- Excel Models
- Dashboards
- KPI Reporting
What you’ll learn
- Structure and clean business data for consistent analysis and reporting.
- Apply Excel formulas to calculate business metrics and consolidate information.
- Use PivotTables and charts to analyse performance, trends and variances.
- Build a dashboard that presents key performance indicators clearly.
- Turn analytical findings into management insights and recommended actions.
- Create a reporting workbook that can be updated with new data.
Course Description
Turn everyday business data into an Excel reporting model that supports better management decisions. This practical course takes participants through data preparation, formula-based analysis, performance tracking and dashboard development using a guided business case.
Designed for participants who already use basic Excel formulas and spreadsheets, the workshop focuses on analysing sales, costs and operational performance. Participants will work with sample data and a structured workbook to produce a management dashboard, check its accuracy and explain the business implications of their findings.
Course Contents
Module 1: Planning a Business Analytics Model60 minutes
- Translate a management question into measurable indicators.
- Select relevant data, reporting periods and comparison points.
- Organise source data, calculations and report outputs.
- Apply consistent units, naming and workbook conventions.
Practical activity: Define the reporting requirements and workbook structure for a sample business.
Module 2: Preparing and Cleaning Business Data90 minutes
- Organise data using Excel Tables and consistent column structures.
- Identify duplicates, missing values and inconsistent formats.
- Use Power Query to import, clean and combine sample datasets.
- Check data completeness and reconcile totals before analysis.
Practical activity: Prepare a clean dataset and refresh it after adding a new reporting period.
Module 3: Building Formula-Based Business Analysis90 minutes
- Calculate sales, costs, margins and growth rates.
- Apply SUMIFS, COUNTIFS and lookup formulas.
- Use logical formulas and handle calculation errors.
- Compare actual performance against targets and prior periods.
Practical activity: Build a formula-linked analysis sheet for business performance and variance tracking.
Module 4: Analysing Performance with PivotTables90 minutes
- Summarise results by product, customer, department or period.
- Configure PivotTables, filters and slicers.
- Identify trends, performance gaps and unusual results.
- Select charts that communicate comparisons clearly.
Practical activity: Create a performance analysis view with PivotTables and supporting charts.
Module 5: Designing a Management Dashboard90 minutes
- Select the indicators that matter to the intended audience.
- Build KPI summaries, trend charts and variance displays.
- Apply conditional formatting and clear visual hierarchy.
- Connect dashboard outputs to the underlying analysis.
Practical activity: Assemble a dashboard that answers the management questions defined earlier.
Module 6: Interpreting Results and Updating Reports60 minutes
- Write concise commentary on results, causes and implications.
- Separate observed findings from assumptions.
- Check formulas, totals, filters and reporting dates.
- Establish a repeatable process for updating the workbook.
Practical activity: Present the dashboard with three management insights and recommended actions.