Creating dashboards with excel

A dashboard is a visual representation of key metrics that allow you to quickly view and analyze your data in one place. Dashboards not only provide consolidated data views, but a self-service business intelligence opportunity, where users are able to filter the data to display just what’s important to them. In the past, Excel reporting often required you to generate multiple reports for different people or departments depending on their needs.

Overview

In this topic, we’ll discuss how to use multiple PivotTables, PivotCharts and PivotTable tools to create a dynamic dashboard. Then we’ll give users the ability to quickly filter the data the way they want with Slicers and a Timeline, which allow your PivotTables and charts to automatically expand and contract to display only the information that users want to see. In addition, you can quickly refresh your dashboard when you add or update data. This makes it very handy because you only need to create the dashboard report once.

For this example, we’re going to create four PivotTables and charts from a single data source.

Once your dashboard is created, we’ll show you how to share it with people by creating a Microsoft Group. We also have an interactive Excel workbook that you can download and follow these steps on your own.

Download the Excel Dashboard tutorial workbook.

Get your data

1. You can copy and paste data directly into Excel, or you can set up a query from a data source. For this topic, we used the Sales Analysis query from the Northwind Traders template for Microsoft Access. If you want to use it, you can open Access and go to File > New > Search for «Northwind» and create the template database. Once you’ve done that you’ll be able to access any of the queries included in the template. We’ve already put this data into the Excel workbook for you, so there’s no need to worry if you don’t have Access.

2. Verify your data is structured properly, with no missing rows or columns. Each row should represent an individual record or item. For help with setting up a query, or if your data needs to be manipulated, see Get & Transform in Excel.

   

3. If it’s not already, format your data as an Excel Table. When you import from Access, the data will automatically be imported to a table.

Create PivotTables

1. Select any cell within your data range, and go to Insert > PivotTable > New Worksheet. See Create a PivotTable to analyze worksheet data for more details.

2. Add the PivotTable fields that you want, then format as desired. This PivotTable will be the basis for others, so you should spend some time making any necessary adjustments to style, report layout and general formatting now so you don’t have to do it multiple times. For more details, see: Design the layout and format of a PivotTable.

   In this case, we created a top-level summary of sales by product category, and sorted by the Sales field in descending order.

   

   See Sort data in a PivotTable or PivotChart for more details.

3. Once you’ve created your master PivotTable, select it, then copy and paste it as many times as necessary to empty areas in the worksheet. For our example, these PivotTables can change rows, but not columns so we placed them on the same row with a blank column in between each one. However, you might find that you need to place your PivotTables beneath each other if they can expand columns.

   Important: PivotTables can’t overlap one another, so make sure that your design will allow enough space between them to allow for them to expand and contract as values are filtered, added or removed.

   At this point you might want to give your PivotTables meaningful names, so you know what they do. Otherwise, Excel will name them PivotTable1, PivotTable2 and so on. You can select each one, then go to PivotTable Tools > Analyze > enter a new name in the PivotTable Name box. This will be important when it comes time to connect your PivotTables to Slicers and Timeline controls.

   

Create PivotCharts

1. Click anywhere in the first PivotTable and go to PivotTable Tools > Analyze > PivotChart > select a chart type. We chose a Combo chart with Sales as a Clustered Column chart, and % Total as a Line chart plotted on the Secondary axis.

   

2. Select the chart, then size and format as desired from the PivotChart Tools tab. For more details see our series on Formatting charts.

3. Repeat for each of the remaining PivotTables.

4. Now is a good time to rename your PivotCharts too. Go to PivotChart Tools > Analyze > enter a new name in the Chart Name box.

Add Slicers and a Timeline

Slicers and Timelines allow you to quickly filter your PivotTables and PivotCharts, so you can see just the information that’s meaningful to you.

1. Select any PivotTable and go to PivotTable Tools > Analyze > Filter > Insert Slicer, then check each item you want to use for a slicer. For this dashboard, we selected Category, Product Name, Employee and Customer Name. When you click OK, the slicers will be added to the middle of the screen, stacked on top of each other, so you’ll need to arrange and resize them as necessary.

   

2. Slicer Options – If you click on any slicer, you can go to Slicer Tools > Options and select various options, like Style and how many columns are displayed. You can align multiple slicers by selecting them with Ctrl+Left-click, then use the Align tools on the Slicer Tools tab.

3. Slicer Connections — Slicers will only be connected to the PivotTable you used to create them, so you need to select each Slicer then go to Slicer Tools > Options > Report Connections and check which PivotTables you want connected to each. Slicers and Timelines can control PivotTables on any worksheet, even if the worksheet is hidden.

   

4. Add a Timeline – Select any PivotTable and go to PivotTable Tools > Analyze > Filter > Insert Timeline, then check each item you want to use. For this dashboard, we selected Order Date.

5. Timeline Options – Click on the Timeline, and go to Timeline Tools > Options and select options like Style, Header and Caption. Select the Report Connections option to link the timeline to the PivotTables of your choice.

Learn more about Slicers and Timeline controls.

Next steps

Your dashboard is now functionally complete, but you probably still need to arrange it the way you want and make final adjustments. For instance, you might want to add a report title, or a background. For our dashboard, we added shapes around the PivotTables and turned off Headings and Gridlines from the View tab.

Make sure to test each of your slicers and timelines to make sure that your PivotTables and PivotCharts behave appropriately. You may find situations where certain selections cause issues if one PivotTable wants to adjust and overlap another, which it can’t do and will display an error message. These issues should be corrected before you distribute your dashboard.

Once you’re done setting up your dashboard, you can click the “Share a Dashboard” tab at the top of this topic to learn how to distribute it.

Congratulations on creating your dashboard! In this step we’ll show you how to set up a Microsoft Group to share your dashboard. What we’re going to do is pin your dashboard to the top of your group’s document library in SharePoint, so your users can easily access it at any time.

Store your dashboard in the group

If you haven’t already saved your dashboard workbook in the group you’ll want to move it there. If it’s already in the group’s files library then you can skip this step.

1. Go to your group in either Outlook 2016 or Outlook on the web.

2. Click Files in the ribbon to access the group’s document library.

3. Click the Upload button on the ribbon and upload your dashboard workbook to the document library.

Add it to your group’s SharePoint Online team site

1. If you accessed the document library from Outlook 2016, click Home on the navigation pane on the left. If you accessed the document library from Outlook on the web, click More > Site from the right end of the ribbon.

2. Click Documents from the navigation pane at the left.

3. Find your dashboard workbook and click the selection circle just to the left of its name.

4. When you have the dashboard workbook selected, choose Pin to top on the ribbon.

Now whenever your users come to the Documents page of your SharePoint Online team site your dashboard worksheet will be right there at the top. They can click on it and easily access the current version of the dashboard.

Tip: Your users can also access your group document library, including your dashboard workbook, via the Outlook Groups mobile app.

See also

• What is SharePoint?

• Learn about Microsoft 365 groups

Got questions we didn’t answer here?

Visit the Microsoft Answers Community.

We’re listening!

This article was last reviewed by Ben and Chris on March 16th, 2017 as a result of your feedback. If you found it helpful, and especially if you didn’t, please use the feedback controls below and leave us some constructive feedback, so we can continue to make it better. Thanks!

Looking to learn how to create a dashboard in Excel?

Gathering data is an essential process to better understand how your projects are moving. And what better way to manage all that data than spreadsheets?

However, data on its own is just a bunch of numbers. 😝

To make it accessible, you need dashboards. 

In this article, we’ll learn about Excel dashboards. 

We’ll go over the steps to create one and also highlight a smoother alternative to the entire process.

Let’s start.

What Is A Excel Dashboard?

A dashboard is a visual representation of KPIs, key business metrics, and other complex data in a way that’s easy to understand.

Let’s be real, raw data and numbers are essential, but they’re super boring.

That’s why you need to make that data accessible.

What you need is a Microsoft Excel dashboard. 

Luckily, you can create both a static or dynamic dashboard in Excel.

What’s the difference?

Static dashboards simply highlight data from a specific timeframe. It never changes. 

On the other hand, dynamic dashboards are updated daily to keep up with changes.

So what are the benefits of creating an Excel dashboard? 

Similar to Google Sheets dashboards, let’s a look at some of them:

• Gives you a detailed overview of your business’ Key Performance Indicators at a glance
• Adds a sense of accountability as different people and departments can see the areas of improvement
• Provides powerful analytical capabilities and complex calculations
• Helps you make better decisions for your business 

7 Steps To Create A Dashboard In Excel 

Here’s a simple step-by-step guide on how to create a dashboard in Excel.

Step 1: Import the necessary data into Excel

No data. No dashboard.

So the first thing to do is to bring data into Microsoft Excel.

If your data already exists in Excel, do a victory dance 💃 because you’re lucky you can skip this step.

If that isn’t the case, we’ve got to warn you that importing data to Excel can be a bit bothersome. However, there are multiple ways to do it.

To import data, you can:

• Copy and paste it
• Use an API like Supermetrics or Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)
• Use Microsoft Power Query, an Excel add-in

The most suitable way will ultimately depend on your data file type, and you may have to research the best ways to import data into Excel.

Step 2: Set up your workbook

Now that your data is in Excel, it’s time to insert tabs to set up your workbook.

Open a new Excel workbook and add two or more worksheets (or tabs) to it. 

For example, let’s say we create three tabs.

Name the first worksheet as ‘Raw Data,’ the second as ‘Chart Data,’ and the third as ‘Dashboard.’

This makes it easy to compare the data in your Excel file.

Here, we’ve collected raw data of four projects: A, B, C, and D.

The data includes:

• The month of completion
• The budget for each project
• The number of team members that worked on each project 

Bonus: How to create an org chart in Excel!

Step 3: Add raw data to a table

The raw data worksheet you created in your workbook must be in an Excel table format, with each data point recorded in cells.

Some people call this step “cleaning your data” because this is the time to spot any typos or in-your-face errors.

Don’t skip this, or you won’t be able to use any Excel formula later on.

Step 4: Data analysis

While this step might just tire your brain out, it’ll help create the right dashboard for your needs.

Take a good look at all the raw data you’ve gathered, study it, and determine what you want to use in the dashboard sheet.

Add those data points to your ‘Chart Data’ worksheet.

For example, we want our chart to highlight the project name, the month of completion, and the budget. So we copy these three Excel data columns and paste them into the chart data tab.

Here’s a tip: Ask yourself what the purpose of the dashboard is.

In our example, we want to visualize the expenses of different projects.

Knowing the purpose should ease the job and help you filter out all the unnecessary data.

Analyzing your data will also help you understand the different tools you may want to use in your dashboard. 

Some of the options include:

• Charts: to visualize data
• Excel formulas: for complex calculations and filtering
• Conditional formatting: to automate the spreadsheet’s responses to specific data points
• PivotTable: to sort, reorganize, count, group, and sum data in a table
• Power Pivot: to create data models and work with large data sets 

Bonus: How to Display a Work Breakdown Structure in Excel

Step 5: Determine the visuals

What’s a dashboard without visuals, right?

The next step is to determine the visuals and the dashboard design that best represents your data.

You should mainly pay attention to the different chart types Excel gives you, like:

• Bar chart: compare values on a graph with bars
• Waterfall chart: view how an initial value increases and decreases through a series of alterations to reach an end value
• Gauge chart: represent data in a dial. Also known as a speedometer chart
• Pie chart: highlight percentages and proportional data
• Gantt chart: track project progress
• Dynamic chart: automatically update a data range
• Pivot chart: summarize your data in a table full of statistics

Step 6: Create your Excel dashboard

You now have all the data you need, and you know the purpose of the dashboard. 

The only thing left to do is build the Excel dashboard.

To explain the process of creating a dashboard in Excel, we’ll use a clustered column chart. 

A  clustered column chart consists of clustered, horizontal columns that represent more than one data series.

Start by clicking on the dashboard worksheet or tab that you created in your workbook.

Then click on ‘Insert’ > ‘Column’ > ‘Clustered column chart’.

See the blank box? That’s where you’ll feed your spreadsheet data.

Just right-click on the blank box and then click on ‘Select data’

Then, go to your ‘Chart Data’ tab and select the data you wish to display on your dashboard.

Make sure you don’t select the column headers while selecting the data.

Hit enter, and voila, you’ve created a column chart dashboard.

If you notice your horizontal axis doesn’t represent what you want, you can edit it.

All you have to do is: select the chart again > right-click > select data.

The Select Data Source dialogue box will appear. 

Here, you can click on ‘Edit’ in the ‘Horizontal (Category) Axis Labels’ and then select the data you want to show on the X-axis from the ‘Chart Data’ tab again.

Want to give a title to your chart?

Select the chart and then click on Design > chart layouts. Choose a layout that has a chart title text box.

Click on the text box to type in a new title.

Step 7: Customize your dashboard

Another step?

You can also customize the colors, fonts, typography, and layouts of your charts. 

Additionally, if you wish to make an interactive dashboard, go for a dynamic chart.

A dynamic chart is a regular Excel chart where data updates automatically as you change the data source.

You can bring interactivity using Excel features like:

• Macros: automate repetitive actions (you may have to learn Excel VBA for this)
• Drop-down lists: allow quick and limited data entry
• Slicers: lets you filter data on a Pivot Table

And we’re done. Congratulations! 🙌

Now you know how to make a dashboard in Excel.

We know what you’re thinking: do I really need these steps when I could just use templates?

Bonus: Create a flowchart using Excel!

3 Excel Dashboard Templates

Excel is no beauty queen. And its scary formulas 👻 make it complicated for many.

No wonder people look for a quality advanced Excel or Excel dashboard course online.

Don’t worry. 

Save yourself the trouble with these handy downloadable Microsoft Excel dashboard templates.

1. Excel KPI dashboard template

Download this Excel revenue and expense KPI dashboard template.

2. Excel Project management dashboard template

Download this Excel project dashboard template.

3. Sales dashboard template

Download this free sales Excel dashboard template.

However, note that most Excel templates available on the web aren’t reliable, and it’s difficult to spot the ones that’ll work. 

Most importantly, Microsoft Excel isn’t a perfect tool for creating dashboards.

Here’s why:

3 Limitations of Using Excel Dashboards

Excel may be the go-to tool for many businesses for all kinds of data.

However, that doesn’t make it an ideal medium for creating dashboards. 

Here’s why:

1. A ton of manual data feeding

You’ve probably seen some great Excel workbooks over time.

They’re so clean and organized with just data after data and several charts.

But that’s what you see. 👀

Ask the person who made the Excel sheets, and they’ll tell you how they’ve aged twice while making an Excel dashboard, and they probably hate their job because of it.

It’s just too much manual effort for feeding data. 

And we live in a world where robots do surgeries on humans!

2. High possibilities of human error

As your business grows, so does your data.

And more data means opportunities for human error.

Whether it’s a typo that changed the number ‘5’ to the letter ‘T’ or an error in the formula, it’s so easy to mess up data on Excel.

If only it were that easy to create an Excel dashboard instead.

3. Limited integrations

Integrating your software with other apps allows you to multitask and expand your scope of work. It also saves you the time spent toggling between windows. 

However, you can’t do this on Excel, thanks to its limited direct integration abilities. 

The only option you have is to take the help of third-party apps like Zapier.

That’s like using one app to be able to use another. 

Want to find out more ways in which Excel dashboards flop? 

Check out our article on Excel project management and Excel alternatives.

This begs the question: why go through so much trouble to create a dashboard?

Life would be much easier if there were software that created dashboards with just a few clicks.

And no, you don’t have to find a Genie to make such wishes come true. 🧞

You have something better in the real world, ClickUp, the world’s highest-rated productivity tool!

Create Effortless Dashboards With ClickUp

ClickUp is the place to be for all things project management. 

Whether you want to track projects and tasks, need a reporting tool, or manage resources, ClickUp can handle it.

Most importantly, it is THE tool for quick and easy dashboard creation.

So how easy are we talking?

As easy as three steps that are literally just mouse clicks.

ClickUp’s Dashboards are where you’ll get accurate and valuable insights and reports on projects, resources, tasks, Sprints, and more.

Once you’ve enabled the Dashboards ClickApp:

• Click on the Dashboards icon that you’ll find in your sidebar
• Click on ‘+’ to add a Dashboard
• Click ‘+ Add Widgets’ to pull in your data

Now that was super easy, right?

To power up your dashboard, here are some widgets you’ll need and love:

• Status Widgets: visualize your task statuses over time, workload, number of tasks, etc.
• Table Widgets: view reports on completed tasks, tasks worked on, and overdue tasks
• Embed Widgets: access other apps and websites right from your dashboard
• Time Tracking Widgets: view all kinds of time reports such as billable reports, timesheets, time tracked, and more
• Priority Widgets: visualize tasks on charts based on their urgencies
• Custom Widgets: whether you want to visualize your work in the form of a line chart, pie chart, calculated sums, and averages, or portfolios, you can customize it as you wish 

Don’t forget the Sprint Widgets on ClickUp’s Dashboards. 

Use them to gain insights on sprints, a must-have feature for your Agile and Scrum projects. 

It’s an easy way to enjoy full control and a complete overview of every happening in your Agile workflow.

You can even access ClickUp Dashboards on the go, right on your mobile devices.

We will soon release Dashboard Templates as well, just to add more convenience to what’s already super easy. 

You’re welcome! 😇

Need some help creating a project management dashboard? 

Check out our simple guide on how to build a dashboard.

Here’s a tiny glimpse of some of our cool features:

• ClickUp Views: enjoy different task view options, including Table view, Board view, Gantt Chart view, Activity view, etc.
• Automations: automate routine tasks with Triggers and Actions
• Team Templates: project templates for all teams, including sales, real estate, and event planning
• Multiple Assignees: assign tasks to more than one person or even an entire Team
• Permissions: protect sensitive data with custom permissions for both Guests and members
• Integrations: integrate easily with your favorite apps, including Slack, Harvest, Google Drive, and more
• Offline Mode: manage agile and scrum projects even when the internet is down

Case Study: How ClickUp Dashboards Help Teams

ClickUp Dashboards are designed to bring all of your most important metrics into one place. Check out this customer story from Wake Forest University to see how they improved reporting and alignment with ClickUp Dashboards:

Whatever you need to measure, ClickUp’s Dashboard is the perfect way to get a real-time overview of your organization’s performance.

Help you Team Excel With ClickUp Dashboards

While you can use Excel to create dashboards, it’s no guarantee that your journey will be smooth, fast, or error-free.

The only place to guarantee all that is ClickUp!

It’s your all-in-one project management and dashboard reporting replacement for Excel dashboards and even MS Excel spreadsheets. 

Why wait when you can create unlimited tasks, automate your work, track progress, and gain insightful reports with a single tool?

Get ClickUp for free today and create complex dashboards in the simplest of ways!

An Excel Dashboard can be an amazing tool when it comes to tracking KPIs, comparing data points, and getting data-backed views that can help management make decisions.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create an Excel dashboard, best practices to follow while creating one, features and tools you can use in Excel, things to avoid at all costs, and recommended training material.

What is an Excel Dashboard and how does it differ from a report?

Let’s first understand what is an Excel dashboard.

An Excel dashboard is one-pager (mostly, but not always necessary) that helps managers and business leaders in tracking key KPIs or metrics and take a decision based on it. It contains charts/tables/views that are backed by data.

A dashboard is often called a report, however, not all reports are dashboards.

Here is the difference:

• A report would only collect and show data in a single place. For example, if a manager wants to know how the sales have grown over the last period and which region were the most profitable, a report would not be able to answer it. It would simply report all the relevant sales data. These reports are then used to create dashboards (in Excel or PowerPoint) that will aid in decision making.
• A dashboard, on the other hand, would instantly answer important questions such which regions are performing better and which products should the management focus on. These dashboards could be static or interactive (where the user can make selections and change views and the data would dynamically update).

Now that we have an understanding of what a dashboard is, let’s dive in and learn how to create a dashboard in Excel.

How to Create an Excel Dashboard?

Creating an Excel Dashboard is a multi-step process and there are some key things you need to keep in mind when creating it.

Even before you launch Excel, you need to be clear about the objectives of the dashboard.

For example, if you’re creating a KPI dashboard to track financial KPIs of a company, your objective would be to show the comparison of the current period with the past period(s).

Similarly, if you’re creating a dashboard for Human Resources department to track the employee training, then the objective would be to show how many employees have been trained and how many needs to be trained to reach the target.

Things to Do Before You Even Start Creating an Excel Dashboard

A lot of people start working on the dashboard as soon as they get their hands on the data.

And in most cases, they bring upon them the misery of reworking on the dashboard as the client/stakeholder objectives are not met.

Below are some of the questions you must have answered before you start building an Excel Dashboard:

Q: What is the Purpose of the Dashboard?

The first thing to do as soon as you get the data (or even before getting the data), is to get clarity on what your stakeholder wants. Be clear on what purpose the dashboard needs to serve.

Is it to track KPIs just one time, or on a regular basis? Does it need to track the KPIs for the whole company or division-wise?. Asking the right questions would help you understand what data you need and how to design the dashboard.

Q: What are the data sources?

Always know where the data comes from and in what format. In one of my projects, the data was provided as PDF files in the Spanish language. This completely changed the scope and most of our time was sucked up in manually culling the data. Here are the questions you should ask: Who owns the data? In what format will you get the data? How frequently does the data update?

Q: Who will use this Excel Dashboard?

A manager would probably only be interested in the insights your dashboard provides, however, some data analysts in his team may need a more detailed view. Based on who uses your dashboard, you need to structure the data and the final output.

Q: How frequently does the Excel Dashboard need to be updated?

If your dashboards are to be updated weekly or monthly, you are better off creating a plug-and-play model (where you simply copy-paste the data and it would automatically update). If it’s a one-time exercise only, you can leave out some automation and do that manually.

Q: What version of Office does the client/stakeholder uses?

It’s better to not assume that the client/stakeholder has the latest version of MS Office. I once created a dashboard only to know that my stakeholder was using Excel 2003. This led to some rework as the IFERROR function doesn’t work in Excel 2003 version (which I had used extensively when creating the dashboard).

Getting the Data in Excel

Once you have a good idea of what you need to create, the next steps are to get your hands on the data and getting it in Excel.

Your life is easy when your client gives you Data in Excel, however, if that is not the case, you need to figure out an efficient way to get it in Excel.

If you’re supplied with CSV files or Text files, you can easily convert these in Excel. If you have access to a database that stores the data, you can create a connection and update it indirectly.

Once you have the data, you need to clean it and standardize it.

For example, you may need to get rid of leading, trailing, or double spaces, find and remove duplicates, remove blanks and errors, and so on.

In some cases, you may even need to restructure data (for example say you need to create a Pivot table).

These steps would depend on the project and how your data looks in Excel.

Outlining the Structure of the Dashboard

Once you have the data in Excel, you will know exactly what you can and can not use in your Excel dashboard.

At this stage, it’s a good idea to circle back with your stakeholders with an outline of the Excel dashboard.

As a best practice, I create a simple outline in PowerPoint along with additional notes. The purpose of this step is to make sure your stakeholder understands what kind of dashboard he/she can expect with the available data.

It also helps as the stakeholder may suggest changes that would add more value to him.

Here is an example of a sample outline I created for one of the KPI dashboards:

Once you have the outline worked out, it’s time to start creating the Excel dashboard.

As a best practice, divide your Excel workbook into three parts (these are the worksheets that I create with the same name):

• Data – This could be one or more than one worksheet that contain the raw data.
• Calculations – This is where you do all the calculations. Again, you may have one or more than one sheet for calculations.
• Dashboard – This is the sheet that has the dashboard. In most of the cases, it is a single page view that shows analysis/insights backed by data.

Excel Table – The Secret Sauce of an Efficient Excel Dashboard

The first thing I do with the raw data is to convert it into an Excel Table.

Excel Table offers many advantages that are crucial while creating an Excel dashboard.

To convert tabular data into an Excel table, select the data and go to the Insert tab and click on the Table icon.

Here are the benefits of using an Excel Table for your dashboard:

• When you convert a tabular data set into an Excel table, you don’t need to worry about data getting changed at a later stage. Even if you get additional data, you can simply add it to the table without worrying about the formulas getting screwed up. This is really helpful when I create plug-and-play dashboards.
• With an Excel Table, you can use the names of the columns instead of the reference. For example, instead is C2:C1000, you can use ‘Sales’.

Important Excel Functions for Dashboards

You can create a lot of good interactive Excel dashboards by just using Excel formulas.

When you make a selection from a drop-down list, or use a scroll bar or select a checkbox, there are formulas that update based on the results and give you the updated data/view in the dashboard.

Here are my top five Excel functions for Excel Dashboards:

• SUMPRODUCT Function: It’s my favorite function while creating an interactive Excel dashboard. It allows me to do complex calculations when there are many variables. For example, suppose I have a sales dashboard and I want to know what were the sales done by the rep Bob in the third quarter in the East region. I can simply create a SUMPRODUCT formula for this.
• INDEX/MATCH Function: I am a big proponent of using the combination of INDEX and MATCH formula for looking up data in Excel Dashboards. You can also use the VLOOKUP function, but I find INDEX/MATCH to be a better choice.
• IFERROR Function: When doing calculations on the raw data, you’ll often end up with errors. I use IFERROR extensively to hide errors in the dashboard (and many times in the raw data as well).
• TEXT Function: If you want to create dynamic headlines or titles, you need to use the TEXT function for it.
• ROWS/COLUMNS Function: I use these often when I have to copy a formula and one of the arguments needs to increment as we go down/right of the cell.

Things to keep in mind when working with formulas in an Excel Dashboard:

• Avoid using volatile formulas (such as OFFSET, NOW, TODAY, and so on..). These will slow down your workbook.
• Remove unnecessary formulas. If you have some additional formulas in the calculation sheet, remove these while finalizing the dashboard.
• Use helper columns as it may help you avoid long array formulas.

Interactive Tools to Make Your Excel Dashboard Awesome

There are many interactive tools that you can use to make your Excel dashboard dynamic and user-friendly.

Here are some of these I use regularly:

• Scroll Bars: Use scroll bars to save your workbook real estate. For example, if you have 100 rows of data, you can use a scrollbar with only 10 rows in the dashboard. A user can use the scroll bar if he/she wished to have a look at the entire data set.
• Check Boxes: CheckBoxes allow you to make selections and update the dashboard. For example, suppose I have a training dashboard and I am the company’s CEO, I would want to look at the overall company dashboard. But if I am the sales head, I would only want to look at the performance of my department. In such a case, you can create a dashboard with checkboxes for different divisions of the company.
• Drop Down List: A drop-down list allows a user to make an exclusive selection. You can use these drop-down selections to update the dashboard. For example, if you are showing data by department, you can have the department names in the drop-down.

Using Excel Charts to Visualize Data in an Excel Dashboard

Charts not only make your Excel dashboard visually appealing but also make it easy to consume and interpret.

Here are some tips while using charts in an Excel Dashboard:

• Select the right Chart: Excel gives you a lot of charting options and you need to use the right chart. For example, if you have to show a trend, you need to use a line chart, but if you want to highlight the actual values, a bar/column chart could be the right choice. While a lot of experts advise against using a pie chart, I would suggest you use your discretion. If your audience is used to seeing pie charts, you may as well use these.
• Use combination charts: I highly recommend using combination charts as these allow the user to compare values and draw meaning insights. For example, you can show the sales figure as a column chart and growth as a line chart.

• Use dynamic charts: If you want to allow the user to make selections and want the chart to update with it, use dynamic charts. Now a dynamic chart is nothing but a regular chart whose data updates in the back-end when you make selections.

• Use Sparklines to make your data more meaningful: If you have a lot of data in your dashboard/report, you can consider using Sparklines to make it visual. A sparkline is a tiny chart that resides in a cell and can be created using a data set. These are useful when you want to show a trend over time and at the same time save space on your dashboard. You can learn more about Excel Sparklines here.
• Use contrasting colors to highlight data: This is a generic charting tip where you should highlight data in a chart so it’s easy to understand. For example, if you have sales data, you can highlight the year with a lowest sales value in red.

You can browse through some of my charting tutorials here.

Also, if you want to get more advanced in Excel charting, I recommend you visit the blog by Excel charting expert Jon Peltier.

Excel Dashboards Do’s and Don’ts

Let’s first start with the Dont’s!

Here are some of the things I recommend you avoid while creating an Excel dashboard. Again these would vary based on your project and stakeholder but are valid in most of the cases.

• Don’t Clutter Your Dashboards: Just because you have data and charts doesn’t mean it should go in your dashboard. Remember the objective of the dashboard is to help identify a problem or aid in taking decisions. So keep it relevant and remove everything that doesn’t belong there. I often ask myself if something is just good to have to absolutely must-have. Then I go ahead and remove all the good-to-haves.
• Don’t use volatile formulas: As it will slow down the calculations.
• Don’t keep extra data in your workbook: If you need that data, create a copy of the dashboard and keep it as the backup.

Now let’s have a look at some Do’s (or best practices)

• Numbering your Charts/Section: Your dashboard is not just a random set of charts and data points. Instead, it’s a story where one thing leads to the other. You need to make sure your audience follows the steps in the right order, and therefore it’s best to number these. While you may be able to guide them when you’re presenting live, it’s a great help when someone uses your dashboard at a later stage or takes a print out of it.
• Restrict Movement in the dashboard area: Hide all rows/columns to make sure the user doesn’t accidentally scroll away.
• Freeze Important rows/column: Use freeze panes when you want some rows/columns to be always visible on the dashboard.
• Make Shapes/Charts Stick: Make sure your shapes/charts or interactive controls don’t hide or resize when someone hides/resizes the cells. You can also use the Excel Camera tool to take a snapshot of charts/tables and place it in the Excel dashboard (these images are dynamic and update when the back-end chart/table updates).
• Provide a User Guide: If you have a complex dashboard, it’s a good idea to create a separate worksheet and highlight the steps. It will help people use your dashboard even when you’re not there.
• Save Space with Combination Charts: Use combination charts (such as bullet charts, thermometer charts, and actual vs target charts) to save your worksheet space.
• Use Symbols & Conditional Formatting: Use symbols (such as up/down arrows or check-mark/cross-mark) and conditional formatting to add a layer of analysis to your dashboard (but don’t overdo it either).

Want to create professional dashboards in Excel? Check out the Online Excel Dashboard course where I show you everything about creating a world-class Excel Dashboard.

Dashboard Examples

Here are some cool Excel dashboard examples that you can download and play with.

Excel KPI Dashboard

You can use this dashboard to track KPIs of various companies and then use bullet charts to deep dive into the individual company’s performance.

Click here to download this KPI Dashboard.

If you’re interested in learning how to create this KPI dashboard – click here.

Call Center Performance Dashboard

You can use this dashboard to track key KPIs of a call center. From this dashboard, you can learn how to create combination charts, how to highlight specific data points in charts, how to sort using radio buttons, etc.

Click here to download the dashboard.

You can read more about this dashboard here.

EPL Season visualized in an Excel Dashboard

In this dashboard, you will learn how to use VBA in Excel dashboards. In this dashboard, the details of the games update when you double click on the cells on the left. It also uses VBA to show a help menu to guide the user in using this dashboard.

Click here to download the EPL dashboard.

You can read more about this dashboard here.

Recommended Dashboard Training

If want to learn how to create world-class professional dashboards in Excel, check out my FREE Online Excel Dashboard Course.

Other articles you may also like:

• 20 Advanced Excel Functions and Formulas (for Excel Pros)

How to Make a Dashboard in Excel: Step-by-Step Guide (2023)

How to Make a Dashboard in Excel: Step-by-Step Guide (2023)

Excel dashboards are amazing!

They are such a great way to visualize data and get insights.

If you’re like me when I first saw an Excel dashboard, then you probably immediately wondered “How can I build my own?”

Well, in this article, we will show you exactly how!

We also prepared a practice workbook for you so you can follow along. Download the practice Excel file here.

At the end of this tutorial, you will be able to create an Excel dashboard like this one:

What is an Excel dashboard?

An Excel dashboard is a high-level summary of key metrics used in monitoring and decision-making.

It shows you most of what you need to know about a subject without going into specific detail. A dashboard often has visuals such as pie charts, line graphs, and simple tables.

Think of a car 🚗

A car’s dashboard displays speed, temperature, fuel level, etc.

But it doesn’t show everything that’s going on under the hood.

Similarly…

An Excel dashboard primarily shows key performance indicators and metrics.

The data and calculations are tucked “under the hood”. These are usually inside other sheets or in a separate workbook.

Getting started with Excel dashboards🏁

There are so many possibilities in creating Excel dashboards.

It’s easy to get lost in the process if you do not have a clear idea of what your Excel dashboard will look like.

So, it’s always a good idea to outline your dashboard structure. By doing so, you are setting yourself up for success with clear goals and methods.

Here are a few guide questions to help you set up an outline:

• What is your goal or purpose in creating an Excel dashboard?
  Are you evaluating business performance? Understand customer trends? Or track your team’s workload?
• What are the available data sets that can be used towards your goal?
  Do you have sales data? Is your team tracked using a project management platform? How easily can you download and use these data sets?
• Who are your Excel dashboard’s target audiences and which key metrics are important for them?
  Do you intend to present it to investors? Or is it for yourself and your managers to improve work efficiency?

Let’s use the practice Excel workbook for example.

Example Excel dashboard outline

In the practice file, you have the raw sales data of an online store selling personalized gifts.

The data encompasses the entire first half of 2022. It includes orders from several E-commerce platforms.

Following the guide questions above:

• Your goal is to create a sales dashboard in Excel that can help analyze the store’s sales performance. Also, it should help improve work management across the different selling platforms.
• As for the data source, you only have the basic order information. This should be available for any online store and most stores have a sales/order workbook in hand.
• There are two target audiences:

1. Investors – You are growing the business. There is no better way to showcase your store’s potential than with a well-designed dashboard in Excel.
   To win over investors, you have to present sales figures and other key metrics.
2. Management (yourself and/or your team) – Excel dashboards are also a great way to visualize workload. You can study your team’s performance in terms of how many orders are being processed each week and how quickly the store delivers its products.

Try to bring all the items mentioned above into a neat outline like this:

Now you have a clear outline for your dashboard structure.

Great start! 👍

This is the first step towards your superb Excel dashboard!

Pro-tip:

There are thousands of Excel dashboard templates available on the Internet.

Use your dashboard outline to identify and select suitable templates online.

Click here to learn more about templates for Excel dashboards.

Get raw data into Excel

Data sets most often come in the form of spreadsheets like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. Some may also come as CSV files (comma-separated values).

These can all be imported into Excel.

Check the Data tab in the Excel Ribbon.

There are many ways to import your data. Whether it’s from an online platform or a local file, Excel offers plenty of options.

It is also possible to connect a data source. By doing so, changes in the data source are reflected in real-time in the Excel dashboard.

In the example workbook, the sales data is already available so there is no need to import any other raw data.

Set up data and file structure

Once the data is in, you need to set up a structure for your workbook.

The dashboard is the summary of key information from the data. So, it is best to place it at the beginning of the workbook.

Let’s try this in the practice workbook.

1. Insert a new worksheet at the beginning of the workbook and name this “Dashboard”.

2. For the raw data, you can change the worksheet name to “Data”.

Use an Excel table to store and show data

This next step is optional. But it greatly improves efficiency, especially if will insert several charts and graphs.

1. Select the raw data table and go to Home > Format as Table.

Excel automatically recognizes the entire table. You can then choose a table style to apply.

In the default Excel table styles, the header row is highlighted and succeeding rows are banded. This means their fill color will alternate between light and dark so that it is easier to read the data.

Filters are also added for each column, allowing you to find and sort specific data points.

After formatting, you can also change the name of the table.

By doing so, you can reference the table directly using its name instead of highlighting its entire range repeatedly.

Also, you can apply data validation to Excel tables. This ensures the accuracy and structure of your data before analysis. Learn more about Data Validation here.

Try to change the table name of the example data set.

4. Format it as a table then change the table name to “Sales_Table“.

Analyze Data with Functions

Now you have your data table set up.

Let’s now add a few dashboard elements to the practice workbook.

Using formulas

You can reference a table’s elements in a formula using its name and an opening bracket “[“.

For example:

1. In the “Dashboard” worksheet, try this formula to get the monthly average sales.

=SUM(Sales_Table[Sub-total])/6

2. Then you can add a few more sets of formulas to get the other key metrics listed in the outline.

Experiment with colors, shapes, and icons to customize your Excel dashboard.

Using Pivot Tables

The most efficient and effective way to analyze and visualize data in Excel is using a Pivot Table.

Pivot tables are an extensive topic. It will be challenging to cover it in detail in this Excel dashboard tutorial alone. Instead, you can learn more about pivot tables here.

Or, you can also watch my short YouTube video on creating pivot tables.

Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Office Specialist

Building a pivot table can be quite fidgety. Changing the fields in a pivot table can unintentionally alter column widths and cell formatting.

So, I suggest you create a new worksheet in the practice Excel workbook and name it “Tables”.

Here you can build a pivot table first before copying it to the “Dashboard” worksheet.

1. Try it out by inserting a pivot table from the Insert Tab.

2. For the source data, enter the name of the data table which in this case would be “Sales_Table”.

3. Then select any cell in the “Tables” worksheet and click OK.

4. Drag and drop fields in the Field List window to get your desired pivot table.

For example:

You can set up the fields like below. This will display the top-performing products in the pivot table.

5. Then copy the table into the “Dashboard” worksheet.

Try using formulas to manipulate the values.

For example:

6. Divide the table values by 6 to get the monthly averages.

7. Apply formatting to make it look cleaner.

While building your Excel dashboard, always keep your outline in mind. Also, try to group related elements.

Visualize data and calculations with charts

Tables and functions are great for displaying lists and figures.

But if you want to show trends and/or patterns, charts and graphs are the go-to elements.

You can insert a Pivot Chart from the Insert Tab in the same way as with pivot tables.

1. Create a line chart for the total sales like this:

2. Then copy it over to the Dashboard tab and apply your desired formatting.

Explore the many different Excel tools! 🔧🔨

Don’t limit yourself to a simple line chart or graph. Excel offers so many different visual elements for use.

You can select from various charts such as pie charts, bar charts, or even a map!

Select dynamic charts that work best with your data.

For example, instead of listing out the top-selling items, you can display this in a colorful pie chart.

You can also create interactive charts like this clustered column chart. It allows you to filter data by category and date.

Once you have all your Excel dashboard elements in place, you can now move on to formatting and clean-up.

Nice work! 🤩

You now have a working Excel dashboard. This particular example is simple compared to other Excel dashboards.

Quite often, advanced Excel dashboards will have a lot of data and visuals. This can make navigating them difficult.

To overcome this, you can create an interactive Excel dashboard that allows users to change views. So that they can focus on specific data points and visuals.

Let’s see how you can do this.

Using Macros to create views

Revisit the example dashboard outline earlier. Based on it, you want the key metrics for both investors and management visible.

But you also want an option to hide the management-related metrics when needed to streamline your Excel dashboard.

This is easy enough to do by Recording a Macro to hide the last few columns and assigning this macro to a button.

Click here to learn how to record macros. It works so fast that it might blow you away! 💨

Once, you have Show & Hide buttons like the ones above, users can now manage their view of your Excel dashboard.

Free dashboard templates

Believe it or not, Microsoft Excel and other spreadsheet programs have been around since the 1980s! 😲

And there is more than three decades’ worth of templates and examples of Excel dashboards. This goes for both simple and complex data.

Some common ones include financial dashboard, web analytics dashboard, product metrics dashboard, and many other interactive Excel dashboard templates.

That being said, you rarely have to create a new dashboard for your specific needs.

Most likely, someone has already created a similar Excel dashboard and the template is available online.

You just need to personalize it according to your needs using the skills you have learned today.

Check out this article for our hand-picked Excel dashboard templates that might be what you need!

General dashboard advice

Here are a few reminders to help you make the most out of your Excel dashboard.

1. Keep your dashboard simple and easy to understand. Avoid cluttering your dashboard with too many tables and visuals.
2. Group related items together so users can quickly find information.
3. Experiment with different styles and color schemes to get the best presentation for your data.
4. Use freeze panes and custom view buttons like those shown in the example. This ensures users can view and navigate your Excel dashboard as intended.

That’s it – Now what?

You are now equipped with the basics of creating an Excel dashboard.

Go ahead and build your own from scratch or customize one from a template.

Working with a dashboard in Excel is an intermediate-level topic.

If you had difficulty following along with this tutorial, you can sign up for my free online Excel training course here.

It will help you learn the basics and more!

Other resources

As you saw in the examples earlier, it’s so easy to manipulate data using Excel tables.

Click here to learn more about Excel tables and other cool stuff you can do with them.

If you want to know more about inserting and customizing Excel charts, visit my YouTube channel for some quick tutorials. You can learn to use all the charts such as the pie chart, bar chart, and column chart.

Thank you for reading! 🙂

Catch you in the next article!

Kasper Langmann2023-02-23T11:31:03+00:00