KPI dashboard in Excel, built from your own data
Your numbers live in five exports and nobody looks at them. Send them to your todo.is agent with this prompt and it picks the right KPIs for your business, calculates them, and builds a one-page Excel KPI dashboard with charts, targets and status colors. It can also email you a weekly summary of what changed.
The prompt
- Build a KPI dashboard for [BUSINESS OR TEAM]. I attached [DATA FILES]. The KPIs I care about: [KPIS OR ASK YOU TO SUGGEST]. Targets: [TARGETS]. Clean the data, calculate each KPI by [TIME GRAIN] for the last 12 periods, and show this period vs last period and vs target. Build a one-page Excel dashboard: KPI cards at the top with green, amber or red status, a trend chart for each, and a table underneath. Put raw data and calculations on separate tabs with formulas, and write a definition for each KPI (formula and data source). Then write 5 bullet points on what changed and why it might have happened. Send the summary to [WHERE TO SEND].
What to change
- [BUSINESS OR TEAM]: e.g. "online shop selling home decor" or "a 6-person customer support team".
- [DATA FILES]: Attach CSV or Excel exports, e.g. orders, ad spend, Google Analytics export, help desk tickets.
- [KPIS OR ASK YOU TO SUGGEST]: e.g. "revenue, orders, average order value, conversion rate, CAC, repeat rate" or "suggest the best 8".
- [TARGETS]: e.g. "revenue 120k/month, conversion 2.5%, CAC under 30". Leave blank and the agent proposes realistic ones.
- [TIME GRAIN]: "week" or "month".
- [WHERE TO SEND]: e.g. "my email", "our #metrics Slack channel" or "WhatsApp".
Example result
- KPI dashboard: Hollow Oak Home (week 41)
- Fictional shop; numbers are illustrative.
- KPI cards (this week vs last week, status vs target)
- • Revenue: 31,400 (up 6%) green, target 30,000
- • Orders: 412 (up 2%) green
- • Average order value: 76.20 (up 4%) green
- • Conversion rate: 2.1% (down 0.3 pts) amber, target 2.5%
- • Customer acquisition cost: 34.80 (up 11%) red, target under 30
- • Repeat customer rate: 27% (flat) green
- • Return rate: 6.4% (up 1.1 pts) amber
- • Gross margin: 48% (flat) green
- What changed this week
- • Revenue rose because of larger baskets, not more orders: AOV hit a 12-week high after the bundle offer.
- • Conversion fell mainly on mobile (1.6% vs 2.4% on desktop). The new checkout page launched on Tuesday is the likely cause.
- • CAC is up because paid social spend rose 18% while new customers stayed flat.
- • Returns rose in the cushion category; 9 of 26 returns mention "color different from photo".
- • Repeat rate is steady; the loyalty email still drives about a third of repeat orders.
- Suggested actions
- • Check the mobile checkout for errors before spending more on ads
- • Pause the two weakest ad sets until CAC is back under 30
- • Re-shoot the cushion photos in daylight
- KPI definitions (Definitions tab)
- • Conversion rate = orders / sessions (source: analytics export)
- • CAC = paid marketing spend / new customers (source: ad exports + orders)
- • Repeat rate = orders from returning customers / all orders
- Workbook tabs
- • Dashboard, Weekly KPIs, Orders data, Marketing data, Definitions
How to do it with todo.is
- Copy the prompt and replace the [brackets] with your business, KPIs, targets and where to send the summary.
- Paste it into todo.is and attach your exports (CSV or Excel, up to 50 MB each).
- Your agent cleans the data, builds the dashboard and writes the "what changed" summary.
- Make it weekly: "Every Monday at 8 am, I'll forward the new exports; update the dashboard and post the summary to Slack."
Tips for a better result
- Pick 6 to 10 KPIs. A dashboard with 30 numbers is a report nobody reads.
- Write a definition for every KPI. Teams argue less when "conversion rate" means the same thing to everyone.
- Mix leading indicators (pipeline, traffic, trial signups) with lagging ones (revenue, churn) so you can act before the month ends.
- Keep export column names the same each week so the agent can update the same workbook without rework.
- Ask your agent to remember your KPI list and targets; next time you only attach the new data.
KPI dashboard: FAQ
- What should a KPI dashboard include? A small set of key metrics with current value, trend, target and status, plus a clear definition and data source for each. One page is ideal.
- Can I make a KPI dashboard in Excel? Yes. The agent builds it in Excel with formula-driven KPI cards, conditional formatting for status and charts, so it opens anywhere Excel or Google Sheets does.
- Can it connect live to my store or CRM? It works from exports you attach or forward by email. For a regular update, set a recurring to-do and send the new export each week.
- What are good KPIs for a small business? Common ones are revenue, gross margin, cash on hand, number of customers, average order value, customer acquisition cost and repeat rate. The right set depends on your model, so ask your agent to suggest them.
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