Course Description
In this illuminating session, Excel expert David Ringstrom, CPA, shares techniques you can use to verify the integrity of even the most complicated Excel workbooks. David demonstrates Excel’s formula auditing and error-checking tools, as well as how to verify which cells contain formulas versus values. In addition, David explains how to: find buried worksheets; access password-protected workbooks; use the Conditional Formatting feature to identify duplicates in a list; monitor even minor changes to your workbooks; hide, display, and locate cells that contain comments; and much more.
David demonstrates every technique at least twice: first, on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps, and second, in the subscription-based Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) version of Excel. David draws your attention to any differences in the older versions of Excel (2021, 2019, 2016 and earlier) during the presentation as well as in his detailed handouts. David also provides an Excel workbook that includes most of the examples he uses during the course.
Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based product that provides new feature updates as often as monthly. Conversely, the perpetual licensed versions of Excel have feature sets that don't change. Perpetual licensed versions have year numbers, such as Excel 2021, Excel 2019, and so on.
Who should attend:
Practitioners who review and audit Excel spreadsheets created by others, or those who wish to improve the integrity of their own spreadsheets.
Level: Intermediate
Topics covered:
- Auditing portions of a formula by using the F9 key to temporarily convert part of a formula to a value
- Bringing Excel’s green error-checking prompts under control by managing the underlying rules
- Determining whether it’s safe to edit or delete a cell by way of the Trace Dependents feature
- Displaying all formulas in a worksheet at once with the Show Formulas feature
- Identifying duplicates in a list using Conditional Formatting
- Identifying other cells a formula relies on by way of the Trace Precedents feature
- Printing a list of all cell comments on a worksheet or printing visible comments
- Removing Conditional Formatting when it’s no longer needed within a spreadsheet
- Selecting all formulas within a worksheet with just two mouse clicks
- Stepping through formulas in slow motion with the Evaluate Formulas feature
- Using the Workbook Statistics feature to determine the number of worksheets, formulas, cells with data, and more in each workbook
Learning objectives:
- Recognize if a file has links to other workbooks or not and remove unwanted links
- Identify how to add, review, and print worksheet comments with ease
- Apply Excel tools and techniques that allow you to evaluate portions of a formula or entire formulas
Review our course policies and procedures page for further information