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How to Create a Maintenance Dashboard in Google Sheets with ChatGPT

Cody Schneider•

Tired of tracking equipment maintenance with messy spreadsheets, forgotten calendars, or sticky notes? It’s a common problem that leads to missed service dates, unexpected breakdowns, and costly downtime. This guide will walk you through building a clean, automated, and powerful maintenance dashboard right inside Google Sheets, using ChatGPT to handle the heavy lifting with formulas.

Why Use Google Sheets for a Maintenance Dashboard?

Before we build, let's look at why Google Sheets is such a great choice for this task. While there are dedicated maintenance management software options available, they often come with high costs and a steep learning curve. Google Sheets offers a surprisingly powerful and flexible alternative.

  • It's Free and Accessible: Google Sheets is completely free and cloud-based. Your team can access and update the maintenance schedule from any computer or mobile device, whether they're in the office or on the shop floor.

  • Completely Customizable: You have full control. You can track exactly what matters to your operation, from specific machinery parts to vehicle fleets, without being locked into a predefined software layout.

  • Collaboration is a Breeze: Multiple team members can view or edit the sheet in real-time. You can leave comments, assign tasks, and see a complete version history, making communication seamless.

  • Automation and Integration: Google Sheets can connect to other tools like Google Forms, allowing technicians to log completed maintenance tasks directly from their phones without ever opening the main spreadsheet.

Step 1: Plan Your Dashboard Layout and Metrics

A great dashboard starts with a good plan. Jumping straight into building without knowing what you want to track is a recipe for frustration. Take a few minutes to think through your goals.

Identify Your Key Maintenance Metrics

What information is most important for you and your team to see at a glance? Your dashboard is only as useful as the data it visualizes. Common metrics for a maintenance dashboard include:

  • Asset Information: Asset ID, Asset Name, Location, Machine Type.

  • Scheduling Data: Last Maintenance Date, Maintenance Frequency (e.g., every 30, 90, 180 days), Next Due Date.

  • Status & Assignment: Task Status (e.g., Due, Overdue, Completed), Technician Assigned.

  • Performance Metrics: Cost of maintenance, labor hours, total downtime.

For our example, we'll focus on the core scheduling and status metrics to get you started.

Sketch a Simple Layout

You don't need fancy design software. Just grab a pen and paper and sketch out where you want to place your key elements. A common layout features:

  1. Dashboard View: The main summary page with high-level stats (KPIs) and charts. This is the first thing you see.

  2. Data Log: A separate tab that acts as the "database" where all the raw maintenance records are kept.

Your sketch might look something like this: The top of the dashboard will have big numbers for "Overdue Tasks" and "Tasks Due This Week." Below that, a pie chart showing the percentage of tasks by status and a bar chart showing tasks per technician. Finally, a table showing a list of only the upcoming or overdue tasks.

Step 2: Set Up the Data Foundation in a Google Sheet

Your dashboard's visualizations depend entirely on a well-organized data source. This is the most crucial step. A clean data log makes everything else easy.

  1. Open a new Google Sheet.

  2. Rename the workbook itself to something clear, like "Company Maintenance Dashboard."

  3. Rename the first tab at the bottom to "Maintenance Log". This will be our database.

Now, let's create the column headers in the Maintenance Log sheet. In row 1, type in the following headers, one in each column from A to G:

  • Asset ID

  • Asset Name

  • Location

  • Last Service Date

  • Service Frequency (Days)

  • Next Service Due

  • Status

Feel free to add other columns like "Assigned To" or "Notes" as you see fit. Now, add 3-4 rows of sample data under these headers. This will help you test and validate the formulas we generate next. Don't worry about filling in "Next Service Due" or "Status" just yet - we'll use formulas for those.

Step 3: Use ChatGPT as Your Personal Formula Bot

Here's where the magic happens. Instead of struggling to remember complex Google Sheets functions, you can simply ask ChatGPT to write them for you. The key is to be clear and specific in your prompts.

Generating the "Next Service Due" Formula

The "Next Service Due" date is calculated by adding the service frequency (in days) to the last service date. Let's ask ChatGPT to create an ARRAYFORMULA, which will automatically apply to every new row you add.

Your Prompt for ChatGPT:

"I have a Google Sheet named 'Maintenance Log'. Column D has the 'Last Service Date' (starting in D2) and column E has the 'Service Frequency (Days)' (starting in E2). Can you give me an ARRAYFORMULA for column F that calculates the 'Next Service Due' date for all rows? The formula should ignore any rows where the date is blank."

ChatGPT's Likely Response:

Sure, here's the ARRAYFORMULA you can place in cell F1 of your 'Maintenance Log' sheet:

=ARRAYFORMULA(IF(ISBLANK(D2:D), "", D2:D + E2:E))

How it works: This formula tells Google Sheets to check if there's a date in column D. If there is, it adds the days from column E to it. If not, it leaves the cell blank. Go ahead and copy this into cell F1 (yes, F1, not F2) of your sheet. The entire column should populate instantly!

Creating the Dynamic "Status" Formula

Next, we need a dynamic status that tells us if a task is "Overdue," "Due Soon," or "OK." This gives us the crucial at-a-glance information.

Your Prompt for ChatGPT:

_"Using the same 'Maintenance Log' sheet, I need an ARRAYFORMULA for the 'Status' column (G). Column F contains the 'Next Service Due' date. The logic should be:

  1. If the date in F has passed, the status is 'Overdue'.

  2. If the date in F is within the next 7 days, the status is 'Due Soon'.

  3. Otherwise, the status should be 'OK'."_

ChatGPT's Likely Response:

You can use this ARRAYFORMULA in cell G1:

=ARRAYFORMULA( IF(ISBLANK(F2:F), "", IFS( F2:F < TODAY(), "Overdue", F2:F <= TODAY() + 7, "Due Soon", TRUE, "OK" ) ) )

How it works: This formula uses the IFS function to check multiple conditions. It first checks if the due date is before today ("Overdue"), then if it's within the next week ("Due Soon"), and if neither is true, it defaults to "OK". Put this formula in cell G1, and your status column will automatically update and reflect the current date.

Step 4: Build the Interactive Dashboard View

Now that our data engine is running automatically, let's create the user-friendly dashboard view.

  1. Create a new tab at the bottom and name it "Dashboard". This is where we'll put our charts and key numbers.

  2. Let's make it look clean. Select all cells (Ctrl+A), go to View > Show, and uncheck "Gridlines."

Summarize Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

KPIs are the big, bold numbers at the top that give you an instant summary. We'll create cards for "Overdue Tasks" and "Tasks Due Soon." We can use a simple COUNTIF formula for this, generated by ChatGPT.

Prompt for ChatGPT:

"On my 'Dashboard' sheet, I need a formula that counts how many times the word 'Overdue' appears in column G of my 'Maintenance Log' sheet."

Formula for Overdue Tasks:

=COUNTIF('Maintenance Log'!G:G, "Overdue")

In your Dashboard sheet, you can type "Overdue Tasks" in one cell and paste this formula into the cell next to it.

Repeat the process for "Due Soon":

=COUNTIF('Maintenance Log'!G:G, "Due Soon")

Create Visual Charts

Charts are much easier to interpret than tables of raw data. A pie chart is perfect for visualizing our statuses.

First, we need a small summary table to power the chart. Let's ask ChatGPT for a QUERY formula to build this automatically.

Prompt for ChatGPT:

"I need a Google Sheets QUERY formula to create a summary table. It should scan the 'Status' column (G) in my 'Maintenance Log' sheet and give me a two-column output: the unique status names and the count for each one."

ChatGPT's QUERY Formula:

=QUERY('Maintenance Log'!G2:G, "SELECT G, COUNT(G) WHERE G IS NOT NULL GROUP BY G LABEL COUNT(G) 'Total Tasks'")

Paste this formula into a blank area on your Dashboard sheet. It will create a live summary table. Now, highlight that table, go to Insert > Chart, and choose the Pie Chart option. Just like that, you have a dynamic visual that updates automatically anytime your data changes.

Add Interactivity with Slicers

Want to filter your dashboard by location or a specific asset type? A slicer is the perfect tool.

  1. Navigate back to your Maintenance Log sheet.

  2. Select the data range you want the slicer to cover (e.g., columns A-G).

  3. Click Data > Add a slicer from the menu bar.

  4. A slicer menu will appear on the right-hand panel. For "Column" choose 'Location.'

  5. Cut and paste this slicer tile onto your main Dashboard sheet for easy reach. Drag and drop it near your charts.

Now, when a user selects a location from the slicer, only the data related to that specific location will be visible - the data, KPIs, and charts will all update automatically, providing an incredibly powerful, focused view.

Final Thoughts

By organizing your maintenance data in a dedicated tab and using ChatGPT to generate advanced formulas like ARRAYFORMULA and QUERY, you can move beyond simple tracking and build an automated dashboard that provides actionable insights. You now have a custom, cost-effective system that highlights what needs your attention instantly.

Building a dashboard from scratch is a fantastic skill. However, as you track more data across different sources - like fleet management software, parts inventory, and financial systems - stitching it all together in Google Sheets can still demand a lot of manual upkeep. We created Graphed to remove this friction entirely. Instead of writing formulas, you connect your data sources (including your Google Sheet) and just ask for what you want, like, "Show me a pie chart of overdue maintenance by location" or "Graph our monthly maintenance costs for the past year." Graphed builds a live, shareable dashboard for you in seconds, saving you from the hours spent on formula creation and chat configuration.