--- title: "Getting Started with Office Add-ins" slug: "getting-started-with-office-add-ins" description: "Learn how to use Board Office Add-ins across Excel, Word, PowerPoint: connect to Board, insert Layouts or Slides, refresh data, and enable write-back features." tags: ["Microsoft Office", "PowerPoint", "Power BI", "Word", "Export", "Add-in", "Excel Add-In"] updated: 2025-11-04T09:29:05Z published: 2025-11-04T09:29:05Z canonical: "help.board.com/getting-started-with-office-add-ins" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.board.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Getting Started with Office Add-ins The Board Add-ins developed for Microsoft Office allow you to embed Board Objects such as reports and Data Views into a Microsoft Office document directly from MS Excel, MS Word, or MS PowerPoint. With the Board Add-ins, you can create Office documents which connect to and pull data from any Board Data Model. With a Board connection, you can also refresh and write-back data which comes from a Board Data Model from your Office application. The Board Add-ins allow you to create a Layout for a Data View, navigate reports using the Drill Down and Select features, and even enable Data Entry, allowing data entry directly into a Board Cube from the Office application. ## Available Office Add-ins The Board Office Add-ins require an appropriate Board license which enables all of the following options: - [Board Office Add-in for Microsoft Excel](/v14/docs/about-board-excel-add-in) - [Board Office Add-in for Microsoft Word](/v14/docs/about-board-word-add-in) - [Board Office Add-in for Microsoft PowerPoint](/v14/docs/about-board-powerpoint-add-in) ## Before you begin **To use the Board Office Add-ins**, it is necessary to have an appropriate Board license and permissions assigned to the Board user profile. Specifically, the user must have the following: - any one of the available Board licenses enabled, - and a check mark enabling the "Office" feature located to the right of the license dropdown menu. You can find out if a user has the right license and permission by entering the Users section of the Subscription Hub, clicking on the user in question, and reviewing their license. ![contents/assets/images/office.add-in.enable.user.account.png](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/getting-started-with-office-add-ins-image-c9251hnf.png) Refer to the [Licenses section](/v14/docs/the-licenses-section) and [User section](/v14/docs/the-users-section) for more details. ### Board Office Add-ins installation For details on the Board Office Add-ins installation procedure and prerequisites, refer to the [Board Office Add-ins installation section](/v14/docs/office-add-ins-installation). ## About Add-in Settings In every Board Office Add-in (Excel, Word, and PowerPoint) there is an Add-in Settings option in the top menu. These settings are the same within any of the available Office Add-in applications. ![contents/assets/images/add-in.settings.menu.png](https://cdn.document360.io/8d6f1ae8-0cac-4d0d-a208-6245b83df94a/Images/Documentation/getting-started-with-office-add-ins-image-7tp4vjuz.png) The **Office Add-in setting options** are as follows: - **License Key File**. (The License Key File has been deprecated and setup is no longer needed.) - **Local Engine Settings**. (The Local Engine Settings has been deprecated and configuration is no longer needed.) - **Language**. Choose your interface language. - **Board User Interface**. Use the dropdown to choose your desired language. - **Logging**. Access the log files. - **Logging Level**. Choose the type of logging level you would like to use to track logs: None, Moderate, or Full. Full is the default. - **Open Log File**. Click to open your current log file. > [!NOTE] > *The logging default is set to none and can be activated and deactivated on demand by the user.* - **Other options**. - **Remove overlapping Layouts**. Keeps the first Layout or the last Layout when Layouts overlap. This feature is disabled by default, which means that if a Layout is added, created, or pasted in an area where it overlaps another Layout, it will not display. Instead, an error message in the cell where the Layout was added will appear that tells you how many extra rows and columns are needed for the Layout to successfully be inserted. Once you add the allotted amount of rows, columns, or both, click "Refresh Sheet" or open the Layout again and click "OK" for the Layout to display. This feature is useful when an Excel sheet is designed with many Layouts next to each other that might expand/shrink in terms of rows/columns when the selection is changed. > [!NOTE] > *We recommend to limit the number of Layouts to 5 per sheet with enough spacing to account for row and/or column expansion depending on type of use and configuration.* - **Environment**. For your reference, this area shows the host environment name, the license of the user, the username, and the version of Board being used. Add-ins are plug-in modules that embed Board functionality in Excel, Word, or PowerPoint. Layouts, Data Views, Charts, and Data Entry are surfaced inside those applications while connected to a Board Platform. For example, the Excel Add-in supports functions like BCUBE / BOARD.READ and BSAVE / BOARD.WRITE to retrieve data from or write data back into Board. A Data Model in Board is the multidimensional architecture composed of Entities, Relationships, and Cubes that organizes, stores, and enables retrieval of data across multiple axes. Unlike traditional relational databases, the Board Data Model applies efficient multidimensional techniques to avoid "database explosion" and to support fast aggregations, slicing, and drilling over large datasets. See [Data Model](/v14/docs/data-model). Data Entry refers to the write-back capability where users can input or change values (numeric, text, date, files) in Cubes via Objects such as the Data View and Flex Grid. Entries are subject to validation, locking, and security permissions rules. Data Entry is similarly possible through the Microsoft Add-ins, subject to the security restrictions of the Data Model and user profiles. See also: - [Data Model](/v14/docs/data-model) - [The Data View Object](/v14/docs/the-data-view-object) - [About the Flex Grid Object](/v14/docs/about-the-flex-grid-object) - [About Board Add-ins](/v14/docs/about-board-add-ins) A Cube in Board is the multidimensional data-storage Object in Board’s FP&A system. Its dimensions are usually Entities or Relationships whose intersections are cells that hold values, enabling drill, slice/dice, forecasting, spreading, workflow inputs, and auditable planning. The values can be numeric, text, date, or BLOB values (images and files). New or modified Cube values can be written back to the Engine's Data Models via the Data View and Flex Grid Objects. Numeric cells allow top-down allocation via "Split & Splat" and aggregate recomputation. Cubes can be computed with Dataflows/Algorithms, secured with Cube visibility, and created as MOLAP or RDB architectures. A Cube can have up to 256 versions, although generally most Cubes have only one version.