Keep reports and presentation updates connected to the numbers behind them.
One report. Always current.
Updated 09:41
This week, in focus.
What changed
Friday was the strongest day. Revenue reached $48.2k for the week.
What happens next
Review open opportunities and keep delivery commitments on track.
Figures and charts pull from your source instead of being pasted in.
Open the document and see today's numbers, not last month's.
Send the same link each cycle instead of a new attachment.
Headings, context and commentary read like a report, not a dashboard.
Write it once. Connect it once. From then on, the weekly job is the commentary.
Draft the report or brief as you normally would, with your headings and commentary.
Connect each number and chart to its source instead of pasting it in.
Readers open the same link each week and find this week's figures.
Each cycle, spend your time on what the numbers mean. The numbers take care of themselves.
Commentary is written once and stays exactly as you wrote it. Only the linked figures change, so anyone who opens this report sees today's numbers, not last week's copy.
If your week includes copying numbers from one place into another, a live document gives that time back.
Fulfilment and ticket figures already current when the team sits down, so the meeting starts on the discussion.
Tables linked to the source, so the pack matches the latest numbers on the day it goes out.
Each month, write the commentary for each account and leave the results to update themselves.
Pipeline by stage and owner alongside notes on which deals need help, current whenever the team opens it.
Results next to the story of what worked, so the wider team gets the reasoning as well as the figures.
Targets and progress on one page everyone can check, instead of a spreadsheet passed around by email.
Start from a structure that already separates the linked figures from the commentary you write each cycle.
Ops teams preparing for a Monday review meeting
Leadership teams checking a small set of numbers each month
Agencies and consultants sending clients one link per account
Project leads updating sponsors on a regular schedule
If you rebuild it on a schedule, it's a good candidate for a live document.
Orders, tickets and fulfilment figures that refresh before Monday's meeting.
The handful of numbers leadership checks, each against target.
Pipeline by stage and owner, current every time the team opens it.
Milestones, budget used and open risks, without rebuilding the slide each week.
Financial tables that match the latest numbers when the pack goes out.
Campaign results alongside the narrative of what worked and why.
A results report per client that shows this month's figures when they open it.
A shared page of targets and progress that everyone can check.
There are a few common ways to produce a recurring report. Each one handles the numbers differently.
| Compared on | Copying last week's file | Sending a dashboard link | Live Documents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where you start | Duplicate the old file and update it | A dashboard that already exists | A document written once, with linked figures |
| Getting the numbers in | Copy and paste each figure by hand | Figures update on their own | Figures and charts pull from your source |
| Context and commentary | Full freedom to write whatever you need | Little room for explanation | Your headings and commentary stay as written |
| Sharing | A new attachment each cycle | One link, usually for people who know the tool | One link that's always up to date |
| Fixing a wrong number | Hunt through every copy that was sent | Fix it at the source | Fix it at the source and the document follows |
| Keeping a record | Each file is a natural snapshot | Usually shows only the current view | Plan which dated snapshots to archive |
This compares approaches to reporting, not named products. Dashboards and live documents often work well together.
When the same figures also need to be presented in a meeting, presentations.ai can turn the story into a slide deck.
Set up any weekly, monthly or investor report to update itself: audit each element, define every figure, cut the sources and build in checks.
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27 Oct 2026A way to create reports and briefs whose figures and charts stay linked to their source data.
Weekly reports, KPI summaries, project updates and any document you refresh on a schedule.
No. Your text stays as you wrote it; only the linked figures and charts update.
The one you rebuild most often with the same layout, such as a weekly operations report. Reports whose structure changes every edition gain the least, so leave those until last.
A dashboard shows numbers. A live document adds the context: headings, explanations and the story behind the figures.
Fix it at the source and the document reflects the correction, so you don't hunt through old copies.
Keeping dated snapshots of important reports is good practice; plan which ones you need to archive.
A spreadsheet holds every number. A live document presents the few that matter, in order, with the explanation beside them, so readers don't have to find the right tab.
Write the context once. Link the figures. Each cycle, check the commentary and share the same link.