How to Create Dashboards in Excel for Your Projects

Excel dashboards are among the most effective tools for data analysis and visualization. An Excel dashboard that is well-designed offers a straightforward and succinct approach to display important insights, whether you are managing sales, monitoring business performance, or evaluating financial reports. A dashboard enables users to examine the most crucial information in one location rather of navigating through numerous pages or tables, which facilitates decision-making.

From data preparation to interactive element design, this tutorial will walk you through every step of making an Excel dashboard. These instructions are simple to follow, even if you are a novice.

What is an Excel Dashboard?

A visual depiction of important metrics and data points that aid in decision-making is called an Excel dashboard. Tables, charts, pivot tables, and interactive elements are all included to provide a clear and understandable summary of complex data. Dashboards are used by businesses to examine operational efficiency, track sales trends, and measure financial success.

Typically, a well-organized dashboard includes a number of elements, including filters, conditional formatting, graphs, and charts. With the help of these components, users can examine data without having to manually examine big tables. For the user to immediately grasp trends and patterns, a dashboard should be straightforward, dynamic, and easy to use.

Step 1: Preparing the Data

It is crucial to appropriately arrange the data before building a dashboard. Inaccurate results and a dashboard that is challenging to manage can arise from poorly formatted data. Making sure the data is correctly formatted and error-free is the first step.

The data should be organized in a structured table format if it is already in Excel. Power Query may be used to effectively import and clean data that is stored in external sources like databases, web services, or CSV files. Cleaning entails addressing missing values, getting rid of duplicates, and making sure the data is consistent.

The data ought to be transformed into an Excel table after it has been cleansed. It is simpler to handle and update data dynamically when tables are used. Ctrl + T is used to format the data into a table with filter options when the dataset has been selected. Table naming is a good practice because it makes utilizing formulas and references clear.

For this refer to How to Clean Data in Excel: Tips and Tricks for Beginners

Step 2: Creating Data Summaries Using Pivot Tables

Because they make it possible to quickly summarize big datasets, pivot tables are a crucial component of an Excel dashboard. Pivot tables can produce these summaries automatically rather than requiring manual computation of totals, averages, or percentages.

Choose Insert → PivotTable after selecting the data to create a pivot table. For improved organization, the pivot table should be placed on a fresh worksheet. To create insightful summaries, fields can be dragged into various areas, including rows, columns, and values, after a pivot table has been inserted.

A pivot table, for instance, can show total sales by area, category, or time period when tracking sales data. Additionally, it can display customer patterns, top-generating products, or average sales. In order to make the material easily readable, proper formatting should be used.

For this refer to How to Create Pivot Tables in Excel: A Step-by-Step Guide

Step 3: Adding Charts and Graphs for Visualization

Understanding trends and comparisons is aided by visual components such as graphs and charts. Different chart kinds are available in Excel, and each is appropriate for a certain kind of data analysis.

For comparing values across categories, such sales numbers throughout several areas, column and bar charts are helpful. When displaying trends over time, like monthly revenue growth, line charts work well. When displaying proportions, such the market share percentages of various products, pie charts work best.

Choose the pertinent data or pivot table, then select Insert → Charts to build a chart. The data being presented should guide the choice of chart type. For clarity and professionalism, the chart should be structured with the proper labels, colors, and titles after it has been entered. It's best to avoid superfluous items that could make the dashboard appear cluttered and to stick to a consistent color scheme.

For this refer to Most Used Excel Charts and When to Use Them

Step 4: Adding Interactivity with Slicers and Drop-Down Lists

Because it enables dynamic data filtering, dashboard interactivity is a crucial component. Dashboards can be made more interactive with Excel's slicers and drop-down lists.

Slicers are used to rapidly filter charts and pivot tables. Users can rapidly update all linked charts and tables by selecting a slicer from the Insert → Slicer menu. This allows users to pick specific categories like year, location, or product type. By offering a simple method of navigating data without having to manually change filters, slicers enhance the user experience.

The Data Validation functionality can be used to construct drop-down lists. Users can choose values from a predetermined set of possibilities using these lists. For instance, if the dashboard shows monthly performance, users can choose a month from a drop-down box, and all of the charts would update appropriately. This is accomplished by dynamically altering values according to the chosen input utilizing formulas like INDEX and MATCH.

Step 5: Using Conditional Formatting for Alerts and Highlights

A helpful feature that displays significant data points based on conditions is conditional formatting. It can be used to highlight values that fit particular requirements, such low sales numbers, high costs, or data anomalies.

Choose a data range, then pick Home → Conditional Formatting to apply conditional formatting. Various guidelines, including data bars, icon sets, and color schemes, can be used. For example, high-performing products can be identified in green, and sales income below a specific threshold can be highlighted in red. This eliminates the need for users to manually scan the entire sheet in order to swiftly locate important data.

Step 6: Designing the Dashboard Layout

A dashboard should have a well-organized, aesthetically pleasing, and user-friendly interface. Users can locate information fast with a well-structured layout that prevents them from becoming overwhelmed by too many aspects.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are typically displayed at the top of a dashboard, followed by charts and graphs in the middle and filters and interactive components in the side panel. The dashboard is easier to use when relevant elements are grouped together.Effective use of white space contributes to the dashboard's cleanliness.

It can be challenging to concentrate on the most crucial ideas when there are too many factors present. Maintaining a consistent font style and color scheme enhances professionalism and readability.

Step 7: Automating and Refreshing Data

When new data is added, an efficient dashboard ought to be able to update itself. Pivot tables and charts can be configured to automatically refresh when the file is opened, or they can be manually updated by selecting Data → Refresh All.

It is possible to make calculations dynamic by using formulas such as SUMIF, COUNTIF, INDEX, MATCH, and TEXT. By swiftly retrieving and processing data, these formulas guarantee that the dashboard always displays the most recent information.

It's also critical to safeguard the dashboard against unintentional modifications. The Format Cells → Protection option should be used to lock formula-containing cells. To keep the dashboard focused, sheets that are not required for direct interaction might be buried.

Conclusion

Excel dashboards are crucial resources for turning unstructured data into insightful knowledge. They support both individuals and companies in tracking progress, analyzing performance, and making data-driven decisions. Anyone may develop a polished and interactive Excel dashboard for their projects by following the instructions in this article.

A well-designed dashboard improves reporting accuracy, saves time, and offers insightful information that can help with decision-making. With practice, users can design even more complex dashboards by experimenting with advanced Excel tools like Power Pivot, Power Query, and Macros.

Are you prepared to develop expert dashboards and improve your Excel skills? Enrol in IOTA Academy's Advanced Excel Course to master dashboard development and obtain practical experience with real-world data. To develop your data analysis abilities, begin your educational path right now.