Sorry to not let this one die, because it is an interesting topic.
I'll try and stay on subject.
There are about a gajillion spreadsheet sites out there for
spreadsheeting examples. For charting I would suggest
John Peltier site :
http://www.geocities.com/jonpeltier/Excel/Charts/index.html
When reporting down the food chain I usually try and look at
different mediums to get ideas. Some of my favorite places to
get inspiration for colors that work well together are the
web sites of companies that manufacturers paint
http://paintquality.com/colorchart/index.html
and, of course:
http://www.sherwin-williams.com/
For the layout of spreadsheets I would suggest visiting
your favorite websites, especially sites that target the
same audience as yours. I spend a lot of time reading
articles on Cfo.com and FEI.org, these sites are marketing
to the same people that I report to so I try to see how
they organize their site. Most sites targeting executives
keep it clean and simple.
I usually look at webpage's for their font sizes and styles,
the way the headings are laid out, and how data is presented.
Obviously none of these sites present data in spreadsheets
so you have to stretch a bit. Another good source of
spreadsheets would be from Thomson Financial, they are
the king on the street for presenting financial information.
When exporting spreadsheets of financial data from their site
it usually downloads about the same way it looks on the web.
Most importantly, I think, I always look at existing company
reports, it may be the most important source, specifically
reports created by the highest person up who will review
your report. Every manager I have every known has made a
point to 'mark their territory'. I usually catch backlash
from lots of people all over if I make radical changes
to the current reports. I think it is better to make
gradual changes.
I usually start by changing the fonts from Arial or Times
to Franklin Gothic Book or Verdana, depending if the report
will be viewed on a computer mostly or printed out. Then I
adjust colors and headings changing harsh 'highlighter'
yellow for a pale yellow.
Finally, I always try to balance my time I spend maybe 10%
of my time formatting the report and then the rest of
the time on optimizing the report. I spend the majority
of my time working through what the report is trying to
show and how I can convey that.
Hope that helps...
Heath
PS As a side note, this was an important part of my job at a
publically traded women's retailer. I was a Financial
Analyst and Head of Investor Relations. I spent most of my
time reading Analyst coverage (another source of inspiration)
and working on reports for the executive board. So I sympathize
with your question.
