Automating Excel Spreadsheets

Transcription

1 Automating Excel Spreadsheets Using Templates, Formatting, and Macros to Save Time and Money Far too much of our day is spent performing steps that (1) we ve done before, and (2) we know we ll do again. This session focuses on trying to plan ahead, by creating templates for our spreadsheets, that include formatting and validation on cells before anyone gets their hands on them. We ll also automate a number of tasks by creating macros, giving us hours back every week! Areas Covered in the Webinar: Applying Number Formatting to Cells Before Data Entry Using Conditional Formatting to Provide Real-Time Feedback Setting Up Calculations with Error Handling Using Data Validation to Save Sanity Planning and Saving Template Files Recording Macros to Save Time ON THE RIGHT TRACK - Training & Consulting, Inc. Toll Free: Presenter: Neil Malek neil@knacktraining.com

2 EXCEL: AUTOMATING SPREADSHEETS 2 Number Formatting When most people think of formatting, they re thinking of color, size, and other aesthetic qualities. Excel, since it must do number calculations, also has number formatting - the display of numbers in a particular style. It s important to realize that changing the number formatting does not change the value in a cell. For example, if you have the value $49.95 in a cell, number formatting can cut off the decimals from display. That does not remove the decimals, and so any calculation that is done includes the decimals. When you choose a number formatting style, you can choose Number, Currency, Accounting, and several others, but each of those has additional tweaks. For example, any number formatting that simply represents the numbers can include or exclude decimals. Another example is how Currencyformatted items decide to portray a negative number. Some people choose to include a negative symbol in front of the value, and others decide to turn the number red. Dates and Times are other number formats; in fact, every date is actually the number of days that have elapsed since January 1, This allows you to subtract, add, or perform any other calculation you like with a date. Once you choose a base format, you ll often want to tweak that format, and one of the ways to do that is to choose the Custom formatting option. Select the Date format 3/16/13, for example, and your date shows up with a one-digit month, and slashes. However, when you switch to Custom, you ll see that the month, day, and year representations show up as m, d, and y. If you were to type in the code differently, as mmm. dd, yyyy, you d get Mar. 16, Understanding these codes is a simple way to get the output to look the way you want. If you have formatting on a cell and you want to remove it, click Home > Clear > Clear Formats.

3 EXCEL: AUTOMATING SPREADSHEETS 3 Conditional Formatting Conditional Formatting is, simply, the change in formatting for a cell that occurs when a condition is met. For example, a cell make look completely normal, with a value of $50.00 in the cell. However, when you edit the cell, and type $5, into the cell, it may automatically turn red. This is a rule you can apply to a cell ahead of time, in order to create an easy visual queue. There are several types of Conditional Formatting. The first is taking the value typed into the cell, and color coding it if the cell is equal to, greater than, or less than a particular value - you may want to color-code a cell red if the value for sales in the 4th quarter was less than $500,000, for example. The second possibility is to take a set of cells, and use information like the average value of those cells to mark individual cells with particular characteristics. As another example, if you simply want to mark the lowest values in a set of cells, you can mark cells in the bottom 10% of values with a color. Finally, you may just want to create a gradient of colors, which will show you the highs, lows, and midpoints, and continually update as the values change. All of these decrease the amount of work you need to do to keep up with your spreadsheet.

4 EXCEL: AUTOMATING SPREADSHEETS 4 Error Handling There are a number of errors that appear in cells when you create a calculation - DIV/0, #REF, etc. Some of them are important, because they tell you something has happened that is unexpected. However, there are times when the error message is actually telling you something you expected, and the error is ugly for no reason. Here are two examples: If you set up an AVERAGE calculation, it adds all the values together, then divides by the number of values. If there are no values to average, the function gives you a DIV/0 error. That s ugly, and it s just telling you that there are no numbers yet. A simpler message, like ---, might be nicer. If you set up a VLOOKUP function and it doesn t find anything, it gives you a #N/A error message. I might prefer it to say No such record. The way to get this is to use the IFERROR function. Simply type =IFERROR(, then the calculation you want. After that, type in the nicer error message you d prefer.

5 EXCEL: AUTOMATING SPREADSHEETS 5 Named Ranges When there are multiple calculations in a spreadsheet, they often reuse certain values over and over. For example, you might put the tax rate, or total budget, or goal value into a cell somewhere in your spreadsheet, and reuse that number in multiple calculations. To facilitate this, name the cell you ve put the value in. The benefit is that, every time you use the value, you can reference the name, instead of finding the cell to reference it. To name a range, select any cell or range of cells, then click in the Name Box in the top-left corner. Type in the name you want (no spaces allowed), then hit Enter on the keyboard to lock it in. Now, if you want to multiply your total sales times the tax rate, you can type in C6*TaxRate. If you d like to use a keyboard shortcut to find the named range s ID, hit F3 on the keyboard.

6 EXCEL: AUTOMATING SPREADSHEETS 6 Data Validation Every cell in your spreadsheet permits you to type anything you like - text, numbers, or dates - with no restrictions. Data Validation is the tool you can use to require a specific type of information in different cells. To apply Data Validation, select the cells you d like to restrict, then click Data > Data Validation. You ll be able to go to the Settings tab, and choose the drop-down menu for Allow:. As you can see, the options include allowing Dates, Decimals, Whole Numbers, or Lists. When you select one of these entries - Date, for example - you can then set up the guidelines for this. You choose the date range you want to allow, then click the Input Message tab to give a helper message to your data entry team. Finally, click the Error Alert tab. On this tab, you can create either a Stop, Warning, or Information alert. Stop will not permit the data entry to proceed with a value outside the requirements. Warning will allow it, but strongly push toward a change. Information is a simply pop-up that informs the person doing the data entry that what they typed was unexpected.

7 EXCEL: AUTOMATING SPREADSHEETS 7 Template Files Most teams have files that they use as the original source information - they open the file, change some things within it, then choose Save As to make sure they don t save over the original. This is a complete headache, and completely unnecessary! The template file is designed to give you a good starting point without requiring you to use Save As. Once you create a good starting point for your file, (NOT including the specifics that will change from file-to-file, only the consistent, repeated information) choose File > Save As and choose Excel Template (.XLTX). Now, you have a template file that you can double-click, and create new files with all the starting information!

8 EXCEL: AUTOMATING SPREADSHEETS 8 Macros A macro is a small program that runs inside Excel. This allows you to run the program, and have something happen automatically, instead of you having to repeat the steps over and over. For example, if you have to create a title area at the top of the spreadsheet every time you mention a new product, you should be able to tell Excel to create the area for you. To create a macro, open the Developer tab. Click File > Options > Customize the Ribbon, and click the checkbox for the Developer tab. Now, the Developer tab has a button for Record Macro. When you push the Record Macro button, it asks you to name the macro, then begins recording your steps. Every click, everything you type in, is recorded to be repeated later. When you re done, click Stop Recording. Now, you can Run Macro, and the steps you performed should be repeated.