Excel Sampler: Speed Tips, What-if Analysis, Filtering

This enlightening webcast presented by David Ringstrom, CPA, will empower you to quickly accomplish tasks that might currently be taking you several minutes or even hours to complete. David's presentations focus on what many users don't know about Excel but should. This Excel Course Excel sampler presentation spends roughly 30 minutes on Excel Speed Tips--techniques designed to make you more efficient; 30 minutes on What-If Analysis tools that aid with decision making; and 30 minutes on Filtering. Users unaware of filtering spend a lot of time sorting data needlessly and flailing through overwhelming lists of data instead of collapsing lists down to relevant data sets.

David demonstrates every technique at least twice: first, on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps, and second, in the Microsoft 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 webcast.

Microsoft 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 Excel sampler presentation spends roughly 30-minutes on each of the following key topics:

• Excel Speed Tips--techniques designed to make you more efficient
• What-If Analysis tools that aid with decision making 
• Filtering. 

Every technique is demonstrated at least twice: 

• First, on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps, and 
• Second, in the Microsoft 365 version of Excel. 
• The webinar 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.
• The webinar also provides an Excel workbook that includes most of the examples used during the webcast.

This online CPE webinar covers following key topics:

• Avoiding the need to retype data or cumbersome formulas by way of Excel’s Text to Columns command.
• Avoiding the need to write repetitive formulas using Excel’s Data Table feature.
• Discovering how to quickly access folders and workbooks, regardless of whether they’re stored on your computer or on a network.
• Displaying subsets of data dynamically by way of the new FILTER worksheet function.
• Enabling a hidden keyboard shortcut for toggling the Freeze Panes feature on or off.
• Enabling Excel’s Solver add-in for more complex what-if analyses.
• Exploring Excel’s Goal Seek feature, which can be used to solve for a single missing input.
• Exploring Excel’s Scenario Manager features that enables you to store various sets of inputs, such as best case, worst case, and most likely, without having to replicate worksheets or workbooks.
• Exploring the Forecast Sheet feature in Excel 2016 and later, which can extrapolate trends based on existing data in your spreadsheets.
• Gaining control of long lists of data by filtering instead of sorting.
• Inserting totals into lists with a few mouse clicks by way of Excel’s SUBTOTAL function.
• Learning how the Table feature empowers you to improve the integrity of Excel spreadsheets.
• Learning the basics of Excel’s Solver feature.
• Removing the Table feature from Excel spreadsheets once it’s no longer needed or simply erasing the alternate row shading.
• Restoring “classic” Print Preview functionality in Excel 2010 and later.
• Streamlining repetitive tasks by way of Excel’s Quick Access Toolbar.
• Streamlining the filtering of lists in Excel 2013 and later by using the Slicer feature with tables.
• Unearthing the key step in being able to format subtotaled cells without affecting hidden rows.
• Using Excel’s Advanced Filter feature to identify unique items within a list without discarding duplicates.
• Using the Group command to interactively hide/unhide columns (and/or rows) within Excel worksheets.
• Using the Summary Report aspect of Scenario Manager to compare different scenarios side by side.
• Utilizing the SUBTOTAL worksheet function to sum, count, or otherwise tally items within a filtered list.

This enlightening webinar from David Ringstrom, CPA, will empower you to quickly accomplish tasks that might currently be taking you several minutes or even hours to complete. This webinar is a must for practitioners seeking to use Microsoft Excel more effectively.