West Boynton Branch

Microsoft Excel (Version 2016)

In this class:

1. What is a spreadsheet?

2. Select, add or change spreadsheet data.

3. Build a spreadsheet

4. Formatting cell data

5. Basic charts and graphs

6. Challenge: Interest Rate

In accordance with the provisions of the ADA, this document may be requested in an alternate format.

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What is a Spreadsheet?

A spreadsheet, or electronic spreadsheet, is an interactive table for storing, organizing and analyzing data. The table is arranged into vertical columns (designated as letters) and horizontal rows (numbers). Units of intersections between these are known as Cells and can potentially contain various text, numeric or formula data. In the example below, the cell B4 is selected and identified within the name box. It is located at the intersection of column B and row 4.

Refer to the name box to reflect which cell is currently selected. Locate and select D4, then G20. Try moving around the spreadsheet without the mouse and rely entirely on arrow keys. This can be a more efficient method for navigating the grid. Excel is a scalable resource, meaning here it has the capacity to handle increasingly diverse data demands. A single cell can even contain over 30,000 characters! Navigate to the furthest right column and notice that after Z is AA, then AB and upwards to ZZ, AAA, AAB and so on. The same broad range is true for rows. Altogether, a single spreadsheet can contain 16,384 columns and 1,048,576 rows. This of course does not mean you need to use every possible cell for your project, just be aware it can support tasks as basic or complex as your organization requires. While Microsoft excel continues to be the industry standard among spreadsheet applications due to its bundling with Windows PC’s, and therefore proficiency is recommended to strengthen your resume, there are free alternatives. Google sheets, sheets.google.com, is a popular online spreadsheet tool that only requires Internet access and a Google account. Libreoffice.org is another office suite program that can be downloaded to your computer. Microsoft Excel is also available as a free app through the iOS App Store and Android Google Play, however, it has much more limited functionality than its desktop based progenitor.

Select, add or change spreadsheet data It is important early on to have an idea of how to organize your spreadsheets. Proper arrangement of rows and columns can impact everything from data integrity (ensuring the information’s continuous accuracy and consistency) to its potential to be coherent, and therefore presentable, to others. Try using paper and pencil or accounting worksheets, if available, to plan out your spreadsheet first. For example, how would you visually diagram your monthly income, expenditures and remaining balance?

Name Box

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Add To insert data into a cell, simply select it and begin typing. For example, insert your name into cell B2 and, when finished, press the Enter key or select any other cell using the arrow keys or the mouse.

When a cell is selected, its data is also present in the formula bar. This is primarily helpful for referencing individual formula variables since cells primarily display solutions and not the actual components of an equation. For example, in cell D4 (or directly into the formula bar while D4 is selected) insert the equation =7*8. All formulas need to begin with the equal (=) symbol, otherwise no calculations will be performed. Select any other cell to get the result 56. The formula bar is also helpful if data is ever visually obstructed due to a cells apparent width, height or other formatting constraints (try typing long strings of data into 2 adjacent cells on a row). Modify or Delete You can also select any cell by double-clicking with the mouse. This causes a blinking cursor to appear. Double-click cell D4 and change the formula to reflect =7-8 by using the backspace or shift and arrow keys, the result should be -1. Excel is capable of representing diverse mathematical calculations for arithmetic, finance, statistics and so forth. Double-clicking a cell enables you to edit its contents, then press Enter or use the mouse to select another cell when finished making changes. Deleting cell contents is very easy. Simply select a cell (not double-click) and press the Delete key. Interestingly, you can also replace, or overwrite, the contents of any cell by typing while it is selected. For example, highlight cell D4 and type =6/2. This can be a helpful tool to make quick spreadsheet changes. Selecting Ranges Multiple cells can be selected at the same time to insert, modify or delete data. For a basic range using the keyboard, select the 1st cell, then hold down either Shift key and use the arrows until the desired range is highlighted. You may also use dragging on the mouse by holding down the primary (left) button between the two ends of the range. Try selecting cells B2 through D4 using the keyboard. Colons are used to indicate ranges. Now highlight the range C7:G20 with the mouse.

Formula Bar

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Build a Spreadsheet Cells can contain text (known as labels), numbers (values) and formulas or equations (functions). Spreadsheets are a practical resources for balancing your expenditures. Replicate the following data:

For quicker input try typing the data vertically by column, using the Enter key after each entry (Income, Enter, Rent, Enter). In this example, for an unspecified month a person has an income of $2,500 and numerous expenses such as rent, cell phone and groceries. If followed correctly everything up to this point in column B should be labels and C are all values. The 1st goal is to calculate the remaining income into cell C14 with a function. There are several ways to do so with the easiest being basic arithmetic. The answer could be =2500-900-80-250… This is technically correct but not easily scalable. We need a spreadsheet that can accommodate more flexible data input. Here it is appropriate to use cell reference to indicate the alphanumeric name of each cell within the function, a common practice in excel. In cell C14 try typing =C4-C5-C6-C7-C8-C9-C10-C11-C12 and press enter. The answer should be 720. Notice how each formula component and referenced cell color coordinate. This enables you to make certain the appropriate elements are being referenced within your function.

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By using cell reference this example can now be scaled to account for future months. Begin by selecting cell C3, right above the 1st month’s pay and insert the label JAN or January. The goal now is to duplicate this range of data (C3:C14) to account for the months of February, March, April and May. To do so you could technically type out potential income, rent, cell phone, etc. values into the next few columns or use several helpful Excel shortcuts to save time and potentially reduce user error. Auto-Fill Autofill is a helpful feature that fills data into cells that follow a pattern. It can be located at the bottom-right corner of any selected cell or range. Simply left-click drag from that fill handle into adjacent rows or columns and let go once you’ve produced the desired results. For example, using auto-fill for a series of 1,2 will next produce 3,4,etc. There needs to be, however, a coherent pattern otherwise data will simply be duplicated (a series of 2,2 can only produce 2,2,2,2,etc.) Select range C3:C14 and drag the fill handle over to column G. Notice precisely how the cursor icon changes to indicate the auto fill feature.

If done correctly, data will be automatically filled into the next 4 columns, the month labels and formula will show a sequence but the income and expense variables will remain the same. Select cells D14, E14, F14 and G14 individually while looking at the formula bar to see how they adjusted. Remember only data in a pattern will modify with autofill. Now change the Income in the new months to 1600, 5000, 3000 and 200 and notice the balances. This shows why using cell reference over specific cell values in functions can be helpful. Copy and Paste Copy and Paste are a less versatile but more common and still helpful method for data patterns and duplication. To copy data, simply select a cell or range and press the copy button in the ribbon bar under the Home tab. You can also use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + C. Next choose the intended destination for the copied data and press paste or CTRL + V. Select the range G3 through G14, press copy, then select cell H3 and press paste. Notice how the month did not change yet the formula did? Copy and paste is more reliable with sequencing formulas, not necessarily labels. This is why it is always crucial to double check the data integrity as your work moves forward.

Auto Fill

Copy

Paste

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Formatting cell data It is important for cell data to be presentable to others. Cell formatting allows you to adjust attributes about the look and feel of your spreadsheet. There are many ways to do so, common examples include customizing the font, font size, cell coloring or adding cell borders. It can be particularly useful when you need to draw the audience’s attention to specific information within a long spreadsheet. The goal of cell formatting should generally be to make content easier to view and understand. Several formatting options are listed under the Home tab on the ribbon bar. To modify cells or ranges you need to make sure they are first selected. These changes are not permanent for all future data entries in a spreadsheet, they will only impact the individual cells selected and any information copied from them (such as auto-fill or copy and paste also duplicate formatting). For example, highlight range B2:G3 and select the B icon in the Font section of the Home tab to embolden the text. Do the same for range B4:B14 to complete these changes for all labels.

Number formatting is a crucial component in spreadsheets. For example, how would you choose to display the date September 30th, 2018? It might be 9/30/18, 9/30, 09/30/18, 30-Sep, 30-September-2018 and even several others ways. Excel has default layouts for the date, time and fractions so make sure your spreadsheet is not automatically rearranging data. Highlight the range C4:G14 and look at the formatting options in the Number section of the Home tab.

Currency

Decimals

Comma

Percentage

Advanced Formatting

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You may select the $ icon to add US dollar signs to your numbers, ▼ to choose from other currency symbols (this will not perform the exchange rate), add the percent or thousands comma separator and either to increase or decrease the number of decimals in your numbers. The General drop-down box reveals various default number styling categories, such as adding currency symbols or choosing a date layout. Over time you may become familiar with each format to confidently select from the list, until then choose either “More Number Formats…” or the advanced formatting icon in the number section of the Home tab.

This opens the Format Cells windows. There are longer descriptions of each number styling category with customizable settings. For example, select ‘Date’ to choose between the various formats discussed earlier. Make sure to go down the list and read each description in length, some are these can be very helpful. For example, the ‘Text’ category prevents functions from being calculated or values from defaulting to another number format. All data will be displayed exactly as entered. For our Monthly Budget, we should use a category than incorporates currency, commas and decimals. This can be either ‘Currency’ or ‘Accounting’ but we will choose the former since it also includes various negative number settings. Remember spreadsheets may need to emphasize certain information that could otherwise be missed. Here we want to draw the audience’s attention to negative numbers to indicate too much money being spent. Choose from either of the two red negative options and press OK.

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You should have something similar to the following results: Notice how quickly your eyes are drawn the negative balances in February and May.

Simple Charts and Graphs Charts provide graphical representations of data. These can be used to ease understanding of large quantities of information and are generally helpful in presentations. Excel provides a wide assortment of options such as line, bar, pie and scatter charts. Let’s graph components of your Monthly Budget spreadsheet. The first step is deciding what to graph and which chart is appropriate. Bar and line charts, for example, are useful for comparing data sets while pie graphs display proportional measures. Highlight the ranges of data you wish to chart. If data is not selected then no chart can be generated.

Bar Chart To compare each months expenses: highlight all available data (range B3:G14), select the Insert Tab, the bar chart icon and choose a basic model. You should have something similar to:

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Line Chart To represent the changing monthly income: highlight range B3:G4, select the Insert Tab, the line chart icon and choose a model. You should have something similar to: Pie Chart To compare monthly expenses for January highlight the range B5:C12 and select a basic pie chart. To automatically add a Chart Title highlight range B3:C3 using only your mouse, then hold down the Ctrl button a selecting range B5:C12. Compare the results with the original chart. Additional tabs appear in the ribbon bar when working with inserted objects (graphics, images, etc). Look around the Design and Format tabs to further manipulate your charts.

Calculate Rent CHALLENGE! The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recommends spending a maximum 30% of your Gross Monthly Income on rent. Using arithmetic and the monthly budgeting spreadsheet, calculate 30% of each month’s income into a new row then subtract that number from the $900 rent. For extra points insert a chart to compare monthly income, 30% and the fixed rent cost. According to Zillow.com1 the average monthly rent in June 2021 for a 1-bedroom apt in Boynton Beach was $1,610. Calculated as 30%, this is equal to an annual net income of $64,404. For a 2-bedroom rental, the rent $2,037 becomes $81,480. This is why it pays to have a roommate!

1 https://www.zillow.com/research/data/