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Adaptive Planning
Last Updated: 2025-11-14
Steps: Update Data for Periodic Reports

Steps: Update Data for Periodic Reports

If you routinely create monthly or quarterly reports, you can use
OfficeConnect
 to help you automate the process and save you a great deal of time. As you've already learned, anytime you update the source data in
OfficeConnect
 for Excel and then refresh your
OfficeConnect
 for Word document, the corresponding linked data also updates.
Use the same
OfficeConnect
 for Excel workbook for each succeeding period, using relative report dates.
Before updating data for the new period, you might find it helpful to turn on
Track Changes
in your
OfficeConnect
 for Word document. To do this, on the
Review
tab, click
Track Changes
. Then update the data for the new period and refresh your document with the new information. With
Track Changes
 on, you can see the changes that were made. When you're ready, you can accept all the changes to remove the markup for a clean document. To do this, on the
Review
tab, click
Accept
, and then click
Accept All Changes
 in Document.
The following is an example of a document with track changes on:
To update Word from an Excel file with a changed relative date:
  1. Set up your
    OfficeConnect
     for Excel report to use relative (rather than absolute) dates. For more information, see Using Absolute and Relative Dates.
  2. Change the Excel report date and refresh the grid. Information from your connected instance updates your report for the new month, quarter, or other period.
  3. Save the
    OfficeConnect
     for Excel workbook, keeping the same file name. Maintaining the same file name for the Excel workbook keeps intact your links between the Excel workbook and the Word document.
  4. In your
    OfficeConnect
     for Word document, refresh the document. On the
    OfficeConnect
    tab, in the
    Connection
    group, click the arrow under
    Refresh
    , and then click
    Refresh Tables
     or
    Refresh Paragraphs
    (or both) as appropriate. The updated information for the new period is updated in your Word document.
  5. Save your
    OfficeConnect
     for Word document with the new data, either under the same name or a new name. Changing the filename for the connected Word document does not break any links. This means you can save the original file FinancialReport_Sep2014.docx as FinancialReport_Oct2014.docx without needing to make any further adjustments.
Another update method is to save a new OfficeConnect for Excel workbook based on the existing one, and refresh the data for the new reporting period. Although it's a new file, it's a copy of the existing one, so your named ranges are retained. Those named ranges will therefore continue to work after you point the Word document to the renamed Excel file.
To update Word from a copied Excel file with a changed name:
  1. Open the source
    OfficeConnect
     for Excel workbook that's connected to your
    OfficeConnect
     for Word document.
  2. Save the
    OfficeConnect
     for Excel workbook with a new name. Example: You might change FinancialReport_Sep2014.xlsx to FinancialReport_Oct2014.xlsx.
  3. Change the Excel report date and refresh the grid. Information from your connected instance updates your report for the new month, quarter, or other period.
  4. Save the Excel workbook to reflect the recent updates.
  5. In your
    OfficeConnect
     for Word document, use the Manage Links dialog box to change the name of the source file to the new Excel filename. For more information, see Managing Links and Their Sources, "Changing the Source File" section.
  6. With the Manage Links dialog box still open, select the check box next to all the links that use the new source file. Or, select the check box in the table heading to select all links. Click
    Refresh
    . The updated information for the new period is updated in your Word document.
  7. Click
    Close
    .
  8. Save your Word document with the new data, either under the same name or a new name. Changing the filename for the connected Word document does not break any links.