Excel Training Guide. For Graff Diamonds, Inc. USA

Transcription

1 Excel Training Guide For Graff Diamonds, Inc. USA

2 Table of Contents Table of Contents... 2 Overview of Manual... 3 Conceptual... 4 Worksheet vs. Workbook... 5 File Types... 5 The Microsoft Ribbon... 6 Formatting, Style, and Printing... 7 Formatting Cells... 8 Merge...10 Creating Tables...11 Sorting Cells & Tables...13 Conditional Formatting...14 Freezing Panes...16 Printing & Page Layout...18 Creating Charts...19 Design...23 Cell Types...24 General vs. Number vs. Text...24 Currency vs. Accounting...25 Percentages...25 Dates...26 Graff Diamonds ~ 2 ~

3 Overview of Manual This guide is NOT all inclusive, but rather covers a number of Excel s more important aspects. A true, all-encompassing guide would likely exceed 1,000 pages and cover more detail than necessary for most employees. This is a beginner s level guide. While every attempt has been made to ensure each individual section works standalone, some sections require information that can only be acquired from reading sequentially. Graff Diamonds ~ 3 ~

4 Conceptual Graff Diamonds ~ 4 ~

5 Worksheet vs. Workbook It is important to understand the difference between a Worksheet and a Workbook. A Workbook is the name of the entire Excel project. A Worksheet is an individual page of the Workbook. You can navigate between them at the bottom of the workbook. Worksheet While you will likely only use one Worksheet in your Workbook, this is an important distinction. File Types An Excel file can be saved and opened in many different file types. Some of the more common ones are: File Type Description XLS A standard Excel workbook created before XLSX A standard Excel workbook created after XLSM A macro-enabled Excel workbook. Macros are advanced codes that go beyond the scope of this guide. Usually there will be security restrictions that may prevent you from opening a XLSM document. CSV A standard Excel workbook generally used for saving contacts. XLT A standard Excel workbook that is used as a common template for other workbooks. This version is created before XLTX A standard Excel workbook that is used as a common template for other workbooks. This version is created after For the most part you will use XLS or XLSX workbooks. XLSX allows certain newer features that an XLS workbook cannot utilize, but if you send an XLSX document to someone outside of this company, it is possible though rare that they may have an older version of Excel and cannot open this extension type. Graff Diamonds ~ 5 ~

6 When in doubt, save your document as XLSX. You can tell the type of extension on any document in Windows by clicking on it and viewing the preview pane at the bottom. You may also be able to see it at the end of the name of the document, though this varies depending on individual computer settings. The Microsoft Ribbon Every program in Microsoft Office has a bar at the top with customizable features: Microsoft Excel 2010 Ribbon Microsoft Excel 2013 Ribbon This bar is known as the Ribbon and will be referenced as such throughout this guide. Graff Diamonds ~ 6 ~

7 Formatting, Style, and Printing Graff Diamonds ~ 7 ~

8 Formatting Cells Cells are formatted by using what is known as the Ribbon. At the top of the Ribbon is a series of tabs that navigate between different fields for editing either cells or the workbook itself: Of these tabs, the first one File is where you go to Open, Save, and Print your document. The File tab also has an Options section which contains advanced settings for Excel. While you are encouraged to peruse the Options menu to get an idea of how it works, the specifics of advanced Excel options go beyond the scope of this guide. You will primary use the Home tab, which is the first and default tab when you open or create a new workbook. From left to right Paste lets you paste copied text into a cell or range of cells. As you can see, Paste has a small arrow at the bottom that can be expanded. This gives you more options such as pasting just the text without any font changes, pasting formulas, and other special features that go beyond the scope of this document. Paste will not work if you do not first have something copied. Graff Diamonds ~ 8 ~

9 Cut lets you copy text from Excel. This option removes the text from the original source. Copy lets you copy text from Excel. This option leaves the text in the original source. Format Painter goes beyond the scope of this guide. Font Face & Size modifies the font face and size of the font. You can also use the A+ and A- arrows to quickly increase and decrease size. Bold, Italics, and Underline all have quick buttons. Note the arrow next to Underline, which lets you choose advanced underline options. Borders can be used to create a line around a cell. By default, there is a slight grey border, but that is only viewable when editing the workbook and will not show up when printing. You can also change the border size and color. Cell & Font Fill are used to change the cell fill and cell font colors. Alignment allows you to modify the top, middle, and center vertical location as well as the left, center, right horizontal location of cells. Additionally, you can tilt and indent cell values. When Wrap Text is enabled, if a cell s value expands beyond its width, the cell will instead automatically expand downward so that all text is viewable. No Wrap Text Wrap Text Enabled Due to its importance, Merge & Center deserves its own section. Graff Diamonds ~ 9 ~

10 Merge By default, each cell has a standard width and height. When you merge cells, you take two (or more) adjacent cells and combine them together. This works horizontally or vertically. In the example, you can see that while there are six positional spaces taken up (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2), there are only 4 cells. This is because cells A2 and B2 are merged horizontally and cells C1 and C2 are merged vertically. Merging cells can be very helpful when preserving formatting. In the example below, merged cells offer no numerical benefit, but by combining the Quarter headers and the Quarter Total footer, I can align the numbers nicely and help keep the different cell sections aesthetically clear and presentable. Graff Diamonds ~ 10 ~

11 Creating Tables There is a quick way to form an actual tablet with your data. This is useful not just for presentation, but for sorting and micro-managing a large array of otherwise clustered numbers. To form a quick table, simply highlight the range of cells that are being used to create the table. Then in the header choose the Format as Table drop-down, following by a color scheme that you want to use. A pop up will appear confirming the range of cells you want to use, as well as asking if your table has a header. A header is the top row of a table, often used for organization and clarity. In the example above, row 1 is indeed a header because it has the customer s names rather than their amounts paid. After making my decision, Excel automatically customizes my cells for me: Graff Diamonds ~ 11 ~

12 It also created a new Design tab in the Ribbon. This lets me quickly customize my table. Let s quickly go over some of the key features: PivotTables go beyond the scope of this document. Remove Duplicates lets you quickly remove duplicate values in a column. We cover this more in the Data Tools section below. Convert to Range allows you to quickly remove the table formatting if you decide you want to go back to plain cells. The Table Style Options lets you change the colors of your table. As we mentioned before, because I have a header, the Header Row option is checked off, which means it will have a unique color and style on the table. You could add a quick Total Row that uses SUM() to figure out the value of your data (SUM() and other formulas are covered in later sections). First and Last Column will automatically bold those columns if selected. Lastly, there are Banded Rows/Columns. A band is a pattern of colors that differentiates between alternating rows and columns. Here is what my table looks like with each feature selected: No Band Banded Rows Banded Columns Tables can also be quickly sorted, which is covered more in the next section. Graff Diamonds ~ 12 ~

13 Sorting Cells & Tables Sorting can be used to automatically arrange a large group of unordered or alphabetical numbers or words. Before Sort After Sort Before Sort After Sort If you have a table, you can sort a column by clicking on the drop-down arrow at the top of the column and choosing your sort option. If you are not using a table, you can either highlight a range of numbers or click on the column, then choose Sort & Filter from the Ribbon, followed by your sort option. Sometimes when you sort you may get the following warning: What this indicates is that if left alone you would only be sorting the selected data or column. Excel detects that you might have information next to that column which should be matched up after the sort, so it asks you. Expand the selection means that adjacent columns will sort so that they stay adjacent to their original Graff Diamonds ~ 13 ~

14 This concept is better explained in the example below: Original Non-expanded Sort Expanded Sort In this example, I sorted column A both with the expanded and without the expanded option. When I don t expand the selection, the second column state capitols in this example stays completed unsorted, so they no longer match up with their state. When I do expand the sort process from Column A, the state capitols don t sort alphabetically, but instead sort so that they remain next to the cell in Column A that is being sorted. When in doubt, choose to Expand your Sort Process. Conditional Formatting Conditional Formatting can be a very advanced topic, so instead we will go over the custombuilt features. You will largely never use Conditional Formatting and should not feel this is vital or necessary information. You use conditional formatting on a range of cells to automatically assign a particular style (either font size/color or background color) that is based on the value of the cells selected. You can find Conditional Formatting in the Ribbon, where it has various pre-set options: Graff Diamonds ~ 14 ~

15 The middle three options Data Bars, Color Scales, and Icon Sets are all visual. They work off a range of numbers (high to lower) or words (alphabetically) to assign a visual clue to the order. This is helpful if you have a range of data that you don t want to sort, but still want to visually demonstrate high and value (or alphabetic) values. In the example above, I applied a Data Bars conditonal formatting to the cells in column B. When I did that, it gave me a visual indication of the smallest to largest numbers. Conditional formatting also works with decimals, currency, and percentages. Some conditional formatting requires you to set criteria. In Highlight Cell Rules, you have a number of mathematical operators that are used to determine if the cell should be highlighted. Unlike Data Bars, it only highlights the cells that match the criteria. Most of the rules are straightforward. As an example, I choose a range of column, set Equal To to the word Failed and selected a visual preset: Graff Diamonds ~ 15 ~

16 While I could have put a number or even chosen another cell on the left side, instead I use the phrase FAILED because that best fits my example below. Unlike the Data Bars formatting from before, this formatting matches everything that meets my criteria. While it may seem like an unnecessary aesthetic feature, conditional formatting can be a lifesaver when you have a giant range of data and need to find matching values. Additionally, the Top/Bottom Rules are used for showing either the top/bottom 10 cells or 10% of cells that match a certain value. This is helpful if you have a large range of data such as prices of diamonds and are looking for the 10% most or lease expensive. While more can be said about conditional formatting, including the ability to custom create your own rules and font/fill colors, that goes beyond the scope of this document. Freezing Panes Underneath the View tab is an important feature called Freeze Panes. A frozen pane is grouping of row(s) and/or column(s) that will always remain viewable when scrolling through your data. This, for example, is helpful if you have a header; frozen panes will ensure that the first row of your spreadsheet remains visible even if you scroll down where you can t see the first row anymore. Graff Diamonds ~ 16 ~

17 Freeze panes has a two defaults. Freeze Top Row will lock only the top row of your spreadsheet in place. A frozen pane is noticeable by the slightly darker line it makes. In the example above, you can see how my spreadsheet goes from row 1 (the months) to row 5. Even though I scrolled down, because row 1 was frozen, it will always be viewable while I m working on my document. Freeze First Column functions similarly but will lock the A column in place instead. The final version of freeze panes is the standard Freeze Panes option, which is based on the location of your selected cell in the spreadsheet. It will lock in place all rows to the left and all rows above that selected cell, letting you choose what you want to lock. You cannot freeze panes to the right or bottom of a worksheet. In the example above, I had selected (clicked on) cell C3 when I locked the pane. Afterwards, it froze columns A and B (to the left of cell C3) and rows 1 and 2 (above cell C3). To unfreeze a pane, go back to Freeze Pane in the View tab and choose Unfreeze Pane; this option will only be available if you ve already locked a pane in place. Graff Diamonds ~ 17 ~

18 Printing & Page Layout One of the most difficult aspects of Excel is printing. Unlike Microsoft Word, which has a set page size, Excel lets you enter data well outside of a standard page range, so that if you go to print, you may wind up with pages broken at unusual columns or rows. Luckily, Excel also lets you control the formatting of your page so that it can print exactly to your specifications. This all starts on the Page Layout tab. While the Themes section on the far left can be fun to play with, it is visual only and goes beyond the scope of this document. Margins lets you determine how much free space there is at the edge of a printed sheet of paper. By default, a standard letterhead document leaves roughly ¾ of an inch of the edge of every printed page blank; this is because most printers are not capable of printing near the edge of a sheet of paper. Excel lets you modify that margin if you want more or less space around the corners of the printed page. Orientation only has two selections: the default Portrait view or the sideways Landscape view. If you find most of your data stretches off far to the right of the screen, you might be better served in Landscape rather than Portrait. Size is normally set to 8 ½ x11 0 (normal Letterhead paper) but can be adjusted if you are printing on different-sized paper, such as Legal or Envelope. Print Area lets you highlight which sections of your worksheet should be printed. This is useful if you have data on your spreadsheet that is only to be viewed or edit, but should not be printed. Note that Print Area can be a little unwieldy, so you might want to experiment with it first. Breaks, Background, and Print Titles go beyond the scope of this guide. Graff Diamonds ~ 18 ~

19 Scale to Fit is vital to understanding printing. This section lets you either scrunch down (or expand) your document for printing in the Scale field, or the easier option through the Width and Height drop-down menus. Here you can specify exactly how many pages wide and down your worksheet should use when printing and Excel will auto-scale your document to fit. If you notice one or two stray columns keep printing on a separate page, you can set the Width to 1 page (or more) and Excel will scale the document to automatically ensure everything will fit. Creating Charts Charts are an extremely involved element of Excel and could use their own entire guide to explain in depth, so instead we are going to cover the very basics and encourage you to explore its full features at your leisure. To start, you need to already have a full set of data that you want to use to create a chart. Try to envision what your chart should look like before you begin; that will help you understand how to properly create one. Start by selecting all your data. If you have header or row titles, make sure to include them as well, though be mindful: Excel has a hard time handling data if you have more than one header or row title. In the example below, I only have one header title (the months) and one row title (the salesperson), so I can proceed without worry. Graff Diamonds ~ 19 ~

20 Once highlighted, click on the Insert tab, choose which type of chart you want to use, and then the specific style of your chart. If you re unfamiliar with chart types and style then it can admittedly be tricky to figure out which specific chart works best for your data, so feel free to try a few until you find one that looks best. Your chart will automatically be created for you in the middle of your worksheet. There s a lot going on here, so let s break it all down: Because Excel doesn t know certain information, it automatically puts placeholders in for you, such as Axis Title to the left and Chart Title on the top. These are values that I can click on and re-type. Other values such as the months and salesperson s names cannot be re-written on the chart itself since it is being generated from the worksheet. If you need to change that information you would have to do so on the actual Excel worksheet with your data. You may, however, be able to delete certain values so that they don t show up on the chart. In the example Graff Diamonds ~ 20 ~

21 above, the numbers on the left, the months on the bottom, and the list of sales people and their corresponding color can all be deleted. Even though my values only go from 1-5, Excel will often create a buffer for your data, depending on your chart type. In this case it created a line for 6 and 0 even though no numbers reach that range. Right-clicking gives you some options depending on what you right click With specifics of each of these go beyond the scope of this document, but feel free to experiment with them at your leisure to better understand how to manipulate how your chart is best displayed. When you create a chart, you will notice that new tabs appear at the end of your ribbon: We won t go into each tab in detail, but there a few features worth pointing out. In the Design tab you can find Change Chart Type, which can be helpful to easy switch from bar to pie to line charts and so on. Near that you will see Switch Row/Column; this is very helpful, as often Excel doesn t know for sure which data should be on the X or Y axis, and this button lets you quickly switch between the two. Graff Diamonds ~ 21 ~

22 In Layout you have a number of quick-customize tools, such as modifying your Chart s Title, Axis, Legend, Labels, Axes and Grid layout, etc. You can also modify trend lines and range of error bars. Because these options are quick-customizable, they all have a None option (which will hide the feature if you decide you don t want it), and we strongly recommend you quickly scroll through each option to get an idea of what it does. Finally, there is the Format tab, which lets you change font styles and colors for either the chart itself or individual data lines. You may have trouble knowing if your selection is the correct one, so if you want to experiment with the Format tab, this is the best time to point out the top-left corner of Excel: Here you will find a backwards arrow button ( ) better known as the undo key, which will automatically reverse any change you made. If you ever make a formatting change, you can quickly click the undo key to reverse the change you just made. You can also press Ctrl + Z on your keyboard for the same effect. Graff Diamonds ~ 22 ~

23 Design Graff Diamonds ~ 23 ~

24 Cell Types In Excel, each cell has a specific value assigned to it. This is useful for formatting as well as working with formulas that demand data to be in a certain format. Cell values can easily be changed by highlighting one or more cell and editing them in the Ribbon: General vs. Number vs. Text By default, all cells are considered General. General makes no assumptions about the value of the data in the cell, but it also can cause formatting and formula problems because of its lack of distinction. By comparison, when a cell is selected as a Number, Excel understands that it should be used in a mathematical equation. While you can set a cell with text to be a Number, it is best used with actual numbers. All B column values set to Number You can also set a cell value as Text, which instead treats the cell as a text value. You can set cells with number values to Text, which left-aligns them in the cell and may have impact on formulas that assume you are only using text values. All B column values set to Text Graff Diamonds ~ 24 ~

25 Currency vs. Accounting If you are using financial values, you can choose two Number subsets: Currency and Accounting. Other than formatting, there is no difference between these cell styles. You can also change the currency type and/or increase/decrease the decimal range with the Ribbon tool. Percentages Percentages can be particularly tricky when you are using an existing number. If you turn the value 100 into a percentage, it will convert it automatically to 10,000%. Always make sure existing numbers have been divided by 100 before converting them into a percentage. If you format a cell has a percentage and then enter a decimal value such as 0.1 it will automatically multiply it by 100. This is a mathematical feature of Excel. Graff Diamonds ~ 25 ~

26 Dates Date formatting is useful only for date-based cells, as formatting any other value will result in gibberish. It is best to format the cell as a Date first and then enter your data. There are two types of default date formatting: Short Date (in MM/DD/YY format) or Long Date (Day of the Week, Month Day, Year). Graff Diamonds ~ 26 ~