Lessons on Basic Formulas

  • Relative & Absolute Cell References in Formulas
    • Difference between relative and absolute references
    • using $ symbol while writing formulas
    • Switching between relative & absolute refs. With F4 key
  • Using IF Formula, Nesting IF Formulas
    • IF Formula
    • Nesting IF Formulas
    • CHOOSE Formula
    • Examples of Nested IFs and Discussion
  • COUNTIF, SUMIF Formulas
    • What is it and Syntax
    • SUMIFS examples
    • COUNTIFS examples
  • Excel Text Formulas

    Text formulas are what you use to process, manipulate or find information about a give piece of text in some cell(s). In this lesson, you can learn about the most important text formulas in Excel. The following formulas are discussed,

    LEFT, TRIM, FIND, LEN, RIGHT, LOWER, SEARCH, TEXT, MID, UPPER, VALUE, PROPER, SUBSTITUTE, REPLACE, CONCATENATE and REPT

  • VLOOKUP formula, INDEX, MATCH Formulas
    • What is it and Syntax
    • Vlookup examples
    • Vlookup hacks
    • Vlookup Errors & Fixing them
    • INDEX Formula
    • MATCH formula
  • SUMIFS Formula, COUNTIFS Formula
    • What is it and Syntax
    • SUMIFS examples
    • COUNTIFS examples
  • ROWS, COLUMNS Formulas
    • What is it and Syntax
    • Using Rows /columns to generate running numbers
  • Formula Editing Tips And Tricks
    • Using F2 key
    • Using F4 Key
    • Copying Formulas
    • Moving Formulas
    • Auto-filling formulas
    • Using Mouse to Edit Formula Ranges
    • More
    • More
  • Formula Debugging Using F9 Key
    • How to debug formulas using F9 key


Lessons on Advanced Formulas

  • Advanced VLOOKUP Tricks
    • Advanced Vlookups
    • Looking up on left
  • How to Get Unique Values from a List using Formulas
    • How to get unique values from a list using formulas alone
  • OFFSET Formula
    • What is it and Syntax
    • Offset examples
    • Uses of Offset formula
  • SUMPRODUCT Formula
    • What is it and Syntax
    • Sumproduct – Simple examples
    • Conditional Sum using Sumproduct
    • Sumproduct hacks
    • Alternatives to Sumproduct
  • SMALL, LARGE Formulas
    • What is it and Syntax
    • Examples of SMALL and LARGE
    • Using Small / large to fetch nth item of an un-sorted list
  • Advanced Formulas
    • Named Ranges
    • Using Formula Audit Tools
    • 3D References (example: consolidate sales data)
    • Array Formulas – What are they? (example: MAXIF, MINIF)
    • Circular References – What are they? (example: log)
    • Various Calculation Modes and How to use them
    • Formula Errors and how to handle them


Lessons on Formatting

  • Formatting Paste Special
    • Make phone numbers readable
    • Make joining date readable
    • Currency format sales and profits
    • Understand how formats work, examples
    • Conditional format codes – examples
    • Hide a value without really removing it
    • Make the entire table readable
    • Copy and paste formats
    • Column widths and row heights
    • Format Painter, Paste Special
    • Freezing the top row of table


Lessons on Conditional Formatting

  • Conditional Formatting – 1
    • What is Conditional Formatting?
    • Basic CF with values
    • Using Formulas in CF
    • Examples of CF
  • Conditional Formatting – 2
    • Advanced CF Options
    • Using Icons
    • Using Data Bars
    • Using Heat-maps
    • Highlighting Top 5, above average etc.
  • Conditional Formatting – 3
    • Conditional Formatting & Dates
    • Conditional Formatting and Duplicate Data
    • Complex CF Examples


Lessons on Basic Charting

  • How to Select Correct Chart
    • Basics of Chart Selection – Rationale
    • Common Messages for charts
    • Which Charts to use
    • Further help & Tips on Chart selection
  • Introduction to Excel Charts
    • Understanding Excel Charting Options
    • Bar Charts / Column Charts
    • Line Charts
    • Scatter Plots
    • Pie Charts
    • Other Charts in Excel
  • Chart Formatting – 10 Tips
    • Making titles dynamic
    • Reversing categories
    • Adjusting axis – (non-date)
    • Adjusting axis – (date)
    • Removing axis, grid lines, legend
    • Combining 2 chart types
    • Adding secondary axis
    • Error bars, adding and formatting them
    • Choosing right colors
    • Chart Templates
  • Bar & Column Chart Formatting
    • Overlapped Bar Charts, Understanding Series Gaps
    • Negative bars
    • Highlighting the max or minimum item automatically
    • Adding average line to the chart


Lessons on Advanced Charting

  • 7 Advanced Charting Tutorials in Excel
    • Bullet chart – what is it and how to make
    • Incell charts – using REPT to make charts
    • Min-Max chart – showing range along with average
    • Waterfall charts
    • Time line charts
    • Thermo-meter charts
    • Gauge Chart
  • Dynamic Charts in Excel
    • Need for Dynamic Charts
    • Dynamic charts using Filters
    • Dynamic charts using camera tool
    • More info. & ideas on dynamic charts
  • Interactive Charts In Excel
    • Need for interactive charts
    • Introduction to form controls
    • Using Scrollbar control
    • using checkboxes
    • Example interactive charts (2)


Lessons on Class Projects

  • Excel School Class Project # 1
    • Class project objective
    • building an interactive chart to compare our performance with competition
  • Excel School Class Project # 2
    • Class project objective
    • Building a dynamic dashboard using camera tool and macros


Lessons on Using Tables

  • Excel Tables
    • What Is A Table?
    • Format As Table
    • Understand Table Formatting Options
    • Filters, Can Get Multiple Filters In The Same Sheet
    • Total Row, Ability To Select Type Of Summary
    • Structured References – What Are They?
    • Write A Formula For Profit %
    • Write A Formula For Profitability Per Customer
    • Advantages Of Tables
    • Convert Table To Named Range
    • Compatibility Of Tables With Excel 2003 And Earlier


Lessons on Pivot Tables

  • Excel Pivot Tables
    • What Is A Pivot, Why You Should Use It
    • Creating Your First Pivot Report
    • Formatting Pivots
    • Summarizing Data, Playing With Pivots
    • Grouping Values
    • Calculated Fields
    • Calculated Items
    • Making A Pivot Chart
    • Copying Pivot Tables
    • Example Uses Of Pivots
  • Pivot Table Tricks
    • Guest lecture by Debra Dalgleish
    • Preparing your data
    • Pivot and chart
    • Group dates and data
    • Calculate
    • Focus with filters, sort


Lessons on Data Filters

  • Data Filters & Sorting
    • Uses of Filters
    • Basic Filtering
    • Short-cuts for filtering
    • Visual Filters – Using Conditional Formats
    • Sorting
    • Sorting left to right


Lessons on Validation

  • Data Validation
    • Uses of Data Validation
    • Simple Data Validation Examples
    • Using drop-down box to validate
    • Using Formulas
    • Showing Error Messages
    • Advanced DV Tricks


Lessons on Working with Data

  • Importing External Data
    • What is the purpose of Excel Import?
    • Understanding various import options
    • Importing Text Files – Example: Dynamic Data Validation
    • Importing Web Pages – Example: Movie Tracker
    • Importing Access DBs – Example: Sales Pivot Report
    • Using Text Import Utility – Example: Converting Dates
  • Excel Access Integration
    • Excel to Access
    • Access to Excel
    • Integrating Excel & Access thru Automation
  • Working With Complex Worksheets
    • What is a complex sheet?
    • Tips for handling complexity
    • Designing a complex workbook


Lessons on Using Excel

  • Export Excel to Other Formats
    • How to Export Excel Content to PPT or Word Documents?
    • How to Export Excel Content to Web Pages
    • How to Export Excel Content to PDF
  • Excel 2010 – A Short Introduction
    • New features in Excel 2010
    • Sparklines
    • Conditional Formatting Enhancements
    • Backstage view / File menu
    • etc.


Lessons on Macros & VBA

  • Introduction To Macros
    • What is a Macro
    • Using Macro Recorder and Your First Macro
    • Editing Macros & VBE
    • Macros vs. UDFs
    • How to get more help on Macros & Advanced Excel


Lessons on Excel Dashboards

  • What is a Dashboard?
    • 5 Dashboard Examples
    • Deriving our own dashboard definition
    • Looking at Dashboard definitions around web
    • Conclusions
  • Dashboard Creation Process
    • Why have a process – Learning from a Failed Dashboard
    • Defining the Dashboard Creation Process
    • Example Dashboard made with such process
    • Conclusions
  • Making Excel Dashboards – Part 1
    • Defining the purpose of the dashboard
    • Finding appropriate metrics for the dashboard
    • Making a mock up of the dashboard
  • Making Excel Dashboards – Part 2
    • Understanding the data
    • Writing Formulas
    • Making Charts
    • Adding Conditional Formats
    • Putting Everything Together
    • Conclusions & Homework
  • Dashboard Design Tips & Tricks
  • Making Website Dashboard
  • Making a Sales Dashboard
  • Making a KPI Dashboard