What are reports in excel

Содержание

  1. How to Create a Report in Excel
  2. In This Article
  3. What to Know
  4. Creating Basic Charts and Tables for an Excel Report
  5. Using PivotTables to Generate a Report From an Excel Spreadsheet
  6. How to Print Your Excel Report
  7. Analysis of data in excel with examples of reports
  8. Excel analysis tools
  9. Summary tables in data analysis
  10. Analysis «What-if Analysis» in Excel: «Data Table»

How to Create a Report in Excel

Using charts, graphs, and pivot tables makes it easy

In This Article

Jump to a Section

What to Know

  • Create a report using charts: Select Insert >Recommended Charts, then choose the one you want to add to the report sheet.
  • Create a report with pivot tables: Select Insert >PivotTable. Select the data range you want to analyze in the Table/Range field.
  • Print: Go to File >Print, change the orientation to Landscape, scaling to Fit All Columns on One Page, and select Print Entire Workbook.

This article explains how to create a report in Microsoft Excel using key skills like creating basic charts and tables, creating pivot tables, and printing the report. The information in this article applies to Excel 2019, Excel 2016, Excel 2013, Excel 2010, and Excel for Mac.

Creating Basic Charts and Tables for an Excel Report

Creating reports usually means collecting information and presenting it all in a single sheet that serves as the report sheet for all of the information. These report sheets should be formatted in a way that’s easy to print as well.

One of the most common tools people use in Excel to create reports is the chart and table tools. To create a chart in an Excel report sheet:

Select Insert from the menu, and in the charts group, select the type of chart you want to add to the report sheet.

In the Chart Design menu, in the Data group, select Select Data.

Select the sheet with the data and select all cells containing the data you want to chart (include headers).

The chart will update in your report sheet with the data. The headers will be used to populate the labels in the two axis.

Repeat the above steps to create new charts and graphs that appropriately represent the data you want to show in your report. When you need to create a new report, you can just paste the new data into the data sheets, and the charts and graphs update automatically.

There are different ways to lay out a report using Excel. You can include graphs and charts on the same page as tabular (numeric) data, or you can create multiple sheets so visual reporting is on one sheet, tabular data is on another sheet, and so on.

Using PivotTables to Generate a Report From an Excel Spreadsheet

Pivot tables are another powerful tool for creating reports in Excel. Pivot tables help with digging more deeply into data.

Select the sheet with the data you want to analyze. Select Insert > PivotTable.

In the Create PivotTable dialogue, in the Table/Range field, select the range of data you want to analyze. In the Location field, select the first cell of the worksheet where you want the analysis to go. Select OK to finish.

This will launch the pivot table creation process in the new sheet. In the PivotTable Fields area, the first field you select will be the reference field.

In this example, this pivot table will show website traffic information by month. So, first, you’d select Month.

Next, drag the data fields you want to show data for into the values area of the PivotTable fields pane. You’ll see the data imported from the source sheet into your pivot table.

The pivot table collates all of the data for multiple items by adding them (by default). In this example, you can see which months had the most page views. If you want a different analysis, just select the drop-down arrow next to the item in the Values pane, then select Value Field Settings.

In the Value Field Settings dialog box, change the calculation type to whichever you prefer.

This will update the data in the pivot table accordingly. Using this approach, you can perform any analysis you like on source data, and create pivot charts that display the information in your report in the way you need.

How to Print Your Excel Report

You can generate a printed report from all the sheets you created, but first you need to add page headers.

Select Insert > Text > Header & Footer.

Type the title for the report page, then format it to use larger than normal text. Repeat this process for each report sheet you plan to print.

Next, hide the sheets you don’t want included in the report. To do this, right-click the sheet tab and select Hide.

To print your report, select File > Print. Change orientation to Landscape, and scaling to Fit All Columns on One Page.

Select Print Entire Workbook. Now when you print your report, only the report sheets you created will print as individual pages.

You can either print your report out on paper, or print it as a PDF and send it out as an email attachment.

Open an Excel spreadsheet, turn off gridlines, and enter your basic expense report information, such as a title, time period, and employee name. Add data columns for Date and Description, and then add columns for expense specifics, such as Hotel, Meals, and Phone. Enter your information and create an Excel table.

To use Excel’s scenario manager function, select the cells with the information you’re exploring, and then go to the ribbon and select Data. Select What-If Analysis > Scenario Manager. In the Scenario Manager dialog box, select Add. Name the scenario and change your data to see various outcomes.

In Salesforce, go to Reports and find the report you want to export. Select Export and choose an export view (Formatted Report or Details Only). Formatted Report will export in .xlsx format, while Details Only gives you other choices. Select Export when ready.

Источник

Analysis of data in excel with examples of reports

Data analysis in Excel is provided by construction of a table processor. A lot of the program’s resources are suitable for solving this task.

Excel positions itself as the best universal software product in the world for processing analytical information. From a small enterprise to large corporations, managers spend a significant part of their working hours analyzing their businesses activity. Let’s consider the main analytical tools in Excel and examples of their use in practice.

One of the most attractive data analysis is «What-if Analysis». It is located in «DATA» tab.

Analysis tools of «What-if Analysis»:

  1. “Scenario Manager”. It is used to generate, change and save different sets of input data and the results of calculations for a group of formulas.
  2. «Goal Seek». It is used when the user knows the result of the formula, but the input information for this result is unknown.
  3. «Data Table». Used in situations when it is necessary to show the effect of variable values on formulas in the form of a table.

«Data Analysis». This is an Excel add-in. Helps find the best solution for a particular task.

Other tools for analysis:

Analyze data in Excel using built-in functions (mathematical, financial, logical, statistical, etc.).

Summary tables in data analysis

Excel uses summary tables to simplify the viewing, processing and consolidation of data.

The program will treat the entered information as a table, but not as a simple information set. But firstly you should format lists with values according to next steps:

  1. Go to the «INSERT» tab and click on the «Table» button CTRL+T.
  2. The «Create Table» dialog box appears.
  3. Specify the range of data (if it already exist) or the expected range (in which cells the table will be placed).

Set the check-mark in the box next to «Table with titles». Press Enter.

The specified default formatting style applies to the specified range.

You can compose the report using the «PivotTable».

  1. Activate any of the cells in the values range. We click the button «PivotTable» («INSERT» — «Tables» — «PivotTable»).
  2. In the dialog box you specify the range and place where to put the summary report (new sheet).
  3. The «PivotTable Fields» opens. The left side of the sheet is the report image; the right part is the tools for creating the summary report.
  4. Select the required fields from the list. Determine the values for the names of rows and columns. The report will be built on the left side of the sheet.

Creating a pivot table is already a way for analyzing information. Moreover, the user selects the information he needs at a particular moment for displaying. Then he can use other tools.

Analysis «What-if Analysis» in Excel: «Data Table»

This is a powerful tool for information analysis. Let’s consider the organization of information using the tool «What-if Analysis» — «Data Table».

  • data must be in one column or one line;
  • the formula refers to one input cell.

The procedure for creating analysis:

  1. We enter the input values in a column. Enter the formula in the next column one line higher.
  2. We select a range of values including a column with input values and a formula A3:B12. Go to the «DATA» tab. Open the «What-if Analysis» tool. We click the «Data Table» button.
  3. There are two fields in the opened dialog box. Since we create a table with one input we enter the address only in the field «Column input cell:». If the input values are in lines (not in columns), we will enter the cell’s number in the field «Row input cell: » and click OK.

  • Download enterprise analysis system
  • Download analytical finance table
  • Business profitability table
  • Cash flow statement
  • Example of a point method in financial and economic analytics

When using the features Excel, to analyze the enterprise activity, we use information from the balance sheet and income statement. Each user creates his own form, which reflects the features of the company and important information for decision-making.

Источник

Constructing of financial analyses for evaluation of business activity and investment projects. Forming reports and documents forms in Excel for accounts department, marketing department, warehouse facilities, and other structures of the company.

Forming of reports analyses with examples

chart-funnel-salesChart of funnel sales in Excel download for free.
How to make the sales funnel in Excel using formulas, the SmartArt drawing and the Charts tool. The description of different methods with step-by-step instructions and illustrations.

calculation-financial-activityCalculation of the financial activity ratio in Excel.
The coefficient of the financial activity shows how much the enterprise depends on borrowed funds. It characterizes financial stability and profitability. How to calculate the indicator by the formula?

financial-analysis-exampleFinancial analysis in Excel with an example.
The financial and statistical analysis in Excel: automation of calculations. How to analyze the time series and forecast sales, taking into account the trend component and seasonality?

coefficient-pair-correlationCoefficient of pair correlation in Excel.
The correlation coefficient (the paired correlation coefficient) allows us to discover the interconnection between the series of values. How to calculate the coefficient of pair correlation? The construction of the correlation matrix.

calculation-effective-interest-rateCalculation of the effective interest rate on loan in Excel.
Calculation of the effective interest rate on the loan, leasing and government bonds is performed using the functions EFFECT, IRR, XIRR, FV, etc. Let’s look at examples of how real interest is considered.

budgeting-enterprise-discountsBudgeting of the enterprise in Excel with discounts.
Template for planning the budget of the trading company with the calculation of providing customers discounts. The main advantage is the ability to create loyalty programs with control over the company’s profit. Management of discounts, their impact on margin.

turnover-ratio-of-receivablesTurnover ratio of receivables in Excel.
The factor of turnover of receivables shows the rate of conversion of goods sold into the money supply. Formula by balance, calculation of the indicator in days.

data-consolidatingData consolidating in Excel with examples of usage.
Let’s look at the example of practical work how to do data consolidation. Combining the ranges on different sheets and in different books. Consolidated report using formulas.



37

37 people found this article helpful

How to Create a Report in Excel

Using charts, graphs, and pivot tables makes it easy

Updated on September 25, 2022

What to Know

  • Create a report using charts: Select Insert > Recommended Charts, then choose the one you want to add to the report sheet.
  • Create a report with pivot tables: Select Insert > PivotTable. Select the data range you want to analyze in the Table/Range field.
  • Print: Go to File > Print, change the orientation to Landscape, scaling to Fit All Columns on One Page, and select Print Entire Workbook.

This article explains how to create a report in Microsoft Excel using key skills like creating basic charts and tables, creating pivot tables, and printing the report. The information in this article applies to Excel 2019, Excel 2016, Excel 2013, Excel 2010, and Excel for Mac.

Creating Basic Charts and Tables for an Excel Report

Creating reports usually means collecting information and presenting it all in a single sheet that serves as the report sheet for all of the information. These report sheets should be formatted in a way that’s easy to print as well.

One of the most common tools people use in Excel to create reports is the chart and table tools. To create a chart in an Excel report sheet:

  1. Select Insert from the menu, and in the charts group, select the type of chart you want to add to the report sheet.

  2. In the Chart Design menu, in the Data group, select Select Data.

  3. Select the sheet with the data and select all cells containing the data you want to chart (include headers).

  4. The chart will update in your report sheet with the data. The headers will be used to populate the labels in the two axis.

  5. Repeat the above steps to create new charts and graphs that appropriately represent the data you want to show in your report. When you need to create a new report, you can just paste the new data into the data sheets, and the charts and graphs update automatically.

    There are different ways to lay out a report using Excel. You can include graphs and charts on the same page as tabular (numeric) data, or you can create multiple sheets so visual reporting is on one sheet, tabular data is on another sheet, and so on.

Using PivotTables to Generate a Report From an Excel Spreadsheet

Pivot tables are another powerful tool for creating reports in Excel. Pivot tables help with digging more deeply into data.

  1. Select the sheet with the data you want to analyze. Select Insert > PivotTable.

  2. In the Create PivotTable dialogue, in the Table/Range field, select the range of data you want to analyze. In the Location field, select the first cell of the worksheet where you want the analysis to go. Select OK to finish.

  3. This will launch the pivot table creation process in the new sheet. In the PivotTable Fields area, the first field you select will be the reference field.

    In this example, this pivot table will show website traffic information by month. So, first, you’d select Month.

  4. Next, drag the data fields you want to show data for into the values area of the PivotTable fields pane. You’ll see the data imported from the source sheet into your pivot table.

  5. The pivot table collates all of the data for multiple items by adding them (by default). In this example, you can see which months had the most page views. If you want a different analysis, just select the drop-down arrow next to the item in the Values pane, then select Value Field Settings.

  6. In the Value Field Settings dialog box, change the calculation type to whichever you prefer.

  7. This will update the data in the pivot table accordingly. Using this approach, you can perform any analysis you like on source data, and create pivot charts that display the information in your report in the way you need.

How to Print Your Excel Report

You can generate a printed report from all the sheets you created, but first you need to add page headers.

  1. Select Insert > Text > Header & Footer.

  2. Type the title for the report page, then format it to use larger than normal text. Repeat this process for each report sheet you plan to print.

  3. Next, hide the sheets you don’t want included in the report. To do this, right-click the sheet tab and select Hide.

  4. To print your report, select File > Print. Change orientation to Landscape, and scaling to Fit All Columns on One Page.

  5. Select Print Entire Workbook. Now when you print your report, only the report sheets you created will print as individual pages.

    You can either print your report out on paper, or print it as a PDF and send it out as an email attachment.

FAQ

  • How do I create an expense report in Excel?

    Open an Excel spreadsheet, turn off gridlines, and enter your basic expense report information, such as a title, time period, and employee name. Add data columns for Date and Description, and then add columns for expense specifics, such as Hotel, Meals, and Phone. Enter your information and create an Excel table.

  • How do I create a scenario summary report in Excel?

    To use Excel’s scenario manager function, select the cells with the information you’re exploring, and then go to the ribbon and select Data. Select What-If Analysis > Scenario Manager. In the Scenario Manager dialog box, select Add. Name the scenario and change your data to see various outcomes.

  • How do I export a Salesforce report to Excel?

    In Salesforce, go to Reports and find the report you want to export. Select Export and choose an export view (Formatted Report or Details Only). Formatted Report will export in .xlsx format, while Details Only gives you other choices. Select Export when ready.

Thanks for letting us know!

Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day

Subscribe

All the people working in a professional environment understand the need to create a report. It summarizes the whole data of your work or the company’s in a very accurate manner. You can create a report of the data you entered on an Excel Sheet by adding a PivotTable for your entries. A Pivot table is a very useful tool as it calculates the total for your data automatically and helps you analyse your data with different series. You can use a PivotTable to summarize your data and present it to the concerned parties as a report.

Here is how you can make a PivotTable on MS Excel.

  1. It is easier to make a report on your Excel sheet when it has the data . After the data has been added, you will have to select the columns or rows you want a PivotTable for.
    add the data
    Selecting the rows and columns for your data
  2. Once the data has been selected, go to Insert that is showing on the top tool bar on your Excel software.
    Insert

    Clicking on Insert will direct you to many options for tables and other important features. On the extreme left, you will find the tab for ‘PivotTable’ with a downward arrow.

    Locate PivotTable on your screen
  3. Clicking on the downward arrow will show you two options to choose from. PivotTable or PivotChart. Now it is up to you and your requirements what you want to make a part of your report. You can try both to see which one looks more professional.
    PivotTable to make a report
  4. Clicking on PivotTable will lead you to a dialogue box where you can edit the range of your data, and other choices of whether you want the PivotTable on the same worksheet or you want it on a completely new one. You can also use an external data source if you don’t have any data on your excel. This means, having data on your Excel is not a condition for PivotTable.
    selecting the data and clicking on PivotTable

    You need to add a location if you want the table to appear on the same worksheet. I wrote c1, you can choose the middle of your sheet as well to keep it all organized.

    PivotTable: selection of data and location
  5. When you click on OK, your table will not appear as yet. You need to select the fields from the field list provided on the right of your screen just as shown in the picture below.
    Your report still needs to go through another set of options to finally be made
  6. Check either of the two options for which you want a PivotTable for.
    Check the field you want to show on your report

    You can choose one of them, or both of them. You decide.

  7. This is how your PivotTable will look like when you choose both.
    Displaying both the fields

    And when you select one of the fields, this is how your table will appear.

    Displaying one field
    Displaying one field
  8. The option on the right of your screen as shown in the picture below are very important for your report. It helps you make your report even better and more organized. You can drag the columns and rows in between these four spaces to alter the way your report appears.
    Important for placement of your report data
    Your report has been made
  9. The following tab on the Field list on your right makes your view of all the fields more easy. You can change it with this icon on the left.
    Options for the way your field view looks like.

    And choosing any of the options from these would change the way your field list shows. I selected ‘Areas Section Only 1 by 4’

    Field List view
  10. Note: The option for ‘Defer Layout Update’ which is right at the end of your PivotTable Field List,is a way of finalizing the fields that you want displaying on your report. When you check the box next to it and click on update, you cannot change anything manually on the excel sheet. You will have to un-check that box to edit anything on the Excel. And even for opening the downward arrow showing on the columns labels cannot be clicked on unless you un-check the Defer Layout Update.
    ‘Defer Layout Update’, acts more like a lock to keep your edits to the content of the report untouched
  11. Once you are done with your PivotTable, you can now edit it further by using the PivotTable Tools which appear right at the end of all the tools on your tool bar on the top.
    PivotTable Tools for editing how it looks
    All the options for Design

Photo of Habiba Rehman

Habiba Rehman

Major love for reading, but writing is what keeps me going. Dream to publish my own novels someday.

Maintenance Alert: Saturday, April 15th, 7:00pm-9:00pm CT. During this time, the shopping cart and information requests will be unavailable.

Categories: Basic Excel

Excel is a powerful reporting tool, providing options for both basic and advanced users. One of the easiest ways to create a report in Excel is by using the PivotTable feature, which allows you to sort, group, and summarize your data simply by dragging and dropping fields.

First, Organize Your Data

Record your data in rows and columns. For example, data for a report on sales by territory and product might look like this:

Reports 1

A PivotTable report works best when the source data have:
1. One record in each row;

2. One column for each category for sorting and grouping (such as “Territory” and “Product” in the example above; and

3. One column for each metric (such as “Units Sold” and “Sales Revenue” above). Recording some sales revenue in a different column complicates the task of adding up all of the sales revenue.

Create the PivotTable

Next, create the PivotTable report:
1. Highlight your data table.

2. From the Insert ribbon, click the PivotTable button.

3. On the far right, select fields that you would like on the left-hand side of the report and drag them to the Rows box.

4. Also on the far right, select fields that you would like to appear across the top of the report and drag them to the Columns box.

5. Select the data that you would like to summarize and drag it to the Values box.

6. For each item under Values, specify how to aggregate the data—with a sum, average, or some other function. This is a great time-saving step!

Reports 2

With each change, you’ll see your PivotTable report take shape. If you decide you don’t like the layout, just drag the fields to other positions.

Formatting Your PivotTable Report

From the PivotTable Design ribbon, choose a style for your report based on your theme’s color schemes with options for header rows, header columns, totals, and subtotals. From the Home ribbon, set the number format for your data, or right-click your data, choose Value Field Settings, and click Number Format.

Other Report Options

Do you want even more flexibility in your reports? Do you ever need to, say, connect to data in an external database or create charts based on your reports? All of these options are available with PivotTables!

Or, if you need more flexibility than PivotTables provide, you can:
1. Create a freeform report by adding totals and subtotals directly to your source data,

2. Use the Group and Subtotal options on the new Outline section of the Data ribbon, or

3. If you’re using Excel 2013, use the new Quick Analysis button.

No matter which option you choose, Excel is one of the most flexible reporting tools available today!

PRYOR+ 7-DAYS OF FREE TRAINING


Courses in Customer Service, Excel, HR, Leadership,
OSHA and more. No credit card. No commitment. Individuals and teams.

Excel reports output a downloadable Excel spreadsheet that contains the defined data set and any templates, charts, tables, or other elements added to the customized Excel template. Excel reports use the Report wizard’s filters and groupings/summaries, and once the report parameters have been defined in the rest of the wizard, you can download the Excel template in the Customize Excel tab of the Report wizard and begin to customize it. For example, after defining the data, filters, groupings, and other parameters, you might customize the template to include a PivotTable analyzing the data, and a PivotChart to display the results at a glance.

Example Excel report

Unlike graphical, HTML, and text reports, Excel reports can pull data from multiple tables. You can then use PivotTables and charts to analyze the data in any combination. To create an Excel report with data from multiple tables, configure an Excel report in each table with the data you want to use, and then create a combined report that uses those reports as data sources.

Excel reports look different from other reports, so if you haven’t worked with them before, we recommend exploring the Example Reports before you begin.

Example Reports

Before you create your own Excel reports, it can be helpful to explore an example to see how these reports work differently from graphical charts, custom summary reports, or HTML and text reports. In this section, you can follow a guided tour of two example Excel templates.

Single-Source Example

Let’s begin with a simple example template that pulls data from a single source.

  1. Download Contracts Excel Dashboard.zip, extract the Excel file, and open it.
  2. Explore the contents of the Sample Dashboard worksheet. This worksheet arranges all the configured charts onto one screen to function as a dashboard.
  3. Click through the next worksheets, which each contain one of the charts shown on the Sample Dashboard worksheet. In this example, each chart is placed with its corresponding PivotTable on its own worksheet, and duplicated on the Dashboard worksheet. Keeping PivotTables separated can help prevent problems and make maintenance easier.
  4. Open the last worksheet, titled Data. This worksheet contains the data pulled by the report and placed into the Excel file. The columns are determined by the report’s defined view, and the records included are determined by the report parameters. The charts and PivotTables we explored in steps 2 and 3 refer to this worksheet, so it’s important to preserve the layout and format of the Data worksheet. For example, if someone updated the view for this report and removed the Contract Start Date, several of the charts would break.

To create a similar single-source Excel report, complete the steps in the Create a Basic Excel Report and the Customize the Excel Template sections.

Multi-Source Example

Now, let’s explore a more complex example that pulls data from four sources.

  1. Download Combined Dashboard.zip, extract the Excel file, and open it.
  2. Explore the contents of the Dashboard worksheet. This worksheet arranges several charts onto one screen to function as a dashboard.
  3. Open the next worksheet, Pivot Tables. This example places all the PivotTables onto a single worksheet. These tables are used to create the charts on the Dashboard worksheet. When the template includes several automatically-created Data worksheets, you might find it helpful to concentrate your PivotTables onto a single shared worksheet to make the file easier to navigate.
  4. Click through the last four worksheets, titled Data1, Data2, Data3, and Data4. Each worksheet contains the data pulled by one of the specified source reports. Each worksheet has its own set of columns defined by the view of the source report, and the records included are determined by the source report parameters. The charts and PivotTables we explored in steps 2 and 3 refer to these worksheets, so it’s important to preserve the layout and format of the Data worksheet, and not to change the order of the source reports after you’ve configured the Excel template.

To create a similar multi-source Excel report, create a basic Excel report for each source table. Then, create a combined report using the basic reports you created, and finally complete the steps to Customize the Excel Template.

Create a Basic Excel Report

In general, report parameters depend heavily on your specific reporting needs. When you set up an Excel report, there are additional considerations for certain parameters.

If you’re planning to create a combined Excel report with data from several tables, you need to configure an Excel report in each table that identifies the data using the steps in this section. Make sure you configure a report in each table you want to include in your final report.

Create a View for the Report

The view you choose for an Excel report determines how the report data is imported and formatted into the Data worksheet of the final file. All your template customization will rely on the column arrangement of the Data worksheet, so it is important to configure the view correctly the first time you set up the report, to avoid accidentally breaking the report.

  1. Before you begin, determine the purpose of this view. Specifically, decide whether the view will be used outside of Excel reporting, and whether the view will be used for just this report or for multiple Excel reports.

    We recommend creating a view specifically for Excel reports that is not used in the normal table view. If you are comfortable working with Excel, you might be able to create one view to use in all Excel reports for the table; this requires including more data than you need for any individual report and combing through the data in Excel later. If you are less comfortable working with lots of data in Excel, or if your system has an unusually large amount of data, you should consider creating individual views for each Excel report you create.

  2. Either from the Grouping/Summary tab in the Report wizard or from the table you are reporting on, create a new view.
    Show records using selected view
  3. If you plan to use this view only for Excel reports, clear the check boxes for selection, edit, and view icons. In Excel, these icons don’t do anything.
  4. Set Max lines per record and Max lines per linked field to all. This makes sure the complete value is sent to Excel.
  5. Check the Display check box for the appropriate fields, with the following considerations:
    • If you aren’t sure whether you need a field, it’s better to include it. You can always ignore the data in Excel, but it’s difficult to add fields to the view after you create an Excel report.
    • If you plan to use this view for other Excel reports, select every field you might need in any of those reports. If you don’t select a field, your Excel reports will not receive any data for that field.
    • Always include the ID field and, if possible, a second field with unique values, such as the summary field.
  6. Go to the Order/Colors tab and configure the field order. This corresponds to the order of the columns in the Excel data worksheet. We recommend putting the ID field and other important fields on the left, just like you do for regular views.
  7. If you plan to use this view outside of Excel, configure row coloring or notification icons as desired. If you plan to use this view only for Excel reports, you can configure row coloring directly in Excel later.
  8. Go to the General tab and name the view. Include «DO NOT EDIT» in the name to help prevent users from accidentally editing the view and breaking the report. If you plan to use this view only for Excel reports or only for a specific Excel report, mention that in the name as well.
  9. Set the Maximum View Width to a high value, such as 900 characters. You can adjust the column width in Excel later.
  10. Set the Records Per Page to the highest value available.
  11. Go to the Apply tab and make the view visible to every group that needs to view or edit the Excel report.

Set Up the Report

With your view ready to go, set up your Excel report as desired, with the following options:

  • If you’re using this report to create a combined report, on the General tab, make sure the report title mentions the table name. For example, you might name your report «Service Requests Data for Combined Dashboard».
  • On the Filter tab, leave the saved search set to None. Results can be filtered using a PivotTable in Excel, so usually a saved search filter isn’t necessary.
  • On the Grouping/Summary tab, select the view you created and set a high value in Show not more than X records in each grouping, such as 100,000. This determines how many records are sent to Excel.
  • If you aren’t using this report to create a combined report, when you reach the Customize Excel tab, click Create/Download New Excel File and proceed to the Customize the Excel Template section. If you’re using this report to create a combined report, you can skip the customized template.

Combined Reports

If you’re creating a combined Excel report with data from many tables, the first step is creating individual Excel reports in each table you’ll use as a data source. For example, if your combined report includes data from the Service Requests, Incidents, Problems, and Change Requests tables, you need to create an Excel report in each of those tables to identify the data set you want to use. For more guidance on creating usable Excel reports, refer to the Excel Report Parameters section.

After you create all the necessary source reports, your next step is creating a combined report that pulls from the other reports you created.

  1. In the left pane, expand the Home section and click Summary/combined reports.
  2. Click New.
  3. Give your report a title and description. Make sure the description lists the tables you’re using to provide source data.
  4. Select the Excel output format.
  5. Go to the Select Reports tab and click New.
  6. In the Combined Report wizard, select the table and then select the Excel report you created. Click Finish.
  7. Repeat step 6 for each table and Excel report you want to include. Each one you select will create a separate Data worksheet in the Excel file.

    The reports are sent to the Excel template in the same order they’re listed here. If you want to change the order, click and drag to move the reports.

  8. Go to the Customize Excel tab.
  9. Click Create/Download New Excel File and proceed to the Customize the Excel Template section.
  10. When you finish your Excel template, configure the Schedule and Apply tabs as needed. For details, see Create and Edit Charts and Reports.

Customize the Excel Template

After you configure the first set of report parameters, you need to create a template the system will use to generate your Excel reports. When a report is generated, your template is replicated exactly with the exception of the Data worksheet. The Data worksheet is replaced with new data from the system, pulled in using the parameters and view you configured. The rest of your template is automatically refreshed so the new data is applied.

This section includes tips for working in Excel, but some functionality might be slightly different depending on the version of Excel you are using. For additional help working with Excel, or for information about more advanced Excel features, refer to Microsoft Office support.

  1. In the Customize Excel tab, click Create/Download New Excel File to download the report with the current parameters.
  2. If necessary, customize the column width and text wrapping on the Data worksheets to make them readable.
    Important: Do not rename Data, Data1, Data2, or similarly named worksheets. The system uses these worksheet names to generate the report correctly.
  3. Add any necessary customization to create your report.
    • Create new worksheets for your tables, charts, and dashboards as needed
    • Create PivotTables and PivotCharts on the new worksheets

    • Set the design and colors appropriately
    • Arrange charts and tables to make the report easy to use
  4. Save the file.
  5. Click Choose File and select the Excel report.
  6. Click Upload Customized Excel File.
  7. Test the report thoroughly and make adjustments as needed.
  8. When the report is next run according to the schedule, the system will take the run-time data and apply it to the new Excel report template.

This approach provides a high level of customization using advanced Excel features such as pivot tables, which allow you to segregate a lot of different data into easy views for granular analysis. In this case, 

Agiloft simply provides the report data, and the template handles all of the presentation and formatting requirements. This requires the person building the template to have familiarity with advanced Excel functions. 

Detailed Excel Customization Example

If you haven’t worked with Excel in the past, you can use this section to learn how to make a basic Excel report using your data. Note that this section assumes you have already completed the steps in  

Agiloft to determine your report parameters and specify what data to pull from the system.

Note that the steps refer to the Data worksheet, but if you are working on a combined report, you will have multiple Data worksheets that the steps apply to.

  1. In the Customize Excel tab, click Create/Download New Excel File to download the report with the current parameters.
  2. On the Data worksheet, see how your report looks. The Data worksheet is overwritten each time the report is run, so we won’t spend much time on customization here, but you can adjust the column width and turn Wrap Text on or off. For example, if your Data worksheet includes a working notes field with lots of text, you might want to turn Wrap Text on for that column to make the text readable, or turn Wrap Text off and make the column narrow if you don’t intend for anyone to read the text in those fields.
  3. When you’re satisfied with your Data worksheet formatting, go to Insert > PivotTable.
  4. Make sure the New Worksheet option is selected and click OK.
  5. To keep our report tidy, double-click the Sheet1 worksheet at the bottom and rename it PivotTables.
  6. Review the PivotTable Fields list and drag some fields into the rows, columns, and values boxes. You can use the drop-down arrow to see additional analysis options for the field, and you can create nested fields by dragging additional fields on top of fields you already added. Experiment with the options until you are satisfied with your table.

    If you’ve never created a PivotTable before, start by dragging the ID field into the Values box. Click the drop-down arrow in the box and select Value Field Settings, then change the selection from Sum to Count and click OK. Now, drag another field, such as Status or Priority, into the Rows box. Finally, drag a third field, such as Assigned Team or Department, into the Filters box. This will give you a basic table to use for this exercise.

Now that you’ve created a table, you can create slicers. Slicers make it easy to filter the data without changing the configuration of the PivotTable. Later, we’ll put the slicers on the dashboard next to the corresponding PivotChart, so we can use our dashboard without looking at the PivotTable at all.

  1. Select a cell inside the PivotTable and go to Analyze > Insert Slicer. Slicers make it easy to filter data directly in the PivotChart we will create from the table, without having to filter the data out of the report entirely or having to narrow your report parameters too closely. For example, you might want to be able to see the number of tickets for a specific team; with a slicer, you can switch between different teams easily, without removing any data from your report.
  2. If you added a field to the Filters box, select that field for your filter. Otherwise, choose a field such as Assigned Team or Department.
  3. Click OK.
  4. With the slicer selected, open the Options ribbon and select a color for this filter. Use the same color for the same type of filter consistently in your report so that your report is easier to read. For example, if you set a Priority slicer to dark blue, you should use the same color for Priority slicers in other tables, and not use dark blue for any other slicers.
  5. Right-click inside the PivotTable and click PivotTable Options.
  6. Give the table a clear, descriptive name to differentiate it from other PivotTables you might create later.
  7. Clear the «Autofit column widths on update» check box. This prevents the column widths from changing unexpectedly when you run the report.
  8. Click OK.
  9. Now that the PivotTable is set up, select a cell in the table and open the Design ribbon. Explore the options to change the presentation of the table. For example, change the Report Layout to Tabular Form and see what changes. Play around with these settings to find the best design for your report.

With the PivotTable finalized, it’s time to create a chart and build our dashboard.

  1. Go to Analyze > PivotChart. Select one of the simple charts, such as a basic bar or line graph, and click OK.
  2. We want to show our chart on a dashboard, not the PivotTable worksheet. Right-click the worksheet farthest on the left and click Insert. Click OK to add a worksheet, double-click the new worksheet, and rename it Dashboard.
  3. Go back to the PivotTables worksheet. Right-click the chart and click Cut.
  4. Go back to the Dashboard worksheet and Paste the chart.
  5. Cut the slicer from the PivotTables worksheet and Paste it on the Dashboard worksheet.
  6. Arrange the chart and the slicer together on the page.

The dashboard is starting to come together. Now, clean up the look of the chart:

  1. Right-click the field buttons in the upper-left corner and click Hide All Field Buttons on Chart.
  2. Open the Design ribbon and select a default chart design.
  3. Right-click a data point on the chart and click Format Data Series. Open the paint bucket tab, expand the Fill options, and select the Vary colors by point check box.
  4. Open the Design ribbon and click Add Chart Element to add or remove any chart element as needed. For example, if the axis labels and the legend show the same information, you could change the Legend element to None.
  5. Adjust the format of the chart as needed by right-clicking the element you want to change and opening the options for that element.

Finally, clean up the dashboard:

  1. Select a cell outside the chart and slicer.
  2. Open the View ribbon and clear the Gridlines check box.
  3. Open the Home ribbon and use the paint bucket tool to fill in the background with a contrasting color, like dark gray.

Now, you have a basic Excel report with a dashboard and a worksheet for PivotTables. You can add new tables and charts to your report using the same steps as above.

If you add more than one PivotTable in the same worksheet, place the tables in a row horizontally rather than stacking them vertically. If you run the report and a lot of data is found, the tables might become much longer than you expected, and if they are placed in a column, upper tables will overwrite lower tables and break them.

Related articles

How to do Financial Reporting in Excel?

Are you dependent on IT to build your very own Financial Statements? Have you ever manually built a Financial Statement in Excel? For a few, it is a long easy manual process, for many others is not only difficult but a long process to build and maintain. The lengthy manual process is prone to errors. Sometimes, finding the error is painful enough to find better ways to deal with the process.

Explaining your template to an Auditor or Manager can be challenging. IT, Auditors, and Managers may question the reliability, security, and if not you, who else can maintain these templates? Transitioning your templates to others and continue the process could be challenging to maintain and support. Others may not have the same skills in “Excel” if you ever leave the enterprise. All the above is concerning.

What is Financial Reporting?

Financial Reporting involves disclosing financial information to the various stakeholders about the organization’s financial performance and financial position over a specified period.

These stakeholders include – investors, creditors, the public, debt providers, governments, and government agencies.

There are two types of Financial Reporting –

1. Financial Reporting for various stakeholders
2. Management Reporting for Internal Management of an Organization.

This is the true story of a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) we met from a County of Public Schools who builds Financial Statements manually in Excel. The CPA mentions that he can develop his Financial Statements in hours. So, how complex are his financials? We took a deep look into his process. He has a compilation of serious function formulas, Pivot Tables, and many other Excel features that could be considered advance for many Excel users.

There is a solution that can help CPA or anyone in FP&A, Finance & Accounting to build Financial Statements secured in Excel. If you would like to skip some of the content, jump into the Solution section below, otherwise read The Process below and see what CPA must go through and check if you can relate through the “pain”:

First, the CPA runs a Trial Balance from the ERP System and opens it in Excel. Once it is in Excel, the manual process begins; the CPA would build every possible Financial Statement Template out of the Trial Balance.

How to do Financial Reporting in Excel? [A Detailed Guide] 6

The Process

  • Building reference tables. For example: TEXT to COLUMNS on your GL Segment String and description for each segment…manually!
  • Add Rollup values or Parent Values manually in Excel to create a summary of your Financial Statements.
  • Flip the Amounts from negative to positive and vice versa (Revenue from -$1,000 to $1,000)
  • Change Transaction GL Posted Date (MM-DD-YYYY or 09/03/2020) to Fiscal Year (YYYY or 2021) using multiple IF function formulas in Excel. If it is September 2020, then it is the Fiscal Year 2021.
  • The “famous” VLOOKUP to pull a Month, Description of Segments from your reference tables.
  • Grouping a SUM of values between rows by using a great function known as SUMIF.
  • The combination of VLOOKUP and SUMIFS in the same formula to lookup and sum values between rows.
  • The use of LEFT & RIGHT functions to pull specific relevant information from your Segment values.
  • The combination of more than three functions like IF, AND, VLOOKUP & SUMIFS on the same function to extract a result.

Solution

To convince the CIO or CFO to invest in a solution, the CPA needs a breakthrough solution that could fit into the enterprise’s culture and get the best ROI. However, researching through vendors is not an easy task. The CPA and the IT department had rigorous top 10 lists of requirements.

The software must:

1. Be Secured.
2. Build Online or Real-Time reporting in Excel.
3. Refresh with one click.
4. Be agnostic or connect to a cloud source.
5. Be easy to maintain and allow System Admin or IT control access.
6. Definitely be Easy to Use. Any functional user should build financial statements.
7. Have Drilldown to all details.
8. Help with Tools to build financial statements in Excel.
9. Have different ways to Share securely.
10. Be able to sign on via SSO or Active Directory.

The CPA and IT went through many vendors, and only one software was able to meet the top 10 requirements, SplashGL, a financial reporting software by SplashBI.

SplashGL is a Plug-in that can build Financial Statements secured in Excel. It can eliminate many of the manual processes that the CPA is going through via Excel functions. During the call, the CPA explained The Process (above), and SplashGL presented these solutions:

SplashGL Excel – CPA Process
It can connect to Oracle EBS & Oracle Cloud in Real-Time* or using a Cube Trial Balance data dump and multiple function formulas. Numbers are static and must manually refresh the numbers
Connects via SSO, Active Directory and others. Leverages Oracle Security automatically. The security is manually handled by the user (CPA).
It can drill down from a general ledger balance into all details. Making reconciliation an easy step for month-end reporting. There are no journal details and sub ledger details in a Trial Balance. The CPA must run multiple reports from general ledger and subledger level to reconcile balances. This is one of the most complex and manual process by any department.
It can build a Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flows, and Retain Earning in minutes. One-click refresh capability for all reports. The CPA must update the Trial Balance and re-do the manual process. Updating the financial statements multiple times manually in the same period becomes a cumbersome task.
Tools to Burst and Distribute systematically. Create the Distribution template and re-use it. The CPA must build each Financial Statement, sort, split, and distribute it manually.

*Real-Time only for Oracle EBS. Real-Time for Oracle Cloud coming soon.

Conclusion:

After a 90-minute DEMO, the CPA and IT concluded that SplashGL met all requirements and was enough to talk to their leaders and move forward with a solution. Their reporting future could reshape all departments in hope of getting the best ROI.

Fast-forwarding six (6 ) months, on a follow-up conversation, the CPA confirmed that month-end and financial reporting week was able to cut down two (2) days. This is two days cut across all departments because of SplashGL. Maintenance and user adoption was a lot better than anticipated. The CPA was cheerful and expressed that they almost gave up through vendors’ research because they thought that their requirements were too ambitious and the technology did not exist. Thankfully, they found us and shared that our support system was fast and responsive.

The SplashGL Difference!

SplashGL provides you access to live, real-time, drillable data right in Excel! Refresh complete financial packages with the click of a button, with the capability to drill into balances on your report. With SplashGL, you no longer have to export and format your accounts every month.

SplashGL has a built-in Journal and Budget Loader. Quickly load your Journals, Forecasts, and Budgets right in Excel!

SplashGL empowers users to access popular reports like FSG, Trial Balance reports, Account Inquiries, and more! You do not need to stumble through your ERP.

For all your month-end worries, we are SplashGL!

Financial insights with SplashGL

Понравилась статья? Поделить с друзьями:
  • What are relationships in excel
  • What are records in excel
  • What are prefix suffix and root word
  • What are pivot tables used for in excel
  • What are paragraph styles in word