Excel is Fun! Why? Because your efficient use of Excel can turn a three hour payroll calculating chore or a five hour reporting task into a five minute breeze. Efficient use of Excel will save a lot of time. That time adds up to extra time for your more enjoyable endeavors in life such as vacations! In addition, your bosses and employees will notice that you are efficient and can produce professional looking reports that impress. This of course leads to promotion more quickly. Still, further, your knowledgeable and efficient use of Excel can land you a job during an interview. Employers are like dry sponges ready to soak up any job candidate that can make their entity more efficient with Excel skills! Save time?, get promoted?, get the job?, and have more time for vacation? – That sounds like a great skill to have!

In the working world, almost everyone is required to use Excel. Amongst the people who are required to use it, very few know how to use it well; and even amongst the people who know it well, very few of those people know how to use it efficiently to the point where grace and beauty can be seen in a simple spreadsheet!

This book will take you from the very beginning basics of Excel and then straight into a simple set of efficiency rules that will lead you towards Excel excellence.

Rule # 1: Learn Excel well so you can have fun working efficiently, gain promotions quickly, and have more vacation time

What Is Excel?

You use Word to create letters, flyers, books and mail merges. You use PowerPoint to create visual, audio and text presentations. You use Google to research a topic and find the local pizza restaurant. You use Excel to make Calculations, Analyze Data and Create Charts. Although databases (such as Access) are the proper place to store data and create routine calculating queries, many people around the planet earth use Excel to complete these tasks. Excel’s row and column format and ready ability to store data and make calculations make it easy to use when compared to a database program. However, Excel’s essential beauty is that you can make calculations and analyze/manipulate data quickly and easily “on the fly!” This easy to use, planet-earth “default” program must be learned if you want to succeed in today’s working world.

Open up the Excel file named “Excel 2007 Is Fun!.xlsm” and with your mouse, click on the “What is Excel” sheet tab.

Here is an example of how Excel can make payroll Calculations quickly and with fewer errors than doing it by hand (Figure 1) (Your sheet will not appear as large as the one in Figure 1):

Right Arrow: Sheet tab “What is Excel?”

Figure 1

Here is an example of how Excel can Analyze Data (sorting by time) quickly and with fewer errors than doing it by hand (Figure 2 and Figure 3):

Rows, Columns, Cells, Range Of Cells

With your mouse, click on the “Rows and Columns” sheet tab.

Right Arrow: Name Box Right Arrow: Sheet tab “Rows and Columns”

Figure 4

Rows are horizontal and are represented by numbers. In our example (Figure 4) the color blue has been added to show row 5.

Columns are vertical and represented by letters. In our example (Figure 4) the color yellow has been added to show Column B.

A cell is an intersection of a row and a column. In our example the color green has been added to show cell B5. In our example column B and row 5 can be detected because the column and row headers are highlighted in a light-orange color (Figure 4) (color may vary by computer). In addition, you can see that the name box shows that cell B5 is selected (Figure 4 and Figure 5).

Figure 5

B5 is the name of this cell. It can be thought of as the address for this cell. It is like the intersection of two streets. If we wanted to hang out at the corner of Column B Street and Row 5 Street, we would be hanging out at the cell address B5.

Later when we make calculations in Excel (making formulas), B5 will be called a cell reference.

A range of cells is two or more cells that are adjacent. For example you can see three blue cells D9, E9, and F9. This range would properly be expressed as D9:F9, where the colon means from cell D9 all the way to cell F9.

Worksheet, Sheet Tab, Workbook

Figure 6

A worksheet is all the cells (1,048,576 rows, 16,384 columns worth of cells). A worksheet is commonly referred to as “sheet.”

The sheet tab is the name of the sheet. By default they are listed as Sheet1, Sheet2. In our example (Figure 6), the sheet we are viewing is named “Rows and Columns.” You can see other worksheets that have been given names in our example. Can you see what they are?

Rule # 2 = Always name your worksheets so that you can identify amongst the various worksheets

Naming your sheets helps you to keep track of things in a methodical way. Navigating through a workbook, understanding formulas and creating headers/footers is greatly enhanced when you name sheets. To name your sheet, double-click the sheet tab (this highlights the sheet tab name) and type a logical name that describes the purpose of the sheet. You can also, right-click a sheet tab and point to Rename in order to give the sheet a new name.

A workbook is all the sheets (over 8000 worksheets possible – limited my computer’s memory). To name a new workbook that has not been saved or named, use Save As (Keyboard Shortcut = F12).

Figure 7

Figure 7 shows the Save As dialog box:

Save in = Where do you want to save it?

File name = What do you want to call it?

Save as type = What type of file is it? (.xlsm? or .xlsx or .xls or .htm? or .xltm or .xlt?)

See notes on next page about the new Excel 2007 “Save as types”.

Rule # 3 = Always name your workbook and save it to a location that you will be able to find later

Some of the Excel 2007 “Save as type” or “extension type” or “file format”:

1. xlsm

i. 2007 workbook that allows Macros (Macros = custom code that you can put in workbook (VBA))

ii. This file format is called XML (Extensible Markup Language). XML is efficient because:

1. Most any program can read it

2. It is less corruptible

i. Lose a few lines in BIFF and you can lose the whole file, lose a few lines in XML and you can easily recover the file

iii. This new file format is different than XML in 2003 (2003 XML did not support VBA, Charts, and other embedded images), it now supports all Excel elements.

iv. These files are actually zipped files!!!!

i. Saves space

2. xlsx

i. This is the same as the description for .xlsm except that does not allow Macros (Macros = custom code that you can put in workbook(VBA))

3. .xls

i. 1997 – 2003 file format

1. Use this if you are going to let other people use your file that do not have Excel 2007

4. .htm

i. Saves worksheet or workbook as html (web site)

5. .xltm

i. 2007 Excel Template that allows Macros

1. Templates automatically save to the Microsoft Template folder so that your template will show up in the Templates window

6. .xlt

i. 1997 – 2003 file format for Templates

7. .xlsb

i. This file type is called BIFF (Binary Interchange File Format)

1. BIFF5 (Excel 95)

1. BIFF8 (Excel 97-2003)

2. BIFF12 è.xlsb

i. BIFF cannot be read by many applications

ii. But it saves and loads more quickly than XML

Save As is different than Save

Once you have saved your workbook for the first time, subsequent saves will replace the stored file with the most recent changes. Save As gives you the power to: 1) Save the file to a new location 2) save file with a new name 3) change the file type. In this way the Save As dialog box is very powerful.

There are no more Menus or Toolbars in Excel 2007. We now have “Ribbons”, the “Orb” and the “QAT” toolbar.

The menus and toolbars from earlier versions of Excel are gone. In their place are “Ribbons” and the “Quick Access Toolbar” (QAT). The Ribbons contain icons and words that let you click on a particular icon to take a particular action such as changing the font size or changing the number of decimals showing for a number. The icons and words are grouped into categories to help the user find similar items. These categories are called “Groups”. There are 26 total different Ribbons. You can only view one Ribbon at a time. The “Orb” or “Office Button” (located in the upper left corner of the screen, to the left of the Home Ribbon and slightly on top of the title bar) shows a “Microsoft Office” icon inside a glowing circle. If you click on the Orb a drop-down menu appears (similar to the old File menu) that has icons and words that let you click on a particular icon to take a particular action such as Save As or Excel Options. The QAT contains the icons for save, undo and redo by default and then any other additional icons that you add yourself. There is only one QAT. The QAT is always visible and available for use, either above the Ribbons or below the Ribbons depending on where you place it.

The Ribbons change appearance depending on the size of your screen and/or your computers screen resolution (screen resolution can be changed in Display Properties). The QAT changes appearance depending on how you customize it. Figure 8 shows the Home Ribbon on a large screen (or high screen resolution) and with a QAT that has five additional icons beyond the three default icons. Figure 9 shows the Home Ribbon on a small screen (or low screen resolution) and with a QAT that has 23 additional icons beyond the three default icons.

Edit Group

Home Ribbon

Orb

Title Bar

Font Size

Quick Access Toolbar (QAT)

Change Decimals

Font Group

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10 Shows the Orb drop-down menu and the Excel Options button. You can see the icons and words such as Save As, the list of recent Documents that have been used and are accessible here to re-open, and the Excel Options button in the lower right corner.

Figure 10: Orb drop-down menu and Excel Options button that appear after you click the Orb.

Ribbons

Now we would like to talk about the Ribbons in more detail.

Each Ribbon has a tab that sticks out above the Ribbon and contains the name of the Ribbon. There are seven standard Ribbons (Home, Insert, Page Layout, Formulas, Data, Review) and 18 additional Ribbons. Some of the addition Ribbons you can add in the Excel Options Area and some of the additional Ribbons are “Context-Sensitive Ribbons” (also known as “Contextual Ribbons”) that show up depending on where the cursor is located (for example, if a chart is selected, the context sensitive Ribbons for charts appear). To move between the visible Ribbons you can click on any tab name to access that particular Ribbon. If you want to temporarily hide the Ribbons because of space requirements, use the keyboard Shortcut Ctrl + F1 (This is a toggle that will successively hide and unhide the Ribbons). The seven standard Ribbons, one additional Ribbon added in Excel Options and one context sensitive Ribbon are shown below in figures: Figure 11 to Figure 20.

Figure 11: Home Ribbon: Contains items such as Copy, Paste, stylistic (Font/Color) formatting, Number Formatting, Conditional Formatting, Insert Row/Column, Insert Function, Clear All, Clear Format, Sorting, Find, Replace, Select, Go To, Go To Special, and more….

Figure 12: Insert Ribbon: Insert items such as: PivotTable, Table, Pictures, Clip Art, Shapes, Charts, Hyperlinks, Text Box, Header and Footer, Word Art, Object, or Symbol.

Figure 13: Page Layout Ribbon: Add Themes (coordinated Color, Font, Effects), various page layout for printing.

Figure 14: Formulas Ribbon: Contains items such as Insert Functions, Insert Functions Categories, items associated with Names, items associated with Formula Auditing, and Calculation.

Figure 15: Data Ribbon: Get External Data, Refresh (External Data or PivotTable), Sorting and Filtering, Text to Columns, Data Validation, Consolidate, Scenario Manager, Goal Seek, Data Table, Grouping, Subtotals, and the Add-ins Data Analysis (statistics) and Solver (linear algebra) if you add them using Add-ins in the Excel Options area.

Figure 16: Review Ribbon: Contains items such as Spell Check, Comments, Protect Worksheet or Workbook, Share Workbook and Track Changes.

Figure 17: View Ribbon: Contains items such as Normal view, Page Layout view, Page Break Preview view, Show/Hide Formula Bar, Show/Hide Gridlines, Zoom view, New Window (opens a second view of the same Workbook), Arranges All (arranges all open Workbooks), Freeze Panes (always show a certain part of the Worksheet), Hide Window (which means hide Workbook), Unhide Window (which means unhide Workbook), Save Workspace, Macros (Macro means Excel computer code that you can write Excel).

Figure 18: Developer Ribbon that was added in the Excel Options area.

To add the Developer Ribbon you would use the keyboard shortcut to get to Excel Options as follows: Alt + F + I (Tap the Alt key, then tap the “F” key, then tap the “I” key). Excel Options is also accessible by clicking on the Orb and then click on the Excel Options button. After you open the Excel Options dialog box, you would check the “Show Developer tab in the Ribbon” checkbox and then click the OK button and the lower right corner. See Figure 19:

Figure 19: Excel Options

Figure 20: Because a Chart is selected, the Title Bar shows “Chart Tools” and there are three context sensitive chart Ribbons after the last “always-available” Ribbon. The three Chart Ribbons are: Design, Layout, Format.

As seen in Figure 21 and Figure 22, some of the elements of the Ribbons are:

Tabs (Page Layout)
Groups (Page Setup Group)
Icons (Orientation)
Drop-down arrows (Orientation: Portrait or Landscape)
Check Boxes (Toggle to view or not view Excel Gridlines)
Dialog Launchers (Small grey boxes with diagonal arrows that, when clicked, launch the 1997-2003-type dialog boxes – you can see the Page Setup Dialog launcher on the right-side of the Page Setup Group Label)
1) Tabs

3) Icons

5) Check Boxes

“See More Selections” Arrows (Figure 22 shows More Chart Styles)

7) “See More Selections” Arrow

6) Dialog Launcher

4) Drop-down arrows

2) Groups

Figure 21

Figure 22

The Ribbon elements can be seen in further detail in the figures .

Figure 23: If you click on the Orientation drop-down arrows you can see the two options for printing your worksheet: Portrait or Landscape. The shaded box means that the current selection is Landscape. If you clicked on Portrait, you would change the printing orientation to Portrait.

Figure 24: The check box for View Gridlines in the Sheet Options Group has been unchecked. The result is that the default Excel Gridlines cannot be seen on the screen and they will not be printed. Compare this to Figure 6. In Figure 6 you can see the Gridlines. The Check Boxes are “Toggles” that will alternate between viewing the Excel Gridlines and not viewing the Excel Gridlines. Notice that the black lines around the Row and Column count are still viewable. This is because these lines were added using the borders button in the Font Group on the Home Ribbon.

Figure 25: If you click the Page Setup Dialog Launcher on the right-side of the Page Setup Group Label this dialog box will show up. This is the Excel 1997-2003 Page Setup dialog box.

Figure 26: If you click the “See More Selections” Arrow in the Chart Styles Group in the Chart Tools Design Ribbon you will see more selections for Chart Design.

The last important trick regarding the Ribbons is that you can hide them. This is convenient because they take up a lot of room on the screen. The keyboard shortcut for toggling the Ribbons on and off is Ctrl + F1 (Hold Ctrl and then tap the F1 key (the F1 key is in the top row of keys on the keyboard and all the way to the left, but to the right of the Esc key)). See figures Figure 27 and Figure 28 for examples of the Ribbons toggled off and toggled on.

Figure 27: Ctrl + F1 hides the Ribbons, but the QAT is still visible!

Figure 28: Ctrl + F1 a second time, toggles the Ribbon on again.

Quick Access Toolbar (QAT)

Now we would like to talk about the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) in more detail.

No matter what Ribbon you have showing, or whether or not the Ribbons are toggled on or off, the QAT is always visible and available for use! This is great because sometimes it is quicker to click on the QAT than it is to click on the Ribbon and then click on the icon you want. Not only that, but there are actions, dialog boxes and Task Panes from Excel 1997-2003 that are not anywhere in the Ribbons! So if you have a particular action that you used to do in earlier versions of Excel and it is not in the Ribbons, you can add it to the QAT. Also, you can easily show your QAT above or below the Ribbon. First let’s see two great ways to add icon buttons to the QAT.

The first way to add icon buttons to the QAT is to find an icon or an item from a drop-down arrow list in the Ribbons, and then right-click that item. If the right-click drop-down menu says “Add to Quick Access Toolbar”, then you are allowed to add that icon to the QAT. If you do not see “Add to Quick Access Toolbar”, then that item is not available to be added to the QAT (Some items are not available). In Figure 29 I have right-clicked the Fill icon (it is the picture of a tipping paint bucket – it is the icon button that fills the cell with color) and you can see the right-click drop-down menu. After I click on the “Add to Quick Access Toolbar”, the icon button will automatically be added to the QAT (Figure 30).

Figure 29: Right-click a Ribbon icon to add it to the QAT.

Figure 30: The Fill icon has been added to the end of the QAT.

The second way to add icon buttons to the QAT is to go to the Customize section in the Excel Options area. This is the best method because you can see a list with all the icon buttons that can be added. In the Figures Figure 31 to Figure 34 the process of adding icon buttons from the Customize section in the Excel Options area is illustrated.

Figure 31: Right-click the QAT and click on the “Customize Quick Access Toolbar…” item in the drop-down menu.

Figure 32: By right-clicking the QAT and click on the “Customize Quick Access Toolbar…” item in the drop-down menu, you will automatically go to the Customize section in the Excel Options area.

Figure 33: Click on “All Commands” from the “Choose commands from” drop-down list

5) Click the OK button

4) Icon will appear on the right

3) Click the add button

2) Click on the icon

1) Scroll Bar

Figure 34: Use the Scroll Bar to find the icon that you want, click on the icon, and then click the add button. The Icon will appear on the right. When you have added all the buttons that you want, click the OK button.

The last trick we want to see regarding the QAT is how to move it above or below the Ribbons. This is easily done. Simply right-click the QAT and look in the drop-down menu for the command you would like.

Next we want to look at the keyboard shorts using the Alt key. The Alt key is a special keyboard shortcut key because when you tap the Alt key, all the elements in the Ribbon and QAT show little messages called “Screen tips” or “ToolTips”. To illustrate, tap the Alt key once and you should see this (Figure 55):

Figure 55: After you tap the Alt key, the Ribbon Tabs show tool tips and the QAT shows tool tips after the first Alt tap.

If you tap the Alt key once the Ribbon Tabs show tool tips and the QAT shows tool tips, but none of the other elements of the Ribbon show screen tips. However, if you tap one of the keys for the letters or numbers that you see in the tool tips that activates the next level of tool tips. For example if you hit the “H” key after you taped the Alt key, you would see this (Figure 56):

Figure 56: After you hit Alt + H, you can see the next level of tool tips for the Home Ribbon.

After you hit Alt + H, you can see the next level of tool tips for the Home Ribbon. If you then tap the 0 key (zero key), you would have increased the decimals showing by one position. Thus, the keyboard shortcut for increasing the decimals showing by one position is Alt + H + 0 (Figure 57):

Figure 57

This is an amazing aspect to Excel 2007. Every Ribbon and QAT element has a keyboard shortcut. And your goal to achieve efficiency is not to memorize all the keyboard shortcuts, but it is to memorize the keyboard shortcuts that you use all the time. In addition, if you memorized some of the Excel 1997-2003 Alt key keyboard shortcuts, they all still work, except for the Alt keyboard shortcuts that started with the letter “F” – this is because the Alt “F” is used by the Orb is Excel 2007.

Rule # 4 = Learn keyboard shortcuts in order to save time

Two Magic Characters In Excel

For this next section, click on the sheet tab named “The Equal Sign”.

The equal sign, “=,” and the join-operator (ampersand), “&,” are two magic characters in Excel. We will look at the equal sign first.

The equal sign tells Excel to create a formula in a cell. For example, in Figure 58, if you would like to calculate the net pay for Suix Chin in cell F2, what would you need to do? You would need to take the net pay and subtract from it the total deductions. In order to make this calculation in cell F2, you must first tell Excel that you want to make a calculation by typing an equal sign: “=”.

Here are the steps to make your first calculation in Excel:

1. Using your “thick, white-cross” cursor (it also has a black shadow) click in cell F2 in order to highlight the cell. See Figure 58. Make sure that the name box shows F2.

Figure 58

2. Type an equal sign. See Figure 59:

Figure 59

3. Notice the equal sign in the formula bar as seen in Figure 60. (Don’t be alarmed that the name box has converted to an “Insert Function” dropdown arrow with the SUM function showing– we’ll talk about this later).

Figure 60: The Formula Bar. The f_x is a symbol from algebra that means “f of x”, or function, or formula

4. Next, using your “thick- white-cross” cursor, click in cell four to the left of F2 (cell B2). Like magic, Excel inserts the proper CELL REFERENCE after the equal sign (see Figure 61). In addition, Excel shines the blue and yellow flashlight around the cell B2 (these are the colorful marching ants that march around the cell telling you that you have placed the CELL REFERENCE B2 behind the equal sign).

Figure 61

5. The formula is now looking at a cell that is four cells to the left of F2 – looking at the cell named B2 which holds Suix Chin’s Gross Pay. Because our goal is to calculate Net Pay, we still have to subtract the Total Deductions.

6. Type a minus sign, then using your “thick-white-cross” cursor, click in cell E2, which is one cell to the left of F2. You should see this (Figure 62):

Figure 62

7. Hold the Ctrl key, and then tap the Enter key once. This is what you should see (Figure 63):

Figure 63

8. You have just created your first calculating formula in Excel by using the equal sign as the first character in a cell. Although the cell F2 displays the take home pay of 3,232.25, what is actually in the cell can be seen in the formula bar. Our formula reads: please look at Suix Chin’s Gross Pay (four cells to the left in B2) then subtract the Total Deductions (one cell to the left in E2).

9. We have creating our first calculation in Excel, and what we actually created is called a formula. Because the equal sign is the first character in the cell we told Excel to create a formula. If there was no equal sign, there would be no formula. In addition, we used CELL REFERENCES. CELL REFERENCES are our way of telling our formula to look into a different cell and use that value in our formula!

Rule # 5 = When the equal sign is placed as the first character in a cell that has not been pre-formatted as Text, it tells Excel to create a formula.

10. What would have happened if you did not place an equal sign in the cell as the first character but you still typed the rest of the formula (Figure 64)? Excel would obey you and not create a formula, but instead place the typed text “B2-E2” in the cell.

Figure 64

11. What would happen if you type the number for gross pay and the number for total deductions in the formula instead of the cell references? Here is an example of this situation, however, please burn this image into you brain as something you should NEVER do (Figure 65):

Figure 65

12. In Figure 65 Excel will obey you and calculate an answer. However, if you want to become even moderately efficient with using Excel, NEVER TYPE NUMBERS THAT CAN VARY INTO A FORMULA. When you enter numbers that can change (or text) into formulas instead of references to other cells:

i. Editing the formulas later on can become nearly impossible

ii. What-if or scenario analysis becomes cumbersome

iii. The true magic of Excel is greatly dimmed, as if a magnificent rainbow that fills the sky with refreshing color is suddenly all one color of grey.

13. Numbers such as the number 12 that represents months is OK to type into a formula. Similar numbers would be things like 7 days in a week, 24 hours in a day.

Rule # 6 = Do not type data that can vary into a formula. Instead place the data in a cell and refer to it using a cell reference. (A tax rate is a good example of a number that can vary; 12 months in a year is an example of data that will not change).

The second magic character in Excel is the Ampersand (more commonly known as the “and” character) “&”. This character joins the content from two or more cells and places them all into one cell. To see an example, click on the sheet tab named “Ampersand”.

Here are the steps to join the words “Your” and “Name” and place them into one cell.

Here are the steps to calculate a monthly interest rate on a loan

1. Click on the sheet tab named “Formulas”

2. As seen in Figure 75, click in cell B2 and type an equal sign. By typing the equal sign, you are telling Excel that you are creating a formula in cell B2.

Figure 75

3. Click the up arrow key (in between the letter keys and the number keys). By typing the up arrow, you are telling Excel that you would like the formula to look into the cell “one above” B2 and get the annual rate of .085. You should see what is in Figure 76:

Figure 76

4. Notice that by using the arrow key to select a cell reference, you save the time it would take you to grab the mouse and click on cell B1.

5. Type the division symbol “/” and the number 12 (12 months in a year does not vary so that fact that this is a number does not violate Rule #6). See Figure 77:

Figure 77

6. Tap Enter. Taping the Enter key puts the formula in the cell and moves the cursor one cell below B2 to the cell B3. The monthly rate displayed in the cell can be seen in Figure 78:

Figure 78

So far we have seen two keystrokes that tell Excel that the formula is completed and we would like to have Excel show us the result. The keystrokes “Ctrl + Enter” and “Enter” will officially enter the formula into the cell. There are two other keystrokes that will officially enter the formula into the cell: the “Tab” key will do it and Shift + Enter (Shift + Enter) enters the formula and moves the cursor up – we will not use this one in this book). These four keystrokes are the safest methods for putting the formula into the cell. There are other keystrokes that work some of the time, but not all the time. For safety and efficient formula creation we will only use Ctrl + Enter, Enter, Tab or Shift + Enter to enter formulas into cells. If we use only four keystrokes to place formulas in cells we can avoid unintended cell reference insertion that can cause our formula to be inaccurate.

To enter a formula into a cell:

Use “Ctrl + Enter” to place the formula in the cell and select the cell with the formula
Use Enter to place the formula in the cell and select the cell directly below the cell with the formula
Use Shift + Enter to place the formula in the cell and select the cell directly above the cell with the formula
Use Tab to place the formula in the cell and select the cell one to the right

Rule #7 = Use “Enter”, “Ctrl + Enter”, “Shift + Enter”, or “Tab” to enter a formula into a cell.

7. In Cell B3, type: “=(1+”, as seen in Figure 79:

Figure 79

8. Click the up arrow once, then type: “)^12-1” as seen in Figure 80 ( ^ symbol = Shift + 6):

Figure 80

9. We do not violate rule # 6 (DO NOT TYPE DATA THAT CAN VARY INTO A FORMULA) by typing the 1, 12, and 1 into these formulas. For calculating the annual effective rate from a month rate these numbers do not vary!

10. Click Tab. You should see this (Figure 81):

Figure 81

11. But what is that “^” symbol mean? See the arrows in Figure 82 on the next page.

Math

Figure 82

As seen in Figure 82, we will have to learn the Arithmetic operation signs in Excel. In addition, we will have to learn the order of operations in order to avoid analysis mistakes. For example, what is the answer to 3 + 3 * 2? Is it 12 or is it 9? Because Excel knows the order of operations, we must also know the order of operations so we can calculate correctly. For a refresher in the order of operations, read Figure 82.

Rule #8 = We must learn the symbols that Excel uses for math and we must know the order of operations.

Here are the steps to practice math and the order of operations:

1. Click on the sheet tab named “Math (2)”. You should see this (Figure 83):

Figure 83

2. Click in cell B2 and type the formula “=3+3*2”. You should see this (Figure 84):

Figure 84

3. Looking at the examples of formulas in column A, create the remaining formulas in column B. When you are done you should have these results (Figure 85):

Figure 85

4. The problem with what you just did (Figure 83, Figure 84, Figure 85), is that editing the formulas later is inefficient when compared to a method that employs cell references. Our next example will employ cell references.

5. Click in cell E2 and type an equal sign “=” (Figure 86).

Figure 86

12. In Figure 92 the heading says “Math the efficient way”. The efficiency comes from the fact that it is easy to edit these formulas because you have utilized cell reference that point to numbers typed into cells. Change the number in cell F3 to 12 and watch your formula change (Figure 92):

Figure 92

13. Look at the formulas in column D) and create the corresponding formulas in column E. When you are done you should see this (Figure 93):

Figure 93

14. But what is going on in cell E8? How come when cell E8 looks at cell E7 it shows us a dollar figure? The answer comes from formatting. We will talk about formatting later (this is exciting foreshadowing)…. For the time being we have been taking about the equal sign, ampersand sign, numbers, cell references and math operators: these are all components of formulas. We will now formally define a formula in Excel è.

Formulas

Definition of a formula: Anything in a cell when the first character is an equal sign.

(The long version: anything in a cell or formula textbox when the first character is an equal sign and the cell is not preformatted as Text.)

Advantages of a formula: You are telling Excel to do calculations, look into another cell, create text strings, or deliver a range

How to create a formula: Type “=,” followed by:

1. Cell references (also: names and sheet references)

2. Operation signs

3. Functions

4. Text that is in quotes (ex: “For The Month Ended”)

5. Ampersand symbol: &

i. To combine information from different cells, text in quotes, or functions use the ampersand: &

1. Example: ="For The Month Ended "&B5

6. Numbers

i. The only numbers that ever go in a formula are numbers that will never change (such as the number of months in a year)

ii.

How to enter a formula into a cell: hit one of the following:

7. ENTER

8. Ctrl + Enter

9. Tab

10. Shift + Enter

Here are the steps to create five formulas:

1. You are currently looking at the sheet tab named “Math (2)”. Make sure that you are in this sheet

2. To use a keyboard shortcut to move two sheets up (back toward the first sheet), hold down Ctrl, then tap the “Page Up” key twice (the “Page Up” and “Page Down” keys are near the Home key).

Ctrl + Page Up è moves you up through the sheets (toward the first sheet)

Ctrl + Page Down moves you down through the sheets (away from the first sheet)

3. You should now be located in the sheet tab named “Formulas”

4. Create the following formula (as seen in Figure 94). Efficient key strokes are: “=”, up arrow twice, “-“, up arrow once.

Figure 94

5. Hit Tab twice, Arrow up and create this formula in D7 (Figure 95):

Figure 95

6. The 12 represents months in a year and does not change and so it is efficient to type this number into a formula

7. Hit Enter twice and create this formula in D9 (Figure 96):

Figure 96

8. Click in cell B9 and create the formula as seen in Figure 97. After you create it, hold Ctrl, then tap Enter.

Figure 97

9.Click in cell A5. The cell is merged and centered and so the formula will be created in the middle of the range. Create the following formula as seen in Figure 98:

Figure 98

10. This formula combines cell references, text in quotes and a calculation all joined together with the Ampersand “&”. The resulting label for our calculations can be seen in Figure 99:

Figure 99

11. The efficiency and beauty of building a spreadsheet in this manner is revealed when we change the source data and then watch our formulas change automatically.

12. Click in cell B6 and change the price of the car to 50,000 (type 50000), then hit Tab twice. (Figure 100):

Figure 100

13. Notice that the preformatted cells formatted the “50000” to appear as “$50,000.00”. Also notice that our formulas for Loan Amount and Monthly Payment updated.

14. Verify that you are in cell D6 and then type “6” and then hit Enter (Figure 101):

Figure 101

15. Notice that the three formulas that were dependent on the Annual Interest Rate all updated when we changed the rate. This ability to check different scenarios without much effort is at the heart of using Excel efficiently. We always want to strive to build our spreadsheets efficiently so that they are easily edit-customizable at any time! By typing the numbers that can vary into cells and referring to them using cell references in our formulas we have accomplished Excel efficiency and fun!

Rule #9 = By typing the numbers that can vary into cells and referring to them in our formulas using cell references, we gain the ability to edit formulas easily and check different scenarios without much effort.

16. Look in the lower left corner of Figure 102 and find the scroll arrow for sheet tabs. The little black triangle turned on its side means show me one more sheet tab. The little black triangle turned on its side with an extra vertical line means take me all the way to the last and/or first sheet tab.

Scroll arrow that reveals more sheet tabs

Figure 102

17. Click the sheet tab scroll arrow twice as seen in Figure 103:

Figure 103

18. You should see a few more sheet tabs exposed. The sheet tab “Formulas” is still selected, even though we see a few more sheets exposed (Figure 104):

Figure 104

19. Move to the sheet tab named “Functions” by either clicking on the sheet tab named “Functions”, or by Holding Ctrl, then tapping the “Page Down” key three times. You should see this (Figure 105):

Figure 105

20. Click in cell B9. What if we want to calculate the monthly payment for our car loan, but we do not know that math formula? Luckily there are built in “Functions” that know how to do this – as long as we can tell the Function what the monthly rate, number of months and present value of our loan is, the function will do the rest!

Functions

What are functions? Built in code that will do complicated math (and other tasks) for you after you tell it which cells to look in

Examples:

SUM function (adds)

AVERAGE function (arithmetic mean)

PMT function (calculate loan payment)

COUNT function (counts numeric values)

COUNTA function (counts non-blank cells)

COUNTIF function (counts based on a condition)

ROUND function (round a number to a specified digit)

IF function (Puts one of two items into cell depending on whether the condition evaluates to true or false)

Here the steps to practice with many new Functions:

1. Click in cell B9 and then click the f_x button (Insert function button) in the formula bar (Figure 106). (Keyboard shortcut: Shift + F3 = Open Insert Function dialog box)

Formula bar: from here to here

f_xbutton è the insert function button

Figure 106

2. The Insert Function dialog box looks like this (Figure 107):

Figure 107

1. There are five key parts to the Insert Function dialog box:

1. Search

2. Category

3. Select function

4. Description of selected function

5. Help

2. Click in the search for a function text box and type “monthly car payment” then hit Enter (Figure 108):

Figure 108

3. In the select a function list the first function selected is “PMT”

4. Below the list is the description: “Calculates the payment for a loan based on constant payments and a constant interest rate.” This sounds perfect for our need. But let’s check the others to make sure that there is not something even better. Click on “NPER.” Figure 109 shows the description of this function:

Figure 109

5. After looking at each function, click back on the PMT function because, amongst the four options, it fulfills our goal most satisfactorily. Descriptions are the key to the Insert Function dialog box. You can find the most amazing functions that will do all the calculating for you if you just spend a little time “hunting” (looking through the list of functions).

6. Because “hunting for the right function is the key to learning about all the wonderful built-in functions, another way is to “hunt” using the “All” category.

7. Click the down-arrow next to “Select a category” and point to All (Figure 110):

Figure 110

8. Most of the functions have common sense names. See if you can find a function that will calculate “Absolute value”, “Geometric mean”, “Average”, “Straight-line depreciation”. All four of these can be found by hunting for those words in the list.

41. For more practice with Functions go to the sheet tab named “Functions (2)”

42. Hover your “thick, white-cross” cursor over cell A2, then click in cell A2, hold the click, and drag your cursor to cell J9. This is how you highlight a range. The range you have highlighted is A2:J9. (Figure 136):

Figure 136

43. Click in the Name Box (Figure 137):

Figure 137

44. After you click in the name box it will highlight the cell A2.

45. Type over “A2” and replace it with “sd” (“sd” will stand for sales data). (Figure 138):

Figure 138

46. Then hit Enter to register the newly named cell range. The cell range A2:J9 now has the name “sd” When we create functions that look at that range we can now simply type in “sd” instead of highlighting the range A2:J9

47. Click in cell L11 and see if you can find a function that can count the number of cars that were sold last month at Seattle Toyota. When you find it, your formula result should look like this (Figure 139):

Figure 139

48. See if you can find the remaining functions using your new “function hunting skills”

49. When you are done you should see the same results that you see in column L in Figure 140 by using the formulas that you see in column N in Figure 140.

Figure 140

50. We have been using cell references so often, that it is now time to investigate the different types of cell references è

Cell References

When we copy formulas that contain cell references to other cells, then we need to understand that there are four types of cell references:

1. Relative

2. Absolute

3. “Mixed Cell Reference with Column Locked” also known as “Column Absolute, Row Relative”

4. “Mixed Cell Reference with Row Locked” also known as “Row Absolute, Column Relative”

It will only be possible to understand these if we look at a few examples. Nevertheless, here are the crucial facts about cell references:

1. Relative Cell References Example: A1

No dollar signs

Moves relatively throughout copy action

“Relatively” means that if the formula is looking at a cell reference that is three cells to the left, when you copy the formula to any other cell, the cell reference will still be looking three cells to the left.

2. Absolute Cell References Example: $A$1

Dollar signs before both:

Column designation = A

Row designation = 1

“Absolute” means that if the formula is looking at a particular cell reference, when you copy the formula to any other cell, the cell reference will still be looking at that particular cell reference.

If the Absolute Cell reference is $A$1, the formula will always look at cell A1. It is as if the formula is locked on the cell A1 throughout copy action

“Locks cell reference when copying it horizontally and vertically”

3. “Mixed Cell Reference with Column Locked” Example: $A1

Dollar sign before column designation

Remains absolute or locked when copying across columns

Remains relative when copying across rows

“Locks cell reference when copying it horizontally, but not vertically”

4. “Mixed Cell Reference with Row Locked” Example: A$1

Dollar sign before row designation

Remains absolute or locked when copying across rows

Remains relative when copying across columns

“Locks cell reference when copying it vertically, but not horizontally”

Keyboard shortcut F4 key: Toggles between the four types of cell references

When creating formulas with cell references, ask two questions of every cell reference in formula:

Q1: What do you want it to do when you copy it horizontally?

Is it a relative reference? OR

Is it an absolute or locked reference?

Q2: What do you want it to do when you copy it vertically?

Is it a relative reference? OR

Is it an absolute or locked reference?

Here are the steps to learn about the four cell references:

1. Go to the sheet tab named “Cell References” and click in cell C3 and create the formula shown in Figure 141. The formula calculates a proportion or percentage of the whole (depending on how it is formatted). In our example we are comparing Tina’s score (82 parts of the 100 whole) and comparing it to the total possible points (100 points – the whole). If you look ahead to creating the formulas for Sue and Chin and Hien, all their “parts” will have to be compared to the “whole”.

Figure 141

2. Hold Ctrl, then tap Enter. You should see that the proportion of points that Tina earned is .82 (Figure 142):

Figure 142

3. To format the number “.82” as a percentage, highlight cell C3, click the Home Ribbon and then click the % icon button in the Number Group. (Figure 143). Remember 82% is not a number. Underneath in Excel’s code (just like any other calculator), Excel sees the number “.82” even though it is formatted with a % symbol and even though what we see in the spreadsheet is 82%:

Figure 143: Notice the Screen Tip that let’s us know the keyboard shortcut for this format.

4. Highlight the range C4:C9 and then use the keyboard shortcut to add the % style (Ctrl + Shift + %): this pre-formats the cells with the percentage format (Figure 144):

Figure 144

5. Click in C4 and create the formula for calculating Sues’ percentage grade (Figure 145):

Figure 145

6. Continue until you have created the percentage grades (Figure 146):

Figure 146

7. What we just completed did not require that we know anything about the four different cell references. However, what we did was inefficient. There is a way to create all those formulas by just creating one formula in cell C2 and then copying it down through our range. We will have to learn how to “LOCK” or make “ABSOLUTE” some of our cell references. If we can learn how to do this, it will make tasks such as this easier to complete and will result in few errors. In addition, many of the most advanced Excel Features and tricks are only possible if we learn about these four cell references.

8. Highlight the range C2:C9 and then hit the delete key (Keyboard short cut: Delete key = delete cell content but not format) (Figure 147):

Figure 147

9. Click in cell C2 and create the following formula (Figure 148):

Figure 148

10. Figure 148 shows a fraction B2/B2. For clarification of terms: Numerator means the top of the fraction and Denominator means the bottom of the fraction.

11. Now think about this: the numerator B2 needs to always look one cell to my left and the denominator B2 always needs to be locked on B2. We have to let Excel know that the two B2s are different.

The numerator B2 needs to always look one cell to my left

i. This is called a relative cell reference

ii. Relative to the cell the formula sits in, the cell reference always needs to look one cell to the left

iii. For our example the “one-to-the-left” B2 will be entered into the formula as B2

The denominator B2 always needs to be locked on B2

i. This is called a locked or absolute cell reference

ii. The secret code we need to put into our cell reference to let Excel know that the cell is locked in the “$” sign. Why the dollar sign? No reason – just think of it as the secret code).

iii. But where do we put the secret code? The answer depends on which direction you will be copying the formula. In our case we will be copying up-and-down (vertical direction), across the rows (and rows are numbers), so the secret code goes in front of the Number 5.

iv. For our example the “LOCKED” B2 will be entered into the formula as B$2

12. Very carefully, place your cursor in the middle of the denominator B2 and click the F4 key twice. The first tap of the F4 key will put two dollar signs into the cell reference, then the second tap of the F4 key will toggle to the next cell reference which has only one dollar sign in front of the number 2. See Figure 149:

Figure 149

13. Hold Ctrl, then tap Enter. You should see this (Figure 150):

Figure 150

14. Point to the fill handle and with your angry rabbit, double-click the fill handle to copy the formula down to cell C9 (Figure 151):

Figure 151

15. In Figure 151, notice that it copied the yellow cell fill color formatting down with the formula. Take you cursor and click on the blue smart tag, then click on Fill Without Formatting (this great feature copies only the formula) (Figure 152):

Left Arrow: These are called Smart Tags and appear only until you perform a new action.

Figure 152

16. Click in cell C9 and audit the formula (F2 key) to make sure that you actuality did create 8 formulas, but only had to create one formula which you then copied down (Figure 153):

Figure 153

17. Click in cell G2 and create the formula seen in Figure 154. Because the January 1000 amount will be increased by 10% each month, we need to multiply (1 + .10) or 1.10 by each previous month’s amount. But notice that the cell reference F2 is actually always going to be looking at the cell “one-to-the-left” (relative cell reference = F2) and the cell reference F4 will always be “locked” on F4 when copying it side-to-side, across the columns (columns are letters), so the secret code goes in front of the letter (locked copying it across the columns = $F4)

Left Arrow: Don’t confuse these cell references (F2 and F4) with the keyboard buttons F2 key and F4 key.

Figure 154

18. Very carefully, place your cursor in the middle of the F4 and click the F4 key three times (Figure 155):

Figure 155

19. Hit Ctrl + Enter. Point to the fill handle and copy to formula to J2 (Figure 156):

Figure 156

20. Click in cell J2 to audit the formula with the F2 key (Figure 157):

Figure 157

21. Look in Figure 158 at the table titled “What will your Pension be worth when you retire?” We would like to estimate what our pension will be depending on the annual rate that we earn and how many years we save for retirement. The trick here is that we don’t want to type 54 formulas. We would like to create the whole “sea of formulas”, G13 to L21, by creating only one formula in cell G13 and then copying it to the remaining cells.

22. Click in cell G13 and type “=FV(“. The screen tip will come up to help you with the arguments for this function. To calculate our retirement funds we will need to assume an annual rate “rate”, the number of years that we deposit money “nper” and a yearly deposit amount “pmt” (Figure 158):

Figure 158

23. Click on cell G12 (Figure 159):

Figure 159

24. Can you see in Figure 159 that we will need to use the 10% for all the formulas in column G? Can you also see that when we copy the formula over to column H we need to use the 11%? This means that we need the cell reference locked (absolute) when we are copying the formula down, or vertically, or across the rows: the row reference needs to be locked! However, when we copy the formula to column H the cell reference should not be locked (absolute) when we are copying the formula to the side, or horizontally, or across the columns. The column reference is not locked: it is relative.

25. Because we want to lock (absolute) this cell reference when we copy the formula down, across the rows, we need the “$” sign in front of the number. Because we want this cell reference to move relatively as we copy the formula to the side, across the columns, we do not need the “$” sign in front of the letter. Cell reference = G$12 è hit F4 twice (Figure 160):

Figure 160

26. Type a comma, click on F13, and hit F4 three times.

27. We hit F4 three times because we want this cell reference to move relatively as we copy the formula down, across the rows, and we want the cell reference locked (absolute) as we copy the formula to the side, across the columns. Cell reference = $F13 è (Figure 161):

Figure 161

28. Type a comma, type a minus sign, click on cell F23, and hit F4 once, type a close parenthesis.

29. Because we want to use the cell reference F23 in every cell when we copy this formula, we want the cell reference locked in all directions. The dollar sign in front of the column reference “F” locks the cell reference when copying the formula to the side, across the columns. The dollar sign in front of the row reference “23” locks the cell reference when copying the formula down, across the rows. Cell reference = $F$23 è (Figure 162):

Figure 162

30. Hold Ctrl, and then tap Enter. Point to the fill handle and double-click the fill handle to copy the formula down to cell G21 (Figure 163):

Figure 163

31. Don’t be alarmed by the pound signs. They are just saying: “Please expand the column so this big number has room to show itself.” Point between the two column headings G and H and double click to expand the columns. You should see this (Figure 164):

Figure 164

32. Now point to the fill handle in the lower right corner for the entire range, then click and drag to L21. Notice that many pound signs appear. Highlight the column headings from H to L by clicking on the columns heading H and dragging to L. Then double-click between the column headings H and I to expand the columns (Figure 165):

Figure 165

33. Our result is that 54 formulas were created by enter just one formula, adding the correct cell references and then copying the formula in two-steps (first down, then over) (Figure 166):

Figure 166

34. For more practice with cell references, click on the sheet tab named “Multiplication Table and see if you can create 144 formulas by enter just one formula, adding the correct cell references and then copying the formula in two-steps.

Rule # 14 = Use of relative, absolute and mixed cell references reduces spreadsheet setup time, allows quick updating to setup structure, and will allow us to use many of Excel’s advanced features and tricks

Rule # 15 = When you use the fill handle to copy a formula across the rows and then across the columns, it is a two-step process. First copy it down, then let go of mouse, then copy it over (or visa-versa)

In the last few examples we saw what happens to cell references when we copy a formula that has cell references. Now we need to see what happens when we move a formula that contains cell references. Copy means copy the formula from a cell or range of cells, leave the formula in the original location, and then paste the formula in some other location. Move means cut the formula from a cell or range of cells, it will no longer be located in the original location, and then paste the formula in some other location.

Here are the steps to learn about the difference between copying and moving a formula with cell references.

1. Click on the sheet tab named “Copy and Move.” Click in cell B6 and follow the instructions listed in cell B5 (Figure 167):

Figure 167

11. Navigate back to the sheet tab named “The Equal Sign” by holding the Ctrl key, and then tapping the Page Up key nine times. You should see this (Figure 176):

Figure 176

12. Click in cell F2. Hit the F2 key (Figure 177). Look at the formula in cell F2. Can you say what type of cell references they are? Can you say what will happen to the formula when you copy it down from F2 to F6? The formula in cell F2, “=B2-E2”, uses relative cell references and so when you copy it down the cell references will move relatively. The formula actually reads: “always look four to the left and subtract one to the left”.

Figure 177

13. Hold Ctrl, then tap the Enter key. Point to the fill handle and with your cross hair (angry rabbit) and then double click the fill handle. The double click on the fill handle tells the formula to copy down as long as there is cell content in the cell directly to the left (Figure 178):

Figure 178

14. Click in cell F6 and hit the F2 key (Figure 179). Because the cell references are relative and because we copied the formula, the formula, “=B6-E6”, looks different, but really it is the same formula, namely: “always look four to the left and subtract one to the left”.

Figure 179

15. Look at Figure 179. What is the word “Assumptions” across C8 and D8 mean?

16. Click the Esc key to remove the range finder in cell F6. Click in cell C2 and then hit the F2 key (Figure 180). We can see in our formula that Deduction 1 is calculated by taking Suix Chin’s Gross Pay and multiplying it by the tax rate of 6.20%. Because the tax rate of 6.20% can change we have placed it in a cell and had our formula refer to it using a cell reference. We have assumed that our tax rate is 6.20% and thus have placed it into an assumption table. In our next section we will discuss the amazing power of assumption tables: when you should use them, what to put in them, and how to properly orientate them!

Figure 180

Assumption Tables/Sheets

Our golden rule for assumption tables is: All data that can vary (variable data) goes into a properly orientated assumption table. An example of data that can vary is a tax rate. An example of that data that will not vary is 12 months in a year. Remember: we don’t want to type data that can very into a formula for three reasons:

It is easier to edit or change our formula later if the variable data it is not typed into the formula (example: tax rate changes)
It is more polite for the spreadsheet user if the variable data can be seen on the face of the spreadsheet. (For example, even if we were to create a formula with variable data typed into the formula (such as “=$B2*.062”), when we came back tomorrow to use the worksheet, we as the creator might not even remember which formulas have variable data and/or what the variable data is)
What-if or scenario analysis is significantly easier when an assumption table is used. What-if/scenario analysis is simply when you change the variables to see different formula results.

In addition to the ease with which we can edit or locate variable data, assumption tables that are properly orientated can reduce the number of formula that we will be required to type into our spreadsheet. Proper orientation means the labels in the main table are orientated (horizontally or vertically) in the same way as the labels in the assumption table (horizontally or vertically), and that there is at least one blank row or column between the main table and the assumption table. Also, you can format the assumption table differently to distinguish it from the main table.

In this section about assumption tables we will learn:

1. When to use them

2. What to put in them

3. How it is easier to locate and edit variable data

4. How to properly orientate them!

5. How to conduct What-if/scenario analysis easily

6. How to bask in the amazing power of assumption tables!!

It will help if we work through an example è

Here are the steps to learn about assumption tables:

1. Navigate to the sheet tab named “Assumptions” (Figure 181). This table will be used to calculate the Net take home pay for a number of employees. Notice that the calculated amounts for Commission on Sales, and Gross Pay have already been calculated. Our goal is to calculate the three payroll deductions (FICA, Medicare, and simplified Federal) and the Net Pay.

Figure 181

2. Click in cell C3 and hit the F2 key. We can see the formula “=B3*E$12” ( Figure 182). Our first question we want to answer is: when do we use an assumption table? We use an assumption table when our formula contains variable data such as a commission rate or tax rate. In cell E3 we are calculating the commission on sales that we pay each employee. Can this commission rate change? You bet!

Figure 182

3. Hit the Esc key. Click in cell E12. Our second question is: what do we put into an assumption table? We put the variable data that we need for our formulas into an assumption table. In Figure 183 we can see that the commission rate of 1.25%, which we used in our formula, has been placed into an assumption table. This enables easy editing and formula updating later.

Figure 183

4. Now, imagine that the boss just gave everyone a raise from 1.25% commission to 2%! This leads to our third question: How easy is it to locate and edit variable data? Very easy!

5. Type 2, then hit Enter (because the cell was preformatted with the percent style, we did not have to type the % symbol). You should see the entire column of “Commission on Sales changes (Figure 184). THAT WAS EASY!! It is easier to change the variable data when it is on the face of the spreadsheet that it is to look for it, hidden underneath, inside a formula! I can already feel that vacation time adding up with all the time I will be saving!

Figure 184

6. Click in cell E12 and change the rate back to 1.25%. Our goal is still to calculate the deductions and calculate take home pay

7. Click in cell F3 and create the formula for calculating the FICA deduction. But wait! Which assumption table should we use?

8. Is the formula “=E3*F$16” (Figure 185) the one to use?

Figure 185

9. Or is the formula “=$E3*F$12” the one to use?

Figure 186

10. The answer to which formula to use (which formula is more efficient) leads to the fourth question: what is the proper orientation for our assumption table? If we were to use the formula as seen in Figure 185, “=E3*F$16” we would have to create three separate formulas to make all our deduction calculations. If we were to use the formula as seen in Figure 186, “=$E3*F$12” we would have to create only one formula to make all our deduction calculations. This sort of efficiency is exactly what we are striving for. But why does the formula using the variable data from the assumption table that is orientated horizontally allow us to create only one formula that will work for all our deductions? To see this, let’s try both formula and see which works best.

11. You should still have cell F3 highlighted. Create this formula: “=E3*F$16” (Figure 187):

Figure 187

12. Hold Ctrl, then tap Enter. Point to the fill handle, and with the Angry Rabbit cursor, copy the formula down through the range F3:F7. Then click in cell F7 and hit the F2 key (Figure 188). You can see that the formula worked when we copied it down.

Figure 188

13. Hit Esc. Click back into cell F3. Copy the formula to cell G3. Click in cell G3 and hit the F2 key to show the Range Finder. In Figure 189 we can see that the range finder shows that the cell reference for our tax rate moved and is now looking into the cell G16. Because the orientation of the assumption table is vertical (the labels for FICA, Medicare and Federal are located one on top of the other) and the orientation of our main table is horizontal, we would have to create three individual formulas in the cells F3, G3 and H3. Notice that in Figure 189 that the range finder moved to the right when we copied our formula to the right. This indicates that if we had used the horizontally orientated assumption table that formula would have calculated correctly è

Figure 189

14. Click Esc. Then Hold Ctrl, and tap the Z key three times (undo). Then create the formula “=$E3*F$12” in cell F3 (Figure 190):

Figure 190

15. Hold Ctrl, tap Enter. Ctrl + C (to copy formula). Hold Shift, then tap the Down Arrow key 4 times and the Right arrow key 2 times (highlights the range). Ctrl + V (pastes formula). Click in cell H7 and hit the F2 key. In Figure 191 we can see that because we orientated our assumption table correctly, it worked like MAGIC! We created the sea of formulas in the range F3:H7, 15 formulas, but we only had to type in one formula! This sort of efficiency is our goal!

Figure 191

16. Hit Esc. Highlight the range F3:I8 (Figure 192):

Figure 192

17. Hold Alt, and then tap the Equal sign key “=” (Alt + = is keyboard shortcut for AutoSum). As you can see in Figure 193, by highlighting a range of values and one blank row below and to the right, the Auto Sum feature knew what to add up. It doesn’t always add up the correct amount, so let’s check to be sure. After selecting cells with the AutoSum and verifying, the last cell we will check is cell I8 (Figure 193):

Figure 193

18. Highlight the range J3:J8 (Figure 194). Notice that when you highlight a range that one of the cells is white and the rest are a light steel-blue color. The white cell is waiting for you to put a formula into it. If you put a formula into cell J3 and then hold Ctrl and tap Enter, you formula will go into all the cells highlighted è

Figure 194

19. Create the formula that will always take the value “five to the left and then subtract one to the left in cell J3. Type ‘=”, tap the left arrow key five times, Type “-“, tap the Arrow key once. You should see this (Figure 195):

Figure 195

20. Hold Ctrl, and then tap Enter. We see here that if you have a range highlighted and you place a formula into the white cell, when you hold Ctrl and tap Enter, the formula is placed into all the cells that are highlighted! You should see this (Figure 196):

Figure 196

21. Our fifth question is: How easy is what-if/scenario analysis when we use assumption tables?

22. Click in cell E12 and change the Commission rate to 2%. Click in cell H12 and change the simplified Federal Withholding rate to 20%. Can you see how easy it is to say: “What if I changed this; what would happen to our calculations and our results?” (Figure 197):

Figure 197

23. Our final question about assumption tables is how can we bask in the amazing power of assumption tables?

24. Imagine your boss comes in and says: “we just added a new 2% deduction can you update our calculating table?” You look over your shoulder and say: “Oh you mean like this?!!” And with blistering speed you complete these steps è

25.

New column was inserted

Click in any cell in column H, Tap Alt, then tap I and then tap C (Alt + I + C is the keyboard shortcut for Insert Column) (Figure 198):

Figure 198: Alt + I + C is the keyboard shortcut for inserting a column

26. Click in cell H11 and type Pension. Hit Enter, then type 2% (Figure 199):

Figure 199

27. Highlight the range G2:G8 and point to the fill handle in the lower right-corner. When you see your Angry Rabbit, click and drag one column to the right. You are done! 10 clicks and you have completely updated the table and you have amazed your boss (who then promptly gives you a promotion)! (Figure 200):

Figure 200

28. In Figure 200 we can see that the deduction formulas updated because we used a properly orientated assumption table and mixed cell references; we can see that the SUM function for totals in row 8 updated because they were always looking to add the five above; and we can see that the totals for Total Deduction updated when we inserted a column because it utilized a range in its arguments! Wow, now we can have extra vacation time and bask in the amazing promotion we received – all because of efficient use of assumption tables, mixed cell references and range functions!

Rule #17: All data that can vary goes into a properly orientated assumption table that is at least one blank row/column away from the main table (it can also be placed on an entirely separate sheet). An example of data that can vary is a tax rate. An example of that data that will not vary is 12 months in a year. Although a properly orientated assumption table is not always possible, the idea is to have the labels in the table orientated (horizontally or vertically) in the same way as the assumption table If we do this, editing formulas, what-if analysis and formula creation is dramatically more efficient than if we do not utilize assumption tables.

Rule #18: Properly orientated assumption tables allow for mixed cell use and results in reduced time creating formulas

29. Highlight the range K3:K8. To Increase the decimals, click on the Increase Decimal icon in the Number Group on the Home Ribbon, or use the key board shortcut Alt + H + 0 twice. (Figure 201). Notice that the total Net Pay is $13,762.64.

Figure 201

30. Click in cell K8 and then hit the F2 key (Figure 202). There is no way that $19,563 - $5,800 = $13,762.64. What is going on here? This is one of the most common mistakes that people make in Excel. It is our job as Soon-To-Be Excel Efficiency Experts (EEE), to know that this is caused by formatting. What we often see in Excel is not actually what sits in the cell. We must investigate further….

Figure 202

31. To prove to ourselves that what is in the cell is different than what we are seeing on the surface of the spreadsheet, highlight the range B3:K8 and increase the decimals so that we see the decimals to the penny (Figure 203). We can see that what was really in the cell was numbers with more decimal places than we were allowed to see!

Figure 203

32. As you learn to work with Excel you must be vigilant in the endeavor to always match the proper formatting with what actually sits in the cell. This leads us to our next section about formatting.

Cell Formatting

We format cells with color, number formats (such as currency), borders and other format so that we can better articulate the message of our spreadsheet or printout of the spreadsheet. For example in Figure 204 we can see that formatting can help to communicate important information:

1. The percentage format helps to communicate the number of parts for every 100 parts

2. The accounting (similar to currency) format indicates that the Revenues, Expenses and Net Income are in USA dollars

3. The double line under the Net Income communicates that this is the “bottom line”.

4. The color helps to communicate that there are labels indicating what the numbers mean

Figure 204

Here are the steps to learn how to apply cell formatting

1. Navigate to the sheet named “Formatting (2)”. Click in cell E2. Hold Ctrl, then tap the “*” key on the number pad (this selects the table) (Figure 205):

Figure 205

2. Click the drop-down arrow to the right of the Border icon button in the Font Group on the Home Ribbon. Then select the “All Borders icon from the drop-down list (Figure 206):

Figure 206

3. Highlight the range A1:E1. Hold Ctrl key and tap “1” key (use the “1” below the F1 key not the “1” on the number pad). Ctrl + 1 opens the Format Cells dialog box (you could also right-click the highlighted range and point to Format Cells) Once you have the Format cells dialog box open click on the Alignment tab. See (Figure 207):

Figure 207

Here are the steps to learn how to use the ROUND Function in Excel to insure accurate payroll calculations when rounding to the penny is required

1) Navigate to the sheet named “Round for Deduction”. Before you make any calculations on this sheet, follow the calculations in step 2 and make the deduction calculations by hand with a pencil.

2) How to use a formula to calculate a tax deduction

1. Figure 226 shows the Taxable earnings and short description of how to calculate a deduction. Use Figure 227 to make a calculation by hand using a pencil, an eraser and the rules of rounding to a penny!

Figure 226

Figure 227

3) Now we can try it in Excel

4) How to use a formula to calculate a tax deduction

1. Before we create a formula to calculate the deduction, let’s look at the Accounting Number format already applied in the cell range B2:B4. Highlight the range and hold the Ctrl key, then tap the 1 key. You will see the Format Cells dialog box (Figure 228):

Figure 228

2. To begin a formula, type the equal sign (Figure 229):

Figure 229

3. With the thick white cross cursor, click on cell A2 (The cell reference A2 will appear in the formula) (Figure 230):

Figure 230

4. Type the multiplication symbol (Figure 231):

Figure 231

5. Click on the cell with the deduction % as seen below (Figure 232):

Figure 232

6. Click the F4 key twice to lock the percent (Figure 233):

Figure 233

7. Hold the Ctrl key, then tap the Enter key to place the formula in the cell (Notice that you can still see the formula in the formula bar (Figure 234):

Right Arrow: Name Box

Right Arrow: Formula Bar

Figure 234

8. Point to the fill handle (Little black box in lower right corner of highlighted cell) (Figure 235):

Left Arrow: Fill Handle

Figure 235

9. With fill handle selected, copy formula from B2 to B3 (Figure 236):

Figure 236

10. In cell B4 add a SUM function by holding the Alt key and tapping the equal sign. Verify that the SUM function selected the correct cells (Figure 237):

Figure 237

11. Hold Ctrl and tap Enter (Figure 238):

Figure 238

12. Go down to the area with the yellow instructions and verify that you entered the correct formula to calculate your payroll deductions. In cells E9 and E10 type what you see in cells B2 and B3, respectively (DO NOT USE CELL REFERENCES). Create a SUM function in cell E11 that adds the two cells above. (Figure 239):

Figure 239

13. Question: What is the problem here???!!?

14. Answer: Excel did its part perfectly, but we did not! We forgot to make sure that the formatting and the calculating formulas are doing the same thing! To see how these are different, select the cell range B2:B4 and increase the decimals to three places. The Accounting Number format was only allowing us to see two decimals, but what was actually in the cells was more than just two decimals. You should see this after you increased the decimals to three places (Figure 240):

Figure 240

15. What has happened here? The formulas underneath have calculated without rounding, but the formatting on top has made it appear as if it has been rounded. The SUM function does not look at formatted numbers, but instead looks at the unrounded numbers.

16. The solution is to make the format and the calculated numbers exactly the same by using the ROUND function.

17. Decrease the decimals to two places to restore the format to its original state. You should see this (Figure 241):

Figure 241

18. Add a ROUND function to our formula by clicking in cell B2. To edit the formula click the F2 keyboard button. You will see this (Figure 242):

Figure 242

19. With your cursor point in between the equal sign and the letter “A” and click to insert your cursor into the formula. Then type the letters and characters “ROUND(“ as seen here (Figure 243):

Figure 243

20. Then point your cursor to the formula bar and click at the end of the formula as seen here (Figure 244):

Figure 244

21. Type the characters and numbers: “,2)” as seen here (Figure 245):

Figure 245

22. Hold the Ctrl key and then tap the Enter key. Then copy the formula to cell B3. Now you are done and you should see this (Figure 246):

Figure 246

5) Conclusions: because formatting (such as currency) is like a façade that sits on top of the number, when you have a formula that has the potential to yield more decimal places than the format displays, use the ROUND function.

1. For a payroll calculation that must be rounded to the penny, instead of =A2*B$7, use =ROUND(A2*B$7,2); where the second argument “2” means round to the second decimal.

2 means round to the penny (Payroll)

0 means round to the dollar (Income Taxes)

-3 means round to the thousands position. (Financial Statements)

Rule #20: Because formatting (such as currency) is like a façade that sits on top of the number, when you have a formula that has the potential to yield more decimal places than the format displays, use the ROUND function.

Next we will look at how to work with Date formatting.

With Date number format, dates show the number of days since December 31st 1899, where December 31st 1899 is day zero (0), January 1st, 1990 is day one (1), January 2nd, 1990 is day two (2), etc. For example: January 1, 1900 is represented by the serial number 1; January 2, 1900 is represented by the serial number 2; and April 23, 2006 is represented by the serial number 38,830.

Here are the steps to learn how to understand the Date number format and to make date calculations (Excel date math)

1. Navigate to the sheet named “Date Math”. You should see this (Figure 247):

Figure 247

2. Hold Ctrl and tap on the ~ key (this reveals what is actually in the cell; this is called formula view). You should see what is in Figure 248. Understanding the Date format requires that you know that when you type “4/23/2006” (Figure 247), Excel sees 38830 (Figure 248). The “4/23/2006” is the façade that we see. The 38830 is the serial number that Excel sees. This serial number is very useful for making date calculations…

Figure 248

3. Hold Ctrl and tap on the ~ key to remove formula view

4. Select cell B2, Hold Ctrl and tap ; (semi colon) to put Today’s date in the cell (Figure 249). (Don’t worry if your day is different).

Figure 249

5. Select cell B3, enter the formula “=B2-B1”, then hold Ctrl and tap Enter (Figure 250):

Figure 250

Figure 251

6. If you see the formula result of 491 days (Figure 250), everything is working fine and accurate.

7. But if you see a formula result that is date formatted (Figure 251) You must be asking yourself What is going on here? Why is there a date in our cell instead of the number of days the invoice is past due? The answer is this: When you create a formula sometimes it brings the format from the cells that you have referenced to the cell you are creating a formula within.

8. To bring the format back to the “General format, Hold Ctrl and Shift and tap ~ (Figure 252):

Figure 252

9. Figure 252 reveals the beauty of the serial numbers that lie behind every date: it is easy to do date math! Whether you are calculating an overdue invoice, your own age, or an estimate of the number of days to complete a job, date math is amazing!

10. One final note about Date format: Click in cell D1 and type the number 38830, then hold Ctrl and tap Enter (Figure 253):

Figure 253

11. Hold Ctrl and tap 1, click on the Number tab, click on Date (Figure 254):

Figure 254

12. Click OK. Figure 255 illustrates directly that the number 38830 has a façade on top of it for us Excel users to see. In this way, we understand that it is a date when we see it, but hidden underneath, Excel sees the serial number so it can make date calculations!

Figure 255

13. For everyday Excel use, you can enter dates such as 4/23/2006, by typing the numbers and forward slashes – Excel automatically enters the serial number behind the scenes.

Rule #21: With Date number format, Excel sees the number of days since December 31st 1899 (or January 1, 1900 (inclusive)). This allows us to make date math calculations.

Now that we have studied the Date number format façade and how to use it, we can look at the Time number format façade and how to use it.

With Time number format, Excel sees the proportion of one 24 hour day. For example: 8:00AM is represented by the decimal number (also known as serial number or time value) 0.333333333333333; 6:21AM is represented by the decimal number .264583333333333; and 5:15:15 PM is represented by the decimal number .718923611111111.

Here are the steps to learn how to understand the Time number format and how to make time calculations (Excel time math)

1. Navigate to the sheet named “Time Formatting (1)”. You should see this (Figure 256):

Figure 256

2. When entering times into Excl, you can use the following conventions (Figure 257):

Figure 257

3. Click in cell A1 and type: 8, :, 0, 0, (space), A, M (said another way: type 8:00 AM). Click in cell B1 and type 6:21 AM. Click in cell C1 and type 5:15:15 PM (Figure 258).

Figure 258

4. Hold Ctrl and then tap ~ to see what Excel sees (Figure 259):

Figure 259

5. In Figure 259, notice that the decimal number that represents 5:15:15 PM is greater than the decimal value that represents 8:00 AM. This insight will allow us to subtract the earlier time from the later time and get the proportion of one day that has elapsed between the two times.

6. Hold Ctrl and then tap ~ to return to our normal view. In order to see that 8 hours does represent .333 or 1/3 of a 24 hour day, click in cell D3 and type the formula “two cells above divided by one cell above” (Figure 260):

Figure 260

7. Hold Ctrl and then tap enter. Point to the fill handle and drag the formula from cell D3 through F3 (Figure 261):

Figure 261

8. Highlight the cells D3:E3, hold Ctrl and then tap 1, click on the number tab, click on the Time category (Figure 262):

Figure 262

9. Click OK. In Figure 263, we can see that 8/24 or 1/3 is .333333333333333, but when we apply a Time format, the Excel user sees 8:00 AM.

Figure 263

10. As an extra bonus, click in cell F3 and apply the Fraction format. After you apply this format you should see this (Figure 264):

Figure 264

11. With our new understanding of the Time format, we would like to make some time calculations in Excel.

12. Navigate to the sheet tab named “Time Formatting (2)” You should see this (Figure 265):

Figure 265

13. We would like to use Excel to keep track of employees work hours and gross pay. Click in cell E2 and subtract the earlier time from the later time (“one to my left minus two to my left”) (Figure 266):

Figure 266

14. Hold Ctrl and then tap Enter (Figure 267). We see is Figure 267 that the Time format has carried forward into our cell with the formula.

Figure 267

15. Hold Ctrl and Shift and tap ~. In(Figure 268). we see the proportion of the day that Luke has worked.

Figure 268

16. Hold Ctrl and tap 1, select the Number tab, click on the Time category, click on the second time type in the list (Figure 269):

Figure 269

17. Click in G2 and type the formula as seen in Figure 270:

Figure 270

18. Hold Ctrl and tap Enter. What is wrong with Figure 271? Nothing! If WE were trying to multiply 9 hours times $14.00, we did not accomplish this. We made the wrong calculation. Excel did not make the wrong calculation. The resultant answer, 5.25, is exactly what we asked Excel to calculate, namely: 0.375*14.

Figure 271

19. Delete the contents of cell G2. In cell F2 type the formula “=(D2-C2)*24” (Figure 272). Notice that we had to know our order of operations (the subtraction is in parenthesis) and we had to know that 24 is a number that will not vary (thus it is OK to type into our formula).

Figure 272

20. Hit Tab. Type the formula “one to my left times four to my left” in cell G2, and then hold Ctrl and tap Enter. Then Hold Ctrl and Shift and tap the $ key (this is the keyboard shortcut for the Currency format). You should see this (Figure 273):

Figure 273

21. Highlight the range E2:G2, point to the fill handle and with your angry rabbit, double click the fill handle to copy the formulas down (Figure 274):

Figure 274

22. With our knowledge of the Time format, order of operations and non-varying numbers, we have created formulas that we can use for timesheet calculations.

Rule #22: With Time number format, Excel sees the proportion of one 24 hour day. This allows us to make time math calculations.

Next we will turn our attention to Excel’s Charting capabilities.

Charts

Charts and graphs are a means to visually articulation numerical data. There are times when a picture (chart or graph) tells a thousand words. Charts and graphs can deliver a message in a more immediate way. Although a chart or graph lacks the detail of all the numbers, it quickly articulates its message in an effective way.

Navigate to the sheet tab named “Charts (1)”.

In Excel, after highlighting your numerical data and labels, you can initiate chart creation from the Chart Group on the Insert Ribbon. (Figure 275):

Figure 275

After you initially create your Chart from the Chart Group on the Insert Ribbon, you can use the three Context-Sensitive Ribbons for Charts or you can right-click the different elements of the Chart. (Figure 276):

Figure 276

In Figure 276 we can see a “Column” chart type. However, there are many charts to choose from and choosing the correct one can sometimes be tricky. We will look at two chart types: Pie chart and a Column chart with multiple series data. If you would like to learn about more of the built in chart types, Click F1 (Microsoft Help) and type “Available chart types”. There is an article that gives an excellent example of each chart type.

Here are the steps for creating a Pie chart

1. Navigate to the sheet named “Charts (1)”. You should see this (Figure 277):

Figure 277

2. In Figure 277 we can see that WindSports Sales are broken apart into categories. Vertically, in Column A, we can see that WindSport has categorized the sales according to the products that they sell: boomerangs, kites and toys. Horizontally, in Row 2, we can see that WindSport has categorized the sales according to the sales channels that they use for selling: In Store, Web Site and Mail Order. In addition, they have listed totals for each category and an overall total in the lower-right corner.

3. For our first Chart we would like to show how each product total contributes to the overall total. This means that we are comparing three “parts” (boomerangs, kites, toys) to the overall total to see what proportion or percentage that each contributes to the whole. Anytime you have this situation (comparing parts to the overall total), a Pie chart type is an excellent choice.

4. Highlight the range A3:A5, Hold Ctrl, Select the range E3:E5 (you are selecting two ranges of cells that are not adjacent to each other), and then point to the Pie chart icon button in the Charts Group on the Insert Ribbon (Figure 278).

Figure 278

5. Click on the Pie chart icon button and then point to the first option. As you can see in (Figure 279)., Excel gives you a description of what the chart should be used for. As you learn how to make charts, you can read these as you are trying to decide which chart is best for your message.

Figure 279

6. Click on this first option to create your Pie chart. In Figure 280 you can see that it placed a pie chart on top of the worksheet and opened the three context-sensitive Ribbons for charts.

Upper left corner

Context-Sensitive Ribbons

Figure 280

7. To change the size of the chart, hold the Shift Key and point to the upper left corner of the chart and when you see a diagonally pointing black arrow, click and drag inward. You should change the size to about the same size as seen in Figure 281:

Figure 281

8. Click on the “Quick Layout” icon button on the Chart Tools Design Ribbon and point to the “Layout 1” option (Figure 282):

Figure 282:

9. In Figure 283 you should see that the Quick Layout added a Chart Title, and the category names with percentages that convey how much each part contributes to the whole.

Figure 283

6. As seen in Figure 314 click on the Header/Footer tab.

Footer

Preview

Button to build Custom Footers

Header

Preview

Drop-down for built-in Footers

Button to build Custom Header

Drop-down for built-in Headers

Figure 314

Note: there is a good alternative for creating Headers and Footers. If you choose the Header & Footer in the Text Group on the Insert Ribbon, you can create Headers and Footers. (Keyboard shortcut for Headers and Footers is Alt + N + H (this puts you into Page Layout View with the Headers enacted), and the keyboard shortcut to get out of Page Layout View is Alt W + L (this puts you back in Normal View). If you are only adding Headers and Footers this is the better method. However, if you are adding many Page Setup elements all at once, then the Page Setup dialog box is more efficient.

Figure 315

7. While still viewing the Header/Footer tab in the Page Setup dialog box, click the drop-down arrow for built-in Footers and select “Page 1 of ?” as seen in Figure 316. This is Excel Code that will automatically put the correct page numbers on each page that prints out. (In our case we have only one page.)

Figure 316

8. Next, click on the Button to build Custom Headers. A new dialog box pops up on top of the Page Setup dialog box (Figure 317):

Header dialog box is on top of the Page Setup dialog box

Figure 317

9. As seen in Figure 318, click in the left section and click on the Insert File Name (this inserts the code that automatically puts the file name in your header – even if you change the file name, your header will automatically update).

Figure 318

10. As seen in Figure 319, click in the center section and click on the Insert Sheet Name (this inserts the code that automatically puts the sheet name in your header – even if you change the sheet name, your header will automatically update).

Figure 319

11. As seen in Figure 320, click in the right section and click on the Insert Date (this inserts the code that automatically puts today’s date in your header – if you print it out at a later date, your header will automatically update).

Figure 320

12. As seen in Figure 321, click OK in the Header dialog box:

Figure 321

13. As seen in Figure 322Figure 321, click OK in the Page Setup dialog box:

Figure 322

14. To see a preview of your Page Setup before you print, Hold the Ctrl key and tap the F2 key (Figure 323):

Figure 323

15. The print preview that we see in Figure 323 is much better than the one we saw in Figure 306. Not only that, but with the ability to do Page Setup, you will be the heroine or hero in many office setting (because usually people can’t figure out how to print their sheet correctly!

16. In our next section, we want to take about data analysis topics such as sorting, subtotals and PivotTables.

Analyze Data: Sort, Filter, Subtotals, PivotTables

The essential beauty of Excel is that you can make calculations and analyze/manipulate data quickly and easily “on the fly!” What-if analysis is easy in Excel. You can Sort to see which Sales Rep had the greatest sales, create Subtotals by Region, and do complex data analysis such as summarizing on multiple criteria (PivotTables). (This section is only a brief look at Excel’s infinite Analyzing capabilities…). For this section we will look at Sorting, Filtering, automatic Subtotals and a basic PivotTable.

The #1 MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER WHEN YOU START TO USE EXCEL’S DATA ANALYSIS TOOLS IS:

Rule #24: Before you use Excel’s Data Analysis Tools: the data must be in proper Excel “List” or “Table” Format. This format is as follows: 1) First row has field names with formatting that is different from the rest of the data; 2) No blank field names; 3) Columns are called Fields; 4) Rows are called records; 5) No blank columns (fields); 6) No blank rows (records); 7) Blank rows and columns and/or Excel’s column headers (A, B…) and/or row headers (1, 2…) must separate the Excel List from other data

Columns are called “Fields”. Fields are the variable data for each record. Rows are called “Records”. Records are individual collections of the fields. For example, navigate to the sheet tab named “Analyze Data”, click on the Data Ribbon. You should see this (Figure 324): Note: your data may not be in the same order as the picture.

Figure 324

In Figure 324 we can see:

1. Proper Excel “List” or “Table” Format, which will refer to as “Excel’s List/Table format” (this is because in Excel 2003 it was called “List” and in Excel 2007 it is called “Table”)

2. Each row represents one Sales Transaction

i. Each sales transaction is one new record

ii. Each record is an individual collection of the seven fields

3. The first seven columns represent fields

i. Each field is a variable

1. For each new transaction it can have a different date or different region or different sales rep, etc.

Steps to Sort on various criteria

1. The method of sorting we will look at involves turning on the “Filter” with the keyboard shortcut for Filter: hold Ctrl and Shift, then tap the “L” key. In Figure 325 you can see that that keyboard short cut added drop-down arrows at the top of each field and turned on the Filter button in the Sort and Filter Group on the Data Ribbon.

Figure 325

2. Point to the drop-down arrow for the Sales field and point to “Sort Largest to Smallest” (Figure 326):

Figure 326

3. As seen in Figure 327, instantly, the whole table is sorted by the sales numbers in the Sales field. We can easily see that Sales Rep Luke had the two largest sales.

Figure 327

4. Next click on the drop-down arrow for the Sales Rep field and click on the “Sort A to Z” from the drop-down list (Figure 328)

Figure 328

5. As seen in Figure 329, instantly, the whole table is sorted by the names in the Sales Rep field, with Chin at the top.

Figure 329

6. To see how to sort without the Filter turned on, turn off the Filter with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + L, then click in cell B6 (Figure 330):

Figure 330

7. With only one cell selected in the Region field column, click the “A è Z” icon button in the Sort & Filter Group on the Data Ribbon (Figure 330)

8. As seen in Figure 331, the whole table was sorted by the region names in the Region field column.

Figure 331

Rule #25: Before click the “A è Z” icon button in the Sort & Filter Group on the Data Ribbon, make sure your block of data is in the Proper Excel List/Table Format and highlight only one cell in the field you want to sort.

Steps to Filter your data

1. Navigate to the sheet named “Filter”. You can use this keyboard shortcut to move down two sheets: Hold Ctrl and then tap the Page Down key twice. You should see the data as seen in Figure 332. Then, turn on the Filter using the keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + L

Hold Ctrl and Shift at the same time and then tap “L” to turn on the Filter

Figure 332

8. As seen in Figure 355, we can see our PivotTable taking shape. We can see that the Sales Rep labels and the Region labels in our worksheet. We can see that two context-sensitive Ribbons for the PivotTable have appeared (PivotTable Tools Options and Design Ribbons).

We can see that two context-sensitive Ribbons for the PivotTable have appeared.

We can see that the Sales Rep labels and the Region labels in our worksheet.

Figure 355

9. Because we cannot see the whole PivotTable, Zoom slider in the Status Bar to move down to 90% view. As seen in Figure 356, click the “Zoom Out button (minus sign) to move to 90% view.

Figure 356

10. As seen in Figure 357, we can now see the whole PivotTable.

Figure 357

11. Next, as seen in Figure 358, click on the Sales field in the PivotTable Field List Task Pane – this adds the Sales field to the Values area. PivotTables use the Sum Function by default, which is what we wanted in our case. To see how to change the function and to format the Sales numbers, click the close “x” button in the top right corner of the PivotTable Field List Task Pane and then click in cell A3.

Figure 358

12. With your cursor in cell A3, right-click and point to “Value Field Settings” (Figure 359):

Figure 359

13. As seen in Figure 360, the Value Field Settings dialog box should appear: If you were to change the function, you could do so in the “Summarize value field by” function list. Because we want to change the Number formatting, we will click the Number Format button.

Number Formatting

If you were to change the function, you could do so in the “Summarize value field by” function list.

Figure 360

14. This is another one of those situations when two dialog boxes are opened. When the Format Cells dialog box appears, select the Currency Number format. Then click the OK button on the Format Cells dialog box. Then click the OK button on the Value Field Settings dialog box. (Figure 361):

Figure 361

15. With only a few clicks, the PivotTable is done. Even better than with Subtotals, we can easily see how each Sales Rep did in each Region (Figure 362):

Figure 362

Rule #28: When your data is in Proper Excel List Format, PivotTables are the most powerful tool in Excel. Don’t be afraid of them, there are just tables with variables on the left (Row) and top (Column) side and an intersecting calculation in the middle (such as summing)!

IF function

In this next section we will talk about a built-in Excel function called the IF function. The IF function is great for when you need to put one of two things into a cell. For example, when you are calculating whether or not you get a bonus at work, you would say something like, “If I make sales over or equal to $5,000, I get a $100 bonus, otherwise I get no bonus.” Notice that the words that we use to describe whether or not we get a bonus start with the word “If”! This is why Excel named the function “IF”.

In our case the logical test would be: “Sales >=$5,000” (in words: “If I make sales over or equal to $5,000”). This logical test will either be TRUE or FALSE. If the logical test is TRUE, then we get our bonus of $100. If the logical test is FALSE, then we get a bonus of $0 (we did not exceed or equal the sales hurdle of $5,000).

The built-in Excel IF function will automatically tell you whether or not you earned a bonus! All you have to do is tell the IF function three things:

What the logical test is
What the bonus amount is (Value to put in the cell if the logical test turns out to be TRUE)
What the amount is if we don’t make the sales hurdle. (Value to put in the cell if the logical test turns out to be FALSE)

In Excel language (and math language) the three things are called “arguments”. So our three arguments for the IF function will be:

1) Logical test

2) Value if TRUE

3) Value if FALSE

The function will look like this:

=IF(logical_test,[value_if_true],[value_if_false])

The great thing about the IF function is that whenever you have one of two things to put in a cell that depend of a logical test that comes out to be TRUE or FALSE, you can use the IF function. In addition, the two things that you want to put in a cell that depend on a logical test can be numbers, text, cell references, or other formulas.

Steps to see four examples of the IF function:

1. Navigate to the sheet named “IF function”. As seen in Figure 363, there are four screen tips that I have added to show you the formulas that will help you see the different ways the IF function can be used. We will go step by step through the first one and then you can try the remaining ones on your own (there are even two more very complicated IF examples if you scroll down further in the sheet).

Figure 363

2. Click in cell B14 and type the beginning few characters of our formula: “=IF(“. In Figure 364 you can see the beginning characters of our formula in the cell B14 and in the formula bar. You can also see a function screen tip that gives you a hint of what arguments are required.

=IF(

Function Screen Tip

Figure 364

3. Type the logical test (Figure 365). This logical test says “If Sales are greater than or equal to the Sales Hurdle”. This logical test will come out to be TRUE or FALSE.

Figure 365

4. Next, we type a comma. As seen in Figure 366, the screen tip highlights with bold the next argument that is needed. We can see that we must tell the IF function what to put in the cell if the logical test comes out to be TRUE.

Figure 366

5. As seen in Figure 367, in order to tell the function what value goes into the cell if the logical test is TRUE, we click on the cell with the $100 bonus, cell B11.

Figure 367

6. As seen in Figure 368, we complete the formula by adding the last argument and ending parenthesis to our IF function. This last argument tells the IF function what to put in the cell if the logical test is FALSE.

Figure 368

7. Hit control + Enter to enter our formula into the cell. As seen in Figure 369, the IF function delivers the $100 bonus to the cell because our Sales number, $5,500, is above the Sales Hurdle number, $5,000. But what if our mean boss changed the Sales Hurdle number to $6,000? What would happen to our $100 Bonus?

Figure 369

8. To see the IF function in action, pretend you are the mean boss and change the Sales Hurdle value in cell B10 to the value $6,000 (which is above your Sales number. As seen in Figure 370, the IF function looked at the logical test Sales>=$6,000 ($5,5000>=$6,000), came to a FALSE conclusion, and then put the $0 amount in cell B14.

Figure 370

9. Now change your Sales number to $6,000. As seen in Figure 371, because the logical test Sales>=$6,000 ($6,000>=$6,000) was TRUE, the TRUE amount of $100 was put into cell B14.

Figure 371

10. Before you try the remaining IF functions on your own, let’s look at the completed IF function formula in cell A19 in our formula bar in Figure 372. Here we can see that the logical test is whether or not Sales are greater than Expenses (Sales>=Expenses), if this is TRUE, we want out label to read “Net Income”, otherwise if it is FALSE, we want our label to read “Net Loss”.

Figure 372

11. In Figure 373 , we can see that if we were to change or Expenses to be $7,000, the labels updates because the IF function formula puts the words “Net Loss” in the cell because the logical test evaluates to FALSE.

Figure 373

Conclusion:

This is just the beginning of what Excel can do for you. We have looked at the following topics: