CMA PD Series:
Excel‐Based Dashboards
Dashboard reporting is rapidly becoming the norm for organizations seeking to improve financial and operational reporting processes. Dashboards allow for easy access to mission‐critical data, usually in an on‐demand environment, thereby allowing users to get the information they need when they need it.
Excel is the ideal tool for creating high‐impact dashboards in businesses of all sizes. This is because of Excel's enhanced charting and graphing capabilities, and ability to handle large volumes of data.
In this course, you will learn how to build Excel‐based dashboards that extract information from your accounting application along with other databases. You will also learn how to present this data as actionable information in a dashboard setting.
Key topics covered in this course include extracting and summarizing data stored in various databases; charting and graphing data, including specialized charts and graphs such as tachometer gauges and thermometer charts; identifying and highlighting trends in data; and distributing dashboard reports throughout the organization.
Learning Objectives
Excel‐Based Dashboards
Dashboard reporting is rapidly becoming the norm for organizations seeking to improve financial and operational reporting processes. Dashboards allow for easy access to mission‐critical data, usually in an on‐demand environment, thereby allowing users to get the information they need when they need it.
Excel is the ideal tool for creating high‐impact dashboards in businesses of all sizes. This is because of Excel's enhanced charting and graphing capabilities, and ability to handle large volumes of data.
In this course, you will learn how to build Excel‐based dashboards that extract information from your accounting application along with other databases. You will also learn how to present this data as actionable information in a dashboard setting.
Key topics covered in this course include extracting and summarizing data stored in various databases; charting and graphing data, including specialized charts and graphs such as tachometer gauges and thermometer charts; identifying and highlighting trends in data; and distributing dashboard reports throughout the organization.
Learning Objectives
- Identify the building blocks of dashboards and describe how to use each component in an Excel-based dashboard. This includes open database connectivity, conditional formatting, tables, defined names and dynamic defined names, form controls, and Excel’s RANK function
- Describe the process for creating, formatting, and manipulating charts in excel, including charts based on tables, charts with dynamic text boxes, charts with conditional formatting, interactive charts, sparklines, and drill down charts,
- Define the relevance of PivotTables and PivotCharts in an Excel‐based dashboard environment and describe how to create PivotTables and PivotCharts based on tables as well as dynamic defined names,
- Describe how to use specific PivotTable and PivotChart functionality such as sorting and filtering, slicers, field settings, calculated fields, and calculated items in an Excel-based dashboard environment, and
- Describe how to assemble an Excel‐based dashboard using the components learned in this course.
Note that this workshop requires fundamental knowledge of Excel operations as this course is intended for advanced users. The format of this workshop will be a group-based demonstration and discussion using computer projection. Please note that this is not a hands-on course.
