Brought to you by:

Hi Reader,

Welcome to the Google Sheets Tips newsletter #376, your Monday morning espresso, in spreadsheet form!

I've been using Gemini and Gemini Canvas a lot recently for various projects. It's mind-blowing how quick it is at generating formulas and scripts that work.

We're definitely at the threshold (or maybe already past it 🤔) where it doesn't make sense to write your own complex formulas or code from scratch (for specific problems with limited scope).

Having said that, I still use every ounce of my prior 20 years of professional experience to craft effective prompts. And, it helps me spot errors or know what to suggest next for the LLM.

So be reassured that all that knowledge you have is as valuable as ever. And yes, it's still worth topping it up so that you're in the driving seat when you're working with these tools.

Something to muse on this Monday morning.

➜ News

I.
​Google Workspace adds expanded access to AI features with a new plan that sits between their standard offering and their top tier Ultra plan.

​Read more here >>​

II.
​A profile of the "Excel World Champion"​

​

Brought to you by: TabTabTab Finish Today What Used to Take All Night TabTabTab is an AI workspace where users do hours of spreadsheet, research, and presentation work in minutes. No more late nights juggling tabs and tools. Research on autopilot: Add a topic or list; get structured notes, sources, and analysis back. Spreadsheets done for you: Say what you need (data cleaning, formulas, summaries...); the sheet will update itself. One-step slides: Turn findings into polished decks with charts and talking points. Plain English commands: Ask for what you want; TabTabTab will do the grunt work for you. Trusted by spreadsheet power users at leading companies. Try TabTabTab for free!

➜ Sheets Tip #376: Scorecard Charts

In this tip, we look at a chart you might never have used: the Scorecard chart.

Scorecards are simple, single-number charts designed to display a single, important metric at a glance (e.g. a stock price, or subscriber count, or customer churn).

Here's a basic example showing the stock prices for big tech companies, compared to their recent 14-day rolling average:

They're most useful in dashboards when you need to highlight key metrics.

Scorecards show the main metric and an optional comparison (e.g. vs. previous period, vs. baseline).

They're quick and easy to use:

1. Go to the menu "Insert > Chart".
2. Under "Setup" and "Chart type", choose "Scorecard", which is in the Other category.
3. Click on "Data range" and then select the cell with the number you want to display.
4. Add an optional baseline value for comparison.
5. Under "Customize", go to "Baseline value" and choose between Absolute value or Percent value for the comparison.
6. Also under "Customize", feel free to change the colors and fonts for the Scorecard.

Scorecards are quick and easy and a great addition to your dashboards.

But the default scorecards look rather bland and lack some context.

Let's turn them into something more exciting and informative:

We need to make one substantive change — adding the sparkline chart — and the rest is cosmetic.

In this case, I added a sparkline to show the previous 14 days share price, which gives context to the scorecard.

The formula for the sparkline is:

I have the stock prices in rows B3:B16.

The sparkline formula plots them as a line inside a single cell.

The cosmetic changes are:

• Change the color of the scorecard background and border, e.g. to orange
• Change the font color of the scorecard to white for the main metric and the baseline value
• Change the font color of the heading to white
• Change the background colors of the cells that contain the sparkline, header, and scorecard, e.g. to orange
• Depending on your columns, you may want to merge cells to get the header and sparkline sitting in the middle of the block

A few simple upgrades can make a big difference in how your work is perceived.

Spend 10 extra minutes on your important Sheets so your work really shines and you get the credit you deserve.

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please forward it to a friend who might enjoy it.

Have a great week!

Cheers,
Ben

P.S. Guess how many people can edit a single Google Doc at once?

The number is probably MUCH higher than you think 😲