Use Google Sheets' AI to Build a Transaction Pipeline Dashboard

What This Does

Google Sheets' built-in AI helps you create a color-coded transaction pipeline dashboard with automatic deadline countdown and status tracking — so you can see all your active deals at a glance without manually calculating which ones need attention today.

Before You Start

• You have a Google account (free)
• You have Google Sheets open (sheets.google.com)
• You have a list of your active transactions with addresses and key dates

Steps

1. Open a new Google Sheet and set up your columns

Create a new sheet. In Row 1, type these column headers: A: Property Address | B: Stage | C: Contract Date | D: Inspection Deadline | E: Appraisal Deadline | F: Loan Deadline | G: Close Date | H: Days to Close | I: Status | J: Blockers

2. Ask Sheets AI to create the countdown formula

Click on cell H2 (Days to Close). Look for the "Help me" icon or the "Explore" button (bottom right corner of the screen) — or just type = and click "Help me" when it appears.

Type this to the AI assistant: "Create a formula that calculates how many days are between today and the date in column G"

The AI will suggest: =G2-TODAY()

Accept the suggestion and drag the formula down to all rows.

3. Add color coding with AI-assisted conditional formatting

Select column H (Days to Close). Go to Format → Conditional formatting.

In the "Format rules" panel, click "Add another rule." Use these settings:

• Red: "Less than 3" → bright red fill
• Yellow: "Less than 7" → yellow fill
• Green: "Greater than or equal to 7" → light green fill

Click Done. Now your Days to Close column automatically turns red when urgent, yellow when approaching, green when you have time.

4. Review and use the result

Your pipeline dashboard is live. Anytime you open the sheet, the colors update automatically based on today's date. Add new transactions by adding rows at the bottom. Update the Stage and Blockers columns as the transaction progresses.

Real Example

Scenario: You're managing 12 active transactions and need to know at 8am which ones need attention today.

What you do: Open your Google Sheet. Scan the red and yellow rows. The red rows are your immediate priorities — close in 3 or fewer days. Yellow rows need attention this week.

What you get: A visual triage list in seconds instead of mentally reviewing each transaction individually.

Tips

• Add a "Notes" column (K) for transaction-specific notes — AI can help you summarize what's in there if it gets long
• If you want Sheets AI to help you build more complex formulas (like one that checks multiple deadline columns), type your request in plain English in the Explore panel
• Save this sheet as a template you duplicate for each month

Tool interfaces change — if a button has moved, look for similar AI/magic/smart options in the same menu area.