Are you interested in running more advanced data analysis in Excel? If so, you can add the Analysis ToolPak to your current version of Excel. It provides several analysis functions including Anova, Correlation, Descriptive Statistics, Histogram, Regression, and T-tests.
How to add the Analysis ToolPak
After opening Excel, click File.
At the bottom of the File menu, click Options.
Click Add-Ins and then Go… .
This opens an additional pop-up window that allows you to select the Analysis ToolPak. After selecting the add-in, click OK.
Locating the Analysis ToolPak
After you have added the Analysis ToolPak to your Excel software, you will find it on the Data tab. Click on Data and then Data Analysis.
You can now complete a number of advanced data analysis tasks using Excel. Keep an eye out for our next article, which will demonstrate how to use the descriptive statistics tool in the Analysis ToolPak.
— Wendy Tietz, CPA, CGMA, Ph.D., is a professor of accounting at Kent State University in Kent. Ohio; Jennifer Cainas, CPA, DBA, is an instructor of accountancy at the University of South Florida in Tampa; and Tracie Miller-Nobles, CPA, is an associate professor of accounting at Austin Community College in Austin, Texas. See their site AccountingIsAnalytics.com for resources they have developed for teaching data analytics in introductory accounting. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact JofA senior editor Courtney Vien at Courtney.Vien@aicpa-cima.com.
