Build a Formatted Executive Report for Distribution

Build a polished, print-ready executive summary report in OfficeConnect with custom formatting, logos, and page layout — ready to share as PDF or Excel.
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A raw OfficeConnect report shows the right numbers, but an executive report needs to look the part. This tutorial walks through building a formatted P&L summary with branding, clean layout, and print-ready page setup — the kind of report you can share as a PDF without touching it in PowerPoint first.

What you’ll build: A one-page executive P&L summary with a header, logo, formatted number columns, and page layout configured for PDF export.

What you’ll need:

  • OfficeConnect installed and connected to an Adaptive Planning tenant (Get Started)
  • An Adaptive Planning model with P&L accounts, actuals, and budget loaded
  • Basic familiarity with building variance reports — see Budget vs. Actuals Variance

Step 1 — Build the data structure

1
Open Excel and activate OfficeConnect Open a new Excel workbook and click the OfficeConnect tab. Sign in if prompted. The Reporting pane opens on the right.
2
Add account rows Starting in A5 (leaving rows 1–4 for the header), add your P&L summary accounts. Click A5 and drag Revenue from the Reporting pane. Add Cost of Goods Sold in A6, Gross Profit in A7, Operating Expenses in A8, and Net Income in A9. Use rollup accounts so OfficeConnect aggregates child accounts automatically.
3
Add version and time columns

Click B3 and drag your Actuals version in. Click C3 and drag Budget. Click D3 and type Variance (this will be a plain Excel formula column, not an OfficeConnect element).

Click B4 and drag the reporting period into it (for example, the current quarter or full year). Copy B4 into C4 — both version columns share the same time context.

4
Populate data cells and variance formula

Click B5 — OfficeConnect creates a formula for Actuals, the period in B4, and the account in A5. Copy B5 down to B9, then copy B5:B9 across to C5:C9 for Budget.

In D5, enter =B5-C5. Copy D5 down to D9. Format column D to show positive variances as favorable (green) and negative as unfavorable (red) using Excel’s conditional formatting.

Step 2 — Build the header

5
Add a report title Click A1 and type your report title, for example: Executive Summary — Q2 2026. Merge cells A1:D1 (Home ribbon → Merge & Center). Set font to 16pt Bold.
6
Add a subtitle with the refresh date

Click A2 and enter a formula to show today’s date dynamically:

="As of "&TEXT(TODAY(),"MMMM D, YYYY")

Merge A2:D2 and set to 10pt italic gray. This updates automatically each time the workbook is opened.

7
Insert a logo Click Insert in the Excel ribbon, then Pictures → This Device. Select your company logo file. Resize and position it in the upper-right area (around D1:D2). Right-click the image and choose Format Picture → Properties → Move and size with cells — this keeps it in place when rows reflow.

Step 3 — Apply formatting

8
Format number columns Select B5:D9. Apply the Accounting number format with no decimal places (Home → Number → Accounting, set decimal places to 0). For column D (variance), apply a custom format: [Green]#,##0;[Red]-#,##0 to color-code favorable and unfavorable variances automatically.
9
Add column headers and borders In B3:D3, type the column headers: Actuals, Budget, Variance. Bold and center them. Add a thick bottom border under row 3 (the header row) and a thin top border above row 9 (the Net Income row) to create a visual subtotal separator.
10
Add alternating row shading Select A5:D8 (the data rows, excluding Net Income). Apply a light gray fill (#F2F2F2) to every other row — A5:D5 and A7:D7 — so the report is easy to scan. Leave A6:D6 and A8:D8 with no fill.

Step 4 — Configure page layout for PDF export

11
Set page orientation and margins Click the Page Layout tab in Excel. Set Orientation to Landscape. Set Margins to Narrow. Set Fit to 1 page wide by 1 page tall — this ensures the report prints as a single page regardless of zoom.
12
Add a footer with page number and company name Go to Insert → Header & Footer. Click in the footer area and add: left section — company name; center section — Confidential; right section — &P of &N (page number). Click outside the header/footer area to exit.
13
Refresh and export as PDF Click Refresh in the OfficeConnect ribbon to populate the latest figures. Then go to File → Export → Create PDF/XPS and save the PDF. Open it to confirm the layout is clean, the logo appears, and numbers are formatted correctly.

Next steps