Client reports your clients actually read.

Why the spreadsheet recap fails

A spreadsheet shows everything and says nothing. The client hunts for the verdict and gives up.

Dashboards are for you, not for them. Clients want the story on one page: what happened, what it cost, what you recommend.

The recap is not admin. It is the one artifact the client forwards to their boss. It either sells your work or undersells it.

The five-part format

The format used in the live example below. Five parts, in order.

1. 01

   The headline

   One sentence in plain words: August: CPA down 12 percent, budget shifted to Email. If the client reads nothing else, they read this.

2. 02

   The KPIs

   Four to six numbers, typeset with real separators and aligned figures. Not a screenshot, not a paste.

3. 03

   One chart that carries the story

   Not six charts. The one comparison that justifies your recommendation.

4. 04

   The detail table

   For the skeptics and the finance person. Complete, ordered, readable in black and white.

5. 05

   The recommendation

   Up top in the headline, argued at the bottom. Reports without a recommendation are logs.

The free template

Two pieces, both yours to take: the data file the format expects, and the blank structure to write into. Neither needs an account.

[ HEADLINE ]
One sentence: the verdict, and what you recommend.

[ KPIs ]
Spend · Conversions · CPA · Change against last month

[ CHART ]
The one comparison that justifies the recommendation.

[ TABLE ]
Every number, ordered. Readable in black and white.

[ RECOMMENDATION ]
What you advise, what it costs, what it is worth.

Other starting points

The format holds past the monthly campaign recap. Three reports published in the open, each the same five parts on a different shape of month. Open one, see how it reads, then bring your file.

Questions worth asking

How often should I send a client report?

Monthly for retained work, quarterly for project work. The rhythm matters more than the month you pick: a report that arrives on the same date every month becomes the thing the client waits for, instead of the thing they chase. If a month was quiet, send it anyway and make it short. Silence reads as nothing happened.

Is this not what the dashboard is for?

A dashboard answers questions the client thought to ask, while they are logged in, which is rarely. A report makes the argument for them: here is what happened, here is what it cost, here is what I recommend. The dashboard is a place, the report is a position. Only one of them gets forwarded to the person who renews your contract.

Do I need design skills to make one?

No, and that is the point. The format above is the design decision. Everything below it, the typesetting, the figures, the table rules, the chart palette, is already set so it holds together on screen and in print. You bring the numbers and the recommendation.

Is my data uploaded anywhere?

Not unless you publish. The editor reads your file in your browser and keeps it there, so exporting a PDF sends nothing to us. Publishing is a separate, deliberate action: it stores a copy of that one report so its public link works. The privacy page says exactly what is kept.