PowerPoint to Dashboard · Your App Cloud
From PowerPoint review deck to dashboard
A review deck is rebuilt each month from typed-in figures, pasted charts and a few lines of commentary. Upload the latest one, trace every number to the data behind it, and keep each month's figures together on one dashboard.
From a deck rebuilt each month to figures kept in one place.
Find where every number on the slides comes from, give each one a definition and a route for next month, then hold the dashboard against the last deck you presented.
01
Sort every number by where it lives
Upload the latest deck with the button above. Then go through it slide by slide and label each figure: a chart made in PowerPoint with its own data sheet, a chart linked to an Excel file, a chart pasted as a picture, or a number typed into a text box. Put that list in your prompt, since each kind reaches the dashboard by a different route.
02
Define the measures and next month's route
For each tile and chart, write what it counts, the period it covers and what it is compared with: last month, the plan or the same month last year. Then say how next month's figure arrives: typed into the app by whoever sends you that slide today, or re-imported on purpose.
03
Rebuild last month's deck from the dashboard
Set the dashboard to the month of the deck you last presented and go through it slide by slide: every tile, a few points on every chart, and each red, amber or green status. Then say who signs in to read it and who enters figures, and try both with test accounts.
Where each part of the review deck ends up.
Every row starts with something on a slide or just behind it. The slide text and figures are made up for illustration: an imaginary heating and plumbing contractor in Sacramento, California, whose monthly review deck goes to its two owners.
| In your review deck | On the dashboard | How to check it |
|---|---|---|
| A KPI tile typed into a text box: 'Service calls completed 1,284 ▲ 6%' | A measure defined in a sentence, with a value for each month and the comparison it is measured against | The tile doesn't say what the 6% is compared with, or whether a return visit to the same job counts as a second call. Write both into the prompt, then set the dashboard to October and look for 1,284 and 6%. |
| A chart made in PowerPoint, such as 'Revenue by month', whose figures sit in a small data sheet | A chart drawn from monthly rows the dashboard keeps, one row per month | With the chart selected, Chart Design, Edit Data opens that sheet. Copy its months and values into the prompt as a short table, then check that the dashboard's chart has the same number of months and the same latest value. |
| A chart pasted from the office manager's workbook with Link Data: 'Maintenance plan members' | Monthly rows from that workbook, brought in on purpose rather than through the link | File, Info, Edit Links to Files lists the files the deck is linked to. The workbook itself stays where it is when you upload the deck, along with any rows the chart leaves out. Bring the months you need in the prompt, and record which workbook fed each chart. |
| A chart pasted as a Picture: a screenshot of 'Average days to first visit' from the scheduling tool | A chart redrawn from figures you take from the scheduling tool's own report | Select it. A picture brings up the Picture Format tab instead of Chart Design. An Excel chart pasted with the Picture option is the same case: Microsoft notes it cannot be edited or updated. Copy the values from the tool's own report, and compare two of them with the screenshot. |
| A data label typed over by hand: the bar for first-visit fixes reads '92%' | The value from the chart's data, rounded the way you choose | Once a data label is edited on the chart, it no longer follows its cell. On a copy of the deck, open Format Data Labels, Label Options and select Reset Label Text. If 92% turns into 89.6%, decide which one the dashboard shows and write down why. |
| A slide title such as 'Revenue: October vs. September and vs. plan' | Comparisons with a named basis (previous month, plan, same month last year), each shown in dollars and percent | Plan figures are rarely on the slide itself. Say where they come from, such as the budget the owners approved in January, and compare the dashboard's difference with the slide's arrow for one month. |
| Red, amber and green circles beside Callbacks and Cash on hand, recolored by hand before each meeting | A status worked out from thresholds you state, such as red when callbacks pass 4% of completed calls | Ask whoever colors the circles for the rule they follow. Apply it to the last three decks. Where it gives a different color from the slide, the rule needs another condition, or that month was judged by feel. |
| The Notes pane under the Callbacks chart: 'Up because of a faulty thermostat batch; supplier is crediting us' | A comment attached to that month and that measure | Notes also carry cues like 'pause for questions' and remarks meant only for the room. Copy the explanations worth keeping into the prompt, and check each one sits beside October, not beside whichever month is newest. |
| A footnote under a chart: 'Excludes commercial accounts', there in March and gone by April | Part of the measure's written definition, with the month it changed noted | A footnote that appears or disappears between decks means the figure started counting something else. Line up the footnotes of the last few decks before months from different decks share one chart. |
What a review deck doesn't record.
A review deck is assembled, not calculated. Figures arrive from several people and systems, then get pasted, rounded and colored by hand, and nothing on the finished slide says which step touched which number. Check these on a copy of the latest deck before you upload.
The latest deck, and the two before it
Upload the most recent deck and keep the two earlier ones open for comparing. Add a sentence on who reads the dashboard and the decisions it feeds, such as whether to hire another technician before winter.
Months that were restated
October's revenue chart may show September at $418,300 while September's own deck said $421,900, because a credit was issued after the meeting. Put each month's figures side by side across decks, decide which version wins (usually the newest) and say so in the prompt.
Series switched off, not deleted
Select a chart and open the Chart Filters button beside it. The Values tab lists the series and categories in its data, including any unchecked to tidy the slide, such as last year's line. Say whether the dashboard should show each one.
An axis that starts above zero
Charts made to carry a point in a meeting often start the vertical axis at a figure like 1,000, which makes a 3% rise look steep. Format Axis, Axis Options shows the Minimum. Say which dashboard charts should start at zero, and read each change from the figures.
A date that always says today
A footer date set to Update automatically in Header & Footer changes to the current date each time someone opens or prints the deck, so it says nothing about when the figures were closed. Take each month's as-of date from your month-end close instead, and check that the dashboard shows it beside that month.
An illustrative starting point
One place for the numbers the deck used to carry.
Each month's figures kept as rows, measures with written definitions, statuses worked out from thresholds and commentary pinned to its month.
Every month on one chart
A deck shows the months that fit on a slide, and the next deck starts over. On the dashboard, each month's figures can be kept as rows labeled with their month, so a trend can run back to the first deck you brought in, and a question about last spring no longer means opening an old file.
Figures entered where they start
Instead of emailing a slide to whoever assembles the deck, the service manager can enter October's completed calls and callbacks in a short form. Saving those entries needs a backend. Ask for each entry to record who made it, then enter a test figure from the service manager's test account before the first month-end and check that the name shows beside it.
Statuses with their rule shown
Callbacks can turn red because they passed the threshold you wrote down, not because someone picked a color the night before the meeting. Show the rule next to each status, so the owners can see why a figure is red without asking.
Commentary that stays with its month
Each month's explanation can sit beside the figure it explains and stay there when November arrives. You can have a language model draft a first comment from the month's figures when you ask. Whoever presents checks every statement against the numbers and rewrites it before it is kept. Model usage is metered separately.
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A little more context
Good questions.
Can the dashboard use the numbers in my charts?
Bring the figures rather than relying on what the slide shows. A chart made in PowerPoint keeps a data sheet that Edit Data opens. A linked chart's figures live in a separate workbook, and a chart pasted as a picture holds none. Put each chart's months and values in your prompt, then compare two points per chart in the preview.
Most of our charts are linked to one Excel workbook. Should I start from that instead?
Often, yes. When a single workbook already holds every month, the deck is mostly a layout. Start from Excel to Dashboard with the workbook, and use the deck to describe the charts, comparisons and statuses the owners expect. Keep this page's checks for the typed-in tiles and pasted pictures the workbook doesn't cover.
We make a new deck every month. What happens to that routine?
Next month, the figures go into the dashboard instead of into a fresh copy of the deck. The upload captures this deck as it is today, so a later deck changes nothing by itself. New months arrive when the people who send you slides today enter their figures in the app, or when you re-import them deliberately. Afterwards, check that earlier months kept their values.
Can we still show it in the review meeting?
Yes. Apps open in a browser, including on phones, so the dashboard can go on the meeting-room screen while the owners open it on their own laptops or phones. Set it to the month under review, and confirm the as-of date before the meeting starts, in case a department's figures were entered late.
Who can see the figures, and who can change them?
Write it down first: the owners read everything, department leads enter figures, and months already presented stay as they were. Build that with the access you describe for each collection. Then sign in as a test lead and a test owner, and check what each can open and change, including a closed month.
Can the app remind people to send their figures?
Yes. Apps can send email, and a task can run on a schedule you choose. One task could email each department lead a link to enter last month's figures on a date you pick early in the month, and another could send the owners the dashboard link the day before the meeting. Send the first round to yourself and read each message before relying on it.
Why doesn't the dashboard match the deck we presented?
Compare one measure at a time. Look for a data label someone typed over, a series hidden with Chart Filters, a tile rounded to $1.2M, a month restated after the meeting, and a footnote that excluded something the dashboard now counts. Each one can open a gap between slide and dashboard without any figure having been entered wrong.
Which plan does a dashboard made from a review deck need?
The one this page describes needs a paid plan to go live. Keeping each month's figures, letting department leads enter them and asking the owners to sign in all need a backend, which makes it an app with data; a one-page site has nowhere to save next month's entries. Model and service usage is metered separately; the pricing page shows what each plan covers.
Explore Pricing for plans, included capabilities, and usage details.
Keep exploring.
Combine figures from several systems ↗
See the outcome and the capabilities behind it.
When your charts come from an Excel report ↗
For decks built on one monthly workbook: write a definition for every figure and check a total by hand before it goes on screen.
Track projects instead of status slides ↗
For the weekly project status deck: a reason on every status, a short weekly update from each owner and a list of what's stuck.
Understand data and context ↗
Give information the right place in your app.
Prepare to publish ↗
Check the experience you will share.
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