Synopses & Reviews
Large corporations like IBM and Oracle are using Excel dashboards and reports as a Business Intelligence tool, and many other smaller businesses are looking to these tools in order to cut costs for budgetary reasons. An effective analyst not only has to have the technical skills to use Excel in a productive manner, but must be able to synthesize data into a story, and then present that story in the most impactful way. Microsoft shows it's recognition of this with Excel 2010. In Excel 2010, there is a major focus on business intelligence and visualization. New functionalities like sparklines and Pivot Slicers are major new features that turn Excel from a simple spreadsheet tool into a business intelligence tool. Excel Dashboards and Reports fills the gap between handling data and synthesizing data into meaningful reports. This title will show readers how to think about their data in ways other than columns and rows.
Most Excel books do a nice job discussing the individual functions and tools that can be used to create an Excel Report. Titles on Excel charts, Excel pivot tables, and other books that focus on Tips and Tricks are useful in their own right; however they don't hit the mark for most data analysts. The primary reason these titles miss the mark is they are too focused on the mechanical aspects of building a chart, creating a pivot table, or other functionality. They don't offer these topics in the broader picture by showing how to present and report data in the most effective way.
What are the most meaningful ways to show trending? How do you show relationships in data? When is showing variances more valuable than showing actual data values? How do you deal with outliers? How do you bucket data in the most meaningful way. How do you show impossible amounts of data without inundating your audience? In Excel Reports and Dashboards, readers will get answers to all of these questions. Part technical manual, part analytical guidebook; this title will help Excel users go from reporting data with simple tables full of dull numbers, to creating hi-impact reports and dashboards that will wow management both visually and substantively. This book offers a comprehensive review of a wide array of technical and analytical concepts that will help users create meaningful reports and dashboards.
After reading this book, the reader will be able to: Analyze large amounts of data and report their data in a meaningful way Get better visibility into data from different perspectives Quickly slice data into various views on the fly Automate redundant reporting and analyses Create eye-catching visualizations Create impressive dashboards and What-If analyses
Note: This book will cover Excel 2007 and 2010.
Synopsis
The go to resource for how to use Excel dashboards and reports to better conceptualize dataMany Excel books do an adequate job of discussing the individual functions and tools that can be used to create an “Excel Report.” What they don’t offer is the most effective ways to present and report data. Offering a comprehensive review of a wide array of technical and analytical concepts, Excel Reports and Dashboards helps Excel users go from reporting data with simple tables full of dull numbers, to presenting key information through the use of high-impact, meaningful reports and dashboards that will wow management both visually and substantively.
- Details how to analyze large amounts of data and report the results in a meaningful, eye-catching visualization
- Describes how to use different perspectives to achieve better visibility into data, as well as how to slice data into various views on the fly
- Shows how to automate redundant reporting and analyses
Part technical manual, part analytical guidebook, Excel Dashboards and Reports is the latest addition to the Mr. Spreadsheet’s Bookshelf series and is the leading resource for learning to create dashboard reports in an easy-to-use format that’s both visually attractive and effective.
Synopsis
Become your company's dashboarding expertThe need to turn impossible amounts of data into meaningful information has made dashboards a hot topic. Dashboards provide at-a-glance views into key measures relevant to a particular objective or business process. The power and flexibility of Microsoft Excel makes it an ideal platform for creating dashboards.
This guide gives you the technical know-how to go from reporting data with simple tables full of dull numbers to creating high-impact reports and dashboards that will wow management both visually and substantively. If you are familiar with data analysis concepts and experienced in using Excel's table structures, filters, and formulas, you can quickly become your organization's dashboard guru.
Let Mr. Spreadsheet show you how to:
Analyze extensive data and report it in a useful way
Quickly slice data into various views on the fly
Automate redundant reporting and analysis processes
Create eye-catching visualizations
Create impressive dashboards and What-If analyses
COMPANION WEB SITE
Visit www.wiley.com/go/exceldr to download workbook files for all examples used in the book
About the Author
Michael Alexander is a Microsoft Excel MVP who has written several books on advanced business analysis with Microsoft Access and Excel. Visit Michael at DataPigTechnologies.com for free Excel and Access training.
John Walkenbach, arguably the foremost authority on Excel, has written hundreds of articles and created the award-winning Power Utility Pak. His 50-plus books include Excel 2010 Formulas, Excel 2010 Power Programming with VBA, and the bestselling Excel Bible, all published by Wiley. Visit his popular Spreadsheet Page at spreadsheetpage.com.
Table of Contents
Introduction.
Part I: Moving from Spreadsheets to Dashboards.
Chapter 1: Introducing Dashboards.
Chapter 2: Developing Your Data Model.
Part II: Excel Chart Basics.
Chapter 3: Introducing Excel Charts.
Chapter 4: Understanding Chart Types.
Chapter 5: Working with Chart Series.
Chapter 6: Formatting and Customizing Charts.
Part III: Going Beyond Tables and Charts.
Chapter 7: Using Pivot Tables.
Chapter 8: Using Pivot Charts.
Chapter 9: Using Excel Sparklines.
Chapter 10: Chartless Visualization Techniques.
Part IV: Creating Advanced Dashboard Components.
Chapter 11: Components that Show Trending.
Chapter 12: Components that Group Data.
Chapter 13: Components that Show Performance against a Target.
Part V: Automating Your Dashboards and Reports.
Chapter 14: Macro-Charged Reporting.
Chapter 15: Adding Interactive Controls to Your Dashboard.
Part VI: Working with the Outside World.
Chapter 16: Importing Microsoft Access Data into Excel.
Chapter 17: Sharing Your Work with the Outside World.
Index.