Course Description
In this course, Excel expert David Ringstrom, CPA, shares techniques you can use to create resilient and easy-to-maintain budget spreadsheets. Among other techniques, David shows you how to separate inputs from calculations, build out a separate spreadsheet of calculations, create an operating budget, and protect the formulas in the spreadsheet.
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, 2013, 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 2019, Excel 2016, and so on.
Who should attend: Practitioners seeking to build budget spreadsheets that can be updated effortlessly and contain easy-to-follow supporting calculations.
Level: Intermediate
Topics typically covered:
- Employing the SUMIF function to sum values related to multiple instances of criteria you specify
- Improving the integrity of spreadsheets by using SUMIF to look up values in a more flexible fashion than VLOOKUP
- Improving the integrity of spreadsheets with Excel’s VLOOKUP function
- Learning how the Table feature empowers you to improve the integrity of Excel spreadsheets
- Navigating directly to inputs by using Excel's Name Box, and then returning to the previous location in the workbook via the Go To command
- Saving time by using the AutoSum formula to sum multiple columns at once with a mouse click or a keyboard shortcut
- Saving time writing formulas by choosing named ranges with the Use In Formula command
- Understanding why it’s worthwhile to build out supporting schedules to break down calculations used in budgets
- Using range names to streamline formulas and bookmark key inputs within a workbook
Learning objectives:
- Define how to isolate all user entries to an inputs worksheet, while protecting all calculations and budget schedules on additional worksheets
- Apply range names and the Table feature to create resilient and easy-to-maintain spreadsheets
- Build in buffers around SUM formulas so that new rows aren’t inadvertently left out of totals
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