By the end of this blog post, you’ll have learnt about our range of time-saving templates, and have a solid understanding of how to get started with templates.
Let’s face it—sometimes just getting started is the hardest part of doing, well, anything. That feeling of needing to build something from scratch can be overwhelming. Enter templates in Spotlight Reporting.
Templates make it easy for anyone wanting to standardise and speed up the reporting process. They’re also there to guide you towards best practice reporting—what should be included? How should it be displayed? What are the industry-recognised KPIs?
“...report templates mean producing reports across entire client databases is only a few clicks of a button.”
Disprose Miller
What’s a Spotlight template?
In Spotlight, you can choose from a variety of customisable pre-built templates. They’re already loaded with KPIs and charts relevant to your business or industry, so you don’t need to start from scratch each time. Reporting, analysing, and discussing these KPIs will lead to better decision making and results.
Templates are flexible so you can edit them to fit your team’s specific needs. You can save your customised templates so they’re ready to use for your next report, ensuring a consistent framework.
Where can I find templates?
Our current list of templates is accessible in the Customise Layout screen in Spotlight (psst… we’re launching a new Template Gallery and templates shortly—watch this space).
Choose a template that fits the data you want to get across, whether it’s a Hospitality template, a Not-for-Profit template, or an Agricultural template, there’s something to fit every need and purpose.
Here’s a full list of templates that are available as soon as you sign up for a trial:
Industry Templates
- Agriculture - Dairy Template
- Agriculture - Livestock Template
- Hospitality Template
- Manufacturing Template
- Medical Services Template
- Not for Profit Template
- Professional Services Template
- Retail Template
- Real Estate Template (NEW)
- SaaS Template
- New templates launching soon!
Personal Wealth Templates
- Cash & Wealth
- Wealth
Default Templates
- Basic
- Basic [Cash]
- Standard
- Advanced
- Target Score Card (only)
How do I use templates in Spotlight?
It’s easy to produce beautiful, insightful reports using templates. All you need to do is:
- Import financial data from your accounting software.
- Go to Customise Layout and select the template you’d like to use. Template specific pages are now included in your report (e.g. Retail Financial and Sales Metrics).
- Source and input the non-financial data you need to complete the report.
- Make any necessary customisations and adjustments. You can quickly add or remove pages, customise your P&L, add and edit charts, and select from over 150 standard graphs or customise your own.
Wait, there’s more! Once you’ve customised your report, you can save this report as a custom template. The saved report template layout can be used again in future reports, or reports for other organisations. You’ll have peace of mind knowing that any of your team members using the template will begin with your best practices.
✨ Pro Tip: you can create and save as many custom templates as you like. Spotlight team member and advisory expert, James, had this to say: “A user I know has a board report pack, and another, more detailed board pack for that scrutinising board member who happens to be an accountant as well.”
Now it’s your turn—how will you use Spotlight Templates?
So, there you have it. Templates not only help to ease your workload but they also help increase efficiency and rein in the chaos that can come with starting something new.
Happy templating! If you need more help, check out our Help Centre. And if you’re looking for a particular industry or style of template, let us know!
