editor (which you can get to at View > Document Grid > Views > Customize View), there is a "?" button at the top.
That button brings up a window which has the documentation for all of the columns that you can show in the Document Grid.