Many of us start using Excel to keep track of something. And along way, we realize that Excel has a powerful feature called formulas, using which we can automate a lot of things. BOOM! Before we realize, we are in the thick of VLOOKUPs and SUMIFs.
But, along way, we also pick up a few bad habits or believe a few myths. Today, lets bust 10 Excel formula myths that we hear often.
1. Shorter Formulas are Better
I think it is human tendency to shorten and optimize things. We take great pride if we can shrink a task that takes 10 minutes to 12 seconds. But is it the case with Excel Formulas?
In my opinion, any formula that does the job is better. It does not matter how short or long the formula is. Often, we can come up with a reasonable formula in few minutes, but we waste several hours trying to shorten it. Time that could be used for better things like impressing your boss or shipping a product.
2. IF Formulas are Bad
I dont know where this comes from, but I hear it often. Oh, why use IF formula, as if it is going to slow down the computer drastically. Well, for most cases, we are dealing with reasonably sized data and Excel is fast enough to calculate formulas whether they are IFs or REPTs or something else.
So go ahead and use IF formula, if that is what you need to use.
3. VLOOKUP is slower
Ok, here is another one. For some reason people believe that VLOOKUP is slower than alternatives like INDEX+MATCH, OFFSET+MATCH, MATCH, Array formulas. Well, in my private tests, I found mixed results. VLOOKUP performance is almost same as that of other alternatives for small and medium (10000 rows) sized data sets.
Of course, if you have a workbook with million rows, then you should spend time looking for the fastest formula. Otherwise, just use VLOOKUP and be done.
4. Helper Cells, Helper Columns are Lame
Again, another myth that has no reason to exist. Each Excel sheet has 17179869184 cells and there is no reason why we should not use a few to support us in our formulas or models. Use helper cells, they keep your worksheet simple and easy to understand.
5. Formulas should start with = sign only
Do you know that you can start a formula with + or – sign too?
Well, you can type -SUM(1,2,3) to get -6 in a cell.
Similarly, you can type +SUM(1,2,3) to get 6 in a cell.
PS: You can also begin a formula with @ sign. I am not sure if there are more…
PPS: You can put ‘ before the formula if you just want to show the formula instead of running it. So if you write ‘=SUM(1,2,3), Excel would show =SUM(1,2,3) in a cell (instead of 6)
6. Formulas cannot refer to other Excel Workbooks
Well, that is not correct. You can refer to data in other workbooks in an Excel formula. For eg.
=SUM(sales.xlsx!q1Sales,2000,$H$2:$H$13)
will sum up the named range q1Sales in Sales.xlsx workbook, the value 2000 and the cells H2:H13
Remember, if your workbook is closed, you need to put the full path, like this:
=SUM(‘C:\full\folder\path\sales.xlsx’!q1Sales,2000,$H$2:$H$13)
PS: Certain formulas do not work with closed workbooks.
7. Formulas should be written in a cells only
Well, this is wrong. You can use formulas in named ranges, conditional formatting, data validation. You can also assign formulas to drawing shapes, chart elements (like titles, labels etc.).
See these examples:
5 ways to use formulas in Conditional Formatting
Custom Data Validation with Excel Formulas: Example 1, Example 2, More
Make your charts smarter with Formulas
8. We cannot copy a formula without changing references
Of course you can. If you want to have the same formula as in the cell above, just press CTRL+’
You will get the same formula and you can modify it as you want.
If you want to have the same formula elsewhere, just go to the formula cell, press F2, select everything (SHIFT+HOME), copy (CTRL+C).
Now go to the target cell and press F2 and paste (CTRL+V)
9. Formulas cannot do ‘x’…
May be they cannot feed your cat or take your dog for walk or change a nappy. But there is a formula for almost everything. And Excel team at Microsoft is adding new formulas in each version. It wont be long before a =ChangeNappy(kidname, <optional dispose nappy>) appears. Well, may be.
But the best part is, you can create your own formulas, called as User Defined Functions. And once you start doing that, there is no limit to the possibilities. You can create a CONCAT() to add up a bunch of text values, a NETWORKINGDAYS() to calculate working days based on a custom weekend setup or anything. [More UDF Examples]
10. Formulas are difficult to learn
Only if you think so.
Excel formulas are very powerful and very easy to learn. You need to start slow and go one step at a time. It might take a while to wrap your head around the referencing styles and various formulas.
But once you learn a few simple formulas, rest of them will be easy to learn. And before you realize, you are in the thick of VLOOKUPs and SUMIFs.
Oh, wait, I said that already. But then who says we cannot repeat. That is another myth!
What myths you hear about Excel Formulas?
Thanks to all your emails, comments and forum discussions. I hear about a lot of myths and bad habits all the time, when it comes to Excel. I found that giving in to these myths limits our ability to do more.
What about you? What myths you have heard when you started learning Excel? Please share using comments.
Learn More About Excel & Excel Formulas
If you just started using Excel, then you are at the right place. Go thru below links to learn more.
1. Excel Tutorials for Beginners – 10 videos to start your Excel Journey
2. Excel Formula e-book – 75 Excel Formulas, explained in plain English
3. Excel Formulas – Examples & Demos – More than a 100 examples on Excel formulas
4. Excel School – Online Excel Training Program by Chandoo. With 23 hours of video lessons and downloadable excel files, you will master every aspect of Excel, very soon.
PS: Join our news letter. You will get emails with Excel tips, tricks, tutorials and more, 3 times a week.
36 Responses to “Visualizing Financial Metrics – 30 Alternatives”
Although I am one of the contestants, I must wholeheartedly admit that the Dashboard of Chandeep is the best of all. It's design, colors, message-conveying is the greatest. My regards!
I would like to learn how Chandeep highlighted the graph when he made a selection on the slicer.
Any links to previous posts perhaps where this was covered by Chandoo?
Thank You
Ahmad
Dashboard from Abhay simply rocks. To the point and conveys the intended message even for a novice.
Infographic by Pinank - is looking good
I have also contributed to this contest. I am really inspired by various entries in above post. Based on following parameters i would like to rate these:
1. Explanatory - Whether dashboard will be used to explain certain thing or mention a story. This type of dashboard will be static.
2. Exploratory - Here user would like to interact more with the dashboard to extract the relevant story or meaning which is not apparent. Hence, this type dashboard needs to have more interactivity.
3. Scalability - If new or more data can be added to dashboard and still the functionality will work. If user wants to add more companies, years, etc. will it work.
Based on above criteria I would rate following entries as top ones:
1. Explanatory - by Pinank
2. Exploratory - by Chandeep
3. Scalability - In most of the entries additional work would be required to include more data except for mine. new years or companies can be easily added and analysed in chart by me.
These entries are really inspiring i will definitely use it to revise my dashboard.
Abhay's dashboard is good however, if Chandeep can go with the trend analysis Abhay has done (line graphs), then maybe Chandeep's dashboard can excel.
And now I'm angry that I haven't noticed contest announcement earlier and I've sent what I've sent... Building a dashoboard was supposed to be my goal but lack of time forced me to sent sth simplier and now I can see how big mistake it was (when it comes to fighting a competition like this). Nice work guys! It's realy inspiring! Even less advanced works are intresting because of different task approach. So wance again: thanks 🙂
If I had to choose the best ones (IMHO) I would go for William and Edouard as a second place (for both). Despite some weak sides (like label errors or "work place" next to a final chart) they meet my sense of clear data visualisation and contain intresting interactive elements.
The best entry is definitly Chandeep's. Although there was some failing with automatical comenting feature (#arg! in my Excel'10) it's full of advanced dashboarding tricks which makes it easy to read. Furthermore, as one of the few he finished(?) his project - it opens in a "secured mode", with no place to mess anything, no data trash - just choose, point and read/print.
It all deserves to get the Grand Prize!
and BTW: when can we expect another contest? 🙂
Big round of applause to everyone who participated. I'm amazed at the creativity of our community. 🙂
My vote would be for Chandeep, MF Wong, and Miguel.
I have not contributed, but have read this post with a lot of interest. I would like to congratulate all participants for there work & inventiveness.
My #1 spot goes to Gerald for showing all the data in 1 graph & to have still kept it simple & readable.
I would give a prize for innovation to Pinank for the use of icons.
Great to see so much creativity.
I have not contributed also, but have wait his post for a long time (because I have the same kind of issue in my "daily life").
My top 3 is the following :
- Pinank for the effeiciency and for the style
- Arnaud for the calculation behind the chart
- Miguel for the elegant business oriented dashboard
All the entries look very good. However I feel Pinanks entry seems the best as it is very explanatory with good innovative thoughts.
Hi all,
Some brilliant dashboard and interactive entries - really nice stuff and lots of clever tricks.
However, given that the initial question was "Need to quickly visualize 3 variables ( Company, years, Financials) in a single […] chart", unfortunately I don't think any dashboards - as cool as they are - really answer that question. The interactives also assume that this will be opened in Excel rather than seen in a printed hand-out, which essentially means you'd need multiple charts to show all the variables or be limited to a computer screen. Even Chandoo's initial panel chart approach - which is static, and also very simple and clean - is not really a 'single chart'. Furthermore, most of the interactives don't actually show all variables at once but rather slice the data into more manageable chunks, which is not staying true to the original brief.
So, in light of the above, I'd vote for Gerald in first place, Edwin in second and finally my third chart option in third place (yes, I know, voting for yourself is poor form but unfortunately I think the original question disqualifies most of the entries).
Anyway, a fun competition and thanks for following up on this Chandoo.
I am once again in awe of the submittals to a Chandoo contest. The results are so impressive. I have been trying to build nice dashboards for years and take so many courses, but I don't seem to have the eye for design. The color choices, fonts and chart choices are so important and I'm amazed at how some people really have a great talent for making the best selections.
It's nice to have such quality inspiration!
I saw Chandeep's entry on his website and I must say that I was very impressed by it. Simply loved it. Somewhat makes it difficult to keep an open mind towards the other entries.
My ranking:
1. Chandeep for its completeness as dashboard.
2. MF Wong/Miguel for "simple" but smart graphs.
3. Pinank's entry looks like a page from a glossy magazine.
During scrolling I stopped at Chirayu's entry: easy to the eye.
But honestly congrats too all for having the balls to participate and thank you for sharing your creativity!! Hat's off to you.
Miguel, MF Wong, and Pinank.
Thanks to Chandoo and everyone who contributed for the great ideas.
Hi,
I personally liked the dashboard of:
1. Chandeep - His dashboard is clear, crisp and informative, his color combination and design is awesome, also he has shared few details like operating leverage plus he has added few comments. In totality, its a complete packaged dashboard.
2. Miguel - His dashboard is simple and all the information is visible in one shot.
It's very interesting looking through these - you can definitely tell who's done courses in dashboard design and with whom!
I particularly liked Pawels 'sperm chart' 😉 ... squint your eyes - you'll see what I mean). each of the charts or dashboards are put together well - but I agree with Elchin on this one - Chandeeps dashboard set 'tells a story' of the data. Student of Mr Few??
Without a doubt, Chandeep deserves #1. #2 goes to Abhay, and #3 to Pinhank, for the great presentation style if nothing else.
MF Wong
Do not apologize for any delay! Moving from one town to the next only 10 miles away is tough enough - let alone a family moving from one country to another!
THANK YOU for this excellent post!
As one of the participants, I have been looking forward to this post for long. But totally understood the reason of delay, so never mind! Hope all is well in NZ.
Thank you very much to those who like my chart! 🙂
Also thanks Chandoo for suggesting a name for it "Container Chart", which I have never thought about.
Personally I like the infographic by Pinank. Very outstanding design and use of icons. My two-cent worth: Just the lower part of "Yearly Trend" is actually good enough to answer the question, isn't it? 😉
Cheers,
What an outburst of creativity!
Vote for Chandeep and Pinank!
Agreed!
Awesome dashboards
Infographic by Pinank is awesome
Thank you so much for sharing!! i learn so much from these posts
Highly appreciated
Ahmad
South Africa
Fantastic responses from all the contestants. Some really great ideas. I'm inspired and will adapt some of these to my own dashboard work. Thanks for hosting such a great contest!!
Thank you for sharing this valuable resources !!!
I have only a couple of question that wasn't able to solve regarding data-origin.
Nowadays I have the data coming from a "current" situation from a big database containing all kind purchase-orders information of many different projects. I can calculate the current status of each project investments, but I am not able to track automatically the progress of it month to month or week to week by freezing the calculated metrics on each date. This would let me calculate new graphs and the speed of investments execution.
My question would be, if it is possible to calculate something with an excel formula and automatically freeze this values in a new row or new column. I guess that right now, Basic is the only way, but I guess that there could be a function to copy-a-range, insert-range-as-value-only as a new row or a new column or display everything down or left.
This would preserve the excel formulas defined, and add new data, everytime that it is re-calculated.
Any idea?
Great post , loved all chart representation. Congratulations to all participants and winners.
I need updates to this article.
I didn't even realize this got posted. Came across it today. Thanks
Fantastic post but I was wondering if you could write
a litte more on this subject? I'd be very thankful if you could elaborate a
little bit further. Thank you!
Hi Chandoo,
I comeback after a long time on your Blog. So I saw it lately. Its a brilliant idea.
I like all entries and these are amazing efforts from all participants.
Regards
The report presented by Pinanik is excellent and very innovative. Could be an interesting work for portfolio presentation