Advanced ExcelKyle S. Sutton, CPA, CFEKyle.Sutton@plantemoran.com

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Agenda• Overview• Absolute and Relative References• Miscellaneous Functions• VLOOKUP• INDEX/MATCH• Fuzzy Lookup• Conditional Formatting and Remove Duplicates• Pivot Tables/Graphs• Common Shortcut Keys• Macros• Other Resources• Questions

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Overview• Blue tabs/Orange cells in workbook provided are for “DIY”• Think… “Where can I use this in my work right now?”• Stop me at any time with questions or comments• Likely, today’s ultimate takeaway is not going to be a specific

function or tool. It is that Excel can do a TON!If you’re not sure how to do it, I guarantee you there is free resource

online that will show you how.

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Absolute and Relative References• Basic Cell Reference• Absolute Cell Reference• Mixed Cell Reference

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Miscellaneous Functions• A set of commonly used functions is in the workbook provided• Are there any you specifically want me to go into deeper?

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VLOOKUP• Great for extracting specific information from a different table• First column in your lookup table needs to be the matching key.

VLOOKUP goes from left to right.• =VLOOKUP (lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num,

[range_lookup])

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VLOOKUP (cont.)• 1st argument is the value you are looking up.• 2nd argument is the table in which you are looking up the value. It

needs to be absolute references.• 3rd argument is the column number for the value you want to

extract.• 4th argument specifies an exact match (FALSE) or a range (TRUE).

Most of the time, this will be FALSE, even though the default is TRUE.• For a range lookup (fourth argument is TRUE) - the values need to

be sorted.

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VLOOKUP – Common Issues• Lookup table was not entered with absolute references• Matching Key is not the same format (ex. matching a number to text)• Matching Key is not the first column number• Wrong column number (especially if columns are later added to

table)• TRUE vs. FALSE range• Duplicate values in lookup table

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INDEX/MATCH• Great for extracting specific information from a different table,

especially• When columns will be added to the lookup table, or• When the first column in the lookup table is not the matching key

• INDEX(array, row_num, [column_num])• MATCH(lookup_value, lookup_array, [match_type])

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Fuzzy Lookup• Great for creating matches when NO EXACT MATCH exists• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=15011

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Conditional Formatting and Removing Duplicates• Key Takeaway: Excel has some very cool built-in features already. If

you’re asking, “is there a way to do this in Excel?” the answer is likely yes!

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Pivot Tables/Graphs• Great for summarizing data• To create, select your data and go to Insert-> PivotTable• Use the builder to drag and drop as necessary

• If the builder is not visible, click in the Pivot Table and under the Analyze Tab, Click on Field List

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Pivot Tables/Graphs (cont.)Understand the four parameters:1 & 2) Row is the summarization by column. Look for key words such as "by" "per" or "for". By state, per month, etc.3) Values are amount to be summarized. Can be a sum, average, etc.4) Filter allows you to manipulate further. Can be used as a slicer instead.

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Pivot Tables/Graphs (cont.)• Format in the calculated field, not the home tab.• Format in the Design tab• Change Data Source vs. Refresh - Refresh will only refresh numbers

in the current selection• Double click to "drill down"• Percentages - Show Values As -> % of Grand Total• When in Doubt, use the Recommended Tables and Charts feature• Our example – Number of schools per state, average endowment by

state, filter/slicer for foreign countries. Add Enrollment column.

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Common Shortcut Keys• See workbook included for a list of the most common shortcut keys• Start practicing a few of the ones you’ll use the most until they’re

second nature, then move on to practicing others• As you’ll see in the next section, you can even create your own…

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Macros• What is a macro? Is it safe?

• .xlsm vs .xlsb vs .xlsx• Build a macro from scratch• Assign to a button• Assign to a shortcut key• Assign to Quick Access Toolbar• Copy into VBA• See the Macro tab in the provided workbook for additional

information

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Get & Transform/Power Query• Fantastic for data manipulation or working with large sets of data• Also great for repetitive tasks, similar to VBA

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Additional ResourcesVisualizing Data:http://www.darkhorseanalytics.com/blog/data-looks-better-naked

Get & Transform/Power Query:https://www.excelcampus.com/powerquery/power-query-overview/http://www.excelguru.ca/blog/2015/02/25/combine-multiple-excel-workbooks-in-power-query/https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt779182.aspx

VBA:http://www.homeandlearn.org/excel_dot_notation.html

General:Google!www.reddit.com/r/excelwww.excelguru.ca

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Questions?

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