Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Using Excel to track Grants
I am trying to find a means to track the different grants we get for our
research that also provides a means for our Executive Director to quickly view them for their status. I found a workbook at a non-profit website that has 3 sheets: (1) Expenses - this is an expense report form, essentially. We can add and subtract money to indicate when we spend or receive money. (2) Balance over Time - This is an X-Y line graph to depict money remaining versus money spent over the life of the grant. (3) Notes - Just a place with 2 columns - date and text, to write notes about the grant over time to help with writing the technical and financial reports required by the grantor. My initial idea was to use one workbook per grant and have the person in charge of that grant share it so the Executive Director could review it easily. Not bad, but I think it can be done smarter. Also thought of using Access to create a form to tie them together, but I am still a newbie at Access and it'd throw the staff for a loop unless it was very user friendly. Is there some way to tie together workbooks in one place for administrative review, and to add as we get new grants and retire those that are completed? TIA!! -- Mike Webb Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, Inc. a 501 (c)(3) organization |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
There's probably accounting software that you can purchase specifically
for non-profit organizations. Do a Google search and you should find some suggestions. Mike Webb wrote: I am trying to find a means to track the different grants we get for our research that also provides a means for our Executive Director to quickly view them for their status. I found a workbook at a non-profit website that has 3 sheets: (1) Expenses - this is an expense report form, essentially. We can add and subtract money to indicate when we spend or receive money. (2) Balance over Time - This is an X-Y line graph to depict money remaining versus money spent over the life of the grant. (3) Notes - Just a place with 2 columns - date and text, to write notes about the grant over time to help with writing the technical and financial reports required by the grantor. My initial idea was to use one workbook per grant and have the person in charge of that grant share it so the Executive Director could review it easily. Not bad, but I think it can be done smarter. Also thought of using Access to create a form to tie them together, but I am still a newbie at Access and it'd throw the staff for a loop unless it was very user friendly. Is there some way to tie together workbooks in one place for administrative review, and to add as we get new grants and retire those that are completed? TIA!! -- Debra Dalgleish Excel FAQ, Tips & Book List http://www.contextures.com/tiptech.html |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Hi Mike.........
Yes, multiple workbooks can be linked to a master Executive Abstract Workbook. There's a zillion ways to present the data, depending on how many Grants you're dealing with........if it's a few, charts might be best, if many, then just probably Conditional Formatting (Green=Under budget, Red=Over budget) etc, with links to Charts and Data of interest.........it's a bit of a project to set up, but really nice when it's done. One problem is, you need a relatively stable MIS dept, that don't like to rename servers and paths, etc........this has a tendency to play havoc with links............ hth Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Mike Webb" wrote in message ... I am trying to find a means to track the different grants we get for our research that also provides a means for our Executive Director to quickly view them for their status. I found a workbook at a non-profit website that has 3 sheets: (1) Expenses - this is an expense report form, essentially. We can add and subtract money to indicate when we spend or receive money. (2) Balance over Time - This is an X-Y line graph to depict money remaining versus money spent over the life of the grant. (3) Notes - Just a place with 2 columns - date and text, to write notes about the grant over time to help with writing the technical and financial reports required by the grantor. My initial idea was to use one workbook per grant and have the person in charge of that grant share it so the Executive Director could review it easily. Not bad, but I think it can be done smarter. Also thought of using Access to create a form to tie them together, but I am still a newbie at Access and it'd throw the staff for a loop unless it was very user friendly. Is there some way to tie together workbooks in one place for administrative review, and to add as we get new grants and retire those that are completed? TIA!! -- Mike Webb Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, Inc. a 501 (c)(3) organization |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
You're right, there is, but I need a no-cost solution now until funding
becomes available. "Debra Dalgleish" wrote in message ... There's probably accounting software that you can purchase specifically for non-profit organizations. Do a Google search and you should find some suggestions. Mike Webb wrote: I am trying to find a means to track the different grants we get for our research that also provides a means for our Executive Director to quickly view them for their status. I found a workbook at a non-profit website that has 3 sheets: (1) Expenses - this is an expense report form, essentially. We can add and subtract money to indicate when we spend or receive money. (2) Balance over Time - This is an X-Y line graph to depict money remaining versus money spent over the life of the grant. (3) Notes - Just a place with 2 columns - date and text, to write notes about the grant over time to help with writing the technical and financial reports required by the grantor. My initial idea was to use one workbook per grant and have the person in charge of that grant share it so the Executive Director could review it easily. Not bad, but I think it can be done smarter. Also thought of using Access to create a form to tie them together, but I am still a newbie at Access and it'd throw the staff for a loop unless it was very user friendly. Is there some way to tie together workbooks in one place for administrative review, and to add as we get new grants and retire those that are completed? TIA!! -- Debra Dalgleish Excel FAQ, Tips & Book List http://www.contextures.com/tiptech.html |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Sounds like a good idea, but what is an Executive Abstract Workbook? Looked
through Excel's help and in Google, but didn't find it or something related. Mike "CLR" wrote in message ... Hi Mike......... Yes, multiple workbooks can be linked to a master Executive Abstract Workbook. There's a zillion ways to present the data, depending on how many Grants you're dealing with........if it's a few, charts might be best, if many, then just probably Conditional Formatting (Green=Under budget, Red=Over budget) etc, with links to Charts and Data of interest.........it's a bit of a project to set up, but really nice when it's done. One problem is, you need a relatively stable MIS dept, that don't like to rename servers and paths, etc........this has a tendency to play havoc with links............ hth Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Mike Webb" wrote in message ... I am trying to find a means to track the different grants we get for our research that also provides a means for our Executive Director to quickly view them for their status. I found a workbook at a non-profit website that has 3 sheets: (1) Expenses - this is an expense report form, essentially. We can add and subtract money to indicate when we spend or receive money. (2) Balance over Time - This is an X-Y line graph to depict money remaining versus money spent over the life of the grant. (3) Notes - Just a place with 2 columns - date and text, to write notes about the grant over time to help with writing the technical and financial reports required by the grantor. My initial idea was to use one workbook per grant and have the person in charge of that grant share it so the Executive Director could review it easily. Not bad, but I think it can be done smarter. Also thought of using Access to create a form to tie them together, but I am still a newbie at Access and it'd throw the staff for a loop unless it was very user friendly. Is there some way to tie together workbooks in one place for administrative review, and to add as we get new grants and retire those that are completed? TIA!! -- Mike Webb Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, Inc. a 501 (c)(3) organization |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Hi Mike.....
"Executive Abstract Workbook" is not an Official name for anything......it's just what I call those Workbooks that I create that do this sort of thing. Sorry for the confusion and any inconvienience. Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Mike Webb" wrote: Sounds like a good idea, but what is an Executive Abstract Workbook? Looked through Excel's help and in Google, but didn't find it or something related. Mike "CLR" wrote in message ... Hi Mike......... Yes, multiple workbooks can be linked to a master Executive Abstract Workbook. There's a zillion ways to present the data, depending on how many Grants you're dealing with........if it's a few, charts might be best, if many, then just probably Conditional Formatting (Green=Under budget, Red=Over budget) etc, with links to Charts and Data of interest.........it's a bit of a project to set up, but really nice when it's done. One problem is, you need a relatively stable MIS dept, that don't like to rename servers and paths, etc........this has a tendency to play havoc with links............ hth Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Mike Webb" wrote in message ... I am trying to find a means to track the different grants we get for our research that also provides a means for our Executive Director to quickly view them for their status. I found a workbook at a non-profit website that has 3 sheets: (1) Expenses - this is an expense report form, essentially. We can add and subtract money to indicate when we spend or receive money. (2) Balance over Time - This is an X-Y line graph to depict money remaining versus money spent over the life of the grant. (3) Notes - Just a place with 2 columns - date and text, to write notes about the grant over time to help with writing the technical and financial reports required by the grantor. My initial idea was to use one workbook per grant and have the person in charge of that grant share it so the Executive Director could review it easily. Not bad, but I think it can be done smarter. Also thought of using Access to create a form to tie them together, but I am still a newbie at Access and it'd throw the staff for a loop unless it was very user friendly. Is there some way to tie together workbooks in one place for administrative review, and to add as we get new grants and retire those that are completed? TIA!! -- Mike Webb Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, Inc. a 501 (c)(3) organization |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Okay, no problem. One last question ..... will the Help file in Excel tell
me anything about this type of workbook? If not, are there any good Excel websites that might? TIA, Mike "CLR" wrote in message ... Hi Mike..... "Executive Abstract Workbook" is not an Official name for anything......it's just what I call those Workbooks that I create that do this sort of thing. Sorry for the confusion and any inconvienience. Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Mike Webb" wrote: Sounds like a good idea, but what is an Executive Abstract Workbook? Looked through Excel's help and in Google, but didn't find it or something related. Mike "CLR" wrote in message ... Hi Mike......... Yes, multiple workbooks can be linked to a master Executive Abstract Workbook. There's a zillion ways to present the data, depending on how many Grants you're dealing with........if it's a few, charts might be best, if many, then just probably Conditional Formatting (Green=Under budget, Red=Over budget) etc, with links to Charts and Data of interest.........it's a bit of a project to set up, but really nice when it's done. One problem is, you need a relatively stable MIS dept, that don't like to rename servers and paths, etc........this has a tendency to play havoc with links............ hth Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Mike Webb" wrote in message ... I am trying to find a means to track the different grants we get for our research that also provides a means for our Executive Director to quickly view them for their status. I found a workbook at a non-profit website that has 3 sheets: (1) Expenses - this is an expense report form, essentially. We can add and subtract money to indicate when we spend or receive money. (2) Balance over Time - This is an X-Y line graph to depict money remaining versus money spent over the life of the grant. (3) Notes - Just a place with 2 columns - date and text, to write notes about the grant over time to help with writing the technical and financial reports required by the grantor. My initial idea was to use one workbook per grant and have the person in charge of that grant share it so the Executive Director could review it easily. Not bad, but I think it can be done smarter. Also thought of using Access to create a form to tie them together, but I am still a newbie at Access and it'd throw the staff for a loop unless it was very user friendly. Is there some way to tie together workbooks in one place for administrative review, and to add as we get new grants and retire those that are completed? TIA!! -- Mike Webb Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, Inc. a 501 (c)(3) organization |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Hi Mike......
Although the Excel HELP files are good for some things, I don't think this is one of them. They provide very specific information, mainly about things that you know how to ask for in the Excel lingo. An Executive Abstract Workbook (EAB), is just like any other Excel Workbook, except that it has links to other workbooks to bring in the main cells that the Boss might be interested in comparing between all the like workbooks.....like the Name of the Grant, the initial amount, the current months expenditures, and the total expenditure, and how much is left, and remarks......those sorts of things..... A typical "link" would be just a formula put in a cell in the EAB, for example, =[Grant1book.xls]Sheet'1!A1 put in Cell A1 would bring in whatever value exists in the file called "Grant1book.xls, from Cell A1 of Sheet1. This formula can be copied and pasted and/or adapted to bring in any cells you want. Then the layout and formatting of the EAB sheet depends a lot on the nature of how your data presents itself, but there are no rules, whatever looks good and is easy to read is ok......keeping in mind that the idea is to present to the reader as much info as possible with as little effort on their part as is necessary. Holler back if you have more questions..... hth Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Mike Webb" wrote: Okay, no problem. One last question ..... will the Help file in Excel tell me anything about this type of workbook? If not, are there any good Excel websites that might? TIA, Mike "CLR" wrote in message ... Hi Mike..... "Executive Abstract Workbook" is not an Official name for anything......it's just what I call those Workbooks that I create that do this sort of thing. Sorry for the confusion and any inconvienience. Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Mike Webb" wrote: Sounds like a good idea, but what is an Executive Abstract Workbook? Looked through Excel's help and in Google, but didn't find it or something related. Mike "CLR" wrote in message ... Hi Mike......... Yes, multiple workbooks can be linked to a master Executive Abstract Workbook. There's a zillion ways to present the data, depending on how many Grants you're dealing with........if it's a few, charts might be best, if many, then just probably Conditional Formatting (Green=Under budget, Red=Over budget) etc, with links to Charts and Data of interest.........it's a bit of a project to set up, but really nice when it's done. One problem is, you need a relatively stable MIS dept, that don't like to rename servers and paths, etc........this has a tendency to play havoc with links............ hth Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Mike Webb" wrote in message ... I am trying to find a means to track the different grants we get for our research that also provides a means for our Executive Director to quickly view them for their status. I found a workbook at a non-profit website that has 3 sheets: (1) Expenses - this is an expense report form, essentially. We can add and subtract money to indicate when we spend or receive money. (2) Balance over Time - This is an X-Y line graph to depict money remaining versus money spent over the life of the grant. (3) Notes - Just a place with 2 columns - date and text, to write notes about the grant over time to help with writing the technical and financial reports required by the grantor. My initial idea was to use one workbook per grant and have the person in charge of that grant share it so the Executive Director could review it easily. Not bad, but I think it can be done smarter. Also thought of using Access to create a form to tie them together, but I am still a newbie at Access and it'd throw the staff for a loop unless it was very user friendly. Is there some way to tie together workbooks in one place for administrative review, and to add as we get new grants and retire those that are completed? TIA!! -- Mike Webb Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, Inc. a 501 (c)(3) organization |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Excellent! Thanks for the help. I'll holler again if I need advice.
Mike "CLR" wrote in message ... Hi Mike...... Although the Excel HELP files are good for some things, I don't think this is one of them. They provide very specific information, mainly about things that you know how to ask for in the Excel lingo. An Executive Abstract Workbook (EAB), is just like any other Excel Workbook, except that it has links to other workbooks to bring in the main cells that the Boss might be interested in comparing between all the like workbooks.....like the Name of the Grant, the initial amount, the current months expenditures, and the total expenditure, and how much is left, and remarks......those sorts of things..... A typical "link" would be just a formula put in a cell in the EAB, for example, =[Grant1book.xls]Sheet'1!A1 put in Cell A1 would bring in whatever value exists in the file called "Grant1book.xls, from Cell A1 of Sheet1. This formula can be copied and pasted and/or adapted to bring in any cells you want. Then the layout and formatting of the EAB sheet depends a lot on the nature of how your data presents itself, but there are no rules, whatever looks good and is easy to read is ok......keeping in mind that the idea is to present to the reader as much info as possible with as little effort on their part as is necessary. Holler back if you have more questions..... hth Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Mike Webb" wrote: Okay, no problem. One last question ..... will the Help file in Excel tell me anything about this type of workbook? If not, are there any good Excel websites that might? TIA, Mike "CLR" wrote in message ... Hi Mike..... "Executive Abstract Workbook" is not an Official name for anything......it's just what I call those Workbooks that I create that do this sort of thing. Sorry for the confusion and any inconvienience. Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Mike Webb" wrote: Sounds like a good idea, but what is an Executive Abstract Workbook? Looked through Excel's help and in Google, but didn't find it or something related. Mike "CLR" wrote in message ... Hi Mike......... Yes, multiple workbooks can be linked to a master Executive Abstract Workbook. There's a zillion ways to present the data, depending on how many Grants you're dealing with........if it's a few, charts might be best, if many, then just probably Conditional Formatting (Green=Under budget, Red=Over budget) etc, with links to Charts and Data of interest.........it's a bit of a project to set up, but really nice when it's done. One problem is, you need a relatively stable MIS dept, that don't like to rename servers and paths, etc........this has a tendency to play havoc with links............ hth Vaya con Dios, Chuck, CABGx3 "Mike Webb" wrote in message ... I am trying to find a means to track the different grants we get for our research that also provides a means for our Executive Director to quickly view them for their status. I found a workbook at a non-profit website that has 3 sheets: (1) Expenses - this is an expense report form, essentially. We can add and subtract money to indicate when we spend or receive money. (2) Balance over Time - This is an X-Y line graph to depict money remaining versus money spent over the life of the grant. (3) Notes - Just a place with 2 columns - date and text, to write notes about the grant over time to help with writing the technical and financial reports required by the grantor. My initial idea was to use one workbook per grant and have the person in charge of that grant share it so the Executive Director could review it easily. Not bad, but I think it can be done smarter. Also thought of using Access to create a form to tie them together, but I am still a newbie at Access and it'd throw the staff for a loop unless it was very user friendly. Is there some way to tie together workbooks in one place for administrative review, and to add as we get new grants and retire those that are completed? TIA!! -- Mike Webb Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, Inc. a 501 (c)(3) organization |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
I get a program error when I download an excel template | Excel Discussion (Misc queries) | |||
html to excel | Excel Discussion (Misc queries) | |||
Merge from Excel to Excel | Excel Discussion (Misc queries) | |||
Shortcut file fails to open | Excel Discussion (Misc queries) | |||
where can I get a template for excel to track vending machine tak. | Excel Discussion (Misc queries) |