Dr. Peter J.

Scharpff RI

Excel for Microsoft 365:

Advanced Options
Workbook 4
DR PETER J. SCHARPFF RI

EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365:

ADVANCED OPTIONS
WORKBOOK 4

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Excel for Microsoft 365: Advanced Options (workbook 4)
© dr Peter J. Scharpff RI 2023
ISBN 978-87-403-4776-0

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Contents

CONTENTS
About the author 6

1 Introduction 7
1.1 Design 7
1.2 Notation 7
1.3 Software 8

2 Checking formulas 9
2.1 Introduction 9
2.2 Simple numbers 9
2.3 Auditing 10
2.4 Evaluating 11
2.5 Exercise 13

3 Filling cells 14
3.1 Introduction 14
3.2 Series 14
3.3 Lists 19
3.4 Exercise 23

4 References 24
4.1 Introduction 24
4.2 Copying and linking 24
4.3 External link 29
4.4 Hyperlinks 32
4.5 Exercise 34

5 Protection 36
5.1 Introduction 36
5.2 Protecting a Workbook 36
5.3 Protecting a Sheet 37

6 Comments 40
6.1 Introduction 40
6.2 Shapes 40
6.3 Notes and Comments 42

7 Planning 45
7.1 Introduction 45
7.2 Schedule 45
7.3 Conditional Formatting 47
7.4 Exercise 49

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Contents

8 Solutions 50
8.1 Introduction 50
8.2 Goal Seeking 50
8.3 Solver 52

9 Error checking 60
9.1 Introduction 60
9.2 IntelliSense 60
9.3 Actions 61

10 Saving workbooks 64
10.1 Introduction 64
10.2 Location 64
10.3 File type 65

That’s it 69

Appendix 70

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS About the author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Scharpff Consultancy is a consulting organization that has been active in the world of
automation for decades. Information, training, and guidance on the use of personal automation
tools are key focuses. One of the specialties is facilitating (and performing) individual training
programs for PC-users. The model for this has been conceived in the early 90s from the
last century by Scharpff Consultancy in collaboration with various experts. Nowadays, it is
used by most training centres and even by mainstream educational institutions. Individual
training has proven to be a better method for learning computer skills than the classroom-
trainings that are still predominant in the training world.
Scharpff Consultancy has a lot of expertise in developing and publishing materials for
individual training purposes. This textbook is a product of that specific know-how. It
will allow you to obtain the necessary knowledge and practical skills on your computer
completely on your own.

Dr Peter J. Scharpff RI, who is both the founder of this consultancy agency and the author
of this workbook, originated from the field of computer-linguistics. His scientific focus was
on the interaction between man and machine, especially on the technical and linguistic
aspects of speech in that process. Besides developing materials for training purposes for
office automation, he also produced many publications on a broad range of topics such as:
digital security, privacy, hardware, programming, web design, teleworking, social networks
and many more. Several of his ebooks discuss hobbyist topics such as drawing, audio, video,
and photo editing.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Introduction

1 INTRODUCTION
In this workbook we want to familiarize you as an end user of Excel for Microsoft 365 with
advanced options and techniques in this popular spreadsheet program. Indeed, the program
has quite a few tools you could use when designing your models, checking your formulas,
creating solutions or scenarios, and so on. Also we discuss topics like advanced referencing,
protection and security, and the type (format) of files to save your workbooks in.

1.1 DESIGN
This ebook is modular in design. Each module can be studied separately. However, some
exercises use files created in earlier chapters. A module is set up in the following way:

• Each chapter starts with a short explanation of the topics that will be addressed.
• If possible, each topic will be presented with a (short) exercise. These exercises
describe a possible situation or problem, the way to handle or tackle it,
and the final outcome.
• At the end of a chapter, there is often an extra exercise to put into practice what
you’ve learned.

Exercises are labelled with a mouse icon next to the text. Please, focus on these
instructions, you don’t need to perform all actions or examples mentioned in the text. It
can be beneficial, however, to experiment with other possibilities suggested in the text.

Even though it is possible to go through each module independently from the others, in
exercises later in this book we will not mention all needed actions and keystrokes because
we assume that you, working through the material already obtain certain skills. In several
exercises you’ll find only general instructions and you’ll have to figure out yourself how to
accomplish the task. In this way you will learn the most.

1.2 NOTATION
Names of keys and buttons are given between square brackets: [ and ]. In some cases, you
have to press two keys at the same time, we will denote this by a plus sign: [Alt]+[F]. When
you have to type two keys consecutively, there will be no plus sign: [F5] [2] [Enter].

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Introduction

Titles, texts, and options that you see in your window or on screen are noted in italics, for
example: ‘the Properties window contains several sections and tabs such as View, Security,
and others’. File names and folders are shown as bold text.

1.3 SOFTWARE
We assume that you have access to the software Excel for Microsoft 365 described here
and that you can perform all basic operations in this spreadsheet program and in operating
system Windows. Only where actions differ significantly from normal use, they will be
mentioned in the exercises.

Microsoft 365, and also Excel as a part of it, is a subscription-based software product. In
addition to security updates, Microsoft is also providing new design and functionality during
the subscription period. As a result, the commands, (caption) names or illustrations in this
user guide may differ slightly from your situation. We regularly provide our ebooks with
updates, especially for ‘big’ changes. This is how we try to keep things as close as possible
to the present state of design.

This ebook does not, of course, include all the options and possibilities of the software
discussed here. It is part of a series of ebooks about Excel for Microsoft 365. At the end
of this book you will find a brief description of our other Excel user guides, to determine
if they can help you to deal with other aspects of the software.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Checking formulas

2 CHECKING FORMULAS

2.1 INTRODUCTION
In the Excel Basics ebook we briefly explained how to search and set a function you want
to use in a formula. What functions and formulas you need depends on the model you’re
designing. It is quite tricky to find the right function (and to embed it correctly in the
formula) and check if it does what you want. In this module, we’ll briefly discuss a few
methods to check if the formulas you designed are correct.

2.2 SIMPLE NUMBERS

First of all, you can do a check by using relatively ‘simple’ numbers in the design stage of
your model. That way you can calculate by heart if the formulas and functions you use
produce the expected (correct) results.

In a new worksheet, create the model as below.

Figure 2.1 Product list

As you see we have already entered a price in this list of items, and calculated the price plus
VAT. The formula for this in cell C2 is visible in the formula bar: note that the reference
to the cell with the VAT rate is absolute, so you can easily copy the formula in column
C down with the fill handle. Of course, these copied formulas do not give results because
there are no prices in column B.

You would be very clever if you can calculate by heart the price of Product1 including VAT
in this case, so checking if the result of the formula is correct is tricky. But if you enter
in cell B2 the value 1 (£ 1.00), you see immediately that the formula gives the correct
outcome: £ 1.20.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Checking formulas

Now this is of course a simple formula, but also with more complex ones this can be an
important checking tool. Make use of it when designing complex formulas with ‘heavy’ functions.

If necessary, undo the input of the simple number in cell B2 so that the original
price reappears.
Now enter an ‘easy’ price for one of the other products (e.g. as in figure 2.2). Verify
that your copies of the formula with the absolute reference in it, work as desired.

2.3 AUDITING
Another useful tool is the use of tracer arrows that Excel can place in your model. These
indicate how certain values or cells in formulas are linked. The program can trace source
cells (Precedents) or target cells (Dependents).

Select the cell with the VAT outcome of your newly entered product price.
On the Formulas tab, in the Formula Auditing group, click the Trace Precedents
button. This shows where the values used in the formula for calculating the price
including VAT are coming from.

Figure 2.2 Source cells

Show the formulas in the model: there is a (toggle) button for this in the Formula
Auditing group. This shows even more accurately how cells are linked, as Excel
indicates with colours which reference belongs to which cell.
Switch back to normal view (as shown in the figure above).
Now select cell E2 with the VAT rate, and activate the arrows to Trace Dependents. It
shows in which formulas the percentage is used. Changing the value in the selected
cell will affect all formulas (target cells) indicated by the arrows (see figure 2.3).

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Checking formulas

Figure 2.3 Removing Arrows

Both tracer arrow types (as you see in figure 2.3 above) can occur together in a model and
may also be removed independently.

Now calculate for one of the products the VAT amount only in, for instance,
column K, using the percentage in E2.
Reselect E2 and draw the arrows to the target cells again. This shows that all
formulas anywhere in the model which are dependent on this value, are traced.

Figure 2.4 Tracing all affected formulas

Delete the newly added formula: the tracer arrow disappears as well.
Remove all tracer arrows.

2.4 EVALUATING
A nice and handy way to check if your formulas are correct, is to use the Evaluate Formula
function. In a dialog Excel evaluates each part of a (complex) formula step by step so you
can verify if the calculation is carried out properly and accurately.

Select the cell containing the product’s VAT formula with the ‘simple’ price. In our
example above this is cell C4.
In the Formula Auditing group, click Evaluate Formula.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Checking formulas

Figure 2.5 Evaluate Formula

Read the instructions in the dialog box and start checking the formula step by
step – for each part clicking [Evaluate] to fill in the temporary result – until the
end result is reached.

This is a useful method to check if all calculations are done correctly (and in the right order)
in your formulas and functions. This way you can monitor if irregularities or imprecisions
occur during the calculation of the formula. Make good use of it when designing your
models and creating your formulas, but most and for all if you suspect that a calculation
doesn’t exactly result in what you expected.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Checking formulas

2.5 EXERCISE
Enter a price for all products in your model.
At the bottom of column C, calculate the total using the AutoSum button (which
is also on the Formula tab).
Modify the formula in the formula bar to round the result: use the =ROUND()
function and set it to 0 decimal places. When you start typing the first letters in
the formula bar, Excel hints you to insert the function (with double-click), and
then finish the function/formula manually accordingly to the directions in the
tooltip. That means that at the end after the SUM function you have to add: , 0)
(comma zero bracket).

Figure 2.6 Inserting a ROUND function via Formula AutoComplete

The result of this formula – if all went well it should be =ROUND(SUM(C2:C6),0) – is

therefore an amount ending in .00. Which in this case, of course, is a rather absurd result,
but it demonstrates that this function produces a different result than when you set the
number format to show 2 decimal places.

Select the total formula (in C7) and evaluate it. Note that Excel calculates with
all decimal places of the source values, and in which order the two functions are
performed in the formula.
Save (if you like) the workbook as Products and close it.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Filling cells

3 FILLING CELLS

3.1 INTRODUCTION
Very useful when designing your models is the ability to quickly fill certain cells with series
of labels or values using the fill handle. In the previous chapter you probably already used
this handy tool when designing the product model for copying the formulas. But you may
use the handle also for creating the items list Product1 to Product5. In this module we
demonstrate a number of appealing and useful possibilities with the Fill function in Excel.

3.2 SERIES
Filling cells – for instance with the fill handle, the little block in the lower right corner
of the cell (selection), by some users sometimes called ‘Copy tool’ – is not only useful for
copying formulas, but also for inserting specific (patterns of ) content into a range of cells.

Start a nexw (blank) workbook.

In cell A1, enter the number 1 (make sure that this remains the active cell).
Drag the fill handle a number of cells to the right: see in row 1 how these cells
are filled with the number 1.
Select A1 again, now press the [Ctrl] key and drag the fill handle down to cell
A20: this fills the column with an ascending series of numbers.

Notice that pressing the [Ctrl] key displays a plus sign next to the fill handle, and that while
dragging Excel shows you what will be entered in the cells.

In cell B2, enter the number 3.

Select the range B1:B2, and then drag the fill handle down again. In the cells, the
filled-in numbers are now raised with the same interval as between the values in
the first two cells. So a series of odd numbers appears.
Now, in column C, try out what the effect is when you perform the previous
instruction with the [Ctrl] key pressed (result: see figure 3.2).

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Filling cells

3.2.1 FILL SERIES

For better understanding how this works, let’s use another filling method now to show you
in more detail what happens when you fill in a series in a range of cells.

Select cell range D1:D20.

On the Home tab, in the Editing group, choose the Series option from the Fill button.

Figure 3.1 Fill Series

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Filling cells

The Series dialog box appears. Here you can specify which values and pattern the cells should
be filled with. If you would click [OK] now, column D will be filled in the same way as
column A: with a linear series with a step value of 1 (interval).

Figure 3.2 Setting series

In this dialog you may choose a more advanced pattern than what is possible with the fill
handle. You can set the following series:

Linear The value of each subsequent cell is increased by the Step value.
Growth The value of each subsequent cell is multiplied by the Step value.
Date A series of dates is calculated based on the Date unit and the Step value.

If you choose the Date type for your series, you can also set the Date unit for increasing
the values: per day, per weekday (no Saturdays and Sundays), per month or per year.

The Stop value determines the end of a series. This value or reaching the end of the selection
you want to fill, whichever occurs first, will cause the filling to stop.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Filling cells

In the Series dialog, set the type to Growth, and enter 2 as Step value. Click [OK]
to perform the operation.
Cell D20 now shows a number corresponding to 219. You will probably recognize
these numbers (especially in the beginning of the series) because they are used a
lot in the world of computers.
Now perform the same action in column E, using 3 as the Step value.

The formatting of the numbers at the end of the series is dependent on the current column width,
and that makes it quite difficult to read them, let alone to check if the numbers are correct.

Enter in cell F20 the formula =3^19 to calculate 319. The result is 1,162,261,467,
and Excel increases the column width to be able to display it.

Figure 3.3 Number Format

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Filling cells

Set the formatting of the result in cell F20 to Comma Style with no decimal places.
Adjust the width of column E to show the actual numbers (not the ‘shortened’
versions), and set the formatting as in cell F20. Now you can compare if the outcome
of your formula is correct. And you must agree, the newly formatted numbers in
column E are much easier to read than before.
Select range F1:F20 and fill it with a Growth type series with interval 3, but
now also with a Stop value of 10,000 (do not enter the thousands separator!).
See where the filling ends.

3.2.2 AUTOFILL OPTIONS

It is very easy to use the fill handle, but you can not set or use all filling options. Only
pressing the [Ctrl] key while dragging the handle, seems to have an effect: it leads to filling
the cells with different series. But Excel has some other options related to the filling that,
strangely enough, are not available in the ribbon. After dragging the handle Excel shows
a button in the lower right corner to select these extra options, such as filling without the
formatting, of filling only the formatting.

Figure 3.4 More filling options

With the fill handle, enter the number series in column G as shown in figure 3.4
(so with [Ctrl]), and then click the button for the extra options. Excel comes to
the conclusion you have filled the range with a series of numbers.
In column H, enter another series of the number 1 and see what the Auto Fill
Options button then shows: the option Copy Cells is highlighted.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Filling cells

3.3 LISTS
A special action to perform with the fill handle is filling cells from special lists. Excel has
several standard lists included (such as the names of months or days), but you may also use
Custom Lists that you define yourself. Furthermore, the program in some cases recognizes
the numbering of the items to fill from the patterns in your cell(s) input.

3.3.1 STANDARD LISTS

Using a (custom) list lets you design your models in a fast and unambiguous way, and
gives a lot of flexibility as it comes to the starting value or item, and the number of list
items you need.

Enter in a new workbook in cel A1 the text label January.

Drag the fill handle from A1 to A20. See the months appearing in the column in
the same design (full text with a capital) as January; and after December the list
will continue with January.
Now go to cell A21 where we want to enter the text sep as the abbreviation for
September. First type the letter s (no capital).

Figure 3.5 AutoComplete

Immediately after typing the s, the full name of the month appears, as you already used
that text in the adjacent cells above. This is a form of hinting (AutoComplete) that Excel
applies to text in cells.

Press [Escape] or cancel the input with the cross button in the formula bar.
Go to cell A22 (or lower, as long as there is at least one blank cell between the
filled series and the input cell), and start typing again. Nothing happens there,
because Excel finds no input in the adjacent cell(s).
Also cancel this input.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Filling cells

Go back to cell A21 (so adjacent to the month range) and see if other months
can appear as you start typing different letters. For months with the same initial
letter(s), you will need to type more letters for the month you want.
Finally, make sure that in cell A21 sep is entered (no capital), an abbreviation for
September. This can be done by typing an additional space so there is no longer
a match with the labels above it, or by using [Delete] or [Backspace] to delete the
text after the first three letters.
From cell A21 show the following months in the same row, formatted as similar
abbreviations (see figure 3.6).
Drag the fill handle down of one of the newly filled cells with abbreviations. And
next, drag from the same cell upwards. This should work as well.

Figure 3.6 The Fill handle works in all directions

Fill an empty range of cells, using the Fill handle, with a number of weekdays,
starting with Wednesday.
Also create a week with three-letter day abbreviations: Mon, Tue, Wed, et cetera.
Try out the effect of the fill handle on texts as Product1, Item 23, Fiscal Year 2019,
Quarter 1 and 2019 Quarter 1.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Filling cells

Figure 3.7 Numbering by patterns

You will probably recognize this sort of filling operations, and maybe you already used it
before, for instance, in the previous chapter.

3.3.2 CUSTOM LISTS

In the Options section of the program (on the File tab) in the Advanced category, in the
General section (near the end), you’ll find the Edit Custom Lists button. With this option
you can create or edit your own (new or custom) lists and use them in the same way as the
lists included in the program. You may type a list yourself, or import a list from (a range
of ) cells in an existing model.

Suppose you work in an organization with shops or affiliated members in different cities.
Everytime you want to create overviews, tables or calculating models, you need to type
those city names all over again. Then, of course, it’s a lot easier to get them from a custom
(and editable) list.

Go to the Custom Lists dialog (as described above).

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Filling cells

Figure 3.8 Create Custom Lists

If necessary, click NEW LIST in the left box.

In the List entries box, type the six cities as shown in figure 3.8 above.
Click [Add] so that the list appears in the left box and click [OK]. Also close the
Excel Options dialog window.
Type in a blank cell the city Edinburgh.
Place the other five cities below, using the fill handle.
Type a seventh city name under the list with six cities: Bristol.
Select the seven city names.
Add the new list to the Custom lists using the [Import] button in the Custom Lists
dialog (the range to import from is already indicated by your selection).
Select and delete the previously created list of cities.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Filling cells

3.4 EXERCISE
The AutoComplete function for text labels mentioned above also applies to the texts that
have been entered in the cells from custom lists.

Type in the cell below the city name Bristol the letter m and see that Manchester is
suggested in the cell. Confirm with [Enter] (or any other input option).
In the cell below type the city name Liverpool. Starting with L, Excel first suggests
London, typing the next letter i, removes the hint.
Type in the next cell in the column the letter b. No hints? No, since there are two
city names beginning with b, Excel only suggests a name after you have typed more
letters. Enter the city Bristol using the adequate hint.

Unfortunately, Excel is not so clever yet to detect duplicate values in the text labels you
import as a Custom List. Therefore, it is wise(r) to make any necessary modifications to your
custom lists via the Excel Options, in the Advanced section.

Select all the city names (duplicates included) you have entered so far in the
worksheet, and add them as a new list to the Custom Lists.
Close the workbook (you don’t need to save it, the lists are saved separately in the
program).
Create a large list of cities to start with London in a new workbook.

This list of cities is probably not what you had in mind with all those duplicates,
although in some situations it even may be quite useful. For now, you can delete this
and the other custom lists.

If you prefer to use an alphabetical list of places, first sort the range with the city names (on
the Home tab, in the Editing group) before you import it as a list. This way you’ll quickly
detect duplicates as well.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS References

4 REFERENCES

4.1 INTRODUCTION
To collect and bring data together you can, of course, copy figures from one worksheet to
another, for example to a summary sheet. But it can be more convenient to show the data
on such a sheet via a reference. Because if a value in the original worksheet changes, then
you don’t need to copy it again, in the other worksheet the data change accordingly. This
chapter is about all kinds of references between worksheets and even workbooks.

4.2 COPYING AND LINKING

You already know how to copy labels and data from a one sheet to another. By means of
copying you could, for example, collect the totals of multiple spreadsheets on a summary
sheet. But if later somewhere in the original worksheet(s) a new or corrected value is entered,
you also have to update the summary sheet. You can avoid this error sensitive manual copy
work, using a reference link to the original worksheet.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS References

In this module we use a file from the workbook Excel Worksheets in this series: Total Sales.
If you didn’t create or save it, create the file according to the instructions below (you should
be able to do that based on your knowledge from the first ebooks). If you do have the file,
double check that your numbers and labels are the same.

• In a new workbook, create four tabs with the labels (tabs at the bottom): Main Office,
Shop A, Shop B and Shop C (with colors as below). Save the file as Total Sales.
• Input the following data in sheet Shop A (very similar to the contents of workbook
Products.xlsx). The green numbers are the result of formulas.

Figure 4.0 Products Shop A

• Create data in the worksheet Shop B in a similar way – (partial) copying is also
allowed. Use the numbers and labels as in figure 4.1.

Tile all four sheets in an own window in your display as shown in figure 4.1 (via the
View tab and/or Windows). Then, collapse the ribbons in all windows ([Ctrl]+[F1]).
Copy the model in Shop B to Shop C. Adjust products, prices and quantities as in
the lower right window in figure 4.1.
Create the labels (and cell formatting) for an overview on the Main Office worksheet
(that’s in the Total Sales - 1 window) as in the figure below.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS References

Figure 4.1 Grand totals

Select cell E7 in the Shop A sheet (so the total sales of that store) and copy the
result to the Clipboard.
Go to cell B2 in the summary sheet Main Office. Choose on the Home tab in the
Clipboard group, via the Paste button the Paste Special option. Then click the [Paste
Link] button in the left-lower corner to paste the total sales of shop A.

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Figure 4.2 Paste Link

The same amount as the total result in shop A now appears in the summary sheet. In the
formula bar you see the reference to the cell where that value came from: = ‘Shop A’!$E$7.
It is important to recognize these kind of reference notations: between the quotes is the tab
name of the worksheet, followed by an exclamation mark, and then the (absolute) cell address.

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There are several alternative ways to paste the link. A very convenient one, for example, is
via the context menu of the target cell where you can choose the option from the different
Paste Options icons.

Figure 4.3 Paste Options

Now choose your own method to add the totals of the other shops to the summary.
Also calculate the grand total in cell B5.

Because the data and sheets are now linked, any changes in the worksheets for the shops
will also affect the summary on the Main Office sheet.

In one of the models, change the quantity of one of the products. See that the
totals in the model and in the summary are immediately updated.

Postponed recalculation

If your model is very complex, consists of many worksheets, or has links over the network
with workbooks at other departments in the organization, recalculating the model may take
quite some time. By default, this happens automatically as soon as something changes, but
you can disable this in the Calculation group on the Formulas tab. In that case, you should
not forget, of course, to perform the recalculation manually (e.g. with [F9]) as soon as all
changes are made to the (linked) models. You may want to try it, but after that, switch the
automatic recalculation back on.

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4.3 EXTERNAL LINK

The references above are all to addresses within the workbook. But you can also link to values
in external workbooks. We have a simple example to illustrate this, you will understand
that you can also apply this on a larger scale.

In a new blank worksheet in cell A1, enter the label VAT-rate, and in cell B1 the
percentage 20%.
On the next row enter VAT-reduced with value 5%.
Save this ‘model’ as VAT-table (do not close it yet).

Figure 4.4 Link to an external workbook

In the VAT-table worksheet, copy the standard VAT-rate (the percentage in cell B1),
and in cell G2 of the Shop A tab in workbook Total Sales, paste the link. You can
switch to the window with the target cell via View, Window, Switch Windows, but
directly selecting the target window is also possible, and much faster.

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Take a look in the formula bar how the reference is built up: between the quotes, the name
of the external workbook is now enclosed in square brackets (is optional when using the
full path to the file), followed directly by the worksheet name in the external workbook,
and right next to the exclamation mark you find the (absolute) reference to the cell with
the standard percentage. It may also look something like this:

= ‘D:\data\myspreadsheets\[VAT-table.xlsx]Sheet1’!$B$1

The path to the location of the workbook – as in the example above D:\data\myspreadsheets\
– appears only in the formula bar if the linked file is not open.

Save and close all files.

Open the VAT-table and change the reduced percentage to 7%, and the standard
in 22.5% (make sure you see that decimal).
Close and save this file, and then reopen Total Sales.

A security warning appears at the top of the window: Automatic update of links has been
disabled. You must click on the button next to it: [Enable Content].

Figure 4.5 Warning

This message does not appear if your security options are set less tight – read: unsafer, thus
more insecure – than the default setting.

What has changed? Well, first of all the percentage in G2 in the Shop A sheet. And also here
the formatting may be confusing: the decimal is not visible and the percentage is rounded
to 23%. And, of course, prices and totals including VAT have changed too.

In the VAT-table, change the standard percentage back to the old value (20%) and
close (save) the workbook. This leads to an immediate update in Shop A.
Now in the two other shops, create a reference link to the standard percentage in
the external VAT-table.

Now that you know how to create and use reference links to other worksheets and other
workbooks, you will easily understand and perform the next exercise.

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Use the context menu of the Shop A tab to move the sheet to a new workbook
(using the list box at the top). Make sure that no copy is made (place no checkmark
at the bottom). Click [OK].

Figure 4.6 Move Sheet

The worksheet now appears as a new workbook with one sheet tab: Shop A.
Check the reference in cell G2 again.
Close the workbook and save it with the name Shop A.
Now study the reference to the sales total of shop A in the Main Office sheet of the
Total Sales workbook. And note, of course, that the Shop A sheet (in all windows)
has disappeared.
Move the worksheets from the other shops to new workbooks as well. What remains
is only the Main Office sheet.
Clean up any redundant windows and maximise the remaining window with the
Main Office tab.
Check if all references in range B2:B4 are correct.
Close and save the workbook Total Sales.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS References

The situation with the four files that you have created now, is very common: in our example
company, the shops themselves will keep track of the sales in their own workbooks (files)
and send them on a regular basis to the headquarters.

Open the workbook file from one of the shops.

You will get a security warning (as in figure 5.5) that there are links to other data sources,
and you can choose updating or not. In practice, this can be dependent on how things are
organised, and whether that source will be available.

Click the [Enable Content] button. You won’t be seeing anything happening,
because this only checks if the VAT-rate is still correct.
Change one of the products quantities.
Close and save the workbook.
Also change a products quantity in another shop and close that file as well.
Now open the file Total Sales. This time you can get a somewhat different security
message about the links (see figure 4.7). In the model you see the ‘old’ totals, so
not updated yet accordingly to the changes you made in the shops workbooks.

Figure 4.7 Update?

Click the [Update] button and see that the new totals in the summary are retrieved
from the corresponding workbooks.

4.4 HYPERLINKS
In your models you can use hyperlinks – just like in web pages on the internet – to other
models, objects or elements. The hyperlink can lead to a location in the current model, to
another model (in another workbook), or to a web page on the internet. The link may also
jump to a file created with another program, or even to multimedia objects such as sounds
or videos. For example, you can create a link from an Excel file to a document in Word
or a presentation in PowerPoint for more detail, or to a video with further explanations.

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A link is usually represented by an image or a text (often blue and underlined) that the
reader or user can click to jump to a different location, file, or object. The method is simple:

• Select the text or cell you want to use as a hyperlink, and then on the Insert
tab, click the Link button (the hotkey [Ctrl]+[k], or the context menu are much
faster ways, of course).
• In the dialog, enter the file or location you want the hyperlink to jump to.
There are buttons and lists to select files, search for them, or browse the Web.
• You can optionally specify an (existing) range name, sheet, etcetera, via the
[Bookmark] button. We will come back to this in the final exercise of this chapter.

In the Total Sales workbook on the Main Office sheet, select cell A2 with the text
label Shop A.
Insert a link to file Shop A using the ribbon, hotkey or context menu.

Figure 4.8 Link to a file

In cell A2 the text Shop A is now blue and underlined. When you hover over the text, the
pointer changes to a hand, and the target of the hyperlink is indicated in a small info box.

Follow (click) the hyperlink: the Shop A workbook opens (including the security
warning).
If you like, make a mutation and close (save) the file.

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When you’ve returned to the total sales book, you see in cell A2, that the link text Shop
A has changed its colour (to purple), to indicate that the you have used the link (works
the same as in a browser).

Now that there is a link on cell A2, selecting the cell itself may be a problem. In this case
you can click right next to the textual hyperlink, because there the mouse pointer is not a
hand but the ‘regular’ plus. You can also select the cell in the way the info box tells you:
Click and hold to select this cell, after a second the cursor changes to the normal shape,
and the link is not followed.

4.5 EXERCISE
In column A of Total Sales, create (via the various methods we explained) the
links to the other two files.
Via the links, open the models for the shops B and C, change some data there,
and then close them again.

If you created a hyperlink as above, clicking it will open the selected file. But you may
want to jump to a specific (named) location in a file. In Excel, this can be a named cell or
range, or a certain sheet. While defining the hyperlink you can add that element (or object)
using the [Bookmark] button.

Follow the link to workbook Shop A.

Select on the Shop A sheet the range E7:F7 and name it Totals (via the Formulas tab).

Figure 4.9 Define Name

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Close (and save) the file.

Right-click the hyperlink in cell A2 and choose the Edit Hyperlink option.
In the dialog Edit Hyperlink, via the [Bookmark] button, set the link to jump
directly to the named range Totals.

Figure 4.10 Set Bookmark

See in figure 4.10 that as a place in the workbook to jump to, you may also type in a cell
reference or select a worksheet.

Instead of to an Excel object, in the Edit Hyperlink dialog you can also link to another type
of file, such as a Word document or a bookmark in it, an Access database or an object there,
or a PowerPoint presentation or a slide number in it.

Jump to Shop A via the hyperlink again and see where it leads you now. Very
smart and handy, isn’t it?
Now, edit the links to the other two files in the same way. Check (follow) the links.
Close all files.

In the ebook Special Models in this series on Excel, we will be using the workbooks (files) for
shops A, B, and C that you have created and saved here, in an exercise about consolidation.
So don’t throw them away just yet.

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5 PROTECTION

5.1 INTRODUCTION
You can protect your workbooks or spreadsheets to prevent anyone from seeing or from editing
the data in it. It is also possible to prevent (only) the formulas to be edited: then values
may be entered in the model, but the calculations with them must be left alone. We’re not
going into the security issues too deeply, we’ll only discuss a few typical examples with you.

5.2 PROTECTING A WORKBOOK

As is the case in most programs, also in Excel you can provide your files (workbooks) with
a password during the saving process. There are two types: a password to open a file, and
one to modify the file.

In cell A1 of a new workbook, type the text ‘Secret model.’

Press the [F12] key or go to the option Save (As) in the backstage (on the File tab),
and first choose the location to save this file in.
Now enter in the Save as dialog the file name Secret, but do not click [Save] yet.
Click the Tools button at the bottom and go to the General Options. A dialog
appears where you can set your passwords.

Figure 5.1 Set Password

Type in a Password to open (we chose excel, but in practice you’ll be setting a strong
password).
Click [OK] and confirm your password in the next dialog.
Now [Save] your file and close the workbook.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Protection

Anyone who wants (or is allowed) to open this file will need to know this password. It does
not matter how the file is opened, from Excel (possibly through Recent) or from Windows.
Windows Explorer even asks for the password to display the preview in the window.

Open your Secret workbook in any way you like, and see when and how you must
provide the password.
In the File tab, go to Save As, Tools, General Options again.
Delete the password to open, and now set it to allow modifying.
Save and close the file.
Reopen the Secret file, a slightly different password procedure is now executed.
Read the info in the dialog and then open the file [Read Only]. Verify that you
can enter or modify content or formatting in the sheet.

That seems to be no problem, and that makes sense, because this security only involves
overwriting (when saving) this workbook. So whatever you or anyone else may change in
this model, your original sheet remains unchanged. Once the user wants to save the model,
this will only be possible with a different name (via Save As). Only providing the correct
password while opening the file allows overwriting a modified workbook.

5.3 PROTECTING A SHEET

The protection of data in a worksheet can be necessary if you want to prevent (accidental)
calculation errors in the model. For instance, in (complex) models you can set the protection
to allow input only in certain cells, making the cells with formulas for the calculations
inaccessible. In the example in the next exercise we’ll elaborate on this using some cell
formatting to demonstrate how this works.

Open a model in which formulas are used for some calculations (as an example we
use the Shop A file that was created in the previous module).
Show the formulas in the cells via the Formulas tab.
Select all cells with formulas (multi-selection), and also the reference to the external
VAT-table in the Shop A sheet. In the Styles group of the Home tab, choose the
Calculation style for the selected cells.
Now (multi) select all cells where the user can enter item names, prices, and
quantities, and choose the Input style for them.

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Figure 5.2 Setting Styles

Hold to the last multi-selection and press hotkey [Ctrl]+[1] to open the Format
Cells dialog (or use the context menu).
Go to the Protection tab. The option Locked here is (by default) checked (read the
information). For now, uncheck it and click [OK].

This means that the currently selected cells will be excluded from the protection that we
are going to set for the entire sheet.

Hide the formulas.

On the Review tab in the Protect group, click the Protect Sheet button. In the Protect
Sheet dialog you’ll find the option Protect worksheet and contents of locked cells already
checked. At the top, enter a Password to unprotect sheet (use excel again).

Figure 5.3 Protect Sheet

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Protection

Study the list of ‘rights’ you can give to users of this worksheet.
Click [OK] and confirm the password.
Finish with [OK].

You do not necessarily have to enter a password to set or remove the sheet protection.
Even without a password security works, and you can only enter or modify something in
the unlocked cells.

Try to make changes in several cells of the worksheet. This will only be possible
in the (orange) cells that you have unlocked. Where it is not allowed, Excel shows
you an explanation.
On the Review tab, turn off the sheet protection. Check if you can make all changes
to the worksheet you like (including formulas).
Close the workbook (if you want to save it, use a different file name).

There are more protection options than we’ve mentioned here so far, especially when it
comes to securing and sharing your workbook or worksheet. Take a closer look at the
options in the Protect Group of the Review tab. As you can see there, it is even possible to
allow specific users to edit only certain ranges.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Comments

6 COMMENTS

6.1 INTRODUCTION
There are several ways to add comments in a calculation model. This is useful, for example,
if you send a spreadsheet to someone else with a request to add or check data, or if you
want to draw extra attention to something in the workbook. But it may be handy for
yourself as well, for instance, to remember what a certain formula does, to indicate where
specific data is located, for comments or interpretations in figures or outcomes, et cetera.
In this module we show a few examples of posting comments in your models. The content
of the remark is not relevant here, so you might as well use your own text ideas.

6.2 SHAPES
A common way to add a remark to a worksheet is by using a text box, text balloon, sticky
note, or a similar callout shape. You can easily move these objects around in the sheet and
quickly set all sorts of formatting for them.

Start a new blank worksheet.

On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click the Text Box button. The mouse pointer
changes shape: now click anywhere on the worksheet and drag a rectangular box
there. The size and exact location of the text box is not important for now, you
can always customise it later.
Enter in the text box: Caution!

Figure 6.1 Text box

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Comments

The box has a border with a number of round handles. The border itself is a dotted line
when you are entering text (then you see also a text insertion point in the text box). Click
the border once again, to switch to object mode. The border then will be a solid line, and
dragging the border or handles you can now move or resize the text box. You may even
rotate it with the curled arrow at the top.

Clicking on the content or on the border, switches between editing the content or the
object. But also while editing the content, you can use the handles to edit the object, Excel
then switches automatically.

When the text box is selected, a new tab appears in the ribbon: Shape Format where you
can find buttons and options to set the formatting of the object. Both the outline border
and the shape itself can be formatted with a certain colour, pattern or effect.

For the text box choose light blue as the fill colour, and add a shadow to the box
(via the Shape Effects option).
Set a larger Font Size for the text, set the Font Colour to red, and align the text in
the center of the box (all this has to be done via the Home tab).
Reshape the box to fit the text.
Now go back to the Shape Format tab to add a block arrow (see the Insert Shape
group: the shapes box can be browsed or displayed in full with the buttons to the
right of it).
Make sure the arrow points to the text box (rotate the arrow if necessary).

Figure 6.2 Shapes

Such objects on your worksheet may be useful, but they have a small disadvantage as well:
they are always visible in your sheet (in the screen), possibly even covering contents.

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6.3 NOTES AND COMMENTS

Alternatively, you can attach a Note to the cell to which it applies or belongs. Only when
you activate or hover over that cell, the comment is displayed.

Select a cell.
On the Review tab, click the Notes button.
Enter your text in the box that appears (with your user name at the top).
Select that text and make the font red and larger. To be able to set these features,
you must start from the notes context menu, choosing the Format Comment option.

Figure 6.3 Format Comment

If everything is to your liking, close the Format Comment dialog.

Now click another cell, and see that your comment disappears.
Hover over the cell where you posted the Note: the comment is displayed as long
as you point to the cell. In case you forgot which cell it was: it has a small red
triangle in the upper right corner.

The easiest way to remove or edit a Note is via the options in the context menu that appears
when you right-click on the cell with the comment.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Comments

Figure 6.4 Edit, delete or show/hide Notes

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Comments

Similar to notes are the Comments that you also find in the Review tab. This shows and hides
the contents just like the Notes, and works similar to the comments you can add in Word.
It is more like starting a chat with other users (anyone may reply to it), and therefore it’s a
useful option when sharing the workbook with others. You cannot set any formatting for the
text. Note the different indication flag in the upper right corner of the cell (see figure 6.5).

Figure 6.5 Adding Comment as a chat or discussion

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Planning

7 PLANNING

7.1 INTRODUCTION
Making a good planning is usually not a luxury but a necessity, not only at work, but
also at home or for your (hobby) club. If you are the person who, for example, makes the
inventories and plans, or creates the schedule of who works when, who is sick or on holiday,
and so on, then of course you choose a solution that produces a nice overview that you can
distribute to those involved. There are a lot of software solutions for this on the market,
but you can also use a few handy tricks from Excel.

7.2 SCHEDULE
For the example below, we assume that you want to make an overview for your organisation
when everyone is free, sick, on holiday or otherwise absent. And all this should be presented
in one schedule over a period of 12 weeks. This can be a big task.

In a new worksheet, create the schedule with labels and lines (borders) as in the
figure below. Make sure the (small) cells right next to the names are center aligned
(later you’ll see why). You’re list in column A with the names of the persons involved
probably will be different (and longer or shorter) than in the figure, but for now
use a the list of the same length.

Figure 7.1 12 weeks absence schedule

At the bottom of the figure you will see the presence and absence of the persons involved
per working day, which is calculated by the number of blank or not-empty cells in the
column above. The formula for this in cell B14 reads: =COUNTBLANK(B2:B13), and
if nothing is entered in the column for the first working day of week 25, then there are
twelve people present and none absent.

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Of course, the absence is also calculated with a formula: a function that you can use is
=COUNTA(range) – the number of arguments in a specific range – that allows you to
count the cells that are not empty in column A, in this case the 12 names. This will result
in the correct number of persons, also if they are added or deleted in the model. Now first
think of a suitable formula yourself before proceeding.

Enter both formulas in column B to calculate the numbers of the present and
absent persons. The formula you need in B15 is: =COUNTA($A$2:$A$13)-B14.
Instead of using the absolute range reference, you may also define a name.
Copy the two formulas to the right to all working days (i.e. up to column BI).

If there is a green triangle in the upper-left corner of cell B14 (or another cell), it is a sign
that Excel has a message for you. Read the comment here, and draw your conclusion (for
example, as shown in the figure below).

Figure 7.2 Warning

The calculation for all working days results in 12 persons present and 0 absent, because there
is no absence indicated in the columns. The planning schedule in our example is set up in
such a way that you can enter an absence code for a person, for example, v for Vacation, s
for Sick, do for Day Off, ua for Unauthorised Absent, ul for Unpaid Leave, and the like.
If a code is entered in a cell, it will cause the present/absent ratio below the days to change.

Enter in the cell of the first day of the first person’s vacation the letter code v, for
example, the first day of week 30 in the row for Robin (cell AA10). The results
of the formulas at the bottom of that column show that there is one person not
present on that day.
Also enter ‘v’-codes in the schedule for the remaining days of Robin’s vacation (let’s
say a total of 10 working days).

If you chose the fill handle or the Fill button in the ribbon for the last instruction, you
bump into a formatting issue: the thick border of week 30 is copied with it. But, of course,
in Excel you can also copy or fill without transferring the formatting: you probably know
how by now (see in figure 7.3 one of the possibilities).

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Planning

Figure 7.3 Fill without formatting

Enter a few more vacations for other persons involved.

7.3 CONDITIONAL FORMATTING

This way your schedule will be nicely filled with v-codes, but it is not a really clear and well
organized overview. It would be more convenient if the schedule would show contiguous blocks
or bars in a particular colour. And that is easily and quickly done with conditional formatting.

Select the entire data entry area of the schedule: so all cells excluding the labels
and formulas (range B2:BI13).
On the Home tab in the Styles group, set a new Conditional Formatting rule that
non-blank cells get a green colour (Format only cells with: No Blanks – see figure 7.4).

Figure 7.4 Conditional Formatting rule

With this rule, also other letter codes like s, do, or ua, will fill the cells with a green colour,
as you can imagine.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Planning

Enter some days off, sick days or unpaid leave for some persons and see the fill
colour of the cells changing.

But by defining and combining smart rules, you can also set it differently and give each
code its own colour. This is best done via the Conditional Formatting Rules Manager, where
you can directly edit rules and add new ones.

Figure 7.5 Each code its own colour

Edit the rule that makes everything green so that only the cells with a v-code get
that colour (see in figure 7.5).
For the other codes, set other colours now each in a New Rule, for example, as
shown in the figure above.
The moment you click [Apply] or close the Rules Manager dialog with [OK], you
will see the different colours for each code. Nice overview, isn’t it?

Note that in relatively dark fill colours, the font colour is set to white. That’s much easier
to read, don’t you think?

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7.4 EXERCISE
This much is clear: your imagination is actually the only limitation for designing such
planning schedules. You can use these Excel tools and tricks to create quite complex models
that can provide you with the desired (management) information.

In the schedule, indicate with grey backgrounds (fill colour), in which weeks the
schools are closed for holidays throughout the country (we applied this for weeks
28 to 30 in figure 7.6 below).

Figure 7.6 Schedule with special holiday period and total days worked

At the bottom of the model calculate the number of days people have worked (or
will be working) in every week: that is the number of blank cells in the whole
work week, so for week 25 in range B2:F13.
Place the totals for each work week centered in a merged cell as in the figure above.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Solutions

8 SOLUTIONS

8.1 INTRODUCTION
There are some advanced options and possibilities in analysing and calculating solutions for
your models that can be performed ... by the program itself. Changing values often creates
useful predictions about what could happen in certain cases, or how a particular goal can
be achieved. This module focuses on solution-oriented ‘What-If ‘ analyses using Goal Seek
and the Solver.

8.2 GOAL SEEKING

With the Goal Seek procedure Excel can calculate a solution for a target value by variation
(changing) of a particular cell. In business situations, this is often used to establish targets
for sales or profit figures: set the desired end result (target) in your model, and then find
out what must happen elsewhere in the model to get to this result. But also in less complex
(and more private) issues, it can be a useful function. For example, if you need a mortgage
or loan, you might want to find out what is the maximum in your situation. In the exercise
below, you’ll see how Excel can perform this task. First, we create a simple model that
calculates how much the monthly payment is for a loan in a given situation.

Enter the model as shown in the figure below (including the correct formatting).
The formula for calculating the monthly payment in cell B4 is shown at the top
in the formula bar.

Figure 8.1 Loan model

In the formula you need the Payment function =PMT() that requires as parameters: interest
rate (in B2), number of periods to pay (B3) and present value of the loan amount (B1). The
result is a negative number, but because we want to see this as a positive number in the
model, we have embedded the PMT-function and the division for the monthly payment
in the function =ABS() to display the absolute number (without the sign). If you like, find
more information on both functions in Help.

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The model calculates the monthly payment for a loan of £ 100,000 at an interest rate of
5,1%, in 20 years. The result is shown in cell B4: £ 425. But suppose you can only pay up
to £ 350 per month, then the following question pops up: what would be the maximum
amount of your loan in that case? Excel can calculate it for you.

On the Data tab, in the Forecast group, choose via the What-If Analysis button the
option Goal Seek.
Fill in the dialog as in the figure below.

Figure 8.2 Goal Seeking

The payment for the present amount of the loan is entered in cell B4 of the model: we
would like to have that on a maximum of £ 350, via changing the value in cell B1 (where
the amount of the loan is).

Click [OK] and Excel will find a solution for you.

Figure 8.3 Solution found

If you want to fill in the new figures in the model, click [OK] in the Goal Seek Status
dialog, and if you want to go back to the ‘old numbers’, then choose [Cancel]. Placing the
new figures in the model can also be reversed afterwards with Undo.

Place the new numbers in the model.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Solutions

Of course, you can also use this handy Goal Seek option to examine your loan from other
angles. For example, you may want to calculate in how many more months the loan of a
£ 100,000 has to be paid, or what interest rate – on the market – for you would be the
most favourable of profitable. Try to find the solutions for these issues.

Close the model (if you want, save it as Loan).

8.3 SOLVER
With the Goal Seek function you can only change one cell to achieve a certain (desired)
result, with the Solver you can use several. In Excel, the Solver is an add-in (program plug-
in) that must be installed and activated (see below).

Solver Add-in

You cannot use the Solver until it is installed as an add-in in Excel. You install (or check) it
as follows:

• On the File tab, go to the Options, and select the Add-ins category.
• Verify (or choose) in the Manage option at the bottom: Excel Add-ins is the choise,
and then click the [Go…] button.
• If necessary, check the Solver Add-in and click [OK].

Figure 8.4 Solver Add-in

• On the Data tab, see on the right side that a group Analyze is added with a Solver button.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Solutions

For example, suppose you have a revenue model with total sales per product for the first
three quarters as shown in figure 8.5 below. Now you would like to know what the sales
must be in the last quarter to break even.

Figure 8.5 Revenue in the current year

In a blank workbook, create the model as above. Where needed, use formulas and
set the correct formatting. If you like, save it as Solution Wanted.

To break even, the total annual turnover has to reach a million. The Solver can calculate and
fill in the needed sales amounts for the fourth quarter. You may also specify restrictions, for
example, to set a maximum for what a certain product contributes to the solution.

Select cell F5, and on the Data tab, activate the Solver.
In the Solver Parameters dialog, enter the following settings:

• In cell F5 the target value is 1 million pounds.

• E2:E4 is the cell range for changes.
• With the [Add] button set the constraints as in figure 8.6.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Solutions

Figure 8.6 Constraints for the solution

We have deliberately chosen for a £ 60,000 maximum for cell E2, because you can easily
think up yourself that without the restriction the range would be filled with three times
the same amount. This setting demonstrates that the Solver can take into account several
constraints.

Now start the Solver to try and find a solution.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Solutions

Figure 8.7 Result of the Solver

Study the solution the Solver found: see the entered and changed values in the
model, and the comments and options in the Solver Results dialog. Don’t close the
results dialog yet.

Similar to the Goal Seek procedure, you may decide now whether to place the new figures
in the model or to return to the old ones. But beware: if you choose for the new figures,
then restoring the old situation via Undo is not possible here.
From here you may also return to the Solver Parameters dialog, for example, if you are not
satisfied with the solution found, or if no solution is found at all.

8.3.1 SCENARIOS

In the Solver Results dialog, there is an important button on the right side: [Save Scenario].
Analyses like the one above can be saved in named scenarios that you can define and reuse
for all sorts of (financial) issues or questions. This allows you to make and save different
calculation variants in a model, such as best-case or worst-case scenarios, and use them
(later), for example, in a presentation. To illustrate this, in the exercise below we save some
scenarios (using different methods) for the quarterly revenue model.

In the Solver Results dialog, click the [Save Scenario] button, and name this scenario
Break Even.
Back in the results dialog, click the radio button to Restore Original Values, and
close the dialog with [OK].

You are now back at the point you started from, the current situation with the blank range
in the fourth quarter. We save this situation as a scenario as well, to be able to return to
it in case you’d like to perform other What-If analyses.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Solutions

On the Data tab via the What-If Analysis button, go to the Scenario Manager.
You’ll find the just saved Break Even scenario here, including the changing cells.

Figure 8.8 Scenario management

Click the [Add] button (you can also use this option if there are no scenarios yet).
Name the scenario Blank Situation and set – if necessary – the Changing cells to
cell range E2:E4. In a new scenario you will have to type it in or select it with
the mouse (multi-selection of non-adjacent changing cells is possible here as well).

Figure 8.9 Add scenario

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Solutions

Click [OK]. A dialog will appear to enter the Scenario Values for the selected cells.
But in this case of the blank scenario this will not be necessary, so click [OK].
In the Scenario Manager the new scenario Blank Situation is added to the list.
Close this window.

We’ll come back to this in a moment, first, we’ll have a look at the Solver again that still
monitors your situation.

Start the Solver again, set the objective value for the total revenue to £ 1.2 million
now, and start looking for a solution with the [Solve] button.

Excel now indicates – provided that you have not changed anything else – that no feasible
solution has been found. Before you go on: think for a moment what may have caused it.

Figure 8.10 No feasible solution found

Of course, the constraints have caused the problem, as you can see in the model. In Quarter
4, the Solver entered the maximum amounts in the range, and these were the restrictions
you had set. But with these constraints for each product you can never add up to a total
revenue of £ 1.2 million.

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Check the option to Return to Solver Parameters Dialog and to Restore Original
Values. Then click [OK].
Now, delete the last constraint in the list (for Product 3) and start looking for a
new solution.

Of course, Excel will find it now, but also indicates that you will have to sell a lot more
of Product 3.

Save this solution as the Best Case scenario.

Add another scenario called Worst Case, in which you set a low target value as
objective (remember to return to the original values).

Once scenarios are saved, they can be transferred to another file, using the [Merge] button
in the Scenario Manager dialog. This works similar to importing, so you extract the scenarios
from a source file and put them in the target file.

Now you have four scenarios, that can be displayed in your model quickly by clicking the
[Show] button in the Scenario Manager. Try switching from scenario to scenario and see
what happens in your model. Nice ‘solution’, isn’t it?

8.3.2 SCENARIO SUMMARY

A nice option here is the possibility to bring scenarios together in a summary on a separate
worksheet, as shown in figure 8.11.

In the Scenario Manager click the [Summary] button.

In the Scenario Summary dialog, choose as Result cells E5 and F5 (total sales in
the 4th quarter and year total) and click [OK]. A new worksheet is added with a
summary as in figure 8.11 below.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Solutions

Figure 8.11 Scenario Summary

Excel automatically displays outline buttons on the left and at the top of the new sheet. If
you open the level button (with the plus sign) left to row 3, you’ll see who created and/or
modified the scenario, and when this was done. More about Outlines in the next ebook in
this series: Special Models in Excel.
The scenarios can also be displayed in the form of a pivot table (try it). You can also learn
more about pivot tables in the next user guide.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Error checking

9 ERROR CHECKING

9.1 INTRODUCTION
We mentioned it before: at the top left corner of a cell you might find a small green triangle
to indicate there could be something wrong. Below in figure 9.1 we zoomed in on it to
see it more clearly.

Figure 9.1 Cell with a message

This signal is placed by Excel as a result of the automatic Error Checking procedure (which is
active in the background by default). When you click on a cell with this triangle, a button
appears next to it where you can find more explanation. Make good use of it!

9.2 INTELLISENSE
Because Excel to a certain extent thinks ahead for you (using IntelliSense), the program
occasionally finds issues that may not be (completely) correct. The program draws the attention
of the user to these issues with the green triangle signal and a button with an exclamation mark.

Figure 9.2 A potential problem

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When you hover over the button, a comment appears about what Excel thinks might be
the case or problem. In this case, the program sees that the sum formula in cell B4 does
not include all the numbers above it. In fact, this is not an error message at all (read the
labels in column A), only a warning so you can check if it is what you want.

Create the model as in figure 9.2 in a new worksheet.

In cell B4, sum up the values in range B2:B3, then the triangle signal should appear.
Click B4 so that the exclamation mark button appears next to it.
Point to the button and read the message Excel shows.
Click the button with the exclamation mark and study the options in the menu.

Figure 9.3 Information and solutions

9.3 ACTIONS
At the top of the list is the warning you already saw when hovering over the button. The
menu shows some possible actions that you could perform now. One of these is Update
Formula to Include Cells. If you choose this option, Excel will adjust the formula so that
the number in cell B1 will be included. This is, of course, very useful if you have made a
mistake in a formula.

But if, as in this example, you only want to sum the items that have been viewed (either
solved, or in review) you do not want Excel to adjust the formula ...

In this case, choose Ignore Error. The green triangle in the cell then disappears.

You and other (human) users can make such a decision to adjust the formula (or not), based
on the labels in your model, but Excel cannot interpret the meaning of such texts, of course.

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If you’re not quite sure what to do, please don’t hesitate to get Help information about the
potential error before deciding whether or not to have it fixed.

Undo ignoring the error (the triangle reappears).

Now go to the Formulas tab, and in the Formula Auditing group, choose the Error
Checking option.

Figure 9.4 Error Checking dialog

Excel now jumps to the next error message (here the only one) and shows a dialog as in
figure 9.4 above. Via the [Next] and [Previous] buttons you can browse through all errors
or warnings in a worksheet and resolve them if necessary.

Click the [Options] button (this option is also available in the context menu of
the button with the exclamation mark, see figure 9.3). It leads to category Formulas
of the Excel Options.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Error checking

Figure 9.5 Rules for Error Checking

You’ll find here all rules that Excel uses in the Error Checking procedure. So, if you want that
Excel should no longer check whether Formulas which omit cells in a region are considered
wrong, then just uncheck the rule here.

And if you don’t want Excel to perform background Error Checking at all, you can also
uncheck it in the Excel Options dialog!

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Saving workbooks

10 SAVING WORKBOOKS

10.1 INTRODUCTION
Where and how you save your workbooks is of course very important. You want to open
and reopen them at will to feed them with your data, they have to be stored in a secure
location so that the data don’t get lost or stolen, or maybe you must share them with
others in your organisation. In any event, saving your workbooks serves many purposes
and must be done carefully. Furthermore, what type (format) you choose for the file can
play an important role.

10.2 LOCATION
Typically, an Excel end user saves workbooks somewhere in a folder on a local disk – as we
do in the ebooks in this series in a folder named \My Workbooks – or in a folder on the
(business) network. But you might as well want to save a workbook on an external storage
device, for example, on a flash disk, memory card, USB-stick or an external hard drive, to
take it with you anywhere you like.
Nowadays many users store their files in the cloud as well, to retrieve them from the internet
at home or anywhere else.

Saving books in the cloud – for instance, in the online storage location OneDrive that is available
to all Microsoft Office users – also means that you have a ‘safe’ backup in a remote location.

The simplest way to save an Excel-workbook directly on an external medium is as follows

(you do not per se need to do this right now):

• Insert the external storage device into your computer.

• Press function key [F12] (or go to the Save As dialog via the backstage).
• In the Navigation pane on the left side of the Save As dialog, choose your
remote storage location (device).
• Give your workbook an appropriate name and click [Save].

The procedure for saving on a location in the cloud might be slightly different, because
you are actually making an upload to the external (online) folder. However, Microsoft can
handle this saving automatically when you use a synchronized folder on your system.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Saving workbooks

Figure 10.1 Online storage via a local synced folder

You can also copy a file from Windows Explorer to another (external) storage device, of
course, or transfer it to an online storage location via a browser. But these are not specific
Excel actions, so we are not going to discuss them here.

10.3 FILE TYPE

Once you are in the Save As dialog, you can not only choose a location for your file, but also
specify a file type. This can be useful or even necessary in some situations. For example, the
format of Microsoft 365 files is different from (very) old versions of Office: for instance, a
workbook created with the current Excel version, can not be opened or edited in a version
older than Excel 2007.
Therefore, if you want or need to use your files in older versions of Excel – for example, on
computers other than your own, or if you want to share them with users who don’t have
the same software version as you do – you can save them in the file format of previous
versions. It does not change working in Excel very much, but the latest features in this
version will not be available, of course.

Open a workbook of your choise and immediately go to the Save As dialog (via
the File tab or with hotkey [F12]).

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Saving workbooks

At the bottom of the dialog you’ll find the Save as type listbox where you can choose the
type (format) of the file. By default, the file type is: Excel Workbook, the standard Excel for
Microsoft 365 format. If in your situation Windows displays the file extensions, the one
for this file type is added (*.xlsx).

In the Save as type listbox, choose the type Excel 97-2003 Workbook (*.xls) for the
current workbook.
Click [Save].

If there are features, objects or options in your model that are not supported in older
versions – for example slicers, sparklines (as shown in the figure below), or similar – Excel
indicates that some compatibility problems may occur.

Figure 10.2 Compatibility issues

If you choose the [Continue] button, the file is saved with the file extension .xls (so without
the x at the end). This file format allows you to read and edit the workbook in older versions
than Excel 2007. But any advanced (unsupported) elements may have disappeared.

What goes for the standard file format, also applies to the derived file format for templates:
in earlier versions of Excel they had the extension .xlt (Excel Template), as opposed to
.xltx now. If you save templates from this version in that old file format, you can still use
them in the older versions.

In the later versions of Excel – 2007 and newer – there’s a difference between saving with
or without the possible use of macros. Running macros in workbooks can pose security risks
when these files are downloaded from questionable sources and possibly contain malware.
In the old formats this distinction was not there, nowadays you can recognize the macro-
enabled file type form their extensions with an added m (see list below).

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Saving workbooks

Office software has more derived file formats besides templates, you can find the most
important ones in Excel in the list below. When no version is mentioned in the type name
the formats are compatible with version 2007 and newer.

.xlsx Excel XML format without macros (default format)

.xlsm Macro-enabled workbook
.xltx Excel template without macros
.xltm Macro-enabled template
.xls Workbook in Excel 97-2003 format
.xlt Template in Excel 97-2003 format
.xlsb Binary Workbook
.xlam Excel Add-in
.xla Excel Add-in in 97-2003 format

As you can see in the Save as type listbox in the Save As dialog, there many more formats to
choose from for the Excel files you are saving or sharing, such as .html (for Web purposes),
.txt (plain text file), .csv (text file with comma separated values), .prn (for printers formatted
text), special database formats like .dif (Data Interchange format), or .xml format (eXtensible
Markup Language).

Figure 10.3 Export types via Save As

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Saving workbooks

An important export feature that you can use in the Office environment (i.e. in all the Office
programs) is saving a file as PDF (Portable Document Format, a standard format developed
by Adobe) or in XPS format (XML Paper Specification, another industry standard). PDF
is a platform-independent file format, and therefore one of the most popular file types to
share information in a digital form. Moreover, our natural environment profits from it
because these files – attached to emails – are usually read on screen and do not per se have
to be printed.

Save your current document as a PDF file and view the content (in Adobe reader
or another PDF reader).
Close your file(s).

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS That’s it

THAT’S IT
Excel is packed with tools and resources to design your models as beautifully and conveniently
as possible. We have presented many of those subjects, tools and options to you in this user
guide. Make sure you practice with them regularly and apply them where possible.

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EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365: ADVANCED OPTIONS Appendix

APPENDIX
In the table below a brief description of our ebooks on Excel for Microsoft 365, published
by www.bookboon.com.

Our ebooks (user guides) on spreadsheets in Excel for Microsoft 365

With Excel you can create calculation models, for example, for financial
controlling and accounting, for calculating a tax declaration form, for
Basics
compiling an annual report, and so on. In this user guide you’ll learn the basic
skills, functions, features, and options of this popular spreadsheet program.

In this ebook all about worksheets that you create in the workbooks (files)
of Excel. In particular, formatting, both of the text and of the numbers in
Worksheets your cells, and of the worksheet itself, is discussed. How to quickly build
models by copying formulas, the special views to look at your worksheets,
and printing are also topics in this book.

Make your numbers and figures more transparent and comprehensible by

presenting them in a chart. You learn how to design charts in Excel, which
Charts (combined) types you can choose from, and how to add the required labels.
It is also discussed how you can discover trends in your figures by drawing
trendlines or sparklines.

Excel has numerous tools to help you designing your models, checking
your formulas, finding solutions, or creating scenarios, and the like. You
can also fill cells with (own) lists of labels or data, add comments to your
Advanced Options
models, or create planning schedules. Furthermore, some advanced topics
are discussed such as (external) references, security, and the (saving in a
certain) format of your workbooks.

In a spreadsheet program it is all about designing and building an

appropriate model: what is the purpose of it or what should it calculate?
Special Models In this ebook we discuss various (advanced) model designs in Excel such
as outlines, consolidations, data tables, pivot tables, and forecasts. Also,
we cover some topics on searching and filtering in models.

With the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) programming language in

Excel, you can customise recorded macros, and even program your own
applications. For example, you could create dialog boxes in Excel to ask
VBA Macro Editor
questions such as ‘What is the starting value for the calculation?’ or ‘Where
are the data?’. In this ebook we will discuss VBA and the Editor for editing
(macro) instructions.

With Visual Basic for Applications you can also program your own
applications, or add functionality to Excel. This ebook on programming
covers some of the more advanced applications and practical examples
VBA Programming of VBA within Excel. The VBA instructions and elements that can make
use of existing data, tools, and objects such as sheets, tables, charts, or
buttons, boxes, and other controls. This requires advanced techniques in
programming and editing code.

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