Finance Focus: Basic Excel

Training

Agenda Part 1
Introducing Excel Workbook
Conditional Formatting
Custom Sorting
Data Filter
Freeze Panes
Visible Cells Only
Removing Duplicates
Find & Replace

Grouping Data
Data Validation
Goal Seek
Text to column
Pivot Table
Protect Sheet/ Workbook
Hyperlink
Paste Special

1. Conditional Formatting

Conditional formatting
allows you to change
font style, underline,
and color.

Conditional

Home Tab.
Formatting
Just right off the center.

1. Select the cell/collection of cells

2. Select general rule, or type in
your own custom rule
3. Select the formatting you want
Caution: Locking cells in the formula
you set for rules

2. Custom Sorting

Allows you to
rearrange the data
to meet your
viewing needs

Home Tab.
Far right end.

Conditional
Formatting

1.
2.
3.
4.

Select the cell/collection of cells

Go to Sort & Filter
Select the Custom Sorting option
Choose the data header you want to
sort it by
5. You can add multiple levels of
sorting too
Caution: Data Headers Option. If youre
selecting your header row, be sure to
check the box in the top right corner of

3. Data Filter

View data
selectively from a
large pool

Home Tab.
Far right end.

Conditional
Formatting

1. Select the header row

2. Press Control + Shift + L
3. Go nuts
Key Points:
4. You can go by text or numbers
5. You can also apply Multiple Filtering

4. Freeze Panes

Helps keep the

critical data in
sight, while going
through everything
else

View Tab.
Right in the middle

Conditional
Formatting

1. Select the row/cell you want to

freeze from Ideally, a cell you can
see al the necessary info no matter
which way you go: Up, down, left or
right
2. Select the View Tab
3. Click on Freeze Pane
Tips:
4. You can lock the first row or column
as well as selecting multiple options
5. Shortcut: Alt + W + F + F

5. Visible Cells Only

Step 1: Bringing it to your toolbar
View and work on the cells you want to, not everything
in the sheet
1. Click on FILE at the top left corner
2. Select Options, right at the bottom

Conditional
3. Select Quick Access Toolbar
Formatting
4. Select All Commands at the
top, in
place of Popular Commands
5. Pick out Select Visible Cells and
select it
6. Move it to the column on the right
by clicking on ADD

Feel free to add anything further which will help you

work faster
e.g. Email

5. Visible Cells Only

Step 2: Actually doing it
1. Hide the columns in the middle (Deep Blue
headers)
2. Select the range of cells you want to copy
3. Click on the visible cells option at the top
4. Go to the next sheet and paste
it
Conditional

Formatting
Tips: Shortcuts!
Hiding columns (Control + Shift + 0)
Selecting Visible Cells option (Alt + 4)

6. Removing Duplicates

Helps sort data by

getting rid of data
duplication. Also helps
in putting it together
for a better picture

Conditional

Data Tab.
Formatting
Just right off the middle

1. Select the range of unique values

2. Separate it from the rest of the data
3. Click on Remove duplicates
Key Point: Expanding the selection.
When Unique values are not available,
select multiple columns when removing
duplicates

7. Find & Replace

Do something which is
very repetitive and
annoying, very simply
and easily

Conditional

Home Tab.
Formatting
Last item on the right
side

1. Control + F = Find. Control + H =

Replace
2. Select the range of cells you want to
search
3. Type in the character you want to
search
4. If you want to replace it, type in the
character you want to replace with.
Tip: Use for large scale. Filters can be

8. Grouping Data

Clump data together to hide it

temporarily and focus on what you
need to.
Bring it back when you like!

Data Tab.Conditional
Far right side.
Formatting

1. Select the columns/rows you want to

group
2. Click on the Group button
3. Minus sign on top to make it
collapse and Plus sign to make it
expand
Tips:
4. You can make groups within groups!
5. Use the shortcuts!

9. Data Validation

Make sure the right

values are inserted in
the right place.
Get it right the first
time!

Data Tab.
Data Tools section.

Conditional
Formatting

1. Select the cell(s) you want to apply

the validation condition to
2. Click on the drop-down menu under
Allow
3. Take your pick, as applicable
Tips: You can also make a drop down
menu by choosing the List option and
specifying the cell range for your list
(see ROI file, COLA Grade)

10. Goal Seek

Change the
variables to get the
desired numbers, at
one go

Data Tab.
Data tools section.
What-If Analysis

Conditional
Formatting

1. Select the cell you want to change

2. Input the desired value
3. Select the cell that will cause the
change
Caution: Slightly off when it comes to
playing with big numbers.

11. Text to Column

Allocates header
words to columns.
Good way to be
efficient

Data Tab.
Data Tools Section.

Conditional
Formatting

1. Type all your column headers in one

cell
2. Select the Text to Column option
3. Adjust the selections: For Example,
Outlet Name will be treated as
separate headers.

12. Pivot Tables

Allows you to
extract the
significance of the
info from a set of
data.

Insert Tab.
Furthest Left option

Conditional
Formatting

1. Select the set of data you want to

pivot
2. Select the pivot table option
3. Preferably, select the new worksheet
option
4. Toss in the Filters, Values, Rows &
Columns whatever way you like!
Tip: Tweak the Value Settings to get
what you need

13A. Protecting Worksheets

At its basic level, it

Home Tab.
prevents people from
Cells Section - Format
making any inputs into
locked cells
1. Select all cells
2. Alt + H + F + A
3. Go to the protection tab and deselect
Locked
4. Select all the cells you want to lock
5. Alt + H + F+ A
6. Go to the protection tab and select Locked
7. Go to the Format option and select Protect
Sheet
8. Select the protection options you want
9. Enter & reconfirm password

13B. Protecting the Workbook

Stops people from

altering the sheets
sequence, name, or
adding new sheets

Conditional

Review Tab.
Formatting
Protect Workbook
option, just right off the
middle

1. Select the Protect Workbook option

2. Enter & reconfirm password

14. Hyperlinking

Ensures easy access

to info from a
central
dashboard/source.

Insert Tab.
Far right end

Conditional
Formatting

1. Select the cell/object you wish to

hyperlink
2. In case its a cell, write the text that
will be on display, to represent the
hyperlink
3. Link it to source (same file, other file,
webpage)
4. Specify which cell it will revert to on
the hyperlinked sheet

15. Paste Special

Easy way to
Copy/Paste as per
your requirements

1.
2.
3.
4.

Select the full range of cells

Control + C
Alt + H + V +S
Go nuts!

Agenda Part 2
Formulas you can use

MAX/MIN
LEFT/RIGHT/TRIM
DATE/DAYS
COUNT/COUNTBLANK
SUBSTITUTE
SUBTOTAL

VLOOKUP
HLOOKUP
IF, AND/OR, IFERROR
SUMIF(S)

1. MAX/MIN

Locate the highest

value in a given
data range

1. Select the cell you want

to place the
Conditional
formula in
Formatting
2. Formula: Max(Data Range). Select the
data range you want to apply the
formula to

2. TRIM/LEFT/RIGHT/AND

Simplification of
values

1. TRIM(Reference Cell) Conditional

2. LEFT(Reference Cell, Formatting
number of
characters)
3. RIGHT(Reference Cell, number of
characters)
4. AND(Reference Cell 1 & Reference
Cell 2/characters)

3. DATEDIF/DAYS

DAYS formula allows

you to calculate the
number of days that
have passed
between two dates

1. Input the two dates in separate cells

(start date, end date)Conditional
2. Input the formula in a separate cell as
Formatting
follows:
DAYS(END DATE,START DATE)

DATEDIF serves the

same purpose but
can present it in
months/years

1. Input the two dates in separate cells

(start date, end date)
2. Input the formula in a separate cell as
follows:
DATEDIF(START DATE, END DATE, m) if
you want the output in months (y if
you want years)

4. COUNT

COUNT establishes the

number of cells that
have a number in them
COUNTBLANK
establishes the number
of blank cells. COUNTA
is the exact opposite
COUNTIF(S) establishes
the number of cells
which fulfill the given
condition(s)

1. Select the cell you want to punch in

Conditional
the formula
2. COUNT(Select the range
of cells)
Formatting
1. Select the cell you want to punch in
the formula
2. COUNTBLANK(Select the range of
cells)
1. Select the cell you want to punch in
the formula
2. COUNTIF(Select the range of cells,
Select the cell with the criteria)
3. COUNTIFS(Select the FIRST range of
cells, Select the cell with the FIRST
criteria,)

5. SUBSTITUTE

Allows you to
replace values and
create a new set of
data without
changing the
original

Input the formula belowConditional

in a specific cell:
SUBSTITUTE(REFERENCEFormatting
CELL, What
you want to replace, What you want to
replace it with)
Particularly useful when you need to
keep both old & new sets of data, like
when mapping the same SKUs between
supply chain reports, BW reports & DMS
reports etc.

6. SUBTOTAL

Calculates a set number

of functions on filtered
data subsets from a
larger data set

1. Example: If you wantConditional

to the sum of
the filtered data set, Formatting
input the
formula as follows:
SUBTOTAL(9, selected data range)
Each arithmetic function has its own
representative number/digit.
You can select multiple data ranges too

7. VLOOKUP

Locate a value in a
column you specify,
based on a unique
code available in both
databases

1. Select the cell you want

to display the
Conditional
info in
Formatting
2. Type in formula: VLOOKUP
a) Select the unique code in table 1
b) Go to the table 2 and select the
range of the table you need
keeping the column with the
unique code in table 2 furthest
left
c) Specify the column number you
want to lookup from the column
with the unique code being
column 1
d) Type in 0 for complete accuracy

8. HLOOKUP

Same thing as
VLOOKUP except it
looks up, on a
horizontal plane

1. Select the cell you want

to display the
Conditional
info in
Formatting
2. Type in formula: HLOOKUP
a) Select the unique code in table 1
b) Go to the table 2 and select the
range of the table you need
keeping the row with the unique
code in table 2 on top as your first
row
c) Specify the row number you want to
lookup from the row with the
unique code being row 1
d) Type in 0 for complete accuracy
Key point: Locking Cells

9. IF Formulas

Works according to
given condition. You
can apply any
formula you like
with it as well

1. Basic IF FORMULA
Conditional
IF(CRITERIA,RESULT IF CRITERIA
IS
Formatting
FULFILLED,RESULT IF CRITERIA IS NOT
FULFILLED)
2. IFERROR can be applied to situations
where error results can show up. Used in
conjunction with another formula
3. IF,AND,OR can all be used
simultaneously when multiple conditions
need fulfilling

10. SUMIF(S)

Gives you a grand

total for a
database, for a set
of criteria/criterion

1. Formula: SUMIF
a) Range: The column he will be
identifying unique value(s) from
b) Criteria: The unique value used
for summing up Conditional
Formatting
c) Sum Range: The column
from
which adding up is going to take
place
2. Formula: SUMIFS
Allows you to work by setting multiple
criterion and criteria ranges
Identify the sum range first then set the
criterion ranges and criterion
sequentially
Key point: Locking Cells.