In this empowering webcast, Excel expert David Ringstrom, CPA, discusses how to use internal control features and functions within Excel spreadsheets. He explains how several Excel features—Data Validation, Conditional Formatting, and hide and protect features—can be implemented to control users’ actions and protect your worksheets and workbooks from unauthorized changes.
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 course.
Publication Date: December 2018
Designed For
Practitioners who develop spreadsheets for others and want to learn how to prevent unauthorized changes from being made.
Topics Covered
- Future-proofing VLOOKUP by using Excel's Table feature versus referencing static ranges.
- Using Excel's VLOOKUP function to look up an item description based on an input provided by the user
- Using Data Validation to create a rule that ensures dates entered within a cell are greater than or equal to today's date
- Improving the integrity of spreadsheets with Excel's VLOOKUP function
- Mitigating the side effects of converting a table back to a normal range of cells
- Using Conditional Formatting to color-code your data, identify duplicates, and apply icons
- Toggling the Locked status of a worksheet cell on or off by way of a custom shortcut
- Using Conditional Formatting to identify unlocked cells into which data can be entered
- Creating resilient SUM functions that won't break when users insert additional rows
- Utilizing Data Validation to limit percentages entered in a cell to a specific range of values
- Preserving key formulas using hide and protect features
- Ensuring proper VLOOKUP integrity by using Data Validation to create an in-cell drop-down list
Learning Objectives
- Recognize and apply lookup formulas to find and access data automatically from lists
- Identify how hide and protect features can be used to preserve key formulas
- Describe how to use Excel's Data Validation feature to restrict data entry to a list of permissible choices
- Identify the box to create a range name in Excel to select a cell
- Describe the IFERROR function
- Recognize how to improve the integrity of SUM formulas in Excel
- Identify keyboard shortcut displays using the Format Cells dialog box
- Recognize and apply where to find various features on the Excel menu
- Describe the VLOOKUP function arguments
Level
Intermediate
Instructional Method
Self-Study
NASBA Field of Study
Computer Software & Applications (2 hours)
Program Prerequisites
Previous Experience with Excel Spreadsheets.
Advance Preparation
None
Instructor
David H. Ringstrom
David H. Ringstrom, CPA, is an author and nationally recognized instructor who teaches over 200 webinars each year. His Excel courses are based on over 30 years of consulting and teaching experience. David’s catchphrase is “Either you work Excel, or it works you,” so he focuses on what he sees users don’t, but should, know about Microsoft Excel. His goal is to empower you to use Excel more effectively. He's currently writing a book titled "Exploring Excel's Hidden Treasures". To learn more about David, you can view his
LinkedIn profile and follow him on
Facebook or
Twitter (@excelwriter).