Course info

In this presentation, author and Excel expert David H. Ringstrom, CPA, will guide participants through various essential Excel skills. David will start from the beginning with Excel with topics such as saving Excel files, entering text into worksheet cells, and managing column widths. He'll demonstrate the nuances that can arise when formatting numbers and worksheet cells, copying formulas and entering dates. David will build a loan amortization table from scratch, which enables him to cover a wide range of Excel topics and features. You'll learn how to calculate loan payments with the PMT worksheet function, master Excel's order of operations, and see how the F4 shortcut key can toggle cell addresses in formulas between absolute, mixed, and relative references. Other techniques include the AutoSum feature and making use of the Freeze Panes feature. Attendees will gain practical knowledge and tips to enhance their Excel proficiency and efficiency. 

David is the author of “Microsoft Excel 365 for Dummies”, “Exploring Microsoft Excel’s Hidden Treasures”, and has written or co-authored six other books. He demonstrates every technique at least twice: first, on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps, and second, in the subscription-based Excel for Microsoft 365. David draws your attention to any differences in Excel 2021, 2019 or 2016 during the presentation and in his detailed handouts. The handouts include an Excel workbook with most of the examples he uses during his demonstrations. 

Excel for Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based product that receives periodic feature updates. Conversely, perpetually licensed versions have year numbers in their names and do not receive any feature updates.

Who should attend:

Professionals seeking to use Microsoft Excel more effectively.

Topics typically covered:

• Learning about the different types of files you can create in Excel.
• Freezing a row or column position within by creating a mixed cell reference.
• Formatting numbers using Accounting, Currency, and Comma styles—plus adjusting decimal display.
• Avoiding century confusion when filling dates in Excel
• Understanding how deleting worksheets affects your ability to undo any previous actions in Excel.
• Most features and functions work in Excel for Mac as well but expect differences.
• Preventing errors from the start by choosing from thousands of free Excel spreadsheet templates.
• Using the Fill Handle to extend formulas with relative references and auto-incrementing values in a column.
• Managing column widths within your spreadsheets.
• Entering, editing, and clearing worksheet text—plus how cell entries behave when content overlaps.
• Utilizing the PMT worksheet function to calculate loan payment amounts.
• Contrasting using menu commands and keyboard shortcuts for applying formatting.