Do your recurring reports send themselves from the BI tool on a schedule?

Power BI, Looker and Tableau can email or post reports on a schedule and alert people when a number crosses a threshold. Tableau Pulse sends short metric digests.

How to automate it

How to automate “refresh recurring reports and send them out”

Here are 2 ways to spend less time on this, best first. Each comes with steps you can follow today.

60 min

typically, once a week

75%

of the time can be automated

Some setup

to set up

Fix 1 of 2

AutomationBest fix

Build the report once so it refreshes itself

Connect the spreadsheet or dashboard straight to the source so next week's report is already done.

Typically saves about 80% of the time4 h to set up

1List where each number comes from.
2Use Power Query (Excel), a connected sheet, or a Google Data Studio or Power BI dashboard pulling from the source.
3Schedule the refresh and send the link instead of an attachment.

Tools: Excel Power Query · Power BI · Google Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio) · Google Sheets connectors

Fix 2 of 2

Software feature

Schedule report delivery and metric digests from the BI tool

Subscriptions in Power BI, Looker and Tableau, and digests like Tableau Pulse, send the right numbers to the right people on a schedule, with alerts when something moves.

Typically saves about 70% of the time30 min to set up

1For each report you send by hand, set up a subscription in the BI tool for the same recipients.
2Use data-driven alerts for thresholds people care about.
3Turn on Tableau Pulse or similar metric digests for executives who want a few numbers.
4Stop sending attachments; send links.

Tools: Power BI subscriptions and alerts · Looker schedules · Tableau subscriptions and Tableau Pulse

Quick wins

Have you tried…

Do your recurring reports send themselves from the BI tool on a schedule?: Power BI, Looker and Tableau can email or post reports on a schedule and alert people when a number crosses a threshold. Tableau Pulse sends short metric digests.

Who does this task

Roles in our library that list this as one of their common tasks. Each guide covers the rest of that role’s week.

Data / BI analyst

HourLeak · the 8-minute work audit

How many hours does this cost you?

The free 8-minute check works out where your week goes and gives you your top fixes. The team scan does the same for everyone and adds it up, so you know which leaks to fix first.

Take the free check Scan my team, $49

Answers are anonymous. Leaders only see team totals.