Learning how to Use Excel

finnith

Despite being somewhat computer literate and having used Microsoft Excel for several years by this point, I am still uneducated when it comes to the features of Microsoft Excel that I don't use on a casual basis. By which I mean macros and Pivot tables. Are there good free sites or resources that would educate me about Microsoft Excel's many features. I am a university student pursuing a Bachelor's in Business Administration, so if there are other features of Excel that I will be using, even other software, I would appreciate it if you would mention it so that I may use my temporary unemployment constructively.

I also run a small youth orchestra so if there are any nifty pieces of software that would help me run the administrative or financial side of the group it'd be great if you could suggest some. Right now I just use Google Docs to monitor the finances and a regular Google Docs spreadsheet to keep member records.

Thanks in advance.

Six

Ribbon Hero is a great way to learn a lot of stuff about MS Office apps.

Cauld

Unfortunately I think the best way to learn Excel is to have projects you need to do in Excel. Both pivot charts and macros take some practice to get used to after you've figured out the basics.

For example, if you want to use pivot charts, why don't you add an 'expense type' for your orchestra spending / fund raising. Then every month you can use a pivot chart to see how much you're spending in each category, you can sort it by month or week or whatever, so long as you have a date field as well. It'll be simple and basic, but its a decent start and something you can routinely do to start getting used to the basics.

Spherick

One of the most underused functions of Excel IMO is v and hlookup.

Learn where to use it and the applicable arguments and people will think you are a wizard

1ddqd

Spherick wrote: »

One of the most underused functions of Excel IMO is v and hlookup.

Learn where to use it and the applicable arguments and people will think you are a wizard

THIS. I never *knew* excel until I got my first job, and man, if you can do some conditional formulas (SUMIF, AVERAGEIF(s), COUNTIF(s)) then you'll know 40% of what most reports want (at least, in an anaylst roll). Pivot Tables are super easy once you have data you can manipulate. It's a mass organization (how many "No Contact" Accounts are in each state? Drag the State to "Row" and the account number to "Values" and make it count the entries in the Account number field (simply right clicking it)

mspencer

Agreed -- but keep in mind, when you are using hlookup and vlookup, you are starting to use Excel as a relational database. If you start using those things a LOT in one spreadsheet, it is probably time to graduate to MS Access (which is itself hated within the database community -- but it mostly works.)

finnith

One of my acquaintances, who is an engineer working with Bombardier, told me that relational databases (RDMS), such as Oracle, are widely used in many industries. Is it recommended for me to take a course or are there any books that I could use instead. I'm somewhat short of money (read: unemployed) at the moment.

SkyCaptain

I self-taught myself Excel via F1 help (not much help) and googling while making character sheets for D&D and a monster builder for D&D 4th edition. Just find something you really enjoy and start working at it. v/hlookup are awesome, but also have their drawbacks. For instance, anything being looked up has to be sorted from low to high, a to z, etc.

Raekreu

Spherick wrote: »

One of the most underused functions of Excel IMO is v and hlookup.

Learn where to use it and the applicable arguments and people will think you are a wizard

Limed because it's so true it isn't funny.

=vlookup/=hlookup are both vital to learn how to use. If you can also use =if and its various permutations, then that's pretty much all you need. After that you can get into all kinds of insanity like nested formulas, conditional formatting, and plug-and-play style reports.