When dealing with data lists in Excel it is a common requirement to extract the unique entries from a field. Excel has a built-in feature that will create a unique list.
Monthly Archives: February 2013
Using wildcard characters in Excel functions
Handling missing characters
Using wildcard characters allows you to create flexible calculations. When used with the SUMIF and SUMIFS functions you can include quite complex criteria.
Stop rows being inserted or deleted in Excel
An array trick
If you have a range in Excel where you don’t want someone to insert or delete rows you can protect the sheet to stop them. If you can’t or don’t want to protect the sheet then there is a technique you can apply to stop rows being inserted and deleted.
What to look out for in Excel’s VLOOKUP function
An easy fix for a common problem
The VLOOKUP function is a popular method for extracting data from data lists. Its effectiveness depends on the quality of the data in the data list. I have had many questions from CPAs over the years asking why their VLOOKUP functions don’t work, when it all looks ok.