Excel Speed Tips

Author: David H. Ringstrom

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 explains a variety of Excel’s time-saving features and shares helpful tips, such as how to filter data faster, streamline repetitive tasks, create keyboard shortcuts, and access folders and workbooks easily.

David demonstrates every technique at least twice: 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 webcast.

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.

Publication Date: June 2020

Designed For
Practitioners who may benefit from using Excel more effectively and efficiently.

Topics Covered

• Restoring "classic" Print Preview functionality in Excel 2010 and later
• Exploring the Forecast Sheet feature in Excel 2016 and later, which can extrapolate trends based on existing data in your spreadsheets
• Calculating the principal portion of a loan paid during a specific time period by way of the CUMPRINC function
• Using the Summary Report aspect of Scenario Manager to compare different scenarios side by side
• Using Excel's OFFSET function to dynamically reference data from one or more accounting periods
• Employing the SUMIF function to sum values related to multiple instances of criteria you specify
• Enabling a hidden keyboard shortcut for toggling the Freeze Panes feature on or off
• Utilizing the New Window and Arrange Windows commands to view two different worksheets simultaneously
• Unearthing the key step in being able to format subtotaled cells without affecting hidden rows
• Exploring the Forecast Sheet feature in Excel 2016 and later, which can extrapolate trends based on existing data in your spreadsheets
• Exploring Excel's Scenario Manager feature 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
• Comparing Center Across Selection to Merged cells for centering text across two or more columns

Learning Objectives

• Recognize how to avoid retyping text by using Excel features and worksheet functions
• Identify and create your own keyboard shortcuts to customize Excel and enable hidden features
• Identify the mouse action that reveals a hidden menu for moving columns/rows
• Differentiate how to easily compile large lists of data by filtering vs. sorting

Level
Basic

Instructional Method
Self-Study

NASBA Field of Study
Computer Software & Applications (2 hours)

Program Prerequisites
A basic knowledge of Excel.

Advance Preparation
None