Board provides a set of custom Excel functions that extend standard Excel capabilities and enable direct interaction with Board data. These functions are available through the Board M365 Excel Add-in and support planning and analysis workflows directly within Microsoft Excel.
To use Board custom functions, users must:
Have a valid Board license and the required permissions for the M365 Board Add-in
Be connected to a Board 15 environment.
For more information about prerequisites and setup, see the system requirements and the installation details.
The Board M365 Excel Add-in currently provides the following custom functions, which replace equivalent functions from the MS Office Excel Add-in:
BOARD.READ (replaces the MS Office Add-in functions BCUBE and BCUBE_K)
BOARD.SETSELECTION (replaces the MS Office Add-in functions SetSelection and SetSelectionWithRefresh)
Board formulas and Excel formulas upon refresh
Upon refresh, Board recalculates all Board formulas and all Excel formulas that contain a Board formula. Excel formulas that do not contain a Board formula are recalculated according to Excel settings and logic. The Board refresh does not affect these formulas. Read more about Board Refresh in the M365 Excel Add-in.
Coordinate syntax and validation
Board Excel functions that support coordinates use the same coordinate syntax and validation rules. These validation rules apply whenever coordinates are used to retrieve data or apply a selection.
The Coordinates parameter specifies the Entity members that a Board Excel function uses to retrieve data or apply a selection. Members can be identified either as a sequence of member values or as a range of member values, but not both.
Coordinate syntax
Use the following syntax rules when specifying coordinates:
Use commas to separate a sequence of members of the same Entity, for example:
"Entity1=member_code1,member_code2,member_code8,member_code9"
Use a colon to define a range of members, for example:
"Entity2=member_code30:member_code40"
Use semicolons to separate multiple Entities, for example:
"Entity1=member_code1;Entity5=member_code55"
Enclose the complete coordinate string in quotation marks, for example:
"Entity1=member_code1;Entity5=member_code55"
Coordinate validation
Before a Board Excel function is evaluated, the specified coordinates are validated before the function is executed.
Validation ensures that:
The referenced Entities exist
The specified members exist
The coordinate syntax is valid
The specified members are accessible according to the current user's security permissions
If validation fails, the function is not evaluated and Excel displays an error indicator describing the detected validation issue.
BOARD.READ and BOARD.SETSELECTION use the same coordinate parsing and validation rules. Any future Board Excel functions that support coordinates will use these same rules to ensure consistent behavior.
Using member codes or descriptions
Coordinates can identify members by either member code or member description.
If multiple members share the same description, the function uses the first matching member. To avoid ambiguous results, Board recommends using member codes whenever possible.
Invalid coordinate definitions
The following coordinate definitions are considered invalid:
Specifying the same Entity more than once in the Coordinates parameter
Specifying a member that does not exist
Specifying a member that is not accessible because of the current user's security permissions
For example, the following coordinate is invalid because the "Year" Entity is defined twice:
"Year=2024;Year=2025"
Instead, specify multiple members within a single Entity definition:
"Year=2024,2025"
The following coordinate is also invalid because member 1800 does not exist:
"Fiscal Year=1800,2025"
If Fiscal Year 2025 exists but Fiscal Year 1800 does not, the function returns an error and is not evaluated.
If invalid coordinates are detected, Excel displays an error indicator describing the detected issue.
If a coordinate contains multiple validation issues, Board validates all specified coordinates before evaluating the function and reports all detected validation issues.
Excel Add-in Compatibility
Workbooks used in the Board MS Office Add-in are not compatible with Board for M365 Excel.
The following rules apply:
You cannot add M365 Excel Add-in Tables or functions to a workbook that already contains tables or functions created with the MS Office Excel Add-in.
You cannot add MS Office Excel Add-in functionality to a workbook that already contains M365 Excel Add-in components.
To avoid conflicts, use only one Excel Add-in version per workbook.
For setup instructions and guidance on managing Board MS Office Excel Add-ins, see Getting Started with MS Office Add-ins.
Deprecated Functions
The following functions are deprecated and should no longer be used in the new Board for M365-Excel:
GetSelection()
This function has been deprecated. No direct replacement is currently available.
BSAVE
This function has been deprecated. No direct replacement is currently available.
MergeMappingDefinition()
This function has been deprecated. No direct replacement is currently available.
BCUBE_K
This function has been deprecated and replaced by BOARD.READ.
SetSelectionWithRefresh
This function has been deprecated and replaced by BOARD.SETSELECTION by setting the “ignore sheet selections) parameter to TRUE.
Deprecated functions may continue to work in workbooks using the Board MS Office Add-in but are not supported for the Board for M365-Excel Add-in.