Complete guide to creating an interactive dashboard in Excel

Interactive dashboards in Excel They are an essential tool for analyze data y make informed decisionsThanks to its flexibility and functionality, Excel allows you to visualize large volumes of information in graphs and pivot tables in an intuitive way. If you want to learn how to create one from scratch, in this article we explain step by step how to do it.

From collecting data to applying advanced formulas, here you will find everything you need to develop a professional and visually appealing dashboard that will update automatically and facilitate the Interpretation of key metrics.

Define the purpose of the dashboard

Before you start designing a dashboard in Excel, the first thing is determine your goal. Will it be to view sales, financial data or performance of a company? Having this clear will help to better structure the information.

Practical example: Let's imagine that we want to make a dashboard to analyze the monthly sales of a chain of stores. In this case, we will need data such as the sales per store, product category y employee performance.

Collect and prepare the data

The next step is Collect and clean the data. A dashboard will only be effective if the information on which it is built is precise and well organized. For it:

• Delete duplicate data or erroneous.
• Verify that the numerical values are correct.
• Organize the information in well-defined columns.

Practical example: In our case, we will work with a data set that includes:

• Sales per store and category.
• Historical data for comparisons.
• Sales performance per employee.

Designing the structure of the dashboard

Good design planning will make our dashboard clearer and more effective. It is important to decide how many graphics y bullion tables include, as well as its distribution in the Excel sheet.

Example of structure:

• Un main chart that shows the evolution of sales per month.
• A dynamic table to segment the sales per store.
• Un bar chart to analyze the employee performance.

Create a dynamic database

So that the dashboard can update automatically When adding new data, it is recommended to use dynamic tablesThese tools allow you to organize information in a flexible way without the need for manually modify the calculations.

Practical example:

• Create dynamic table that summarizes the monthly sales.
• Another table detailing the sales per store and category.

Apply advanced formulas

The use of advanced formulas in Excel will improve the functionality of the dashboard, allowing you to connect data and implement more sophisticated analysis. Some key formulas include:

• SUMIF: To calculate sales by category.
• AVERAGE: To measure the average sales.
• VLOOKUP: To search specific dates within a table.

With these tools, we can extract information in a way fast and accurate, improving the usability of the dashboard.

By following this guide, anyone, regardless of their Excel experience, will be able to build a professional interactive dashboard that helps them visualize and analyze data efficiently. The combination of pivot tables, charts, and advanced formulas will ensure that the results are clear and easy to interpret.