Excel to Word Document Template

[herrma29]

Hello,

I know this probably should not be anywhere near as difficult as I am finding it to be, but I have a problem I am hoping you all can help me solve.

I use Excel to generate estimates for my business. Each project I work on has a basic set of information which will always be present (Client, address, project name, etc.)

The projects are made up of different components with varying assumptions, however.

For instance, I might have a project with 3 pieces (call them A, B, and C.)

Piece A might be a countertop and has its own set of parameters (thickness, square footage, finish selection, special details like waterfall legs or integral sinks)

Piece B might be a bench, again with its own set of parameters.

Piece C might be a bracket used to mount piece A to the wall


What I am hoping to do is create an Excel document which I can use to price up the individual components, then have that feed all the relevant data into a formatted Word document.

I would like to have a block at the top with the contact info, another block with general project info, then a series of bullet points with each piece and corresponding relevant information to that piece.


I need the ability to edit the document once everything is imported so that the page breaks are clean.

Lastly, I need a summary at the bottom of all the components with their prices and a total.


Is there any way to do this?

Thanks in advance.

-Chris

 

[Nine Zero]

I think your best bet to do this would be to create the form itself in Excel the way you want it to look, then when you are done export to Word as your final step. For me designing this i excel would be the best route.

 

[herrma29]

Thanks, Nine Zero.

How would you recommend I format it in Excel for export to Word? Is there a recommended workflow?

I forgot to mention -- after the initial set of information pertaining to the specific job follows about 6 pages of boiler plate terms for the proposal being generated. How could I incorporate this into the technique you suggested?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Macropod]

If you can organise the data in Excel so that all the export data goes on one row (e.g. via a new sheet linked to your existing data), you could use a mailmerge from Word. Alternatively, if you copy & paste the individual cells/ranges into Word using Paste Special with the 'paste link' option and the appropriate paste formats, Word will automatically update the document or template to reflect changes in the Excel workbook. Both of the foregoing assume you're using the same workbook each time; the second would also require you to remember to unlink the Word fields each time you create a document from the template.

Another alternative is to use a macro in Excel to populate bookmarks, for example, in a Word document.