How to enhance your Excel dashboards with Power View reports

Dashboards in Microsoft® Excel® are used for visually presenting important business information. Dashboards can display current status of metrics and key performance indicators.

In this tip, we look at how to enhance dashboards with a Power View report by analyzing sales data. Power View reports in Microsoft® Excel® pull your data together in tables, matrices, maps, and a variety of charts in an interactive view that brings your data to life.

For every visualization you want to create, you start with a table, which you then easily convert to other visualizations to find one which best illustrates your data.

You are welcome to download the workbook to practice.

Applies To: Microsoft^® Excel^® 2013 and 2016.

1. Select cell A2 and Press Ctrl + A.
2. On the Insert tab, in the Reports group, select Power View.
3. Create a new Power View sheet.

Create a Clustered Chart

1. With the table selected, on the Design tab in the Column Chart list, select Clustered Column.
2. Drag the right side of the chart to fill the width of the window.

Create a Pie Chart to show the 2014 sales

1. Copy the chart and paste it underneath the first one.
2. Select the second chart.
3. On the Design tab in the Other Chart list, select Pie.
4. Reduce the chart to a quarter size of the screen.
5. In the Power View Fields, select only 2014 and Department.

Create a Table showing the 2014 values.

1. Copy the chart and paste it next to the first one.
2. In the Power View Fields, deselect all of the fields and then reselect 2014 and Department. This will create a table with the values.
3. Move the table into position.

N.B: The first time you insert a Power View worksheet, Microsoft Excel asks you to enable the Power View add-in if it is not installed.

• Select the range of cells containing the data you want to visualize.
• On the Insert tab, in the Reports group, Select Power View, then Enable.
• Click Install Silverlight. Silverlight is a free plug-in program that enables Power View reports.
• After you have followed the steps for installing Silverlight, in Excel, click Reload.

 

 

Power view reports enhance dashboards by presenting the summarized data in one view. By using a dashboard such as this one, you can quickly and easily recognize trends, do comparisons, and review performance indicators that will lead to informed decision-making.