Maximize Excel: Airtight Spreadsheets


CPE Credit: 2 hours

In this essential presentation, Excel expert David Ringstrom, CPA, shares techniques you can use to verify the integrity of even the most complicated Excel workbooks. He demonstrates how to implement Excel features and functions, such as hide and protect features, the Conditional Formatting feature, the VLOOKUP function, the SUBTOTAL function, and others. In addition, David discusses how to preserve key formulas, perform dual lookups, and audit the spreadsheets created by others.
 
David demonstrates every technique at least twice: first, on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps, and second, in Excel 2016. He draws your attention to any differences in Excel 2013, 2010, or 2007 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. 


Topics Covered

• Building resilience into spreadsheets by avoiding daisy-chained formulas.
• Employing the SUMIF function to sum values related to multiple instances of criteria you specify.
• Enabling selected users to access protected areas of a worksheet by way of the Allow Users to Edit Ranges feature.
• Improving the integrity of many Excel features by placing column headings within a single row instead of spanning two or more rows.
• Improving the integrity of spreadsheets with Excel’s VLOOKUP function.
• Learning a simple design technique that greatly improves the integrity of Excel’s SUM function.
• Limiting access to sensitive workbooks by way of password protection.
• Mastering the IFERROR function to display alternate values in lieu of a # sign error.
• Mastering the IFERROR function to display alternate values in lieu of a # sign error.
• Preserving key formulas using hide and protect features.
• Preventing errors from the start by choosing from thousands of free Excel spreadsheet templates.
• Protecting workbooks to prevent users from renaming, hiding, unhiding, or otherwise affecting worksheets.

 
Learning Objectives:

• Identify which one of four tasks a user can potentially perform after a workbook has been protected.
• Define the argument within Excel’s SUBTOTAL function that sums columns or rows.
• Recall the purpose of Excel’s IFERROR worksheet function. 

Course Number: 
DR1909
NASBA Field of Study: 
Computer Software and Applications
Level: 
Intermediate
Presenter:
David Ringstrom
Prerequisites: 
Previous Experience with Excel Spreadsheets
Advanced Preparation: 
None