--- title: "Automated Excel reporting — product overview | Ilka" description: "Ilka automates Excel reporting for ops and finance: create or improve .xlsx workbooks with AI, then schedule recurring report packs from Airtable or Google Sheets with email, webhook, or Drive delivery." canonical: "https://www.ilka.co/product" last_updated: "2026-08-14" --- # Automated Excel reporting — product overview | Ilka Ilka automates Excel reporting for ops and finance: create or improve .xlsx workbooks with AI, then schedule recurring report packs from connected data. ## How Ilka works 1. **Describe or upload** — Plain English or an existing .xlsx / .csv 2. **AI builds .xlsx** — Validated workbook with headers, rows, and totals 3. **Connect live data** — Airtable, Google Sheets, QuickBooks, or Stripe 4. **Schedule & deliver** — Email, signed webhook, Drive, or recipient portal ## Create from scratch Describe the workbook you need — for example a sales pipeline with stages, amounts, and a monthly forecast — and Ilka drafts a structured .xlsx with realistic **sample rows** (not your live data). Use Improve or scheduled reports when you need real figures. ## Improve my file Upload an existing .xlsx or .csv and explain what to add, fix, or reorganize. Parsing runs in your browser: only the table structure (sheet names, headers, rows as JSON) is sent for the AI pass — the raw file is never uploaded to our servers. ## Validated output Generations go through a two-pass pipeline with schema validation so you get consistent .xlsx output. Always review formulas and numbers before high-stakes decisions. ## Scheduled reports (Pro, Team, or Agency) Connect Airtable, Google Sheets, QuickBooks, Stripe, HubSpot, or Notion; set a schedule; receive generated workbooks by email, signed webhook, Google Drive, or recipient portal (Agency). ## Works with your stack Delivery: email .xlsx attachments, [signed webhooks](https://www.ilka.co/integrations/webhook-excel-reports.md), Google Drive upload, and recipient portal links on Agency. Sources: see [integrations](https://www.ilka.co/integrations.md). ## When to pick Ilka vs another tool Short answers to the questions people type into Google or ChatGPT. Full list: [compare](https://www.ilka.co/compare.md). ### Already using Copilot or ChatGPT in Excel? Those tools help while a file is open. Ilka is for the pack that has to refresh and ship without someone in the grid: - [Does Microsoft Copilot schedule Excel reports like Ilka?](https://www.ilka.co/compare/ilka-vs-copilot-excel.md) - [Ilka vs OpenAI Excel add-in — which should I use?](https://www.ilka.co/compare/ilka-vs-openai-excel.md) - [Can ChatGPT replace Ilka for Excel reporting?](https://www.ilka.co/compare/ilka-vs-chatgpt.md) ### Syncing data with Coupler, Coefficient, or Sheetgo? Keep the connector for live rows. Use Ilka when the deliverable is a scheduled .xlsx pack, not another live tab: - [What is the best Coupler.io alternative for formatted Excel report packs?](https://www.ilka.co/compare/ilka-vs-coupler-io.md) - [Is Ilka a Coefficient alternative for Excel reporting?](https://www.ilka.co/compare/ilka-vs-coefficient.md) - [Ilka vs Sheetgo — what is the difference?](https://www.ilka.co/compare/ilka-vs-sheetgo.md) ### Power BI for dashboards? BI stays for interactive analysis. Ilka covers the Excel file stakeholders still ask for: - [Ilka vs Power BI — are they competitors?](https://www.ilka.co/compare/ilka-vs-power-bi.md) - [Can Ilka work alongside Power BI?](https://www.ilka.co/compare/ilka-with-power-bi.md) ### Zapier for automations? Zapier moves data between apps. Ilka builds and delivers the workbook on a cron: - [Ilka vs Zapier for Excel reports — which should I use?](https://www.ilka.co/compare/ilka-vs-zapier-excel.md) ## Product limits (by design) - Charts: up to 3 per workbook, 6 series max (bar, line, stacked, pie, scatter). Pie = one series. No combo, area, or dual-axis. Native OOXML charts are optimized for Microsoft Excel Desktop. LibreOffice and web viewers may render charts partially or not at all. - Team: shared recipes, connectors, and schedules. Teammates can view shared items and trigger runs; edit and delete remain limited to the author. - Scheduled runs: 500 rows per Airtable pull (same default cap on most connectors). Scheduled runs are checked about every 15 minutes (UTC), not to the exact minute. - Free plan: Free includes 1 trial scheduled report (5 successful runs/month) so you can ship one client pack. Saved recipes, unlimited schedules, seats, and the recipient portal require Pro, Team, or Agency. ## Why teams choose Ilka for recurring reporting ### Reliability layer for scheduled reporting Ilka is built for repeatable delivery, not one-off prompting. Teams can monitor schedule status, run history, and failure context before sharing any file. - Run-level status and summaries in one place - Actionable error hints for common environment and integration issues - Manual Run now fallback when an automated run needs quick recovery ### Report-pack templates by persona Instead of a generic spreadsheet prompt, Ilka ships opinionated report packs for recurring finance and ops workflows. - Board-ready summary pack for leadership updates - 13-week cash and pipeline packs for SMB operations - Grant and program tracker packs for nonprofit reporting ### Distribution quality for real workflows The output is not complete until stakeholders receive it. Ilka supports multiple delivery channels from the same schedule. - Email delivery for recipients outside the app - Webhook payloads with signed requests and download links - Google Drive destination support for team archives See also: [FAQ](https://www.ilka.co/faq.md), [Pricing](https://www.ilka.co/pricing.md), [Glossary](https://www.ilka.co/glossary.md). ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](https://www.ilka.co/sitemap.md) for all pages. HTML: https://www.ilka.co/product Markdown: https://www.ilka.co/product.md