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Excel Tips & Tricks Top 10 tips and tricks to become more
efficient and save time
Leila Gharani, MA Consultant & Trainer
Hyperion Financial Management
Microsoft Excel
Excel Tips & Tricks
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Table of Contents
TIP #1: BE AWARE OF THE NEW FEATURES ......................................... 2
TIP #2: MASTER THE SIMPLER TASKS.................................................. 4
TIP #3: GO BEYOND THE VLOOKUP .................................................... 6
TIP #4: LEARN NEW FUNCTIONS ........................................................ 8
TIP #5: SPEED UP EXCEL ................................................................... 10
TIP #6: USE CONDITIONAL FORMATTING EFFECTIVELY ..................... 12
TIP #7: EXPAND YOUR HORIZONS .................................................... 13
TIP #8: CREATE A DASHBOARD ........................................................ 14
TIP #9: KNOW THE POSSIBILITIES ..................................................... 16
TIP #10: IMPLEMENT A WORKSHOP ................................................. 18
EXCEL TRAINING & CONSULTING ..................................................... 19
ABOUT LEILA GHARANI ................................................................... 20
Note: Footnotes contain equivalent names of German functions
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Tip #1: Be Aware of the New
Features
When Microsoft introduced Excel 2007 they introduced new features,
improved functionalities and interface, but many people still use it the
way the used the old Excel. There is much benefit that can be gained
from these new features. They can help you do your analysis faster by
using one of the new formulas or functions introduced. They can help
you create a cleaner and easier to understand file. All in all, they can
help you become more efficient in your work and as a result save time
down the road.
More obvious changes
If you’re currently working with Excel 2007 or above, you’ve probably
noted the more obvious changes. These are:
New user interface
New file format which creates smaller files as compared with
older versions
More rows and columns to build more capable worksheets:
Excel supports over 1 m. rows and 16 k. columns
Memory management increased
Improvements in presentation, reporting and the look of charts
New themes and styles to harmonize reporting books
Easy formula writing using formula auto complete
Better printing experience and ability to save files as PDF
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Less obvious changes
Some additional features might have gone unnoticed. Below is a
glimpse of the main updates:
New functions: I am quite certain anyone using Excel for any
type of data analysis would highly benefit from these new
formulas. These are SUMIFS, COUNTIFS & AVERAGEIFS1
which allow calculations matching multiple criteria (unlike the old
SUMIF without the “S”) In addition the IFERROR2 formula is
much easier to write than the old If(ISERROR(),,,) formula.
Rich conditional formatting: Excel users employ conditional
formatting to make their data stand out for presentations,
dashboards and analysis. The prior versions of Excel were
restricted to a maximum of three conditions. From Excel 2007
and above, you can use as many rules as required. You can
also apply several rules to a single cell and stop evaluating rules
after a condition has applied. New data formats are also
available such as data bars, colour gradients and icon sets.
Turn your data range into a table (CTRL + T): This feature
was highly improved upon in Excel 2007. To name a few
advantages: it lets you automatically update your charts or
validation lists once you add new data (no need to manually
adjust or use OFFSET formulas). It also lets you use structured
referencing, meaning your formulas update automatically once
you add new data to your rows.
And more improvements: Additional enhancements in terms of
sorting and filtering, shared charting, simpler pivot tables and
easier connections to external data have also been introduced.
1 SUMMEWENNS, ZÄHLENWENNS, MITTELWERTWENNS
2 WENNFEHLER more efficient than ISTFEHLER
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Tip #2: Master the Simpler Tasks
There are a handful of the more commonly used tools that can help
working with Excel easier. Some might already be obvious to you and
some new. One main advantage of the newer Excel versions is that
some very useful features became easier to access. They are now just a
mouse click away. Previously you had to go through one menu and then
sometimes another, to be able to find the feature you needed.
Customize Excel
In Excel 2007 & above, you can customize the Quick Access Toolbar to
include the buttons and commands you use on a frequent basis. This
toolbar acts as your “favourites” and allows you to group together your
most used Excel buttons. This saves time as you don’t need to switch
between the different ribbon tabs to locate the buttons you need.
From Excel 2010 onwards you can also customize the Ribbon by adding
your own tab and including in that tab all the functions and features you
commonly use.
Use Groups to hide without hiding
Groups are available in the Data tab in the Outline Section. They allow
you to group rows and columns together so that they can be hidden from
view. It is suggested to generally group cells instead of using the hide
cells feature. The advantages are:
Visibility: The + and – signs signal whether there are any
“hidden” rows or columns.
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Multiple levels: With groupings, you can have multiple levels of
hierarchies which is not possible if you were hiding rows or
columns. The nested groups allow the users to have subtotals
within groups and then drill-downs to a more detailed level.
Excel currently supports up to 8 nested groups.
Navigating large workbooks
When you work with workbooks that contain many tabs you will find
yourself spending a lot of time scrolling left and right to see the one you
need. It makes it easier to right-mouse click on the little scroll bar
arrows at the bottom left-hand corner of your workbook. The right-mouse
click brings up the list of all the tabs in the workbook allowing you to
quickly jump to your selected tab.
And many more
Other more commonly used tools that can make working with Excel
easier are features such as removing of duplicates, introducing
validations, freezing panes, working simultaneously in different windows
or tabs, inspecting workbooks, protecting them, creating templates and
utilizing the potential of custom number formatting. There is always
some useful feature in hiding.
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Tip #3: Go Beyond the VLOOKUP
The VLOOKUP3 function is one of the most used more “complex” Excel
formulas, because it can search a list or a table in the left-most column
and return the respective value from one of the adjacent columns.
HLOOKUP works exactly in the same way except that it works
horizontally rather than vertically.
Advanced users generally avoid VLOOKUP because of its limitations
VLOOKUP cannot go LEFT: The value that you need to look
up must always be on the first column on the left and the values
to return must be on the right hand side
Two way look up not possible: You cannot VLOOKUP on the
columns and the rows to find an exact match
The INDEX and MATCH4 formula is superior to the VLOOKUP on many
levels
It can look to the left or the right. Unlike VLOOKUP which can
only go right, INDEX and MATCH can look in any direction
You can do a two-way lookup by looking along the row and
along the column in a matrix to find the intersection
At its worst it is slightly faster than VLOOKUP and at its best it is
SIGNIFICANTLY faster than VLOOKUP
Note that INDEX and MATCH is not one function but two functions
written in one formula. Each function alone is not very useful but
together they are very powerful.
The INDEX part returns a value based on the specification of how many
rows to go down and how many columns to go right. The MATCH part
3 SVERWEIS = VLOOKUP, WVERWEIS = HLOOKUP
4 INDEX und VERGLEICH
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finds the look up value’s row index or column index and passes this
along to the INDEX function. Sounds complicated? It’s actually quite
easy in practice.
All in all if you master the INDEX and MATCH formula be sure that you
will simplify your data analysis and reporting. There are many varieties
and uses of this formula. Below is an example of a more complex matrix
lookup where you need to dynamically move down rows, and also
across the columns. This requires a double match.
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Tip #4: Learn New Functions
Using the right functions for the task at hand saves time and headaches
down the road. There are many useful functions in Excel that are
extremely practical when doing data analysis.
It’s not so important to know all the formulas by heart. It’s enough that
you are aware of the possibilities and that a certain task could be solved
faster, better, or more efficiently using a given formula or feature.
Below is a list of some very useful functions for data analysis and
manipulation:
SUMIFS, COUNTIFS and AVERAGEIFS functions. These were
introduced with Excel 2007. The addition of the “S” allows for
more criteria to be checked. The traditional SUMIF and
COUNTIF functions allowed only 1 condition whereas the new
functions allow up to 127 criteria. For example you can sum the
values in Column C if the values in Column A and Column B
meet a certain criteria – you can set up to 127 criteria.
Text formulas such as LEN, LEFT, RIGHT, SEARCH, UPPER,
LOWER and PROPER5 are quite useful when you need to
manipulate descriptions, names etc.
Date functions such as WEEKDAY, WORKDAY and
NETWORKDAYS6 can be really helpful when planning your
project deadlines or reporting timetable.
MAX, MIN, LARGE and SMALL7 functions help find the largest,
smallest or the nth largest or smallest value. These are practical
5 LÄNGE, LINKS, RECHTS, SUCHEN, GROSS, KLEIN, GROSS2
6 WOCHENTAG, ARBEITSTAG, NETTOARBEITSTAGE
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functions for ranking. For example finding the product that
generated the 3rd
highest sales, or the company that had the 5th
highest profit.
OFFSET8 is a very useful function especially when designing
dashboards and flexible reports, as it returns the value or values
in a range by moving from a given starting point.
RANK9 function returns the rank of the number in relation to a
list of numbers. You can use the RANK function together with
INDEX and MATCH or the OFFSET function to dynamically rank
companies based on their results or products according to their
sales value.
SUMPRODUCT10
function is a formula that can work on arrays.
The most common use of it is to get the sum of products in one
formula by skipping intermediary steps. However this function is
much more powerful than that because it can be used in non-
obvious ways. You can actually use this function to do what
INDEX and MATCH can do, what the SUMIFS functions can do
and even what the COUNT function can achieve.
7 MAX, MIN, KGRÖSSTE, KKLEINSTE
8 BEREICH.VERSCHIEBEN
9 RANG
10 SUMMENPRODUKT
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Tip #5: Speed up Excel
Excel 2007 & above allows you to manage and create bigger and more
complex spreadsheets than what was possible before. It also came with
improvements in terms of speed. It does not however, stop a user from
creating poorly designed spreadsheets by not utilizing the most efficient
function for their calculations which in turn could result in slow-
calculating files and thus frustrated users. By utilizing some
straightforward techniques and understanding how Excel works with
functions, you can significantly improve any slow-calculating workbook.
The design of your Excel spreadsheet is key in defining how efficient
and fast your workbook runs calculations. What makes spreadsheets
slow is not the number of formulas or the size of your workbook but the
number of cell references in your formulas and the efficiency of the
functions used. It is also important to understand how Excel runs
calculations, which cells are calculated and the difference between
volatile and non-volatile functions.
What are volatile and non-volatile functions?
Volatile functions are formulas that automatically get recalculated any
time you enter data in any open workbook. They get calculated
independent of whether your formula is referencing these cells. It could
be anywhere in any cell that has nothing to do with this formula. They
also get calculated anytime you insert a new row or column or you
rename a worksheet or change the position of worksheets.
How do normal formulas work?
Normal non-volatile formulas get recalculated any time you change a
cell that impacts the formula. If you change a cell that has no impact on
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the formula nothing gets recalculated. Let’s assume you have a large
Excel file that has thousands of formulas and many of these formulas
reference other cells which might in themselves also be formulas
referencing other ranges. This dependency chain is memorized and
stored by Excel in a dependency tree. Excel uses this dependency tree
to decide which cells to recalculate and which cells to ignore. For normal
formula calculation Excel always refers to this dependency chain. If you
make one change to a cell, it updates its dependency tree.
Impact of volatile functions
Note that even though volatile functions get recalculated every time you
make a move in Excel, the use of these functions does not necessarily
slow down your workbook. It just “might” slow it down depending on the
size and complexity of the workbook. If you find that your workbook is
very slow and you are using these functions then it would be best to look
for alternative methods for calculation. Sometimes you can replace
volatile functions with non-volatile ones such as instead of OFFSET, use
INDEX and MATCH function. VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) is also
an option for complicated workbooks and calculations.
Improving your spreadsheet
The major contributors to “slow” files are:
Invalid links to external data & workbooks
Invalid cell references and names
Extensive usage of volatile functions and conditional formatting
Referencing too many unneeded cells, such (D:D) instead of
(D1:D200)
By keeping track of the above points you are well on your way to
creating highly efficient spreadsheets.
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Tip #6: Use Conditional
Formatting Effectively
Conditional formatting is a very useful tool that helps make your data
stand out. That way information is easier to read and digest. It is
extensively used in dashboards and reports.
You use conditional formatting to emphasize parts of your reports by
applying specific formatting if a certain condition is met. Prior to Excel
2007 a maximum of three conditions were supported. Post 2007 Excel
can have as many conditions as is needed.
You can use in cell bars and icons to bring attention to parts of your data
or highlight a row based on a certain value.
One use of conditional formatting that might have gone unnoticed is its
ability to compare two lists and highlight the duplicate or unique vales.
No need to use functions to compare, just a few simple mouse clicks is
enough.
Bars achieved using Conditional
Formatting in Excel 2010
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Tip #7: Expand your Horizons
Awareness of functions and features of Excel is crucial in creating
valuable reports and analysis. If you don’t know what possibilities are
available, you will create inefficient reports or incorrect analysis.
Some very useful features are:
Pivot tables offer quick ways of doing analysis. They can do the
same thing as SUMIF, COUNTIF and SUMPRODUCT functions
except that they are significantly faster. In addition, the Pivot
Slicer is available from 2010 which allows for better filtering of
the data, giving your pivot a dashboard look.
From Excel 2010 onwards Microsoft has introduced a free add-
in called Power Pivot which turns Excel into a Business
Intelligence tool. It can be used by general Excel users and
does not require any specific IT knowledge.
Goal Seek and Solver help you solve issues for cases when
you know the end result but are not sure what the input should
be. With Solver you can introduce many constraints as well. For
example you receive a total budget for 10 projects and you want
to distribute it between the projects respecting certain
constraints. Solver can help you do that with a few mouse clicks.
With Name Manager you can create formulas that are easier to
understand and follow. You can also create formulas that can be
used to automatically update charts once new data is added.
Formula auditing features such as the watch window and the
Evaluate Formula tool allow for quick debugging of lengthy
formulas that return errors.
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Tip #8: Create a Dashboard
Companies that need more complicated systems to handle their
databases and consolidation, still rely heavily on Excel as a data
reporting and analysis tool. Excel is also a great tool for dynamic and
interactive dashboard solutions.
Advantages of dashboards
The main benefits of dashboards are
Visualization: Effective visualization of data is not only
informative but appealing, and as a result more engaging
Highlight problems: Due to the use of visual media you can
highlight trends and changes in KPIs to quickly visualize
problem areas
Avoid complexity: Dashboards allow you to look at different
reports in one place, simplifying data analysis and investigation
Dashboard Example
Tabular reports can make you slow. They consume more energy as you
try to find trends and interpret data.
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Above is a KPI dashboard created in Excel from retrieving data from
Oracle’s Hyperion system. It enables scrolling to ensure that all
companies are viewable in the same window. It also enables sorting so
that all the companies are sorted based on the KPI chosen. Graphs are
dynamic and animated. The user can for example, tick mark “budget”
and the comparison is provided.
All this is done using PURE Excel formulas. No macros or VBA is
needed to create valuable dashboards. The advantage of such
dashboards is that you can connect the data to any system you have so
that all you have do when you open your Excel dashboard is select your
point of view for month, year etc. and click refresh. The latest
information is instantly available.
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Tip #9: Know the Possibilities
The problem with Excel is that because it’s so easy to use it’s generally
misused. Anyone can create Excel spreadsheets - badly. To create a
spreadsheet you don’t need special knowledge or be advanced. The
Excel product itself is aimed to work for any type of user independent of
level of knowledge. What can end up happening though is a set of
spaghetti spreadsheets, all somehow intertwined into each other. No
one really understands how they work anymore but somehow they still
work so they continue to use them and pass them on to the next
colleague. Until something goes wrong or something crashes. By that
time no one really understands how to fix the problems anymore.
Sometimes the easiest way of dealing with these spaghetti applications
is to build them from scratch, instead of trying to rework the existing
ones.
Use VBA/Macros to automate
You can use Visual Basic for Applications (VBA or a macro) to create
stand-alone programs and tools that enable you do certain tasks. With
VBA you can:
perform complex analysis
control other applications from Excel
create tools that map data from one database to another
create more sophisticated dashboards
automate any repetitive task
The options are endless. As long as there is a certain logic to a task, it
can be automated.
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Create valuable templates
Excel can be used creatively and smartly to design templates for
different purposes. The below is an example of an Excel Template that
can be used for project management. It is fully dynamic and uses
formulas, charts and conditional formatting to quickly illustrate how much
of a project has been completed, where the current week is and how
much was originally planned.
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Tip #10: Implement a Workshop
Reading about new features and functions or attending a seminar that
teaches them is easy. Implementing them in your daily tasks is the real
challenge.
Issue #1: Time
The problem that most people face after attending a technical training is
to actually implement what they learnt in their everyday life. During the
training you might come up with great ideas on how you can improve
your reports, interfaces, create interactive dashboards but once you get
back to your desk you get tied down with your own tasks that you never
find the time to actually implement your new ideas.
Issue #2: How
Sometimes you’re not sure where to start and would like to get some
direction on how best to design your file or tackle the task at hand. A
hands-on workshop will take you step-by-step through the process and
get you started.
In order to support the effectiveness of what you learn and to make sure
the new concepts are also applied in real work life, it’s recommended to
conduct a workshop which allows you to
1. Dedicate the time needed for the task and
2. To get you started in the right direction
This ensures that you not just learn a new method but actually utilize it.
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Excel Training & Consulting
Once companies are actually aware of what Excel can do in terms of
processing and automating data and reports, it will change how they
work. The Advanced Excel Training session introduces you and your
team to new functions and methods that will help you simplify your work.
Advanced Excel training agenda
Changes that came with Excel 2007 & above
Top 10 tips that can save you time
Top 10 Excel functions every Excel user should know
Go beyond VLOOKUP to learn over 10 valuable functions
The benefits of Excel Tables
Conditional formatting
Name Manager and why it’s useful
Charting tips & tricks
Pivot tables or Goal Seek & Solver
For more information and other available training packages such as the
Excel Basic or the Dashboard training packages please visit
www.xelplus.com
Consulting
You’d like to improve your reporting processes but are not sure where to
start? Or you’d like to introduce automations and checks or map data
from one database to another and are unclear how to approach the
project. Visit the website above for more information.
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About Leila Gharani
Leila Gharani’s goal is to empower users of Excel
and Consolidation systems with the knowledge they
need to work effectively. Leila supports companies in
solving specific issues in data analysis, reporting and
consolidation. She has over 15 years of experience
implementing and training users on Management
Information Systems of different sizes and nature.
The training sessions are all customized and tailored to the client’s
system and audience. All sessions are hands-on. Especially with
technical topics, users learn the most when they attempt to solve a
problem on their own. They are most engaged when they make
mistakes and attempt to fix these.
Main areas of focus are
Hyperion Financial Management (HFM): advice,
implementation & support
HFM Training: fundamentals, advanced and key user
Excel Information Systems: Automation via VBA, dashboards
& Reports
Excel Training: Basic, Advanced, Dashboards
Education background
Masters degree in Economics, University of Toronto, Canada
Bachelor of Social Science degree, Carleton University, Canada
Microsoft Certified Excel Expert / Office Specialist Master
To find out more please visit www.xelplus.com
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“Leila has a very deep knowledge of Hyperion Financial Management, both from the
technical and user perspective. As project manager, she was responsible for the
successful implementation of our HFM applications used for consolidation and
reporting purposes of Mondi Group. She is very results oriented, has the ability to
simplify complex subjects, is very analytical, and has a structured working style. Leila
has trained our users with outstanding feedback. Her training sessions are fully
customized based on our needs and requirements. I highly recommend her.”
Walter Seyser, Controlling Director Europe & International, Mondi AG
“The HFM user training showed me how to put together my own Smartview reports
and helped me understand some of the basic and even not so basic functionalities.
The content covered the functionalities that were most practical and helpful for day to
day work, and everything was taught in an easy to understand way. I found the
experience outstanding, much needed and way overdue. Leila is an excellent
instructor. One of the best I’ve ever had.”
Ron Saia, Finance Director, Tekkote, New Jersey, USA
“One thing I liked about Leila’s Advanced Excel training was the practical and
systematic approach. The training included lots of examples and exercises, many of
which were based on our files. Leila’s great knowledge and enthusiasm is a highly
motivating factor for anyone getting trained by her. She can explain complicated issues
in a way that they seem easy and understandable. I have learnt new ways to improve
my Excel skills which I need for my everyday work. I am encouraged to learn more and
improve further. I definitely recommend the training.”
Maja Mahler-Hutter, Europe & International Controlling, Mondi AG, Austria