Excel Macros: A Beginner's Guide

David Ringstrom, CPA, takes you step-by-step through the process of creating and using macros—one of Excel’s most powerful features. In this comprehensive presentation, he introduces the concept of Excel macros as well as the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macro. David also explains step-by-step how to use the Record Macro feature and Excel’s Personal Macro Workbook. After completing this course, you’ll be equipped to use macros immediately.  In this comprehensive on-demand CPE webcast, you’ll learn even more about how to use Excel’s Record Macro feature from Excel expert David Ringstrom, CPA. He shows you how to enhance the code you’ve created with the Record Macro feature by adding error-handling functions, decision-making capabilities, and interactive features. In addition, David presents techniques, features, and keyboard shortcuts that will help you eliminate repetitive tasks and become more proficient in utilizing Excel macros.

David demonstrates every technique at least twice in this CPE course: first, on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps, and second, in the subscription-based Office 365 version of Excel. David draws your attention to any differences in the older versions of Excel (2019, 2016, 2013, and earlier) during the presentation as well as in his detailed handouts. David also provides an Excel workbook that includes most of the examples he uses during the CPE webinar.

Office 365 is a subscription-based product that provides new feature updates as often as monthly. Conversely, the perpetual licensed versions of Excel have feature sets that don’t change. Perpetual licensed versions have year numbers, such as Excel 2019, Excel 2016, and so on.

This Online CPE Excel webinar covers the following Key Topics: 

• Making sense of the Enable Content prompt related to macros in Excel.
• Uncovering macro-related commands within Excel’s user interface.
• Automating a repetitive task, such as formatting a set of phone numbers consistently.
• Utilizing the Relative References setting for creating Excel macros to be played back on any cell versus specific cells.
• Understanding the purpose and nuances of Excel’s Personal Macro Workbook.
• Recording a contact info macro.
• Deciphering and managing Excel’s macro security prompts.
• Converting .XLS workbooks to the up-to-date .XLSX format with just two keystrokes.
• Understanding how macros are used in Excel, along with the risks and benefits associated with them.
• Learning the risks and frustrations of using merged cells in Excel worksheets.
• Learning how to use Excel’s Record Macro feature to create simple macros, without having any knowledge of programming.
• Discovering how to enable the Developer menu in Excel 2007 and later.
• Gaining an understanding of Excel’s Goal Seek feature, which is useful in simplifying what-if analyses.
• Learning how to play back macros you’ve recorded so as to eliminate repetitive or tedious tasks.
• Using form controls to simplify data entry as well as control the input of other users.
• Understanding the nuances of assigning keyboard shortcuts to macros in Excel to avoid superseding shortcuts for built-in features.
• Learning what to do if a Debug prompt appears.
• Adding error-handling features to Excel macros to compensate for unexpected or missing data entry inputs.
• Bypassing filter drop-down lists by filtering based on cell contents with a single keystroke or mouse click.
• Learning the nuances of the Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook in versions 2007 and later.