A sales report should reflect changes to its underlying data quickly and accurately. For that reason, it often makes sense to format a report in the same program that holds the report's data.

Excel for the web now supports conditional formatting, and the interface is easier to use than the desktop edition. Susan Harkins shows you how to use it.

Open Excel to begin working on a new sheet. Type the title of your report in cell A1. Type in the labels for your four quarters. Enter "First Quarter" (omit the quotation marks here and throughout ...