Any Business / Reporting Analysts here?

[Big Monkey]

I just landed a new gig that is reporting based.

I use limited Access and a lot of Excel for the reports I'll be doing. Most of the data comes from an SQL server or daily/weekly flat file dumps from a business partner.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to do web based reports via PHP or other web based languages...so I'm pretty much limited to Office products for the report outputs.

Are there any tools or programs that you guys use heavily for reporting purposes?

Trending, Charting, etc....

If there's something I can download and purchase to help me out, I'm willing to invest if it's worth it and will help me do my job better and/or faster.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Tom Urtis]

You are using Excel already, which has dozens of reporting options, from charts to pivot tables to the limits of your imagination with VBA for interactivity. I'm not saying Excel does everything, but it is made for turning your flat file tables into data analysis and reports presentations, which you can always copy and paste into PowerPoint if you need to go that route. Please explain what you need to do that is beyond what Excel's limitations are. You might already have what you need without having to spend money for additional reporting software.