Balanced Scorecards and Operational Dashboards with Microsoft Excel, 2nd Edition

Chapter 16

Custom Labels and Formatting

To conquer the enemy without resorting to war is the most desirable. The highest form of generalship is to conquer the enemy by strategy.

—Sun Tzu

The Art of War

Balanced Scorecards and dashboards always seem to need custom titles, custom dates, custom formatting, and custom data labels. These requirements usually can be addressed with a few special techniques.

The need for custom date formats often appears when you must have a label with a specific format, or you need a database query constructed a certain way. Organizations also often need calculated dates for the beginning or end of a financial quarter or the first or last day of a workweek.

Most organizations have a unique “corporate identity.” It includes the font, color palette, layout, and logo used on the organization’s website, letterhead, and forms. If you want your executives and managers to identify your scorecard as one of their own, use your organization’s color palette, layout, and logo. Using your organization’s “official” colors adds credibility and a feel of professionalism to the Balanced Scorecard and dashboard you produce.

Knowing how to combine text, numbers, and dates allows you to create dynamic custom titles for your scorecards, dashboards, and reports. You aren’t limited by the automatic chart titles that Excel creates. You can combine calculated text, numbers, and dates for any title you need.

Combining Numbers, Text, and Dates to Create Custom Labels

Some labels and ...