Connect Google Sheets & Excel

Plug Your Spreadsheets into Databox

Even if you try to avoid it, sometimes an old-fashioned spreadsheet is the best solution. Let’s turn your Google Sheets or Excel spreadsheet into actionable insights for your business.

3 min read

After reading this guide, you’ll understand…

  • How to use spreadsheets to create custom metrics 
  • How to format your spreadsheets and connect them to Databox 
  • Ways you can visualize and report on your spreadsheet data 
Why Should I Connect Spreadsheets with Databox?

Create the custom metrics you need with flexible spreadsheets

Spreadsheets are a super-easy, super-flexible way to track the custom metrics and insights you need. From sales pipeline to financial reporting, spreadsheets are still part of everyday work. Whether you’re using Google Sheets or Excel, spreadsheets allow you to: 

  • Track team performance: Have specific metrics you want to track your team’s performance with? Plug them into your spreadsheet—the way it makes sense for your business. 
  • Skip the expensive softwares: If you’re running a small business and want to save on software costs, managing data in spreadsheets is cheap and powerful.
  • Manage client data: Your client may use spreadsheets to track their data, or may need a custom solution for particular projects. Make sure this data doesn’t get lost in the shuffle. 

Spreadsheets are cost-effective and powerful, but lack effective ways to share actionable insights for your team or clients. Connecting your spreadsheets with Databox gives you the best of both worlds—track the data you need, and share it effectively with the people who need it. 

How to Connect Spreadsheets to Databox

What’s the best way to connect to Databox?

Let’s talk about how to set up your spreadsheet for success. Formatting your spreadsheet properly will make the connection process quick and easy. 

The easiest way to assemble your spreadsheet is in columns. Formatting your spreadsheet in columns allows you to use the Google Sheets Wizard, which makes setting up your dashboard simple and easy. 

To use columns, begin by sorting your data into three categories: 

  • Dates
  • Dimensions (categories that break up or add context to your metric values) 
  • Metrics (numerical values) 

*Note that your category names must be located in the first row of your spreadsheet. Do not include category or subcategory names below Row 1, or your data will not upload and refresh properly in Databox. 

This example presents data for a sales team. The Metric column contains sales values, the Dimension column contains the sales representatives tied to the sales, and Dates are organized in the MM/DD/YYYY format. 

Make sure all of your Dimension columns are next to one another (example: Columns B,C, and D.) Do the same with your Metrics columns. 

The dates need to follow one of the four following formats to integrate with Databox correctly:

MM/DD/YYYY
DD/MM/YYYY
MM.DD.YYYY
DD.MM.YYYY

Connect your spreadsheet

To connect your spreadsheet with Databox, go to the Data Manager section in the left-hand sidebar. Click the green + New connection button in the top right corner. From here, select Google Sheets or Excel and follow the prompts. You’ll be prompted to connect your Google account, as shown in the video below. 

 

From here, you can create metrics using your spreadsheet data! Follow the prompts in the Wizard for easy setup.

To read more on creating your metrics, check out this article.

Visualize spreadsheet data 

Robust spreadsheets give you the data you need, but lack the easily-shareable insights your team needs to stay aligned. Spreadsheets are dense and can be difficult to read and interpret.  Connecting your spreadsheets with Databox allows you to visualize this data and….

Share actionable insights with your team:

Turn your dense spreadsheet data into beautiful, easy-to-read graphs and charts. Displaying your data visually on a dashboard allows you to share insights more quickly and effectively with your team or client.


Create custom, robust reports:

Want to take your insights a step further? Use Databox Reports to share your Excel and Google Sheets data in presentation-style reports. Add business context to your dashboards and visualized metrics. 

Dashboard Reporting Tool

                             

Tips & Tricks

Quick Tips & Tricks

  1. Set up your spreadsheet using the Databox Wizard

    Use the Google Sheets and Excel Wizard to set up your metrics in Databox. The Wizard walks you through creating your metrics, step-by-step.

  2. Pull custom insights

    Have very specific insights you’re tracking? Spreadsheets may be the best way for you to track certain data. As flexible as spreadsheets are, they aren’t great for sharing meaningful insights with your team or clients. Connecting your spreadsheets to Databox allows you to track your data the way you want and create dashboards and reports that are easy to share.

Need more guidance? Check out…