Advance Excel Notes

Download as docx, pdf, or txt
Download as docx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 12

CERTIFICATE IN ADVANCED EXCEL - (CAE)

Certificate in Advanced Excel:


Introduction and objectives, Creating and formatting Data using advanced formatting options
(conditional formatting and customized number formatting and handle worksheets),
Creating and Formatting Content, Data Handling and Data Validation (Validate and audit
spreadsheet data), Data Import in Excel (Use linking, embedding and importing features to
integrate data), Data Analysis with Automated Tools (Scenario, Solver, Goal Seek, Pivot tables),
Working with Tables (lists to analyze, filter and sort data),
Charts (Create charts and apply advanced chart formatting features),
Functions and Formulae (functions with logical, statistical, financial and mathematical
operations).
Excel Macros
Security: Protecting Data
Data Collaboration

ERA 5.0
In this Assignment you will learn:

Need for Record Keeping

Advantages of Tabular Data

Manual Vs. Electronic Spreadsheets

Popular Spreadsheet Applications

Features of Excel 2010

Starting Excel 2010

Hi Friends! The history of accounting is as old as civilization. In fact accounting has been called the
"oldest profession". Several thousand years ago, early civilizations started keeping track of changes
in their herds and crops using primitive clay tokens and clay tablet records.Then they began
exchanging their surplus goods for essential commodities. Later, as they began to trade, they
established the concept of value and developed a monetary system. Eventually, with the advent of
taxation, record keeping became a necessity for governments to have a grip on the economy.

Almost everyone needs to maintain records of some kind. Teachers have to manage schedules,
grades and attendance lists. Businesses have to manage payroll, budgets, projects, and other
financial data. Accountants and financial analysts too need to maintain accounting data. Even a
home maker needs to manage the family budget. So maintaining data and performing calculations is
something we cannot avoid, no matter how much we try!

Data arranged in the form of a table with rows and columns is always easier to understand and
analyse. Some of the advantages are as follows:

You can handle large volumes of data

You have a quick and clean view of the data


Such data can be easily restructured to allow changes and additions

The data always holds its alignment between different programs

The data can be easily reorganized and searching becomes easy

Patterns in data can be easily identified

Missing data can be ascertained

A physical spreadsheet is a large sheet of paper with columns and rows. It spreads or shows related
data on a sheet of paper to enable you to examine it when making a decision. Manually managing a
small volume of data is fine. But what happens when the number of records to be maintained
increases? The manual workforce increases, the time taken to maintain and analyse the data
increases and of course, the probability of errors increases! In the old days, if you made one error,
you would have to erase, whiteout or rewrite the spreadsheet from the point of the error or in its
entirety. All copies too would need to be similarly corrected. Not to forget, the amount of space
required to store physical paper records! Also, the anxiety that the paper may rot or get infested
with white ants or other pests!

The art of recording and keeping track of transactions has grown more and more sophisticated over
the years. In more recent times, modern technology has changed how accountants function. Larger
companies with greater amounts of data to process have turned to computers to cope with the
volumes. The limitations of physical spreadsheets have been overcome. Businesses today require
that accounting information and measures of performance are available at the push of a button.
There are many readily available software packages in the market for this purpose.

Welcome to the world of Electronic Spreadsheets! An electronic spreadsheet, also called a


Worksheet, is a computer program that allows the user to enter numbers and text into a table with
rows and columns. He can then maintain and manipulate those numbers using the table structure.
Electronic spreadsheets allow users to input large amounts of textual and numerical data into an
easily accessible format. A worksheet replaces the traditional handwritten ledger and allows for
complicated numerical analysis and calculations at a fraction of the time it takes to be done
manually. Any number of copies can be created in a few seconds.

VisiCalc and Lotus 1-2-3 were two of the earliest spreadsheet programs. Today spreadsheets are
beneficial in various environments because reports can be easily generated and they can be used to
tabulate many kinds of information, not just financial records.

Using electronic spreadsheets, data can be manipulated using dozens of functions available at a click
of a mouse. Rows and columns can be inserted as needed, even in the middle of an existing
spreadsheet. Features like font colors and size, display of grid lines and automatic rounding allow
you to convert a functional worksheet into a document suitable for presentation. Once the data is
input, a spreadsheet program can translate it into a graph or chart, and as you update the data, the
graph or chart is updated as well. Any modification done to even a single entry automatically
updates the rest of the calculations.Using spreadsheet programs proves to be highly cost effective
compared to expensive manual cashbooks and accounting software packages.
The spreadsheet applications today offer easy-to-use graphical interfaces with pull down menus and
point-and-click capabilities using a mouse. Microsoft Excel and OpenOffice.org Calc are a few of the
popular spreadsheet programs. An online spreadsheet is a spreadsheet document created through a
web-based application that allows multiple persons to edit and share it. Some very useful online
spreadsheets are Google Docs, EditGrid, SocialCalc, Office Web App etc. Well learn to use Microsoft
Excel 2010 which is a complete Spreadsheet Application. It is a component of the Microsoft Office
system and also sold as a standalone product. Once you learn Excel, youll find it so easy to organise
all types of information. So get ready to change into a meticulous, organized person who never
forgets anything!

Microsoft Excel 2010 contains an abundance of helpful tools. You can choose from a variety of
ready-to-use templates to quickly design agendas, planners, inventory lists, receipts etc. One of the
biggest benefits of using Excel is its ability to provide users with the "what-if" option. Users can
determine possible outcomes of different calculations without committing themselves to actually
performing any of them.

You can store sensitive information in a secure way by protecting your spreadsheets with passwords.
Features such as Pivot Tables and Sparklines enable you to view summarized data in different forms
using a few keystrokes. Several users can work together on the same document utilizing a computer
network. Users can also share their work with others via email or by uploading files to a network.

Formula Bar: The Formula Bar is located above the worksheet and displays the contents of the active
cell. It can also be used for entering or editing data and formulas.

Name Box: The Name Box is located to the left of the formula bar and displays the cell address of the
active cell. The cell address is also called the cell reference or the name of the cell.

Sheet Tabs: The sheet tabs at the bottom of the screen display the names of the worksheets. Clicking
them enables you to switch between worksheets in an Excel file.

View Buttons :These buttons positioned at the right of the status bar enable you to change the
display mode of the document and specify page breaks.

Zoom Buttons: These appear at the bottom right corner and are used to make your documents
appear larger or smaller. You may click the minus and plus icons or drag the slider to the required
level. This would enable you to view the exact amount of data you wish.

Clicking the question mark symbol at the right end of the Ribbon brings up the Help window related
to the Office application that you are using. When you move your mouse over most command
buttons, a Super-tooltip is displayed. This provides a detailed description of what the button does.
Equivalent keyboard shortcuts are also displayed if applicable. These can be used as an alternative to
mouse clicks. You may use them when you are more familiar with the commands.

Built into some tabs are galleries which contain the visual options for changing an item. The results
of a menu or gallery can be viewed before making the actual choice. You can see the results of
selecting an option from a gallery by moving the pointer over the option. Similarly, moving the
pointer over the options in a drop down list displays a live preview. Now that youre familiar with the
user interface, lets move to the next assignment and start creating an Excel workbook!
You know that when you first start Excel you see a new blank workbook. When an existing Excel
workbook is open, to create a new blank workbook, click the File Tab and select New in the left
pane. In the central pane, you can see various template categories. A Template is a pre-designed
document created for common purposes such as a budget, inventory list or planner.

The SUMIF function is used to add up the values in cells in a selected range that meet certain
criteria. The worksheet displayed contains a list of employees with their departments and monthly
salaries. Now we want to calculate the total salaries received by the employees of each department.
Lets start with the Accounts department. Click in cell H9 and then on the Formulas tab, in the
Function Library group, select Math & Trig - SUMIF. In the Function Arguments window, click
in the Range box and type B2:B21 since this is the range we will match our search criteria with.
In the Criteria box, type ACC since this is what we want to search for. In the Sum_range box,
type C2:C21 since this contains the actual values to be summed. Now click OK. The total salary
of the Accounts department is now displayed. Calculate the total salary of the other departments in
a similar way.
The COUNTIF function is used to count the number of cells in a selected range that meet specified
criteria. In this worksheet, we want to calculate the number of employees in each department. Lets
start with the Accounts department. Simply put, we have to count the number of cells containing the
word ACC. The syntax of the COUNTIF function is =COUNTIF (Range, Criteria). So, click in cell H9
and type =COUNTIF and in brackets type B2:B21 since this is the range of cells well be checking.
Type a comma followed by the criteria ACC in quotes. Close the brackets and press Enter. Here
you are, the number of employees in the Accounts department is displayed. Now calculate the
employees in the other departments in a similar way.

The Lookup & Reference icon is used to insert various functions that return values by looking them
up in reference tables. The displayed worksheet shows a list of employees with their department
codes. Now we want to display the department names based on the lookup table at the right. We
shall use the VLOOKUP function for this. Please note that the first column of the lookup table
must be sorted in ascending order. Click the first cell below the heading Department Name i.e.
cell C2. On the Formulas tab, in the Function Library group, select Lookup & Reference -
VLOOKUP.

The VLOOKUP function searches the first column of a range of cells, and then returns a value from
any cell on the same row of the range. In the Function Arguments window you can see that this
function requires four arguments. In the Lookup_value box, you need to specify which value
youre going to search for in the lookup table. So click cell B2 since this contains the department
code. Now click the Table_array box. Here you need to specify the range of cells which contain the
reference values i.e. the lookup table. Drag over cells G2 to H4. This range appears in the
Table_array box. We need to change the range to an absolute one since we require the same
range when we copy this function later in all cells of the Department Name column. So type
$G$2:$H$4 in the Table_array box.

Now click in the Col_index_num box. Here you need to specify the column number of the lookup
table from which you wish to return data. Since the department name is the second column, enter
2. Entry in the Range_lookup box is optional. The default is FALSE. This means that you are
looking for exact matches for your department codes in the lookup table. So lets leave it blank and
click OK. The correct department name has appeared for the first employee. Now drag the fill
handle downwards till the last employee to display the department names for the rest of the
employees.
Approximate Match :

In the displayed worksheet, the VLOOKUP function has been used to search for approximate
matches. In this case, the fourth argument i.e. Range-lookup must be set to TRUE. As you can
see, all entries beginning with F in the main table have been matched with F in the lookup table.
Also, all V entries have been matched similarly.
The HLOOKUP function is similar to VLOOKUP. The difference is that it horizontally searches (i.e.
left to right) the topmost row of a Lookup table until it locates a value that matches or nearly
matches the one that youre looking up.

The Conditional Formatting icon is used to format cells based on certain criteria. In our
worksheet, we want to highlight all the cells which have marks less than 35 with a different color.
This would enable us to know, in a glance, which subjects the students have failed in. Well use the
conditional formatting feature for this. Select all the cells containing the marks i.e. cells C10 to H29.
On the Home tab, in the Styles group, click Conditional Formatting. From the options
displayed, select Highlight Cell Rules Less Than. In the Less Than window enter 35 in the left
box and in the right box select a suitable option from the ones displayed. Click OK. Click outside
the selected cells. You can see that all marks less than 35 are highlighted in the specified colors.

The Pivot Table icon in the Tables group of the Insert tab is used to create Excel pivot tables.
These are summary tables which are used to present information in a report format. Instead of
analysing countless spreadsheet records, a pivot table can aggregate your information and show a
new perspective in a few clicks. It is created by defining which fields to view and how the
information should be displayed. A pivot table can be manipulated by selecting items from drop
down lists.

Lets start creating a pivot table. The first thing you need for a Pivot Table is some data to go in it.
Well use the data in the displayed spreadsheet. This spreadsheet contains three sets of marks for
two students only. Now you can imagine how much data there would be for a complete year of a
class of say 40-50 students. We want to analyse the data to be able to view average marks student
wise, month wise and subject wise. This is where Pivot tables come in. They summarize the data so
that you can easily analyse large volumes of data.

First, lets select the data for the Pivot Table. Select cells A1 to D37. Now on the Insert tab, from the
Tables group, click Pivot Table. The Create Pivot Table window is displayed with your selection
displayed in the Table/Range box. We do not want to change this. By default, the pivot table is
created on a new worksheet in your current workbook. This is fine. So simply click OK.

A new worksheet is inserted before the sheet containing your data. You are presented with a rather
complex layout. But do not worry; its quite easy to work with it. We want to be able to see the
marks in a summarized format with an option of selecting the students, the months and the
subjects. So tick all four boxes in the field list at the right. Excel will create a basic Pivot Table for you.
This is not exactly what we want. So were going to place our 4 fields appropriately into the 4 areas at
the right.
We want to be able to filter our data student wise. So click on Student in the Row Labels box and
drag it in to the Report Filter box. We want the various subjects to be displayed as the column
headings. So drag Subject to the Column Labels box.

You can see that the Pivot Table on your spreadsheet has been changing with each action that you
have performed. It is not complete yet. The marks displayed are not correct. This is because Excel is
using the wrong formula. Its using the default Sum formula. The numbers have all been added up.
But we want averages, instead. To change the formula, click on Sum of Marks in the Values area.
Select Value Field Settings from the popup menu. In the displayed window, click Average in the
lower box and then click OK.

We have considered the data for two students in our worksheet. The pivot table we created displays
a summary of all the data in the worksheet. You can see the average marks of both students
displayed subject wise and month wise. Isnt this so convenient? And thats not all. We can use this
pivot table to see summarized data in many other forms. For example, you may wish to see the data
for one student only. Click the down arrow in the cell next to Student. In the popup window,
click on a student name and then click OK. Now you see summarized data for that student only.

Similarly, you may like to see data for three subjects only. So click the down arrow in the Subject
cell. In the popup window, click the box in front of (Select All) to deselect all subjects. Then click
the boxes in front of the three subjects you require and click OK. You now see summarized data
for three subjects only. In this way, you can analyse large volumes of data using different criteria
with great ease.

The Slicers icon is used to insert a Slicer to filter data interactively. Slicers are a new feature of
Excel 2010. They are visual controls that allow you to quickly filter your Pivot Table data in an
interactive way. They make pivot tables more powerful. The real usage can be appreciated when you
are dealing with a huge amount of data.

Click any cell in your pivot table. On the contextual Options tab, in the Sort & Filter group,
click Insert Slicer. If you see a window saying that the Pivot Table needs to be refreshed, click OK
and click Insert Slicer again. In the Insert Slicer window, you may select the fields on which you
wish to interactively filter data. Lets select all of them and click OK. Slicers are displayed for each
pivot table field you select. You may size and position the slicers as required. You can use these
slicers to filter data simply by selecting the items you want. Let us click on a month in the Month
slicer. Similarly, select a Student and a Subject. As you click, your data is automatically filtered.

You can select multiple items within a slicer as well. Hold down the Ctrl key and click to select non-
consecutive items. Use Shift to select a series of sequential items. So you can see that with Slicers,
you can filter down your data in more detail. To display your slicers in attractive colors, first click
near a slicer name to select it. Then on the contextual Options tab, select a suitable Slicer Style.

The Line icon is used to insert Line sparklines.

We shall create Line sparklines to show the variations in the subject wise marks for each of the
students. Select the cells C10 to H29. On the Insert tab, in the Sparklines group, select Line. In
the Create Sparklines window, you can see the selected cells displayed in the Data range box. In
the Location Range box we need to specify where we want to place the sparklines. Drag your
mouse over cells L10 to L29. The Create Sparklines window becomes smaller and the range over
which you are dragging is displayed in it. Once you release the mouse button, the window reverts to
its original size. Click OK. Here you are, your sparklines are ready! You can easily see the trends
regarding whether the marks are increasing or decreasing.

Introduction: To Do List

Hello friends! Time management is of utmost importance in todays fast paced world. You need time
management skills not only for business and work activities but also for the execution of personal
tasks. For completing a job which is quite voluminous, making a to-do list at the beginning will go a
long way in helping you achieve the end result. A to-do list is simply a list of errands and other tasks
often written on a piece of paper as a memory aid that one intends to accomplish. Well use
Microsoft Excel to create a to-do list for all the activities involved in moving to a new residence. An
Excel document is a Workbook which is made up of one or more worksheets.

You might also like