[PDF]Excel Dashboards & Reports For Dummies

Michael Alexander

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Excel 2007

Dashboards & Reports


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Excel 2007

Dashboards & Reports

FOR

DUMHIE6*


by Michael Alexander



WILEY

Wiley Publishing, Inc.





Excel 2007

Dashboards & Reports

FOR

DUMHIE6*


by Michael Alexander



WILEY

Wiley Publishing, Inc.




Excel® 2007 Dashboards & Reports For Dummies®

Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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About the Author

Michael Alexander is a Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD)
with over 14 years experience consulting and developing office solutions. He
is the author/co-author of several books on business analysis using Microsoft
Excel and Access. Michael is one of 96 Microsoft Excel MVPs worldwide who
has been recognized for his contributions to the Excel community. He is also
the principal player behind DataPigTechnologies.com, a site that offers video
tutorials to beginning and intermediate Excel and Access users. He currently
lives in Frisco, Texas where he works as a Senior Program Manager for a
top technology firm. Michael can be contacted at mike@datapig
technologies.com.




Dedication

For my family.


Author's Acknowledgments

My deepest thanks to Greg Croy, Christopher Morris, Loren Abdulezer and
all the professionals at Wiley who have helped bring this book to fruition.
And a special thank you to my beautiful wife Mary who will open this book
long enough to read the dedication and acknowledgments.



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Contents at a Glance


Introduction . 1

Part 1: Making the Mode to dashboards .7

Chapter 1: Getting in the Dashboard State of Mind.9

Chapter 2: Building a Super Model.23

Part 11: Bui (ding Basic dashboard Components . h9

Chapter 3: The Pivotal Pivot Table.51

Chapter 4: Excel Charts for the Uninitiated.85

Chapter 5: The New World of Conditional Formatting.109

Chapter 6: The Art of Dynamic Labeling.135

Part 111: Budding Advanced dashboard Components.... 151

Chapter 7: Components That Show Trending.153

Chapter 8: Components That Group and Bucket Data.177

Chapter 9: Components That Display Performance against a Target.195

Part IV: Advanced Reporting Techniques . 209

Chapter 10: Macro-Charged Reporting.211

Chapter 11: Giving Users an Interactive Interface.227

Part V: Working vVith the Outside World . 2h9

Chapter 12: Using External Data for Your Dashboards and Reports.251

Chapter 13: Sharing Your Work with the Outside World.265

Part 01: The Part of Tens . 279

Chapter 14: Ten Chart Design Principles.281

Chapter 15: Ten Questions to Ask Before Distributing Your Dashboard.293

Index . 299


























Table of Contents


Introduction . 1

About This Book.2

Foolish Assumptions .3

How This Book Is Organized.3

Part I: Making the Move to Dashboards.4

Part II: Building Basic Dashboard Components.4

Part III: Building Advanced Dashboard Components.4

Part IV: Advanced Reporting Techniques.5

Part V: Working with the Outside World.5

Part VI: The Part of Tens.5

Sample Files for This Book.5

Icons Used In This Book.6

Where to Go from Here.6

Part h Making the MoOe to dashboards .7

Chapter 1: Getting in the Dashboard State of Mind.9

Defining Dashboards and Reports.10

Defining reports.10

Defining dashboards.11

Preparing for Greatness.12

Establish the audience and purpose for the dashboard.12

Delineate the measures for the dashboard.13

Catalog the required data sources.14

Define the dimensions and filters for the dashboard.15

Determine the need for drill-down features.16

Establish the refresh schedule.16

A Quick Look at Dashboard Design Principles.16

Rule number 1: Keep it simple.17

Use layout and placement to draw focus.19

Format numbers effectively.20

Use titles and labels effectively.22


































Excel 2007 Dashboards & Reports For Dummies


Chapter 2: Building a Super Model .23

Data Modeling Best Practices.23

Separating data, analysis, and presentation.24

Starting with appropriately structured data.27

Avoiding turning your data model into a database.30

Using tabs to document and organize your data model.31

Testing your data model before building reporting

components on top of it.32

Excel Functions That Really Deliver.33

The VLOOKUP function.33

The HLOOKUP function.37

The SUMPRODUCT function.39

The CHOOSE function.42

Using Smart Tables That Expand with Data.44

Converting a range to an Excel table.45

Converting an Excel table back to a range.47

Part 11: Building Basic Dashboard Components . h9

Chapter 3: The Pivotal Pivot Table .51

An Introduction to the Pivot Table.52

The Four Areas of a Pivot Table.52

Values area.52

Row area.53

Column area.54

Filter area.54

Creating Your First Pivot Table.55

Changing and rearranging your pivot table.58

Adding a report filter.59

Keeping your pivot table fresh.60

Customizing Your Pivot Table Reports.62

Changing the pivot table layout.62

Customizing field names.63

Applying numeric formats to data fields.65

Changing summary calculations.65

Suppressing subtotals.66

Showing and hiding data items.69

Hiding or showing items without data.71

Sorting your pivot table.73

Creating Useful Pivot-Driven Views.74

Producing top and bottom views.74

Creating views by month, quarter, and year.78










































Table of Contents XI


Creating a percent distribution view.80

Creating a YTD totals view.81

Creating a month-over-month variance view.82

Chapter 4: Excel Charts for the Uninitiated .85

Chart Building Basics.85

A review of the most-commonly-used chart types.86

Preparing data for different chart types.89

Creating a chart from scratch.92

Charting disparate data.93

Common Chart Tasks.94

Resizing and moving charts.94

Changing chart type.96

Creating a combination chart.97

Selecting and formatting chart elements.99

Working with Pivot Charts.102

Pivot chart fundamentals.102

Pivot charts and the x and y axes.105

Pivot charts formatting limitations.107

Chapter 5: The New World of Conditional Formatting .109

Applying Basic Conditional Formatting.109

Highlight Cells Rules.110

Top/Bottom Rules.113

Data Bars, Color Scales, and Icon Sets.116

Getting Fancy with Conditional Formatting.119

Adding your own formatting rules manually.119

Showing only one icon.124

Showing Data Bars and icons outside cells.126

Representing trends with Icon Sets.129

Building a legend for your conditional formatting.131

Using conditional formatting with pivot tables.132

Chapter 6: The Art of Dynamic Labeling .135

Creating a Basic Dynamic Label.135

Adding Layers of Analysis with Dynamic Labels.137

Excel’s Mysterious Camera Tool.138

Finding the Camera tool.139

The basics of using the Camera tool.140

Cool uses for the Camera tool.141

Formula-Driven Visualizations.144

In-cell charting without charts or conditional formatting.144

Creating visualizations with Wingdings and things.148











































XU Excel 2007 Dashboards & Reports For Dummies_

Part 111: Building Advanced Dashboard Components ....151


Chapter 7: Components That Show Trending.153

Trending Dos and Don’ts.153

Using chart types appropriate for trending.153

Starting the vertical scale at zero.155

Leveraging Excel’s logarithmic scale.157

Applying creative label management.159

Comparative Trending.161

Creating side-by-side time comparisons.161

Creating stacked time comparisons.163

Trending with a secondary axis.164

Highlighting Periods of Time.167

Formatting specific periods.167

Using dividers to mark significant events.169

Representing forecasts in your trending components.170

Other Trending Techniques.171

Avoiding overload with directional trending.171

Smoothing data.172

Catching sparkline fever.174

Chapter 8: Components That Group and Bucket Data.177

Creating Top and Bottom Displays.177

Incorporating top and bottom displays into dashboards.178

Using pivot tables to create interactive top and bottom

views.179

Using Histograms to Track Relationships and Frequency.182

Creating formula-driven histograms.183

Adding a cumulative percent to your histogram.185

Creating a histogram with a pivot table.188

Highlighting Top Values in Charts.190

Chapter 9: Components That Display Performance

against a Target.195

Showing Performance with Variances.195

Showing Performance against Organizational Trends.196

Using Thermometer-Style Charts to Display Performance.198

An Introduction to the Bullet Graph.199

Creating your first bullet graph.200

Adding data to your bullet graph.203

Final thoughts on formatting bullet graphs.204

Showing Performance against a Target Range.206







































Table of Contents Kill


Part IV: Advanced Reporting Techniques . 209

Chapter 10: Macro-Charged Reporting .211

Why Use a Macro?.211

Introducing the Macro Recorder.212

The Macro Recorder user interface.213

Recording macros with absolute references.214

Recording macros with relative references.217

Assigning a macro to a button.219

Macro Security in Excel 2007.221

The short-term solution to disabled macros.221

The long-term solution to disabled macros.222

Excel Macro Examples.223

Building navigation buttons.223

Dynamically rearranging pivot table data.224

Offering one-touch reporting options.225

Chapter 11: Giving Users an Interactive Interface .227

Introducing Form Controls.227

Adding and Configuring Controls.230

Using the Button Control.231

Using the Check Box Control.232

Check Box Example: Toggling a Chart Series On and Off.233

Using Option Button Controls.235

Option Button Example: Showing Many Views through One Chart.237

Using the Combo Box Control.238

Combo Box Example: Controlling Multiple Pivot Tables with One

Combo Box.240

Using the List Box Control.244

List Box Example: Controlling Multiple Charts with One Selector.245

Part V: Working vVith the Outside World . 21)9

Chapter 12: Using External Data for Your Dashboards

and Reports.251

Using the Get External Data Group.252

Importing Access data with the Get External Data Group.252

Importing SQL Server data with the Get External Data menu.255

Using the MS Query Wizard.258

Managing External Data Properties.263





































Klv Excel 2007 Dashboards & Reports For Dummies_

Chapter 13: Sharing Your Work with the Outside World .265

Protecting Your Dashboards and Reports.265

Securing the entire workbook using file protection options.266

Protecting worksheets.268

Protecting the workbook structure.272

Linking Your Excel Dashboards into PowerPoint.273

Creating the link between Excel and PowerPoint.273

Manually refreshing links to capture updates.275

Automatically refreshing links to capture updates.276

Distributing Your Dashboards via PDF.278

Part VI: The Part of Tens . 279

Chapter 14: Ten Chart Design Principles.281

Avoid Fancy Formatting.282

Skip the Unnecessary Chart Junk.283

Format Large Numbers Where Possible.285

Use Data Tables instead of Data Labels.286

Make Effective Use of Chart Titles .288

Sort Your Data before Charting.288

Limit the Use of Pie Charts.289

Don’t Be Afraid to Parse Data into Separate Charts.290

Maintain Appropriate Aspect Ratios.291

Don’t Be Afraid to Use Something Other Than a Chart.292

Chapter 15: Ten Questions to Ask Before Distributing

Your Dashboard .293

Does My Dashboard Present the Right Information?.293

Does Everything on My Dashboard Have a Purpose?.294

Does My Dashboard Prominently Display the Key Message?.294

Can I Maintain This Dashboard?.295

Does My Dashboard Clearly Display Its Scope and Shelf Life?.295

Is My Dashboard Well Documented?.295

Is My Dashboard Overwhelmed with Formatting and Graphics?.296

Does My Dashboard Overuse Charts When Tables Will Do?.297

Is My Dashboard User-Friendly?.297

Is My Dashboard Accurate? .298

Index


299





































Introduction


/ he term business intelligence (BI), coined by Howard Dresner of the
Gartner Group, describes the set of concepts and methods to improve
business decision-making by using fact-based support systems. Practically
speaking, BI is what you get when you analyze raw data and turn that analy¬
sis into knowledge. BI can help an organization identify cost-cutting opportu¬
nities, uncover new business opportunities, recognize changing business
environments, identify data anomalies, and create widely accessible reports,
among other things.

Over the last few years, the BI concept has overtaken corporate executives
who are eager to turn impossible amounts of data into knowledge. As a result
of this trend, whole industries have been created. Software vendors that
focus on BI and dashboarding are coming out of the woodwork. New consult¬
ing firms touting their BI knowledge are popping up virtually every week. And
even the traditional enterprise solution providers, like Business Objects and
SAP, are offering new BI capabilities.

This need for BI has manifested itself in many forms. Most recently, it’s come
in the form of dashboard fever. Dashboards are reporting mechanisms that
deliver business intelligence in a graphical form.

Maybe you’ve been hit with dashboard fever. Or maybe your manager is hit¬
ting you with dashboard fever. Nevertheless, you’re probably holding this
book because you’re being asked to create BI solutions (that is, dashboards)
in Excel.

Although many IT (information technology) managers would scoff at the
thought of using Excel as a BI tool, Excel is inherently part of the enterprise
BI tool portfolio. Whether IT managers are keen to acknowledge it, most of
the data analysis and reporting done in business today is done by using
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