Course Description
You’ll learn from Excel expert David Ringstrom, CPA, how to implement a variety of techniques to create spreadsheets that are interactive, accurate, and user friendly. In this course, David shows you how to use Excel’s form controls and features to control the data input of other users, simplify data entry, preserve key formulas, minimize spreadsheet maintenance, and more.
David demonstrates every technique at least twice: first, on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps, and second, in the 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 course as well as in his detailed handouts. David also provides an Excel workbook that includes most of the examples he uses during the course.
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.
Topics Covered:
- Minimizing ongoing spreadsheet maintenance with Excel’s Table feature.
- Using form controls to simplify data entry as well as to control the input of other users.
- Using Excel’s Go to Special feature to easily select form controls you wish to remove en masse.
- Preserving key formulas using hide and protect features.
- Creating an input rule that requires names to be entered in a last-name, first-name format.
- Limiting the number of characters a user can enter in a worksheet cell.
- Specifying a range of whole numbers a user can enter in a worksheet cell.
- Streamlining data entry in Excel with the CheckBox form control.
- Limiting users to a single choice by way of Excel’s OptionButton form control.
- Avoiding merging cells—use the Text Box feature for paragraphs of text instead.
- Learning how the Table feature allows you to transform filtering tasks.
- Using the ComboBox form control to create a searchable drop-down list.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify how to create spreadsheets that are interactive, accurate, and user friendly.
- Apply Excel’s Table feature to minimize spreadsheet maintenance.
- Define how to convert Excel 97–2003 files to modern workbook formats.
Review our course policies and procedures page for further information