Michael Alexander: Excel Dashboards & Reports For Dummies

Microsoft® Excel® Dashboards & Reports For Dummies®, 4th Edition

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Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2022931501

ISBN 978-1-119-84439-6 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-84440-2 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-84441-9 (ebk)

1 Cover

2 Title Page

3 Copyright

4 Introduction About This Book Foolish Assumptions Icons Used in This Book Beyond the Book Where to Go from Here

5 Part 1: Getting Started with Excel Dashboards and Reports Chapter 1: Getting in the Dashboard State of Mind Defining Dashboards and Reports Preparing for Greatness A Quick Look at Dashboard Design Principles Chapter 2: Building a Super Model Data Modeling Best Practices Excel Functions That Really Deliver Using Smart Tables That Expand with Data Introducing Dynamic Arrays Exploring Dynamic Array Functions Chapter 3: The Pivotal Pivot Table An Introduction to the Pivot Table The Four Areas of a Pivot Table Creating Your First Pivot Table Customizing Pivot Table Reports Creating Useful Pivot-Driven Views Chapter 4: Using External Data for Your Dashboards and Reports Leveraging Power Query to Extract and Transform Data Importing Data from Files Importing Data from Database Systems

6 Part 2: Building Basic Dashboard Components Chapter 5: Dressing Up Your Data Tables Table Design Principles Getting Fancy with Custom Number Formatting Chapter 6: Sparking Inspiration with Sparklines Introducing Sparklines Understanding Sparklines Customizing Sparklines Chapter 7: Formatting Your Way to Visualizations Enhancing Reports with Conditional Formatting Using Symbols to Enhance Reporting Wielding the Magical Camera Tool Enhancing Excel Reports with Shapes

7 Part 3: Adding Charts to Your Dashboards Chapter 8: Charts That Show Trending Trending Dos and Don’ts Comparative Trending Emphasizing Periods of Time Other Trending Techniques Chapter 9: Grouping and Bucketing Data Creating Top and Bottom Displays Top Values in Charts Using Histograms to Track Relationships and Frequency Chapter 10: Displaying Performance against a Target Showing Performance with Variances Showing Performance against Organizational Trends Using a Thermometer-Style Chart Using a Bullet Graph Showing Performance against a Target Range

8 Part 4: Advanced Reporting Techniques Chapter 11: Giving Users an Interactive Interface Introducing Macros Getting Started with Form Controls Using the Button Control Using the Check Box Control Using the Option Button Control Using the Combo Box Control Using the List Box Control Chapter 12: Adding Interactivity with Pivot Slicers Understanding Slicers Creating a Standard Slicer Getting Fancy with Slicer Customizations Controlling Multiple Pivot Tables with One Slicer Creating a Timeline Slicer Using Slicers as Form Controls Using Slicers on Excel Table Objects Chapter 13: Sharing Your Workbook with the Outside World Protecting Your Dashboards and Reports Linking Your Excel Dashboards to PowerPoint Distributing Your Dashboards via a PDF Distributing Your Dashboards to OneDrive Limitations When Publishing to the Web

9 Part 5: The Part of Tens Chapter 14: Ten Chart Design Principles Avoid Fancy Formatting Skip the Unnecessary Chart Junk Format Large Numbers Where Possible Use Data Tables Instead of Data Labels Make Effective Use of Chart Titles Sort Your Data before Charting Limit the Use of Pie Charts Don’t Be Afraid to Parse Data into Separate Charts Maintain Appropriate Aspect Ratios Don’t Be Afraid to Use Something Other Than a Chart Chapter 15: Ten Questions to Ask Before Distributing Your Dashboard Does My Dashboard Present the Right Information? Does Everything on My Dashboard Have a Purpose? Does My Dashboard Prominently Display the Key Message? Can I Maintain This Dashboard? Does My Dashboard Clearly Display Its Scope and Shelf Life? Is My Dashboard Well Documented? Is My Dashboard Overwhelmed with Formatting and Graphics? Does My Dashboard Overuse Charts When Tables Will Do? Is My Dashboard User-Friendly? Is My Dashboard Accurate?