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29
Jun

How to Make a Budget in Excel: Our Simple Step-by-Step Guide
  • Fedrica Hanks, Accountant
  • 1987
If you are not frequently using excel, then making a budget in excel is like an unnerving task. Using an Excel budget template, no need to be an accountant for that. This step-by-step guide will help you to create a budget in excel whether your budget is simple or extremely complex. The fastest and easiest way to build an excel budget is by using the library of premade budget templates. simply go to File>New, then search for the term “budget.” Several Excel budget templates will pop up, such as a family budget, personal expense calculator, vacation budget, and more. Customizing a premade template To customize the existing template, simply select where you want to add a box and right-click. Scroll down to “Insert” and choose to add either “Table Columns to the Left” or “Table Rows Above”. With the existing tabs, you can now automatically sync the new information. How to Make a Budget in Excel from Scratch You can create excel budget spreadsheet from the scratch. Step 1 – Open a Blank Workbook – Create “Blank Workbook” in excel. Step 2 – Set up Your Income Tab – after creating blank workbook, create Income and source tab. Step 3 - Step 3: Add Formulas to Automate- Make a cleaner look to your budget spreadsheet by adding border to entire area. Once you like the look of your budget spreadsheet, it’s time to add the formulas that will automatically calculate everything for you. Step 4- Add Your Expenses – After figuring out income section, now it’s time to calculate expenses. You can either do this on the same sheet or start a new sheet. To keep expenses on the same sheet, create a new area under the “Income” section and customize it according to you. Then, use the same column headings – Due Date, Planned, Actual, and Difference. Step 6 - The Final Balance - After creating all the sections you want to track. Now it’s important to know your running balance. Basically, you need not to keep any calculator with you. It’s become easy for you when you are keeping everything on one sheet. Simply create another section at the bottom of the sheet. Then, label one row “Total Spending” and another “Final Balance.” This is an easy way to help you track your spending.
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24
Jun

Create Dashboard In Excel - Step By Step Tutorial
  • Fedrica Hanks, Accountant
  • 3868
When it comes to taking raw data and converting it into useful and impactful information then Excel is an incredibly helpful tool. An Excel dashboard is a place where you could track all your business’s important KPIs, metrics, and data points using visuals and charts. In short, visual representation of data is known as dashboard. It simplifies complex data and transforms it into something visually which is easier to understand. From project management or budgeting or marketing or sale reporting, everywhere it plays an important role. A good financial analyst needs to be master in creating dashboard in excel. It is an important skill which one should know. Here in this tutorial guide, we will see how to create a dashboard in excel. Here are some of the recommended steps which need to follow, in order to create an effective excel dashboard – Import data into excel – First of all, to create your dashboard in excel you need to import data. You can simply copy-paste the data or you can take help of any external app to pass data in real-time. Data can be imported in two different ways: in a flat file or a pivot table. With the available data, set up an excel table on another tab. Recognizing the elements you want to add to your dashboard will help you group similar data together and give you an idea of the layout. Dashboard layout - Once you are done with importing data into excel file, now you need to structure your workbook. Create two to three sheets in your workbook. Keep the first tab for dashboard and the other for raw data and table. Organize data – When working with data, it is important to organize data in appropriate rows and columns. Clean-up the duplicate data to keep unique one to utilize the dashboard feature, otherwise you will be double counting. Create table with raw data – Create table with the available raw data. Analyze the data – Before you start to make dashboard in excel, take some time to look at your data and figure out what you want to highlight. Once you have an idea of your dashboard’s purpose, you can use different tools for analyzing data like – Excel formulas like SUMIF, COUNT, OFFSET, VLOOKUP, GETPIVOTDATA and others. Pivot tables. Data validation. Macros. Conditional formatting. Auto-shapes. Excel dashboard widgets. Named ranges. Charts. Excel tables. Create the dashboard – This process is all about inserting the charts and visuals on dashboard. With the different visual about data. See the detailed video on Creating Excel Dashboard With Excel dashboard examples.
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17
Jun

Excel Accounting Latest Tips For 2021
  • Lynn Fountain, CPA
  • 1763
As per the report, 63 percent of U.S. companies rely on Excel, down slightly from a year ago. While the program is used by organizations of all sizes, smaller companies (69 percent) find accounting with Excel especially valuable. Even the American Institute of CPAs has replaced its generic spreadsheet with Excel beginning with the 2018 CPA exam.Excel is the preferred tool for budgeting and planning across accounting and finance functions, according to the Benchmarking report. As one of the CFOs surveyed said, “For anything that is innovative or creative or requires that you bring some gray matter to the table, the spreadsheet cannot be beaten."Here are 13 tips and features to bring more agility, functionality, and usability to your Excel spreadsheets. Share this with your team as you work on upskilling your employees and temporary workers.1. Fill cells quicklyExcel now has the power to finish your tedious info-typing session. Just start typing in the column to the right of your data.Excel will then gather suggestions to fill the rest of your cells after typing a few examples. To accept Microsoft’s suggestions, press enter.2. Format spreadsheets fasterWhen working on a spreadsheet, there are ways to add special formatting to different cells, columns, and rows with less effort.After applying any formatting to the spreadsheet — such as making a cell yellow or adding borders to a group of cells — you can use the format painter function to copy that formatting to other cells. If you double-click on the format painter icon, you can lock the function and single-click on any parts of the spreadsheet that you want to format. When you’re done, hit escape to unlock your cursor.For circumstances when you need to format a large amount of data, Excel offers time-saving shortcuts for many common formatting functions. Experiment with these handy ones:Format numbers to include two decimal places: Ctrl+Shift+1Format as time: Ctrl+Shift+2Format as a date: Ctrl+Shift+3Format as currency: Ctrl+Shift+4Format as a percentage: Ctrl+Shift+5Format in scientific/exponential form: Ctrl+Shift+63. Use Sparklines to display dataSparklines are a built-in feature of Excel that allows you to display small charts inside individual cells. These can be line charts, bar charts or simple win/loss charts. To create a Sparkline chart, select the range of numbers you’d like to include, click the “Insert” menu, then choose one of the chart options. Select a location range, which must be located along a single row or column in the same worksheet as your data range. Sparklines can help you easily display trends in your data in a compact format.4. Splice data easilySlicing allows you to filter data easily.To do so, select any range in a table or PivotTable, (refer to tip #5 for more information about PivotTables), and then go to Insert > “Slicer,” in the top right corner. Then, select the column you want to filter by.5. Manipulate data with pivot tablesWhen you have a large, detailed data set, pivot tables allow you to easily manipulate your data. These tables are interactive and can help you analyze data, detect patterns, and make comparisons. Creating a pivot table is as easy as using the built-in PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard, located in the “Data” drop-down menu. The wizard helps you choose the data to include in your PivotChart and format that information in a meaningful manner.6. Go formula-free Getting a total without an equation might just be one of Excel's most valuable features.To get your total formula, click anywhere inside the Excel table. Then press Ctrl+Shift+T, and Excel will add the total to your total row that you created.7. Move between formulas and resultsTo efficiently switch between the cell data and formula, use the Ctrl+tilde (~) keystroke. This allows you to rapidly check formulas when working in a large spreadsheet.8. Use the status bar without a formulaThe status bar shows counts, sums, and averages, without typing up any formulas.Just select the cells in your table and look to the bottom right of the Excel window. You’ll see instant stats about the cells you selected.9. Hide zero valuesHiding zero values can be helpful within large data sets by allowing you to see data more clearly. To hide zero values, you simply need to change the options in your Excel setup. Navigate to this function by clicking the “File” drop-down menu, and choose “Options.” Then choose “Advanced” from the left-hand menu and uncheck the box for “Show a zero in cells that have zero value.” (Mac users: Go to the “Excel” drop-down menu and choose “Preferences,” then uncheck “Show zero values.”)10. Use Excel templatesTemplates are available for any version of Excel. If you want to create an amortization table using a template, right-click on a blank worksheet and gain access through the “Insert” command. Under the “Spreadsheet Solutions” tab, you will find various templates, including an amortization schedule, which can then be inserted into the spreadsheet. You can also create your own templates by saving a worksheet as an Excel template.11. Chart your data quicklySelect any cells in your data range/ table and then press ALT+F1 on your keyboard. Now you have an instant chart.12. Save time looking for worksheetsIf you access the “File” menu or “Office Button” in Excel — depending on the version you are using — there’s a handy button called “Recent.” Using this function, you can quickly generate a list of the workbooks you recently worked on.In the “Advanced” section of the “Options” menu, you can expand your view and adjust the number of recent documents shown. You can change the number to 50 for better access to recent folders and files.13. Create tables quicklyYou can turn data cells into a table quickly!All you have to do is click within the parameters of your data and press Ctrl+T. Now you have an instant table displaying your data.Now that you have some helpful features to reboot your Excel skills and those of the accounting professionals you manage, you will get more done, and before you know it, you’ll be expanding your team!
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11
Jun

Hiding and Unhiding Multiple Sheets without using Macros
  • David Ringstrom, CPA
  • 2249
One of the first “tricks” an Excel user learns is to hide and unhide a sheet. This is an exceptionally useful feature as it allows us to store data in a sheet, such as lists and tables, but keep the user of the workbook from seeing, manipulating, and more importantly, corrupting the information on the hidden sheet. As with most things in Excel, there is more than one way to hide a sheet or multiple sheets.  One of the easiest methods is to select a sheet (or select multiple sheets using standard Windows CTRL and Shift selection techniques), right-click the sheet tab then select “Hide”. You can hide a worksheet and the user would not see it when he/she opens the workbook. However, they can easily unhide the worksheet if they want (as we will see later in this tutorial). But what if you don’t want them to be able to unhide the worksheet(s).Let’s see how to hide a worksheet in Excel so that it can easily be unhidden, or can not be unhidden.
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03
Jun

Excel For Small Business Accounting
  • Lynn Fountain, CPA
  • 2612
Excel Spreadsheets are now being the most loved item after calculator for accountants to manage basic accounting tasks. Depending upon your accounting and finance requirements, excel helps with basic tasks like bookkeeping, invoice management, etc.Small business finance managers use excel as one of the most vital accounting tools. In comparison to large enterprises, small businesses need to handle lesser financial data. And for that excel is the best choice as it allows to focus on basic accounting tasks like forecasting and budget planning etc. Small business owners can do all of their bookkeeping in Excel.Benefits of using excel for small business accounting –Mass Data Entry – Using small business accounting software is very easy but when you consider mass data entry then no program is better suited than excel. Macros can spit out hours of human’s work in moments. To automate tasks, business owners can create macros such as formatting, filtering, and running basic analysis. Accountants can easily import large transaction datasets into accounting software.Financial analysis through charts – Accountant can create pie charts to show business financial analysis visually. It can be used by both Nonprofit and profit companies to create annual reports with this visual aid to communicate in a convenient way.Ease of Sharing - One of the most important benefits of excel is – ease of sharing. When it comes to sharing financial data with any investors or lenders then business owners can send them either a PDF or Excel file.Compare financial data - Excel helps to compare financial datasets like total accounts payable versus receivable to calculate cash flow volume within a given period. You will get clear data, where company’s money is going and by using some of the functions you get data, which groups generate the most revenue for your business.Customizable reports generations – You can easily create template-based reports included with tables and charts. Further, it can be reused for tasks like invoice management and estimating cash flow volumes. With the increasing need to add more data, you can customize report without having to create a new template from the scratch.Excel Features Used for Small Business AccountingPivotTables - This is the most powerful excel feature, based on a selected cell range it summarizes complex datasets. It recognizes data in more logical way. This tool is used by accountants to process financial data. When it needs to summarize raw accounting data and sorting it into different categories then you can use this feature.Formulas – Excel formulas significantly increase speed of business expense tracking and analysis.What-if analysis – This tool will help to forecast results by changing datasets in a formula. It means without changing or removing the primary dataset, you can get a new result by using this. It helps in cash flow management and the overall budget and forecasting processes. Test various budget estimates in a graphical format and change the forecast for these estimates based on the modification made in budget data.Forecast sheets – It helps users forecast data trends based on historical values. Instead of simply changing data values in a cell, you can predict trends in a graphical format. It is useful when you have cash flow data.Templates – There are many ready-made templates in excel for sorts of accounting functions like invoices, budgeting, and more.How to use Excel for your small business accounting needsCreating Invoice – With the use of Excel, you can easily create professional bills (Invoice). Excel invoice templates automatically sum invoice line items, reducing the risk of human error.Budgeting – Excel budgeting feature is more preferable than any accounting software. Simple to create and manage. As you move further with more business finance then you can create granular sub-budgets that roll up into business’s master budget.Create expense reports – There are hundreds of expense report templates to choose from. Create and manage business expense.Accounts receivable and accounts payable - Many small businesses track who owes them and whom they owe with an Excel spreadsheet. Business take records of money takes in and out. Excel can easily handle list of outstanding client invoices and business’s unpaid bills.Bank reconciliations – This is the basic of bookkeeping. You need to compare company’s accounting records with its bank statements. You can put both side by side in Excel and quickly inspect any disagreements. Because of its no-frills interface, Excel prefers over any other accounting software. Expand Your Microsoft Excel KnowledgeTo start using excel for small business accounting, you must have knowledge of Excel. Excel for accountant provides you comprehensive knowledge on how to use different Excel features and formulas in accounting. Excel skills for accounting must be improved with the latest update. Learn Some Excel Accounting Tips. As you become familiar with the function of program, you can use it to manage business accounts easily.
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31
May

Top 15 Data Analysis Functions in Excel
  • Fedrica Hanks, Accountant
  • 1477
If you’ve ever used Excel, then you’ve probably experienced the agony of choosing an incorrect formula to analyze a data set. Maybe you worked on it for hours, finally giving up because the data output was wrong or, the function was too complicated, and it seemed simpler to count the data yourself manually. If that sounds like you, then this Data Analysis in Excel top 15 is for you.There are hundreds of functions in Excel, and it can be overwhelming trying to match the right formula with the right kind of data analysis. The most useful functions don’t have to be complicated. Fifteen simple functions will improve your ability to analyze data, making you wonder how you ever lived without them.Whether you dabble in Excel or use it heavily at your job, there is a function for everyone in this list.1. CONCATENATECONCATENATE is one of the easiest to learn but most powerful formulas when conducting data analysis. Combine text, numbers, dates and more from multiple cells into one. This is an excellent function for creating API endpoints, product SKUs, and Java queries.Formula: =CONCATENATE(SELECT CELLS YOU WANT TO COMBINE)2. LEN=LEN quickly provides the number of characters in a given cell. As in the example above, you can identify two different kinds of product Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) using the =LEN formula to see how many characters the cell contains. LEN is especially useful when trying to determine the differences between different Unique Identifiers (UIDs), which are often lengthy and not in the right order.Formula: =LEN(SELECT CELL)3. COUNTA=COUNTA identifies whether a cell is empty or not. In the life of a data analyst, you’re going to run into incomplete data sets daily. COUNTA will allow you to evaluate any gaps the dataset might have without having to reorganize the data.Formula: =COUNTA(SELECT CELL)4. DAYS/NETWORKDAYS=DAYS is exactly what it implies. This function determines the number of calendar days between two dates. This is a useful tool for assessing the lifecycle of products, contracts, and run rating revenue depending on service length – a data analysis essential.NETWORKDAYS is slightly more robust and useful. This formula determines the number of “workdays” between two dates as well as an option to account for holidays. Even workaholics need a break now and then! Using these two formulas to compare time frames is especially helpful for project management.Formulas: =DAYS(SELECT CELL, SELECT CELL) OR =NETWORKDAYS(SELECT CELL, SELECT CELL,[numberofholidays])5. SUMIFS=SUMIFS is one of the “must-know” formulas for a data analyst. The common formula used is =SUM, but what if you need to sum values based on multiple criteria? SUMIFS is it. In the example below, SUMIFS is used to determine how much each product is contributing to top-line revenue.Formula: =SUMIF(RANGE,CRITERIA,[sum_range])6. AVERAGEIFSMuch like SUMIFS, AVERAGEIFS allows you to take an average based on one or more criteria.Formula: =AVERAGEIF(SELECT CELL, CRITERIA,[AVERAGE_RANGE])7. VLOOKUP=VLOOKUP is one of the most useful and recognizable data analysis functions. As an Excel user, you’ll probably need to “marry” data together at some point. For example, accounts receivable might know how much each product costs, but the shipping department can only provide units shipped. This is the perfect use case for VLOOKUP.In the image below we use reference data (A2) combined with the pricing table to have excel looking up matching criteria in the first column and returning an adjacent value.Formula: =VLOOKUP(LOOKUP_VALUE,TABLE_ARRAY,COL_INDEX_NUM, [RANGE_LOOKUP])8. FIND/SEARCH=FIND/=SEARCH are powerful functions for isolating specific text within a data set. Both are listed here because =FIND will return a case-sensitive match, i.e. if you use FIND to query for “Big” you will only return Big=true results. But a =SEARCH for “Big” will match with Big or big, making the query a bit broader. This is particularly useful for looking for anomalies or unique identifiers.Formula: =FIND(TEXT,WITHIN_TEXT,[START_NUMBER]) OR =SEARCH(TEXT,WITHIN_TEXT,[START_NUMBER])9. IFERROR=IFERROR is something that any analyst who actively presents data should take advantage of. Using the previous example, looking for specific text/values in a dataset won’t return a match. This causes a #VALUE error, and while harmless, it is distracting and an eyesore.Use =IFERROR to replace the #VALUE errors with any text/value. In the example above, the cell is blank so that data consumers can easily pick out which rows returned a matching value.Formula: =IFERROR(FIND“VALUE”,SELECT CELL,VALUE_IF_ERROR)10. COUNTIFS=COUNTIFS is the easiest way to count the number of instances a dataset meets a set of criteria. In the example above the product name is used to determine which product was the best seller. COUNTIFS is powerful because of the limitless criteria you can input.Formula: =COUNTIFS(RANGE,CRITERIA)11. LEFT/RIGHT=LEFT, =RIGHT are efficient and straightforward methods for extracting static data out of cells. =LEFT will return the “x” number of characters from the beginning of the cell, while =right will return the “x” number of characters from the end of the cell. In the example below, =LEFT is used to extract the consumer’s area code from their phone number, while =RIGHT is used to extract the last four digits.Formula: =LEFT(SELECT CELL,NUMBER) OR =RIGHT(SELECT CELL,NUMBER)12. RANK=RANK is an ancient excel function, but that doesn’t downplay its effectiveness for data analysis. =RANK allows you to quickly denote how values rank in a dataset in ascending or descending order. In the example, RANK is being used to determine which clients order the most product.Formula: =RANK(SELECT CELL,RANGE_TO_RANK_AGAINST,[ORDER])13. MINIFS=MINIFS is very similar to the min function except it allows you to take the minimum of a set of values, and match on criteria as well. In the example, =MINIFS is used to find the lowest price each product sold for.Formula: =MINIFS(RANGE1,CRITERIA1,RANGE2)14. MAXIFS=MAXIFS, like its counterpart minifs, allows you to match on criteria, but this time it looks for the maximum number.Formula: =MAXIFS(RANGE1,CRITERIA1,RANGE2)15. SUMPRODUCT=SUMPRODUCT is an excellent function to calculate average returns, price points, and margins. SUMPRODUCT multiples one range of values by its corresponding row counterparts. It’s data analysis gold. In the example below, we calculate the average selling price of all our products by using sumproduct to times Price by Quantity and then divide by the total volume sold.Formula: =SUMPRODUCT(RANGE1,RANGE2)/SELECT CELL
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