Microsoft Excel tips and tricks for accountants

TOPICS

December 1, 2020

Data preparation for CPAs: Extract, transform, and load

ETL tools can help accountants streamline the process of preparing data for analysis and aid in better decision-making.

November 10, 2020

Use the Quick Access Toolbar to increase your efficiency in Excel

Try this tip and have your most-used functions right at your fingertips.

November 1, 2020

Excel 365 has X-cellent upgrade over VLOOKUP

Kelly L. Williams, CPA, Ph.D., explains how to use XLOOKUP, a new function for Excel 365 users that essentially replaces VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP.

October 1, 2020

Using LEFT, MID, RIGHT to dissect Excel cells

It is very easy to dissect the contents of a cell in Excel using the functions LEFT, MID, and RIGHT. All three functions are easy to learn.

October 1, 2020

Answering 7 questions about remote work

Months after COVID-19 forced most accountants to work remotely, we answer questions on how to optimize working conditions at home.

October 1, 2020

Using the Excel Camera tool

You can use Excel’s Camera tool to add images of Excel tables, charts, ranges, and single cells to your dashboard.

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.

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