Borders and shading in Excel - Dashboard Guide

Dashboard Mode - Borders and shading

Dashboard Goal

Show how to use borders and shading to make data easier to read and highlight important cells in a sales report.

Sample Data

Product	Region	Sales Q1	Sales Q2	Total Sales
Apples	North	100	150	=SUM(C2:D2)
Bananas	South	200	180	=SUM(C3:D3)
Cherries	East	120	130	=SUM(C4:D4)
Dates	West	90	110	=SUM(C5:D5)
Elderberries	North	160	170	=SUM(C6:D6)

Dashboard Components

• KPI Card: Total Sales Overall
  Formula: =SUM(E2:E6)
  Shows the total sales for all products and regions combined.
• Table with Borders: The sales data table uses thin borders around all cells to separate data clearly.
• Shading: Header row is shaded light gray to distinguish column titles.
  Rows with Total Sales above 300 are shaded light green to highlight strong sales.
• Bold Borders: The Total Sales column has a thick right border to separate it visually from sales quarters.

Dashboard Layout

+-----------------------------+
|       Total Sales Overall    |
|           [KPI Card]         |
+-----------------------------+
| Product | Region | Q1 | Q2 | Total Sales |
|---------------------------------------------|
| Apples  | North  |100 |150 |    250      |
| Bananas | South  |200 |180 |    380      |
| Cherries| East   |120 |130 |    250      |
| Dates   | West   | 90 |110 |    200      |
| Elderb. | North  |160 |170 |    330      |
+---------------------------------------------+
(Headers shaded gray, rows with Total Sales >300 shaded green, thick border right of Total Sales column)

Interactivity

Add a filter for Region. When you select a region, the table updates to show only products from that region. The Total Sales Overall KPI card updates to sum only the visible rows. Borders and shading remain to keep the table easy to read.

Self Check

If you add a filter for Region = North, which components update?

• The sales table shows only Apples and Elderberries rows.
• The Total Sales Overall KPI card updates to sum sales for Apples and Elderberries only.
• Borders and shading remain consistent to keep the table clear.

Key Result

A sales dashboard showing total sales with clear borders and shading to highlight data and improve readability.