Short answer Paste the prompt below into Claude with your own details and you get a one-screen dashboard of your sales or jobs, with a few clear charts and the numbers that matter, built from your own spreadsheet. Free or paid. Time saved: about 1 to 2 hours compared with building charts by hand (estimate).
Why it helps
Most small businesses have a spreadsheet of sales, jobs or bookings that nobody looks at, because rows of numbers don't tell you much. A few simple charts do: which days are busy, what sells, and whether this month is better than last.
Claude can read a spreadsheet you upload and build a simple interactive dashboard from it. As of 23 October 2026, Anthropic's Artifacts page lists dashboards and small interactive tools among the things Claude can make, with Claude Dashboards in beta on paid plans. A simple chart page works in a normal chat. Check the Artifacts page for what your plan includes today.
The prompt
Copy it, swap the bits in [square brackets], and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot.
I've uploaded a spreadsheet of [what it is, e.g. daily sales for the last 6 months] for my [type of business] in New Zealand. Build me a simple one-screen dashboard from it. Show: - [3 to 5 things you want to see, e.g. sales by week, best and worst days, top 5 products, this month vs last month] Rules: - Use only the data in the file. Don't add, round or guess numbers. If a column is unclear, ask me before building. - Under the dashboard, list how you calculated each number so I can check it. - Keep it simple and readable on a phone. NZ English.
Then keep chatting
Add a filter so I can pick a month.
Which numbers on this dashboard look odd or worth checking?
Tell me 3 things this data suggests I should look into, without guessing at reasons.
Step by step
- Export your sales or jobs as a spreadsheet or CSV. Delete columns with customer names, emails or card details first.
- Upload it to Claude, paste the prompt and say what you want to see.
- Check two or three numbers on the dashboard against the spreadsheet yourself.
- Ask for changes until it shows what you actually use. Fewer charts is usually better.
- Next month, upload the new data and ask for the same dashboard.
Worked example
Example details are made up. Your results will vary, so always read and check before you use them.
Watch out for
- Check the numbers. Claude can misread a column or a date format (NZ dates are day first). Compare a few figures with your spreadsheet before you rely on the dashboard.
- Privacy: remove customer names, emails, phone numbers and card details before uploading. The Privacy Act 2020 applies (privacy.org.nz).
- Plans change. Some dashboard features are in beta or on paid plans only, so check Claude's Artifacts and pricing pages for what's included today.
Go further
If you'd rather keep everything in your spreadsheet, the spreadsheet formula helper use case writes the formulas. To look ahead instead of back, try the simple cashflow forecast.
