Welcome to Datarails!

We're excited to help you transform the way your finance team works.

Datarails brings your financial data, reporting, and planning processes together in one place. Instead of spending hours collecting spreadsheets, reconciling numbers, and manually updating reports, you can automate repetitive work, streamline collaboration, and spend more time delivering insights that drive business decisions.

Over the next few weeks, you'll learn how to use Datarails to:

• Automate data collection: Connect your financial systems and bring data together without relying on manual uploads.
• Create a single source of truth: Centralize your financial data and standardize reporting across entities, departments, and scenarios.
• Simplify reporting: Build dynamic Excel reports that pull directly from your centralized data.
• Gain visibility into performance: Turn your financial data into dashboards that highlight trends, KPIs, and business performance.
• Streamline financial processes: Coordinate reporting cycles, assign responsibilities, and track deadlines in one place.

The introductory video below walks you through the platform's core capabilities and shows you how these pieces work together to support your finance operations.

Your Datarails environment: everything in one place

Datarails provides a centralized workspace for your team's financial data, reporting, and planning activities. From one platform, you can access the tools you need to manage data, build reports, monitor performance, and collaborate with colleagues.

Use the left-side navigation panel to access the main areas of the platform:

• Home: your starting point, with the health of your data at a glance (Data status, Unmapped items and Integration status).
• Reporting: My reports, Report builder and the Template library.
• Planning: Budget, Forecast and Drivers/metrics.
• Workspace: where you create and organize Folders, Fileboxes and Collection Processes.
• Dashboards and Storyboards: visualize your data and turn it into presentations.
• My workflows and Tasks: process roadmaps that tie your inputs and outputs together, and the tasks assigned to you.
• Setup: Lookups, Tables, Data flows, Metrics & dimensions, Integrations, Calculation models, Functions and Excel tables.
• Organizations: admin settings such as members, groups, permissions and organization settings (Admins only).
• Depending on your subscription, you may also see add-on products (Cash, Month-end close, Desk, or Spend).

Your access depends on your assigned role:

• Admins and Contributors can access the Workspace.
• Viewers can access Reports, Dashboards, and Storyboards.

What this means for your team: Spend less time navigating disconnected tools and more time working with your financial data.

Learn more: 

• Workspace overview 
• Roles & permissions overview

Integrations: eliminate manual data collection

Most finance teams pull information from multiple systems, including ERPs, HR platforms, CRMs, and databases. Manually exporting and consolidating that information takes time and introduces opportunities for errors.

Datarails connects directly to your source systems and automatically brings your data into one centralized environment.

Datarails only requires read access to your source systems. Our Integrations team will help you determine the best connection method for each system, which may include an out-of-the-box connector, generic API, SQL, SFTP, email, or OData.

Once connected, your data flows into an Integration Filebox, where you can manage incoming data and configure automatic or on-demand synchronization using Sync now.

You can review your connected integrations under Configuration > Integrations in the left-side panel.

What this means for your team: Fewer manual exports, less time chasing down data, and a more reliable foundation for financial reporting.

Learn more: Managing integrations

Fileboxes: a centralized home for your financial data

Think of a Filebox as a dedicated home for a particular data source or recurring report, such as your monthly General Ledger, financial statements, or budget files.

Rather than managing multiple versions of spreadsheets across shared drives and email attachments, Fileboxes keep your data organized in one place. You can easily access historical versions and track changes over time.

Datarails uses tags to distinguish between different versions of your data:

• Date: Identifies the reporting period, such as a month or year.
• Scenario: Identifies the type of data, such as Actuals, Budget, or Forecast.
• File Status: Identifies the status of the file.
• Budget Cycle: Identifies the applicable budget cycle when the scenario is Budget.

You can create a Filebox in two ways:

• From the Workspace: Select New + > New Filebox.
• From Excel: Use the Connect button in the Datarails Add-In to upload a file directly.

What this means for your team: A more organized financial data environment, easier access to historical information, and less time searching for the right version of a file.

Learn more: Filebox overview

Data Mappers: standardize your financial data

Your financial data doesn't always arrive in the same format. Different entities, systems, and departments may use different account structures, column names, or reporting conventions.

Data Mappers help you standardize that information so you can work with it consistently across your organization.

A Data Mapper transforms the files in your Fileboxes into structured data that Datarails stores in its database. You can use that data across consolidated reports, Excel outputs, and dashboards.

With a Data Mapper, you can:

• Select which columns to import.
• Filter and clean incoming data.
• Add organizational tags, such as Entity or Department.
• Create custom columns to support your reporting requirements.

Each Data Mapper feeds a Table, which stores the structured data used throughout Datarails. Navigate to Tables > Your Table > Connected Fileboxes to manage your mappings and see which Fileboxes feed each table.

You can apply one Data Mapper to multiple Fileboxes that share the same structure. For example, you might use one mapper for General Ledgers from several entities. Use Publish & Apply To to extend a mapper to additional Fileboxes.

You can build a Data Mapper from scratch or use a pre-built template from our library.

What this means for your team: Consistent financial data across entities and systems, less manual data preparation, and a stronger foundation for consolidated reporting.

Learn more:

• Data Mapper overview
• Creating a Data Mapper

Dashboards: turn financial data into business insights

Once your data is centralized and structured, you can turn it into meaningful insights with Datarails Dashboards.

Dashboards help you visualize key financial metrics, monitor trends, and track KPIs without manually pulling information from multiple spreadsheets.

Build dashboards using widgets—charts, tables, and KPIs that pull data directly from your Datarails environment. Create widgets from scratch or choose from the widget library.

Use the dashboard toolbar to:

• Set a Reference Date: Control the reporting period displayed across your widgets.
• Apply Filters: Explore your data across multiple widgets, including widgets that pull from different data tables.
• Share: Give members or groups access, copy a shareable link, or schedule dashboards for email delivery.
• Export: Download dashboards as PDFs or turn them into Storyboards for monthly and quarterly business reviews.
• Customize: Edit layouts and add comments to dashboards or individual widgets.

As your dashboard library grows, organize dashboards into folders, mark favorites, and choose a default dashboard for easy access.

What this means for your team: Faster access to business performance insights, more consistent reporting, and better conversations with business leaders.

Learn more: Dashboards overview

Datarails Add-In: Keep working in Excel and Google Sheets

The Datarails Add-In is how you work with Datarails from inside Excel or Google Sheets. You can keep using your existing report structures while pulling in data that Datarails has already structured.

For instructions on how to set up the Add-In, review:

• Installing the Datarails Excel Add-In

• Google Sheet Integration

Functions: Build dynamic, reusable reports

Functions are the building blocks of reports created with the Datarails Add-In. They tell Datarails which data to retrieve, which numeric fields to aggregate, and how to calculate the results.

For example, imagine your monthly General Ledger contains a Transaction Amount column that captures debits and credits. You can create a Function that sums this field to generate the figures for your monthly income statement.

To create a Function:

1. Select a cell in Excel.
2. Open the Datarails Add-In and navigate to Functions > Add Function.
3. Give your Function a name.
4. Select the source table.
5. Drag the numeric field you want to aggregate into Values.
6. Add any applicable Filters.
7. Select a default aggregation field, such as Reporting Month.

Use Manage Functions to view, edit, delete, or add existing Functions to your file.

You can also manage Functions directly in the Datarails web application under Excel Add-In > Functions.

What this means for your team: Spend less time rebuilding reports and updating formulas. Instead, create reusable reporting logic that pulls directly from your centralized financial data.

Learn more: Datarails Add-In: Functions

Building outputs: Automate your financial reporting

Now that you understand Functions, it's time to put them to work!

Datarails formulas connect your reports directly to the data in your Datarails environment. This allows you to build dynamic financial reports without manually copying and pasting information every reporting cycle.

Every Datarails formula has three main components:

1. The DR Formula: A formula such as DR.GET that connects to the Datarails database.
2. The Function: Defines which data to retrieve and how to aggregate it.
3. Fields and Values: Specify the criteria for the data you want to retrieve, such as reporting period, scenario, or account. You can reference individual cells, date ranges (DR.RANGE), or the Reference Date to make your reports update automatically when the reporting period changes.

Example:

=DR.GET(Value,"[Reporting Month]",DR_REFERENCE_DATE,"[Scenario]","Actuals","[Account Group L2]","Income")

The Formula Builder makes creating formulas easier. Instead of writing formulas manually, select a Function and drag in the fields you want to include. Datarails generates the formula for you.

For more information, review:

• Datarails Add-In: Formulas
• Datarails Add-In: Date Ranges in Formulas
• Datarails Add-In: Filters & Lists

What this means for your team: Build reports once and reuse them every reporting cycle. Reduce repetitive spreadsheet work, improve consistency, and give your team more time to focus on understanding and communicating financial performance.

What's next? Streamline your financial processes with workflows

You've now learned how to bring your data into Datarails, organize and standardize it, and turn it into meaningful financial reports. The final step is to connect these activities into repeatable processes using Workflows.

Workflows help you coordinate the people, tasks, and deadlines involved in your financial reporting cycles. You can:

• Collect inputs from the right people.
• Assign preparers and reviewers.
• Set deadlines and due dates.
• Track progress and identify bottlenecks.
• Keep everyone accountable throughout the process.

The result: A more efficient, predictable reporting process with fewer manual follow-ups, clearer ownership, and better visibility into what's happening across your team.

Get started with:

• Workflow Overview
• Create a New Workflow

You're on your way!

As you continue exploring Datarails, remember that the goal isn't simply to move your existing spreadsheets into another platform. It's to build a more connected, automated, and scalable finance function—one that spends less time managing data and more time driving business performance.

Updated November 03, 2026 19:18