CALUMO – Using Skylights to live link reports in Microsoft Word – Video

The video below rapidly walks through embedding a Calumo report in Microsoft Word and then refreshing this with a new month. (The video has no sound).

Creating large reporting packs or similar in Microsoft Word has a lot of advantages, but getting nicely formatted P&Ls, cash flows, or sales analysis in Word is a big challenge. Often, pictures are taken and inserted. That’s a pain, and it’s a bigger pain if the numbers change or the image needs to be re-formatted in some way. “Skylighting” with Calumo allows you to treat ordinary pictures in your Word document as a dynamic web page. Once inserted, it’s possible to refresh. So if a number changes, you don’t need to re-create and re-insert the image; you just need to refresh. What’s more, when it comes to the following month… just select the new month in the report(s) and refresh. Easy!

Using Skylights effectively can save a lot of time and reduce risk. Advanced uses of skylights can involve rapidly creating multiple copies of a report with slightly different selections in each report. So if a business has, say, 20 different geographic locations, a report pack could be generated for each location using a master with a process that automatically cycles through each location and saves a version of the report.

In any finance reporting process that involves generating Word (or PowerPoint) reports, Skylights can be a very effective tool. Brydens BI has seen and helped clients generate their monthly reporting pack in minutes and completely refresh it due to a change in key revenue lines in just under 60 seconds. We have also helped businesses use Skylights in other ways, including rapidly generating standard Financial Reports for 80+ companies.

For more Calumo Consulting and Calumo Support Tips, go back to CALUMO Tips & Tricks