Excel for Accounting & Finance

Explore Excel's backstage area from the file tab, where you can create, open, save, print, share, export, protect with passwords, inspect metadata and version history, and recover unsaved workbooks.

Explore workbooks and worksheets in Excel, learning the grid of rows and columns, sheet naming and renaming, and how to insert, move, copy, delete, drag and drop, and color-code sheets.

Navigate and select cells, rows, and columns in Excel using keyboard shortcuts for efficiency. Learn to make contiguous and noncontiguous selections, including entire columns, rows, and the full worksheet.

Learn how to enter and edit data in Excel, including numbers, text, dates, and time, using the cell, formula bar, or F2, with auto-fit column width and editing controls.

Apply number formats in Excel—number, percentage, currency, and accounting—from the Home tab. Formatting changes the appearance, not the underlying value, and you can adjust decimals and currency styles.

Format cells, rows, and columns in Excel using auto fit and row height, then apply blue headers, Arial font, borders, and US dollar, date, and accounting formats.

Master working with rows and columns in Excel, including inserting and deleting multiple rows or columns, using shortcuts, and hiding, unhiding, and locating blank cells with go to special.

Master Excel's paste special to paste values, formulas, formats, and more, and use options like transpose and multiply with shortcuts such as Alt+E+S.

Master how Excel aligns text, numbers, and dates with horizontal and vertical alignment, orientation, indent, wrap text, and merge options to format data efficiently.

Learn to build Excel formulas using cell references, operators, and parentheses, and see why formulas update automatically instead of hard coding numbers.

Enter data and formulas efficiently by using enter, ctrl+enter, and tab to control cell navigation, and customize after-enter behavior in Excel options.

Learn to use autofill in Excel to quickly populate cells with patterns, months, days, and number series, create custom lists, and customize fill options.

Learn to use Excel's custom sort to sort by volume from largest to smallest, then by price per unit from largest to smallest, expanding the selection to keep rows intact.

Learn to use Excel's select special to quickly locate cells by criteria, such as formulas, constants, blanks, objects, conditional formatting, and data validation, by selecting a range and pressing F5.

Explore conditional formatting in Excel to visually highlight data by criteria, using rules like greater than, between, top/bottom, and formulas, with options such as data bars, color scales, and duplicates.

Apply custom formatting in Excel to display financial model values with symbols while preserving underlying numbers for calculations; use date and forecast codes such as F, A, and FY.

Remove automatic green arrows in Excel by ignoring the error for individual cells or by disabling background error checking in formulas options, keeping your workbook professional.

Define and apply named ranges in Excel to simplify formulas, reduce errors, and reuse across sheets, using name box, define name, and name manager.

Explore essential Excel editing shortcuts, including F2 edit mode, F4 toggle of dollar signs, Ctrl+Enter for ranges, and Alt+Enter for multiline cells.

Explore essential file and application shortcuts in Excel, including open, new, save, save as, switch between workbooks, and insert new worksheets using Ctrl+O, Ctrl+N, Ctrl+S, F12, Ctrl+Tab, Ctrl+Shift+Tab, and Shift+F11.

Learn to use the large and small functions in Excel to find the third highest and second lowest scores, with syntax, arrays, and the k parameter.

Learn how the Excel aggregate function acts as a multi-tool for 19 operations, including max and sum, with options to ignore hidden rows and errors in real data scenarios.

Multiply numbers with the Excel product function and sum products with sumproduct across matching ranges; use addition, subtraction, or division as shown in the wages example.

Demonstrate the Excel if function by performing a logical test and returning true or false values, with nested if for grade allocations and examples in tax and balance sheets.

Explore the IFS function in Excel, upgraded from the traditional if function. See how to set up logical tests, true values, and a final true test for defaults in grading.

Learn Excel error types and how to handle them using iferror and ifna, trap errors in formulas, and display helpful messages for common issues.

Explore Excel formula auditing to identify formulas with a true/false test, use error checking, evaluate formulas, and leverage trace dependence and precedence with the watch window.

Master goal seek in Excel to determine break-even and hit profit targets by changing a single variable, such as units sold, while exploring revenue, cost, and tax implications.

Learn to create and name Excel tables, convert data ranges, and use structured references to simplify formulas, auto expand with new data, and connect to charts and pivot tables.

Learn to consolidate data from multiple workbooks in Excel using the consolidate command, with the sum function and headers, and dynamic links to keep results updated.

Learn the xnpv function to discount irregular cash flows using exact dates, compare it with npv and pv, and set the earliest date as time zero for precise valuation.

Explore the IRR function to compute internal rate of return for regular cash flows, compare it with the discount rate or WACC, and use NPV to decide on projects.

Explore the MIRR function in Excel by applying a finance rate for borrowing and a reinvestment rate for reinvested cash flows to obtain a more accurate rate than IRR.

Explore how Excel's depreciation functions—straight-line, declining balance, double declining balance, sum-of-the-years-digits, and variable declining balance—calculate yearly depreciation using cost, salvage value, life, and period.

Create pivot tables in Excel to summarize sales data by dragging fields into rows, columns, and values, then format numbers for dynamic, expandable reports.

Modify and pivot fields in pivot tables to customize layout, refresh data after source changes, and rename value fields for clear sales and units reporting.

Learn to use slicers in pivot tables to filter data by fields like customer and region, and insert slicers via the pivot table analyze tab for easy, user-friendly filtering.

Learn how the GetPivotData function retrieves specific data from a pivot table by field and item criteria, adapts to pivot structure changes, and supports cell references.

Learn how to insert and customize charts in Excel by selecting data, choosing from recommended or all chart types, and changing chart types to best describe your data.

Learn to create bullet charts in Excel to compare actual versus target values by using a clustered column chart with a secondary axis and precise formatting.