Microsoft Excel tips and tricks for accountants

TOPICS

September 8, 2020

Calculating depreciation using the SLN function

When teaching depreciation in Introduction to Accounting, faculty always cover a variety of different depreciation methods, including straight-line depreciation. Next time you teach this topic, build your students’ Excel skills by showing them how to use the straight-line (SLN) function in Excel.

September 1, 2020

Microsoft Excel: Quickly bring blank cells to your attention

An easy way to bring attention to blank cells is to have them appear as a different color than the other cells on the worksheet.

September 1, 2020

Microsoft Excel: Record macros to quickly perform routine tasks

If you have simple tasks that you need to perform in Excel often, you can actually “teach” Excel to do them for you by recording a macro.

August 11, 2020

Use conditional formatting in Excel to visualize letter grades

Highlight different letter grades with different colors so you can see at a glance how your students performed.

August 1, 2020

Obtain a Distinct Count

How to obtain a Distinct Count in Excel using a basic PivotTable.

August 1, 2020

Adding bullet points to an Excel spreadsheet

Kelly L. Williams, CPA, Ph.D., explains how to insert bullets into an Excel spreadsheet.

August 1, 2020

Understanding PivotTables and Excel’s Recommended Charts

These quick tips related to PivotTables and choosing the best charts for your data can help you become more efficient in Excel.

July 14, 2020

Use Excel’s sparklines to quickly show trends in data

Simple to create, sparklines are tiny graphs that help you make sense of data at a glance.

July 1, 2020

Creating a data-entry form in Excel

The use of a data-entry form makes data entry faster and more efficient because you don’t have to go to multiple different cells to enter data, row by row.

June 9, 2020

View and edit 2 worksheets in the same workbook side by side

How to view and edit two worksheets from the same Excel workbook side-by-side.

June 1, 2020

Reaching the SUMIF

The SUMIF function provides a quick and simple way to create a sum based on a specific criterion, such as the type of audit.

April 14, 2020

Use Excel’s AutoSum button to add up rows and columns with just one click

Want to quickly add up rows or columns of data in your gradebook (or elsewhere)? The AutoSum function makes it easy.

March 10, 2020

Sort by color to group highlighted cells in Excel

Highlighting cells with different colors can help you quickly identify information in a spreadsheet. Excel also lets you sort by color to easily group all the information you’ve highlighted with a given color. Learn how.

March 1, 2020

Keeping up with deadlines using a dynamic spreadsheet

Microsoft Excel can keep track of deadline information in several ways.

March 1, 2020

The IF function mastered

Once you master the IF function, you will wonder how you ever lived without it.

FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

AI risks CPAs should know

Are you ready for the AI revolution in accounting? This JofA Technology Q&A article explores the top risks CPAs face—from hallucinations to deepfakes—and ways to mitigate them.