Using Sheets Data in Dashboards and Reports

Overview

Sheets are the best place to add any data that doesn't come directly from your bookkeeping integration. This can include monthly metrics like "new customers," "total sales calls," "headcount," or "website visitors," as well as any additional data you'd like to track alongside your financials to bring more context and insight into your reports.

Once a Data Sheet is set up, its data can be referenced in metrics, statements, live text, and report or dashboard elements throughout Reach Reporting.

Types of Data Sheets

There are three options for bringing external data into Reach Reporting.

Reach Sheets

Reach Sheets allow you to manually enter and store custom data directly inside Reach Reporting. When you open a Reach Sheet, you will notice it has the same format as the Metric and Statement Builder, without the bottom preview tab and additional settings.

Inside a Reach Sheet, you can:

Pull in accounts from your bookkeeping software
Enter custom data such as the number of employees, website visitors, or sales calls
Build calculations using formulas across your data rows

One key advantage of Reach Sheets is that there is no syncing required. Once data is entered, it is immediately available to reference anywhere in Reach Reporting.

See our Data Sheets article for full setup instructions and formatting requirements.

Google Sheets

You can connect a Google Sheet to upload external data. Google Sheets can be useful if you want to give multiple users the ability to collaborate simultaneously in the sheet, or if you want users to be able to edit external data outside of Reach Reporting. Using the Reach Reporting Google Sheet template, these function the same as Reach Sheets but are maintained externally.

See our Google Sheets Data Sheets article for full setup instructions and formatting requirements.

Excel Sheets

If you prefer to work in Excel, you can upload an Excel file directly to Reach Reporting using the Excel Sheet option in the Sheets section. Like Reach Sheets and Google Sheets, Excel Sheet data is available to reference anywhere in Reach Reporting once uploaded. If the Excel file is updated, you will need to re-upload it to reflect the changes.

See our Excel Data Sheets article for full setup instructions and formatting requirements.

Using Sheets Data in Metrics and Statements

Once a Sheet is created, you can access its data anywhere in Reach Reporting through the Metric and Statement Builder.

To add Sheets data to a metric or statement:

Create a new metric or statement, or open an existing one you want to edit.
Click Add Data / Rows > Data.
In the data picker, select Data Sheets or Google/Excel under Other Sources.
Choose the sheet and the specific row(s) you want to include.
Click Add Data.

You can have multiple metrics and statements referencing various Sheets. This means you only need to update the Sheet itself, and all metrics and statements that reference it will reflect the change automatically. See Keeping Sheets Data Current if you plan on making changes to the Sheet.

Using Sheets Data as Live Text

Sheets data can also be used as custom live text in your reports and dashboards. This is useful for displaying non-financial metrics like customer counts, headcount, custom KPIs, or calculated ratios alongside your financial data.

See the Using Data Sheet Data for Live Text section of the Live Text article for full instructions on how to create custom live text from Sheets data, including step-by-step setup for both reports and dashboards.

Sheets in Consolidations

If you are working with consolidated reporting, Sheets can be used at the company level and referenced in consolidated reports. See the Using Company-Level Data Sheets in Consolidations section in our Consolidations article for more information.

Keeping Sheets Data Current

How you keep your Sheets data up to date in your dashboards or reports depends on which sheet type you are using:

Reach Sheets updates immediately when data is entered or edited, without requiring a sync.
Google Sheets require a manual sync in Reach Reporting each time the Google Sheet is updated. Click the Sync button next to the sheet in the Sheets section after making changes.
Excel Sheets require a re-upload each time the Excel file is updated.

If you are using Data Sheet data as a reference in a budget or forecast, see the Refreshing Data Sheet Referenced Data section of the Budgeting with Reference Data article for information on keeping that data current in your planning tools.

Tips and Best Practices

Combine financial and non-financial data in a single metric. Pairing bookkeeping accounts with Data Sheet rows — such as showing revenue alongside headcount or new customers — makes for more insightful and complete reporting.
Use the same Data Sheet across multiple metrics. Because metrics update automatically when a Data Sheet is changed, centralizing your external data in one sheet keeps everything consistent and reduces manual updates.
Use Reach Sheets for internal data; Google or Excel Sheets for external contributors. If a third party or multiple collaborators need to supply data, Google Sheets or Excel Sheets are the better fit since they don't require Reach Reporting access.
Remember to sync Google Sheets and re-upload Excel Sheets after updates. Unlike Reach Sheets, these require a manual step to pull in new data before your metrics and dashboards will reflect changes.
Use Data Sheet data as live text for a richer narrative. Custom live text lets you surface non-financial KPIs like customer counts or calculated ratios directly on report pages or dashboard tiles, alongside your financial data.

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