Report Automation – Excel to PowerPoint with R

Report automation can deliver powerful, time-saving results. This course teaches analytics professionals to automate the creation of PowerPoint packs from input Excel workbooks using R. Time is allotted for students to implement techniques taught so that, by the end of the course, students will have wrangled input data, created plots and tables, defined a PowerPoint template, and built a sample set of slides.

Reports serve many functions in organisations – internal communications, regulatory requirements, and monitoring the state of the business to name a few. These reports are often based on legacy processes that utilise tools from Microsoft Office, such as summarising data in Excel to communicate via slides in PowerPoint.

This process of manipulating data in Excel then copying the results into PowerPoint is often manual, tedious, and fully prescribed which makes it a prime candidate for automation. The typical process is simple but manual: generating pivot tables or charts, and copy/pasting the results in to slides. However, being manual makes it difficult to maintain an evidence trail for audit or reassurance if the results are communicated to high-level and/or regulatory stakeholders. It also takes time away from analysts who could add more value by creating insights from the data rather than rote preparation of results.

Reasons for Report Automation

The core of the course is concerned with the reasons for automation;

  • tools and methods required to support automation (within both R and PowerPoint); and
  • the logistics of connecting the tools to provide an end-to-end example report.

The course also provides example data, tables, and plots to build a sample set of slides.

Finally, the schedule allows time for course participants to implement the concepts in class such that, by the end of the class, students will have hands-on experience with the automation process.

Session 1: Introduction

  • Agenda
  • Course overview
  • Advantages of report automation
  • Tools – R, RStudio, R packages

Session 2: Revision of R tools

  • Reading data into R from Excel
  • Data wrangling with tidyverse
  • Building and formatting tables with flextable
  • Building and formatting plots with ggplot

Session 3: Building Reports

  • Constructing slide master templates in PowerPoint
  • Reading a PowerPoint template into R
  • Creating slides using text, tables, and plots.

Additional Information: Report Automation – Excel to PowerPoint

AudienceExpert, Business, Management
This course is for data analytics / reporting professionals. It is also suitable for data analytics team leaders, and indeed for any business professionals seeking to improve their ability to create automated reports.
PrerequisitesA basic familiarity with data analytics, and some experience with R. Key parts of R will be revised and code provided, along with in-class time to implement key concepts.
Objective
  • Understand the application of R to manipulate data, create tables and plots, and produce reports
  • Learn how to configure reports based on company-specific requirements
  • Provide trainees time and support to implement lessons within class.
FormatClass, with in-class assignments
Duration1 day in-person or online
Course AuthorDr Craig Savage
TrainerCourses are taught by Dr Craig Savage.
Delivery MethodOnline, in-person at AlphaZetta Academy locations or on-premise for corporate groups

Our online courses run as live online meetings using Zoom for the video meeting part and Microsoft virtual computers for the practical components. The benefit of having a live trainer for online training is you can ask questions, obtain mentoring from the trainer and interact with classmates.

Course participants will require the following technologies and online accounts. Please check that your setup satisfies these requirements:

  • Course participants will require the following technologies and online accounts:
  • Reliable computer (Windows, Mac or Linux)
  • Webcam (to help facilitate the mentoring aspect of our training)
  • Reliable internet access
  • A quiet space
  • Zoom video conferencing software and Zoom account (register and pre-install the software at zoom.us)
  • Microsoft account in order to access the virtual lab PCs (Existing or new account. There’s nothing to be installed, you just need an account to sign-in with.)

Meals and refreshments

Face-to-face courses: Catered morning tea and lunch are provided on both days of the course. Please notify us at least a week ahead if you have any special dietary requirements.

Feedback

Use academy@alphazetta.ai to email us any questions about the course, including requests for more detail, or for specific content you would like to see covered, or queries regarding prerequisites and suitability.
If you would like to attend but for any reason cannot, please also let us know.

Variation

Course material may vary from advertised due to demands and learning pace of attendees. Additional material may be presented, along with or in place of advertised.

Cancellations and refunds

You can get a full refund if you cancel 14 days or more before the course starts. No refunds will be issued for cancellations made less than 14 days before the course starts.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Do I need to bring my own computer?
This is dependent on the venue. Please check the course event page.

Why do I need to provide a shipping address?
For online courses, we need an address to send you the course notes that you need for the course.

Discounts

Face to face public courses: early bird pricing is available until 2 weeks prior. Group discounts: 5% for 2–4 people, 10% for 5–6 people, 15% for 7–8 people, and 20% for 9 or more people. Discounts are calculated during checkout.

Online public courses: available at a 25% off the face-to-face courses as a special introductory price. to groups or to individuals who want to follow a curriculum program and attend multiple courses:

  • 2-4 courses/attendees 10% off
  • 5+ courses/attendees 20% off

Hurry as bookings will close 1 week before each course. Group discounts are calculated during checkout on individual courses. Individuals can book multiple courses at a discount – please enquire.

Course Booking Terms and Conditions

Private and Corporate Training

In addition to our public seminars, workshops and courses, AlphaZetta Academy can provide this training for your organisation in a private setting at your location or ours, or online. Please enquire to discuss your needs.

Scheduled Public Courses
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Private and Corporate Training

In addition to our public seminars, workshops and courses, AlphaZetta Academy can provide this training for your organisation in a private setting at your location or ours, or online. Please enquire to discuss your needs.

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2023-09-01T06:37:03+00:00October 5th, 2020|Tags: , , , |

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