Tips & Tricks: MS Excel

Tips & Tricks: MS Excel 080501.2319

Table of Contents Navigation and References... 3 Layout... 3 Working with Numbers... 5 Power Features... 7 From ACS to Excel and Back... 8 Teacher Notes: Test examples you plan to use in the class with your current data. The data may not reflect the examples in this manual since the manual and data are not updated at the same time. Remember to repeat questions before answering. Because of the limitation of time in the class, it is important to be aware of how you are progressing through the material and manage questions accordingly. Tips & Tricks: MS Excel - Page 2

Navigation and References 1. Press Home to move to the first cell in the current row. 2. Press End followed by an arrow key to move to the last cell used in that direction. If the next cell is blank, this keystroke combination moves the cursor to the next used cell. 3. Press Ctrl + Home to move to the top, left cell in the worksheet. 4. Press Ctrl + End to move to the bottom, right cell in the worksheet. 5. Press PgDn to move down one screen. 6. Press PgUp to move up one screen. 7. Press Ctrl + PgDn to move to the next worksheet. 8. Press Ctrl + PgUp to move to the previous worksheet. 9. Place a $ before a row or column indicator in a formula to create a fixed cell reference. This row or column will remain consistent when copied and pasted. 10. Type a name in the Name Box to create a named reference for a cell or group of cells. Teacher Notes: Explain the difference between relative and fixed 11. Use named references in formulas to make them easier to understand and copy. For example, =My_Cell_Name/2. Layout 12. Click and drag the border of a column or row label to change its size. Note, the curser will change its appearance when you are over the border. 13. Double-click the border of a column or row label to automatically adjust its size to match the contents. 14. Click the square (autofill button) at the bottom, right corner of a cell and drag to automatically fill adjacent cells. 15. Click the Windows button, click Excel Options, then select the Edit Custom Lists under Popular to create more autofill lists. 16. Use existing cell entries to create a new custom list. Type the cell range in the Import list from cells field, and click the Import button. Tips & Tricks: MS Excel - Page 3

17. Select several adjacent cells, then click and drag the autofill button to fill adjacent cells, following the pattern of the selected cells. 18. Use the autofill options button to change how Excel fills the cells. 19. Click Freeze Panes on the View ribbon to create column and row headers. All rows above your current position and all columns to the left of your current position will remain visible as you navigate through the worksheet. 20. Click Unfreeze Panes on the View ribbon to return the spreadsheet to its normal display options. 21. Click Split on the View ribbon to create multiple panes for viewing remote parts of the spreadsheet simultaneously. 22. Click and drag the split box on either scroll bar to create a window split. 23. Click and drag the split border to resize the panes. 24. Remove Split on the View ribbon to return the spreadsheet to its normal display options. 25. Right-click a column or row header and select Hide to prevent the column or row from being displayed. 26. Select a group of columns or rows, including hidden ones. Right-click, then select Unhide to display the hidden columns or rows. 27. Click the Insert drop-down list under Cells on the Home ribbon then select Worksheet to add additional worksheets. By default, new Excel workbooks contain three worksheets. 28. Click the tab of an existing worksheet, press Ctrl, and drag to the gray space at the right to make a copy of that sheet. 29. Right-click the tab of an existing worksheet, then click Delete to remove the worksheet from the workbook. 30. Right-click the tab of an existing worksheet, then click Hide to prevent the sheet from being displayed. 31. Right-click the tab of an existing worksheet, then click Unhide to display a list of hidden sheets. Select the sheet you want to display and click OK. 32. Select a cell or group of cells, then click the Borders drop-down arrow on the Home ribbon to add border or divider lines. 33. Click the Borders button on the Home ribbon to apply the most recent border changes to another selection. 34. Click the Fill Color button on the Home ribbon to add color to a cell. Use the drop-down arrow to change colors. 35. Create input forms by designating specific cells for data entry. For each data entry cell, right-click the cell, choose Format Cells, select the Protection tab, and remove the check from the Locked checkbox. Enter labels in the adjacent cells. Click Protect Sheet on the Review ribbon. 36. Use a password when protecting sheets to ensure that users don t turn off the protection. Tips & Tricks: MS Excel - Page 4

37. Click Header & Footer on the Insert ribbon to create custom headers and footers for printed pages. 38. Click Print Titles on the Page Layout ribbon. Indicate specific Rows to repeat at top or Columns to repeat at left in the Print Titles. This data from the spreadsheet will print on every page. Working with Numbers 39. Type a single quote before entering numbers to have Excel treat numbers as text. 40. Click Format under Cells on the Home ribbon, then click Format Cells to format the contents of selected cells as text. 41. Click the AutoSum button on the Home ribbon to add the numeric values in the preceding rows or columns. 42. Click the drop-down arrow on the AutoSum button to perform calculations to the values in the preceding rows or columns. 43. Click the Insert Function button on the Formulas Bar to access any of Excel s numerous functions. 44. Use the Min function to find the smallest value in a range of cells. 45. Use the Max function to find the largest value in a range of cells. 46. Use the Count function to count the number of numeric values in a cell range. 47. Use the Average function to average the numeric values in a range of cells. 48. Use the SumIf function to total the numeric values in a range of cells that meet certain criteria. 49. Use the CountBlank function to count the cells with no contents. Tips & Tricks: MS Excel - Page 5

50. Use one of the following formulas to count the cells that are not blank: =Rows(range) CountBlank(range) OR =Columns(range) CountBlank(range). 51. Use the And function to evaluate multiple expressions within the same formula. This formula produces a result of True if all the expressions are true. 52. Use the Or function to evaluate multiple expressions within the same formula. This formula produces a result of True if any of the expressions are true. 53. Use the If, Then, Else formula to evaluate an expression or cell value, then perform a calculation based on the results. 54. Use the Round function to round numbers to the nearest specified digit. (Note that the num_digits identifier is how many places to the right of the decimal.) 55. Use the Round function with a negative num_digits to round to the nearest 10, 100, etc. 56. Use the Ceiling function to round up to the next specified multiple. 57. Use the Floor function to round down to the next specified multiple. Teacher Notes: Ceiling and Floor are great tools when using actual numbers to prepare budgets. 58. Click the $ button on the Home ribbon to format the selected cell(s) as currency. 59. Click the % button on the Home ribbon to format the selected cell(s) as percentages. 60. Click the, button on the Home ribbon to format the selected cell(s) with the standard comma and two decimal format. 61. Click the Increase Decimal button on the Home ribbon to increase the number of decimal places displayed. 62. Click the Decrease Decimal button to decrease the number of decimal places that are displayed. 63. Click one of the alignment buttons on the Formatting toolbar to align the contents to the left, right, or center. 64. Click the Increase Indent button on the Formatting toolbar to indent the cell contents. 65. Click the Decrease Indent button to remove the indentation. 66. To display text along with numeric values, select the cell(s). Click Format on the menu bar. Select Cells, choose the Number tab, and select the Custom category. In the Type field, include the text in double quotes and at least one placeholder for the numeric value. 67. Use 0 s in the numeric format code to force to display leading zeroes. 68. Use a semicolon (;) in the numeric format code to create conditional formats or colors based on the cell s value. Tips & Tricks: MS Excel - Page 6

Power Features 69. Click the lookup button under Paste on the Home ribbon, choose Paste Special, then select Formulas to copy formulas without formatting or borders to a new cell. 70. Select Values to copy cell values, including formula results, to a new cell. (This does not copy formatting or borders.) 71. Select Formats to copy only the cell formatting to a new cell. 72. Select All except borders to copy formatted formulas and values. 73. Select Values under Paste and Add under Operations to add the copied value to the pasted cell value. 74. Select Values under Paste and Subtract under Operations to subtract the copied value from the pasted cell value. 75. Select Values under Paste and Multiply under Operations to multiply the pasted cell value by the copied value. 76. Select Values under Paste and Divide under Operations to divide the pasted cell value by the copied value. 77. Select Transpose to paste the copied selection so that the rows become the columns and the columns become the rows. 78. To apply formatting only to cells where certain criteria are met, click Conditional Formatting on the Home ribbon. The default type of conditional formatting is based on the cell value. 79. To apply conditional formatting based on a function, change Cell Value Is to Formula Is. Type an equal sign (=) in the condition box followed by the formula. 80. To analyze summary data, click Pivot Table and Pivot Chart Report on the Insert ribbon. 81. Use the Layout buttons on the Pivot Table Design ribbon to customize your table layout. 82. Filter results in a Pivot Table by using the field drop-down arrow and clearing the values you wish to hide. 83. Use the Value Filters settings to display only the top or bottom values. Tips & Tricks: MS Excel - Page 7

84. Select a group of rows or columns, click Group on the Data ribbon and select Group and Outline to create collapsible and expandable groups. 85. Click the plus sign (+) to expand a group. 86. Click the minus sign (-) to collapse a group. 87. Click a group level number to expand all groups up to that level and collapse all sub-level groups. 88. Click Data Validation on the Data ribbon to limit cell input to a specific format or list of items. 89. Select a group of column headings, then click Filter on the Data ribbon to enable column filtering. From ACS to Excel and Back 90. In the Print Preview screen of a report in ACS, click the Export button, select the Excel format, then click OK. Teacher note: Explain that the Export from Print Preview exports a formatted report to an Excel file. This will allow some-one who does not have access to ACS to view ACS reports. However, it is not ideal for data analysis or manipulation. 91. Use the Advanced Export feature of ACS to export People-related data to Excel. 92. Use the Standard People Export or Customized People Export to extract data from your People module to Excel. 93. Use the extract report types to export data from the Organizations module to Excel. 94. Use the Reservations Extract report to export data from the Reservations module to Excel. 95. Import People records from Excel by saving the Excel worksheet as a.csv file. Then, run the ACS People Import tool. Select the file, map the fields in your.csv file to the appropriate fields in ACS, and choose whether to import to People or Special Mailings. Then click Import to complete the import. 96. Import attendance records from Excel by selecting Import on the Enter / Post Attendance screen. 97. Import contribution transactions from Excel by saving the Excel worksheet as a.csv file. Then, from the Add / Edit Transactions screen in ACS Contributions, click Gift Import, select the.csv format, enter the file name, and click Import. 98. Use the Advanced Export feature of ACS (you must have the People module or the Report Designer module to access this feature) to export General Ledger data to Excel. Tips & Tricks: MS Excel - Page 8

99. Click Start Excel in the Add / Edit Budgets section of General Ledger to send ACS budgets to Excel or import Excel budgets into ACS. 100. Export the Analysis of Revenues and Expenses data using the Extract button. 101. Some numbers exported from ACS are treated as text by Excel. To change text back to numbers: Step 1. In an empty cell, enter the number 1. Step 2. Select the cell, and on the Edit menu, click Copy. Step 3. Select the range of numbers stored as text you want to convert. Step 4. On the Edit menu, click Paste Special... Step 5. Under Paste, select Values. Under Operation, click Multiply. Step 6. Click OK. Step 7. Delete the contents of the cell entered in the first step. Tips & Tricks: MS Excel - Page 9