MICROSOFT EXCEL TIPS & TRICKS FOR THE INTERNAL AUDITOR

Transcription

1 MICROSOFT EXCEL TIPS & TRICKS FOR THE INTERNAL AUDITOR Moderate Complexity Functionality for Maximum Effectiveness Internal Audit, Risk, Business & Technology Consulting

2 AGENDA Introductions Background Why Excel? Functionality Areas Text String and Text to Column Manipulation Lookup Formulas (VLOOKUP, INDEX, MATCH, INDEX-MATCH) Fuzzy Lookup Pivot Tables Recap Q & A

3 INTRODUCTIONS

4 INTRODUCTIONS Brian Anderson Senior Manager IT Consulting IT Audit Specialized in IT General Controls, Sarbanes-Oxley, and IT Audit IT Consulting Overseen multiple SAP GRC implementations Performed SAP segregation of duties and configurable controls reviews Diane Frese Senior Consulting IT Consulting & IT Audit IT Audit Performed IT General Controls / Sarbanes-Oxley testing Access Management Change Management Project Management Computer Operations IT Consulting Performed numerous Information Technology Risk Assessments Executed Incident Response Readiness Assessments

5 BACKGROUND: WHY EXCEL?

6 WHY EXCEL? Manual Data Manipulation Excel Advanced Data Tools Minimal effectiveness, however, requires little to no experience Highly effective, with only minimal experience required Very powerful functionality, requires additional experience to be effective Benefits Include: Little to no learning curve No technology requirement Benefits Include: Efficient modeling and analyzing data Help identify trends Build graphs easily Consolidate data Benefits Include: Complex queries can be used to retrieve large amounts of records from a database quickly and efficiently

7 TEXT TO STRING AND COLUMN MANIPULATION

8 TEXT TO COLUMN - OVERVIEW Description: Steps: Reasons for Use: Splits one cell (or group of cells) into multiple, given a common delineation (i.e. space, comma, period, etc.) Step 1: Highlight entire range of cells to separate Step 2: Under the Data tab, select Text to Columns Step 3: Identify character or value to delimit data on and complete convert form Step 4: Complete form and review output Separate the contents of one cell into separate columns Practical Applications: Manipulating access lists to compare consistently

9 TEXT TO COLUMN - EXAMPLE Objective: Step #1: Step #2: Step #3: Step #4: Separate First and Last name into separate cells Highlight entire range of cells to separate Under the Data tab, select Text to Columns Identify character or value to delimit data on and complete convert form Complete form and review output 9

10 TEXT STRING MANIPULATION - OVERVIEW Description: Formula: Simply Put: Reasons for Use: Excel's string functions allow you to manipulate text and extract important information. =LEFT(text, num_chars) OR =RIGHT(text, numb_chars) =LEFT((cell)len(cell)-char#) OR =RIGHT((cell)len(cell-char#) =CONCATENATE(text 1, text 2, ) =LEFT/RIGHT(Value for which you want shorten, number of characters from the left OR right to limit value return to) =LEFT/RIGHT((Value for which you want to shorten)(length (or # of characters) to cut from each cell) =CONCATENATE(Value for which you want combine separated by commas) LEFT/RIGHT - To limit values to a set number of characters from either the left or the right end point CONCATENATE - To combine values or fields into one cell Practical Applications: To mimic user IDs in order to perform access testing Combine first and last names, address fields, etc.

11 TEXT STRING MANIPULATION - EXAMPLE Objective: 1. Pull the first 3 letters from the First and Last name 2. Combine first 3 letters in First and Last name Formula: =LEFT(text, num_chars) Text: C2 (first name) D2 (last name) Num_chars: 3 Formula: =CONCATENATE(text1, text2) Text1: Text2: F2 G2

12 LOOKUP FORMULAS

13 LOOKUP FORMULAS VLOOKUP OVERVIEW Description: Searches for a value in the first column of a table array and returns a value in the same row from another column in the table array Formula: =VLOOKUP(lookup value, table array, column number, range lookup) Simply Put: Reasons for Use: =VLOOKUP(Value for which I want to return an associated piece of data, Column where I want to search for the lookup value, Data set I want a return value from, Column where the value I want is located, Similar or exact match) To find specific records stored in large worksheets Practical Applications: Associating journal entry postings with dates Comparing date access was approved to date access was assigned

14 VLOOKUP - EXAMPLE Objective: Lookup Value: Table Array: Column Number: To identify # of miles to Cancun B2 (Cancun) A6:C10 (Tropical Places, Countries, and Miles) 3 (Miles) Formula: =VLOOKUP(B2,A6:C10,3,FALSE) Value for which we want an associated data piece (Cancun) Range we want to search for the data piece (3 columns below) Column number containing the associated data piece (Miles, column 3) Exact match Range Lookup: False (Exact Match) Notes - VLOOKUP will only find the first occurrence of the lookup value in a dataset - Lookup value must appear in the left most column of the specified table array

15 LOOKUP FORMULAS INDEX OVERVIEW Description: Returns a value or the reference to a value from within a table or range Formula: =INDEX(array, row number, column number) Simply Put: Reasons for Use: =INDEX(Full range of data to examine, row with data to be returned, column with data to be returned) To easily return an entry in any row and column within a rectangular array of numbers Easy to reference an entire row or column of data Practical Applications: Returning a value at the intersection of a column and row (e.g. amount of sales in a given period)

16 INDEX - EXAMPLE Objective: Table Array: Row Number: Column Number: To identify country B sales in year 3 B5:E8 (Years and Countries) 2 (Country B) 3 (Year 3) Formula: =INDEX(B5:E8,2,3) Range of the data to be used (Countries and Years) Row from which we want a value to be returned (Country B) Column from which we want a value to be returned (Year 3) Formula to sum Country D sales: =SUM(INDEX(B5:E8,4,0) Notes - With the INDEX function, you can sum a whole row or column by prefacing the INDEX function with SUM and inserting 0 for the row or column that you want returned

17 LOOKUP FORMULAS MATCH OVERVIEW Description: Returns the position of an item in an array that matches a specified value in a specified order Formula: =MATCH(lookup value, lookup range, match type) Simply Put: Reasons for Use: =MATCH(Value for which I want to return position, range where I want to search for the lookup value, match type) 1 Finds the largest value less than or equal to the lookup value 0 Finds the first value that is exactly equal to the lookup value -1 Finds the smallest value greater than or equal to the lookup value To find an item within a set of data - the first occurrence of the match to a given text string or number To find matching data cell numbers without searching Practical Applications: Check if a value exists in a data set Use in combination with other formulas

18 MATCH - EXAMPLE Objective: Lookup Value: Lookup Range: Match Type: To find the location of $10,000 C9 ($10,000) B7:B19 (List of amounts) 0 (Exact match) Formula: =MATCH(B3,B7:B19,0) Lookup value ($10,000) Range in which to search for the lookup value (amounts column) Match type (Exact)

19 LOOKUP FORMULAS INDEX + MATCH OVERVIEW Description: Returns a value from a data set given specific criteria Formula: Simply Put: Reasons for Use: =INDEX(array, MATCH(lookup value, lookup range, match type)) =INDEX(Full range of data to examine, MATCH(Cell containing the value that you want to search for, range that contains the value that you are searching based on, match type) 1 Finds the largest value less than or equal to the lookup value 0 Finds the first value that is exactly equal to the lookup value -1 Finds the smallest value greater than or equal to the lookup value To find a value from specific records stored in large worksheets Practical Applications: Similar to VLOOKUP, any situation where you need to find a value based on certain criteria E.g. Date access was assigned to a person

20 INDEX + MATCH - EXAMPLE Objective: Array: Lookup Value 1: Range for Lookup Value 1: Match Type: Identify the name of user with user ID 6 A1:A11 (Name Column) F3 (User ID 6) D1:D11 (User ID Column) 0 (Exact Match) Formula: =INDEX($A$1:$A$11,MATCH(F3,$D$1:$D$11,0)) Column containing the data we want returned (Name) Data point which we want to use to find a corresponding value (User ID 6) Column containing the lookup value (User ID) Exact Match

21 INDEX + MATCH ADVANCED EXAMPLE Objective: Array: Lookup Value 1: Range for Lookup Value 1: Match Type: Lookup Value 2: Range for Lookup Value 1: Match Type: Find the sales for Dept 103 in April Entire Table (A1:G5) 103 (A8) Dept Column (A1:A5) Exact Match (0) April (B8) Month Row (A1:G1) Exact Match (0) Nesting two match statements will allow you to return a data value at the intersection of two criteria Formula: =INDEX(array, MATCH(lookup value, lookup range, match type), MATCH(lookup value, lookup range, match type)) Array: The full range of data to examine. The array in this example is the range A1 to H5 Match (part 1): we want to figure out which Row contains the value to return, so we look for Austin in column H Match (part 2): we want to figure out which Column contains the value to return, so we look for March in row 1 Formula: =INDEX($A$1:$G$5, MATCH(A8,$A$1:$A$5,0),MATCH(B8,$A$1:$G$1,0)

22 FUZZY LOOKUP

23 FUZZY LOOKUP - OVERVIEW Description: Steps: Reasons for Use: Identify data to compare to return desired output (i.e. similar or identical fields) Step 1: Create tables from both data sources Step 2: Under the Fuzzy Lookup tab, select Fuzzy Lookup to begin comparison Step 3: Set Fuzzy Lookup parameters and review output To identify overlapping data within multiple lists Practical Applications: Comparing terminated user access lists to active users within systems Where to download:

24 FUZZY LOOKUP - EXAMPLE Objective: Identify if any terminated users are within the Concatenated (active user) access list Step #1: Create tables from both data sources Step #2: Step #3: Under the Fuzzy Lookup tab, select Fuzzy Lookup Set Fuzzy Lookup parameters and review output 24

25 PIVOT TABLES

26 PIVOT TABLES - OVERVIEW Description: Steps: Reasons for Use: Used to extract specific pieces of data into a report from a potentially long list of information 1. Select the data (organized in tabular format) you want to analyze 2. Navigate to Insert Pivot Table 3. Select the location in the spreadsheet where the pivot table should be created 4. Add data in columns, rows, filters, etc. Useful for organizing, summarizing, and analyzing data to reveal meaning Practical Applications: Situations where you need to easily summarize large amounts of data E.g. Populations of test scenarios to show status by test phase and/or date range

27 PIVOT TABLES - EXAMPLE Use pivot tables if for example you have a large batch of data that you want to create a summary for Select the data you want to summarize and click PivotTable on the Insert ribbon menu. Confirm that the range is appropriate in the Create PivotTable popup box Useful Hint When using PivotTables remember to: 1 Refresh the PivotTable when data is updated 2 Review the Source when data is updated

28 PIVOT TABLES - EXAMPLE Build the Pivot Table to display the fields and values you want to summarize, using the options as follows:

29 RECAP

30 Q & A

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