Excel Basics for Everyday Use Part Two

By Kevin McLogankevinmclogan@yahoo.combigkkm@twitter.comfacebook.com/kmcloganlinkedin.com/in/kevinmclogan

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Course Objectives:After you complete this course to will be able to:

• Be familiar with the ribbon and be able to customize it• Perform and understand calculations and determine

which functions are appropriate for the task at hand.• Be able to sort data efficiently• Format the contents of a worksheet• Understand Ranges and Names• Customize your individual Excel experience to make you

even more productive and awesome than you are now!Create spreadsheets that amaze your friends and

strike fear into the hearts of your enemies

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For this class, I am making the following assumptions

• That you are just getting started with Excel, but have either taken the first course or have comparable skills

• That you are eager to learn about Excel• That there are things in your life that can be improved

through spreadsheets• That you will walk out of here with a better understanding of

Excel and be able to use it in meaningful ways when you leave the class, no matter what your current skill level is

• That you will practice the skills you have learned here

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In order for us to make this an outstanding experience

• Ask questions if you are not clear on a concept • If you have a problem with a file, let us know so that

you can reload it. • I will talk really fast if you let me-slow me down if I

get ahead of you.• If you need help, please let us know-if you can help,

please do.• This is a hands-on lesson, so you will learn by doing-

you will want to take some notes.

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And it’s all about being productive!

What kinds of things are you going to do with Excel?

Utilize your toolbar, design of spreadsheets and formats to make Excel a tool with which you can solve problems, analyze your data, and communicate better.

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Different versions

• There are four versions that you could be using• Excel 2003• Excel 2007• Excel 2010• Excel 2013, or Excel 365

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2003

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Don’t Fear the Ribbon!

• The toolbar is now the Ribbon• The most glaring change in the transition from

Excel 2003 to Excel 2007• Let’s check out how we can make it work for

us!

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Brief explanation

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Ribbon

• The Ribbon is the strip of buttons and icons located above the work area. The Ribbon is organized into a series of tabs - such as File, Home, and Formulas. Each tab contains a number of related features and options. First introduced in Excel 2007, the Ribbon replaced the menus and toolbars found in Excel 2003 and earlier versions.

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Quick Access Toolbar

• This customizable toolbar allows you to add frequently used commands. Click on the down arrow at the end of the toolbar to display the toolbar's options.

• In later versions it appears below the ribbon

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More details about the Ribbon

• Refer to the file in your packet: “Transitioning to the Ribbon”

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Let’s get startedIn order for you to get the most out of Excel, let’s begin with a couple of concepts that will

serve all of you well.

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Active Cell

• The active cell is recognized by its black outline. Data is always entered into the active cell. Different cells can be made active by clicking on them with the mouse or by using the arrow keys on the keyboard.

• THE ONLY WAY TO REALLY KNOW WHERE YOU ARE IN THE WORKBOOK IS TO CHECK THE NAME BOX

• The Name Box is located next to the formula bar, it displays the cell reference or the name of the active cell.

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Basic Math Functions

• Basic Operators:• Add +• Subtract –• Multiply *• Divide /• Percentage %• Exponents ^

• ARITHMETIC OPERATORMEANING (EXAMPLE)

• + (plus sign) Addition (3+3)• – (minus sign) Subtraction

(3–1)• Negation (–1)• * (asterisk) Multiplication (3*3)• / (forward slash) Division (3/3)• % (percent sign) Percent (20%)• ^ (caret) Exponentiation

(3^2)

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Formatting

If your spreadsheet looks good, so do you!

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Number Formatting

Open the Format Numbers File

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Alignment of the cells

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Font adjustments

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Borders

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Patterns

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Auto Format

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Conditional Formatting

Open Conditional Formatting file.

If a cell’s value results in a certain condition, the format can be changed according to your preference.

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Sorting

• The standard configuration on the toolbar is unsuitable!

• Change it or use the menu item:• Data=>Sort

Open Big Sort file for the exercise.

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Sort Dialogue box

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Formula/FunctionThis is where the heavy lifting is done.

• Formulas contain five elements:• Operators (Symbols like +, -, /, *)• References: named cells or ranges, in the current

worksheet or another worksheet, or even another workbook.

• Values: numbers or lists of numbers (sometimes named)• Functions and their arguments: include SUM, AVERAGE,

VLOOKUP and their arguments• Parentheses: Control the order in which the work gets

done.

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Formula LessonOpen the worksheet titled “formula lesson”• What is the total sales number for January?• How much did each sales Associate sell in January?• How do I know that I added up all of the sales figures?• What day of the month had the most sales?• The least sales?• In order to make it worthwhile for me to keep a sales person

working, they need to generate $6500 in sales per quarter-these sales are evaluated at the end of the quarter. Keep this in mind as we move forward.

• Work through each month of the first quarter and then we will total it up in the last sheet.

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Insert a function

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How to make functions work for you

• Use function box or create your own using operators (+, -, /, *)

• Start with “=” sign• Edit formula in cell or in the formula bar• Copy a formula-if it refers to another cell, then

it will move its reference point (we noticed that in our last example)

Let's create some of our own formulas!

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Popular functions• SUM• AVERAGE• IF• COUNT• COUNTNUMS• MAX &MIN• CONCATENATE AND MID• SUMIF• VLOOKUP

• RANK

• COUNTIF &COUNTA

Open Sum file

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=SUM

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=AVERAGE

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=COUNT

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=MAX &MIN

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Text Functions

• =MID: takes part of a text string apart• =CONCATENATE: puts several strings of text

into one text string

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DATE FUNCTIONS• =NOW and =TODAY return the current time

and date (the difference is that NOW includes the time)

• REMEMBER: all dates are stored as a number. Today is 40,206 (standard date system) and 38745 in 1904 date system.

• The standard system is based on days from 1900, but counted it as a leap year.

• Always use the 1904 system if adding or subtracting dates!

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SUBTOTAL FUNCTIONReturns a subtotal in a list or database. It is

generally easier to create a list with subtotals using the Subtotals command (Data menu). Once the subtotal list is created, you can modify it by editing the SUBTOTAL function.

1 AVERAGE 6 PRODUCT2 COUNT 7 STDEV3 COUNTA 8 STDEVP4 MAX 9 SUM5 MIN 10 VAR

11 VARP

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Naming ranges

Why is this important:• Names make your formulas more understandable

and easier to use, especially for others.• A descriptive name is easier to remember than a

range of cells• Makes it easier to move around in the spreadsheet.• Easy to verify-the names appear in the name box.

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Define Name Box

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Checking your work

• Tracing errors: when you get a message like:• ####, #DIV/0!, #REF!, #NULL!1, #VALUE!,

#NAME?, #NUM!, #N/ASomething went wrong!

Open the Fix and trace errors file

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• ##### column is too narrow to display the value, or you might have used a negative number for a date or time.

• #DIV/0! You attempted to divide by zero. What were you thinking?

• #NAME? Excel does not recognize the text in the cell. A name or function have been misspelled or used a name that does not exist. Text in not marked properly.

• #NUM! The formula contains an invalid numeric value or a number that is too large or too small for Excel to handle.

• #REF! The formula uses an invalid cell reference.

• #VALUE! The wrong type of argument is used in the formula.

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Tracing Precedents and dependants

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Drop-down menus in cells• You can limit the options for

data entry with a drop-down menu in each cell.

• This keeps the entries consistent and limits errors due to spelling, or other inconsistencies.

• Let’s try it!

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Inserting fancy stuff into your spreadsheet

• Hyperlinks

Open the more resources file to see how this is inserted.

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I leave you with this:

SAVE YOUR WORK!

Thank you for participating, happy spread sheeting!