Connecting to Data Sources

You can use reports from Salesforce, Reporting, Action Views, or Analytics as data sources for your Microsoft Excel® reports. For more information about XL Plus data sources, including the conditions that apply, see Data Sources.

To connect to a source:

1. Ensure that you are connected to your org. For more information, see Connecting to Your Org.
2. Click Manage in the Source group to open the Manage Sources window.
   
3. Select the relevant tab:
   • Salesforce
   • Reporting
   • Action Views
     
   • CRM Analytics
4. Find the reports you want to use by scrolling through the list of available reports or using the search bar. To see information about Salesforce or Reporting reports, select Show Descriptions. This option is not available for Action Views and is enabled by default for Analytics.
5. Select reports by clicking next to the reports you want to retrieve. The number of selected reports for each source type is indicated on the tab for each source. To connect to Analytics reports, you must firstly enable Analytics in your org.
   
6. Click Retrieve when you have selected all required reports. The Refresh Sources window appears with a list of the reports you selected.
   
7. Click Refresh All to retrieve the latest data for each report and generate corresponding sheets in your Microsoft Excel workbook.
8. [Optional] Apply individual actions to your selected reports:
• Click to refresh the report.
• Click to stop refreshing the report (when a refresh is in progress).
• Click to reverse the signs of a Salesforce or Reporting report (not available for Action Views or Analytics reports). See Reversing the Signs for more information.
• Click to clear the settings of a Salesforce or Reporting report. You can also click Clear All to clear the settings of all listed reports.
9. Close the Refresh Sources window.

For information about refreshing data after your reports have already been retrieved, see Refreshing Reports.

Notes:

• If your permission to use a Salesforce report is removed, the report stays in the list of connected reports, but you cannot refresh it.
• If you connect to reports in more than one Accounting company, they are all listed, but you can only refresh the reports related to your current company.
• Report names that exceed 30 characters are automatically truncated.
• You can load a maximum of 20 columns. All columns are loaded by default, but you cannot add more columns if there are 20 columns or more.
• Changes to reports in XL Plus are not written back to the associated template in the org. You can, however, change the filter value of a report or action views template in XL Plus to retrieve a different set of data based on the new filter value.

Warning:

XL Plus creates hidden sheets holding the report definitions from your connected reports. Do not edit the hidden sheets. The sheets are hidden to protect the data generated by the refresh process. If you edit them, you compromise the data integrity of your reports.