All articles with 'Learn Excel' Tag

Here is a quick tip to add awesome to your Wednesday.

If you want to enter numbers like 00023 or 023.340 or 23.34500 in your Excel sheet, you would notice that Excel magically removes leading zeros and trailing zeros (after decimal point) as the number 23 is same as 00023. But sometime, we want 00023, not 23. Then what?!?

Very simple, we use TEXT format instead of number format. Just select the cells where you are going to enter these numbers, and from Home ribbon > Number area, select “Text” as cell type. This tells Excel to treat any value you enter as Text, not as number. So when you type 00023, it will appear as 00023.

Project Managers often report financial numbers to the management. In a dynamic world, these numbers are usually based on a lot of factors that may or may not be under your control. So the top management demands that the numbers be reported as per different economic scenarios – Optimistic, Normal or Pessimistic. It is important […]

One of the most dreaded courses during my under-graduation is Probability, Statistics & Queuing Theory. We called it PSQT. I struggled to understand the significance and concept of this course as I could barely concentrate in the class. We had a professor, who is probably a genius, but the moment he started the class, I would magically fall in to one of my after-noon naps. When I woke up, we are either in the middle of an elaborate t-test or going thru intricacies of a Markovian queue.

This was all 11 years ago. Later in life, I have embraced the world of probability & statistics. I still fear queues. May be I will get there one day. 😉

A good understanding of statistics & probability theory is necessary if you want to model complex real-life problems using Excel or similar tools. Naturally, Excel has several functions, features & supported add-ins to help you in this area.

Today, I want to share some of this with you. This article is broken down in to 3 parts.

1. Learning Statistics & Probability using Excel
2. Downloadable Excel Workbooks to understand
3. Full blown models & simulations in Excel

Recently, I bought a new laptop, because my old Toshiba died down. After installing the OS and other necessary tools (like browser, skype etc.), I have installed Office 2010. Since Excel is my bread and butter, I like to customize it so that I can get more work done. So today,let me share how I […]

Background – Spreadsheet Risk Management

In the Managing Spreadsheet Risk series so far we have looked at the concept of spreadsheet risk and how to manage it both at a company level and at a spreadsheet level using Excel functionality. In this final article we are going to have a quick look at an example of spreadsheet auditing software.

What to look for in a Spreadsheet Risk Management Software

First off I should state that there is a wide range of spreadsheet auditing solutions in the marketplace of different types and styles and at a variety of costs. In this section I would like to take a little time to explain the criteria we applied when we were sourcing auditing software.

We love to compare. The instinct to compare leaves no one. Even my two year old twins compare their toys with each other (and fight).

It would make Excel hugely popular if Microsoft builds a handy data comparison tool right in to it. Alas, they have customizable ribbon, 3d effects & equation editor…

Since comparison is one of the main uses of Excel, we have written extensively about it here.

But there is always one more interesting comparison problem. Today, I want to share one such problem, based on a comment left by N-Man.

Count How Many Times a List of Values Occurs in a Range
(or How Can I Simplify My Formula)

Today in Formula Forensics we look at how to count how many times a range of values occurs within a Range of cells and in the process simplify a very nasty formula.

It has been a while since we had an Excel Links feature. So here we go again. But before jumping in to all the Excel goodness, let me share a few tidbits about our Bangkok adventure.

This series of articles will give you an overview of how to manage spreadsheet risk. These articles are written by Myles Arnott from Excel Audit Part 1: An Introduction to managing spreadsheet risk Part 2: How companies can manage their spreadsheet risk Part 3: Excel’s auditing functions Part 4: Using external software packages to manage […]

A common Forum Post question and one that Chandoo has written about a few times is, Does my data overlap with another range?

This week Formula Forensics examines Pradhishnair’s Overlapping Chaninage Problem where he wants to know if two values overlap with a range of other values

Hello my friend,

I have a few quick updates to start the week. Just read on to keep up.

Excel VBA section of Chandoo.org

During last few weeks, I have spent several hours organizing all the VBA material on Chandoo.org. I am happy to announce our brand to Excel VBA area of the site.

This section has Excel VBA overview, examples, videos, tips, books, references & more. Check it out.

Read on for the remaining 5 updates…

Not that I have friggatriskaidekaphobia or anything. But since today is Friday & 13th, lets put our Excel skills to test and find out when the next Friday the 13th is going to be.

Friends & Readers of Chandoo.org,

I am so happy to tell you that our VBA Classes are now open for your consideration. Click here to know more & join us.

What is this VBA Class?

VBA Class is a structured and comprehensive online training program for learning Microsoft Excel VBA (Macros). It is full of real world examples & useful theory.

The aim of VBA Classes is to make a beginner an expert in VBA.

Read on to understand the benefits of this program & how to sign-up.

Here is a quick Excel tip to kick start your week.

Sometimes, we want to enter same data in to several cells. You can use CTRL+Enter to do this in a snap.

(1) Select all the cells where you want to enter the same data.
(2) Type the data
(3) Press CTRL+Enter
(4) Done!

See the animation aside to understand how this works.

I have 2 quick announcements & 1 Excel tip for you.

Announcements

• Registrations for next batch of VBA Class start form January 11th (Wednesday). Please click here to download the course brochure.
• 20% Holiday discount on Excel School expires tonight (Midnight, Pacific Time). Please visit Excel School page and use the code LETSGOEXCEL to claim your discount.

Read on for a bonus Excel tip as well.