FAQ: Why would I create a template report?

You can use Excel files as templates for your HTML or repeating reports. In the Excel files, you can add additional formatting or capabilities for your reporting data such as:

Font colors, font types, and background colors.
Notes, summary data, and calculations.
Macros for automation.

Example: You have a matrix report that compares data for actual, budget, and forecast versions. In the matrix report builder, you can calculate a variance between only 2 different versions. To calculate the variance across 3 different versions, you can use an Excel template with a formula. For a use case related to this topic, see Use Case: Build Variance Reports Using an Excel Report Template in our Use Case Library.

In Excel, you can hide the original

Report Data

tab so that users see only the template version. You can then save and attach the Excel files to the HTML reports as templates to create template reports.

To attach an Excel template to a report:

From the reports overview, click the
Actions menu
for you report and select
Attach Template
.
Select
Choose File
and then
Browse
. Select the Excel file that you want to use as the template. Click
OK
. The page refreshes and the report output changes from
HTML
to
Template
.
Run the report to see an Excel file pop-up. The Excel file includes all the data formatting based on your template.
If you update the Excel template or replace it with another template, click the
Actions menu
for your report and select
Modify Template
.