Page 1  |  FCA Portfolio — Individual
 INDIVIDUAL FINANCIAL AND COST
 ACCOUNTING PORTFOLIO
 Profitability Analysis of a Sample Retail Business Using Accounting Formulas, Excel Reconciliation and Google Looker
 Studio
 Tableau Sample Superstore | 9,994 order lines | 2014-01-03 to 2017-12-30 | USD
Revenue $2,297,200.86   Cost $2,010,803.84   Profit $286,397.02   Margin 12.47%
1. Title
Profitability Analysis of the Tableau Sample Superstore Business (2014–2017): Revenue, Cost,
Profit and Margin by Category and Month, with an Interactive Looker Studio Dashboard.
2. Problem Statement
Small retailers record thousands of sales lines but often cannot answer: how much did we sell, what
did it cost, what did we keep, and which products and months drive or drain profit? This portfolio
answers those on genuine data — reconciled in Excel, visualised in Looker Studio.
3. Objectives
• Compute Revenue, Total Cost, Profit, Margin from genuine records. • Break down by
Category/Sub-Category/Month. • Build a formula-auditable Excel workbook. • Build a real Looker
Studio dashboard (4 KPIs + charts + filters). • Give 3–5 numerical recommendations.
4. Dataset Details
Publisher: Tableau Software Sample Superstore via Tableau Public Sample Data. File: Sample –
Superstore.csv, 9,994 lines, 21 columns, 2014-01-03 to 2017-12-30, 5,009 orders, 3 categories, 17
sub-categories, USD. Mirror: praveen-kumar-maurya GitHub (2,298,597 bytes). License: free
educational sample. Raw preserved at source/superstore_full.csv.
5. Accounting Formulas
Revenue = Σ Sales = $2,297,200.86. Total Cost = Σ(Sales − Profit) = $2,010,803.84 (valid: Profit =
Sales − Cost). Profit = Σ Profit = $286,397.02. Margin = Profit ÷ Revenue = 12.47%. Contribution
& BEP NOT computed — no fixed/variable split exists; theory noted in full text. Ship Mode is not
a cost.
6. Data Preparation
Raw untouched; dates parsed (0 rows dropped); Year/Month/YearMonth added;
Revenue/Cost(=L−N)/Profit/Margin as live Excel formulas; Python-vs-Excel reconciliation to
$0.01 on sheet 08.

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7. Actual Looker Studio Dashboard
LIVE: FCA_Looker_Source Google Sheet (9,994 records), four genuine data-bound scorecards and
three preserved charts. Date, Category and Region controls are available. The public link opens
without login. Unlisted Viewer sharing permits anyone with the link to view; the owner remains
Owner. URL:
https://datastudio.google.com/reporting/3b46a509-48ea-4203-ab94-efd1706be403/page/0h6AG
8. KPI Cards
Total Revenue $2,297,200.86 | Total Cost $2,010,803.84 | Total Profit $286,397.02 | Margin
12.47% — SUM(Revenue), SUM(TotalCost), SUM(Profit), and SUM(Profit)/SUM(Revenue), with
USD and Percent formatting. All agree with workbook S07; Technology and 2017 date filters
independently reconcile to the CSV (Figures 5-6).
9. Charts
Figures below — same reconciled USD SUM data as workbook:
 Figure 1 — Revenue by Category (Technology $836,154 leads).

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 Figure 2 — Revenue vs Total Cost by Category (Furniture margin squeeze).
 Figure 3 — Profit by Sub-Category (Tables −$17,725; Copiers +$55,618).

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 Figure 4 — Monthly Revenue & Profit 2014–2017 (Nov–Dec peaks; Jan troughs).
Figure 5 — Final live dashboard with four data-bound scorecards, three existing charts, and Date, Category and Region
 controls.
 Figure 6 — Live KPI scorecards: SUM Revenue, SUM TotalCost, SUM Profit, and aggregate Profit Margin.

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 Figure 7 — Existing live charts and the added viewer controls. The bar counts distinct sub-categories by category; the
 time series shows daily revenue; the pie groups the existing metric by order date.
10. Genuine Looker Screenshots
Figures 5-7 are real public-view captures (no login); Step_By_Step_Evidence/ holds the consent,
connection, editor and share-dialog trail. No mockups anywhere.
11. Interpretation
Overall 12.47% margin is healthy but thin. Technology (17.40%) and Office Supplies (17.04%)
fund Furniture (2.49%). Tables (−8.56%), Bookcases and Supplies erase ~$22K. Discounts (Tables
26%, Machines 31%) drive losses. Nov–Dec peaks vs January troughs swing profit by thousands.
12. Recommendations (data-supported)
1. Fix Tables (26% discount, −$17,725): cap at ≤10%, recover ~$9–18K. 2. Push
Copiers/Paper/Accessories ($131K profit, 25–43% margins). 3. Stop Bookcases+Supplies bleed
(~$4.7K). 4. Cap Machines/Binders discounts (15% ceiling). 5. Staff/stock for Nov–Dec, stay lean
in January (avoid repeat of Jan-2015 −$3.3K).
13. Conclusion
A profitable but unbalanced business: two categories fund a third, three sub-categories erase profit,
season swings results. Live Excel formulas prove every number; the live Looker dashboard
(Unlisted link, no-login verified) makes the same data explorable. The five fixes turn discount
losses into retained profit.
14. References
Tableau Sample Superstore (Tableau Public Sample Data); GitHub mirrors
(praveen-kumar-maurya; ThigasSantos); UCI Online Retail (evaluated, rejected — no cost field);
Looker Studio Help; SUMIFS docs; standard cost-accounting formulas.
