Excel Dashboards

How to create Excel-compatible Dashboards

Overview

Excel has certain limitations which means that not everything that can be achieved with Models Dashboards can be replicated in Excel.

For instance, in Models, you can add the same Assumption to multiple Dashboards and edit the Assumption value in any of the Dashboards with no problems - the Assumption value will be updated everywhere. However, in Excel you can only edit an Assumption value in one place, so multiple Dashboards with the same Assumption cannot be generated correctly.

The below section details some of rules that you will need to bear in mind for Dashboards when creating an Excel Layout.

Models will show you warnings in your Layout when you break these rules.

Rules for Excel

Rule	Details
Source Item must be in Layout	For a Dashboard Chart, Metric, or Assumptions Table, all associated Variables, Metrics and Assumptions must be added to a Sheet in the Layout
No repeated Assumptions	No Assumption can appear in the Dashboards of a Layout more than once
One Assumptions Table per Dashboard	Due to potential conflicts with row/column layouts, Excel Dashboard sheets can only contain one Assumptions Table
Data Tables cannot be combined with other Items	To ensure the successful operation of Data Tables in Excel, Data Tables should be in Dashboards with no other items
Charts will not be automatically aggregated over time	If you have a Chart in a Dashboard using Time Aggregation, the Chart in Excel will be shown in the default time periods of the Model. If you want a Chart with aggregated time periods in Excel, you must create a corresponding aggregated Variable first.