Excel
Crash Course
In
Excel
By: Bruce P. Van Cleve
I’ve been using spreadsheets daily for around 15 years to make all sorts of tasks easier. Truth be told, I have become efficient because I’m lazy, I don’t like working any harder than I have to, to get a task done I want to do. And so, I’ve learned how to simplify, to squeeze out the un-necessary. Now I’m all about efficiency- doing the most with the least effort, or in the least amount of time. That is a large reason I just love spreadsheets, you can take many routine and mundane tasks and build a spreadsheet to do the heavy lifting. Anything with numbers you are now doing over and over again can be made a breeze with a spreadsheet. Spreadsheets are our friends!
Maybe you’ve made a spreadsheet or two in the past but never really learned how to make them work well for you. You may have only opened and used spreadsheets made by others. If you did either of these and were not able to easily understand exactly what the spreadsheet was all about, or found it hard to read and use, or perhaps you are an experienced spreadsheeter and want to learn and re-learn some tricks you may have forgotten, this short but powerful tutorial will make you into The Excel Expert in your office! You will know more than 98% of all people you will ever meet.
That’s a tall order. Just read and practice the tips and tricks that follow and you’ll soon be amazing your co-workers and your boss. Warning: people will start coming to you for help, it will happen. I know because I am that person.
This Crash Course is not for beginners. It is for people with basic knowledge who want to “brush up” and even become a “power-user”. You “uber-geeks”, and you know who you are, already know this stuff anyway. I will not fill pages with boring things you already know, just to create voluminous content for you to sift through, while I scatter a few pearls here and there. So, I will not cover the most basic of things everyone usually knows about Excel anyway. I will, however, point out some basics that many people seem to miss, because knowing them (or re-learning them) saves you time and effort.
This booklet developed from my own cryptic notes on all the tricks and tips I had accumulated. These are the techniques I use every day and the ones that people ask me to show them all the time. I decided to compile this after being asked over the years by people to teach them so they could be an expert in their office. As a result, this is very boiled-down, get-to-the-point tips and tricks you will use to save a lot of time and effort. It is designed for you to dive right in and try them out. So lets get going!
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
SETUP OF EXCEL……..4
The toolbars
Options
FIRST THINGS FIRST……..7
Save and Save-As
Tips on saving
Tabs
Mouse Tip
Folders
Explore
SPREADSHEET PHILOSOPHY……..8
Clarity
Breaking up data
Templates
DOCUMENT IT!………9
Label numbers
KEYBOARD MANEUVERS……….10
Keyboard shortcuts
FORMULAE & FUNCTIONS………11
Creating a new formula
Summing
Locking cell reference
Functions
Comments in cells
FIXING PROBLEMS……..14
Cross and foot
Order of operations
Figuring percentage formulae
Calculators and rounding
Undo
Spelling
Scroll lock
MAKE IT LOOK PRETTY………17
Freeze panes
Charts and graphs
Labels in graphs
Formatting
Re-sizing
Databases
Autofill
Inserting
Hiding and unhiding
MAKE IT PRINT RIGHT………21
Print setup
Printing everything
What this booklet will do for you……….
You will be able to easily create, format for viewing an printing an intelligent looking spreadsheet by learning all the tricks I’ve accumulated over 15 years of using Excel. It’s that simple. I have not added any fluff, this is the quickest way to get to expert status. Your spreadsheets will be the best as compared with your peers because of what you learn here. Your spreadsheets will be clear, readable, interesting, and accurate.
To Order:
Email bruce@vcpayroll.com
Or send check to Bruce Van Cleve, 2800 W. 21st St., Erie, PA 16506
$12.95 for the hard copy, $7.95 for the e Book version