I was recently helping someone with a budget which they had built vertically, with the months going down the sheet. They then asked to display it horizontally, with the months going across the page. In the latest version of Excel this is straightforward.
Tag Archives: functions
Financial Year Month in a Pivot Table
Create new column
I wrote an article years ago explaining how to use a related table to handle financial years in Excel Pivot Tables. You can read the article here. If you only want the months in financial year order you can just add an extra column to your table.
Convert text time to real time in Excel
Three different ways
I recently downloaded an example file for an Excel challenge. The challenge had a lot of things to do but they were all based on a Timestamp column that had text instead of times.
Find the Closest Value in Excel
Dynamic array solution
On LinkedIn recently someone posted an Excel formula solution lamenting that it was long and complex. That of course was a challenge to me to simplify it.
Back when text was just text
Text functions revisited
20 years ago my last article for the Accountants Weekly magazine was published. They spelled my name wrong after getting it right for all the other articles, maybe that’s why I stopped.
Twenty Years Ago – Top 10 Excel Functions
How things change
My second article in Accountants Weekly was published 20 years ago today and it was Top 10 Functions for Accountants.
Adding Time in Excel
There's a function for that
If you need to add time to an existing time then you need to learn about the TIME function.
Confirming Names are Unique in Excel
COUNTIFS to the rescue
If you have a list of first names and last names and you want to make sure the list has no duplicates you can use a formula to confirm the names are unique.
Make Sure All Input Cells Have an Entry in Excel
COUNTIF to the rescue
When creating an input range you may need to validate input cells. That may mean ensuring all input cells have an entry. Here’s how.
Australian Financial Year Quarter Formula
Another CHOOSE solution
The Australian Financial Year has its challenges. Working out the Quarter number based on a date has a few solutions. Here’s another one.
Financial Model Allocation Technique
Helper cells to the rescue
In a financial model you often have different types of allocations that start at different times. Creating a short formula to handle this flexibility can be a challenge. Here is one solution.
Single formula for a Column
It can done
In Excel your goal should be to have a single formula in a table column that can be copied down the whole column.
Greyed Out AutoSum Icon In Excel
Get around a sheet protection issue
When you protect a sheet in Excel many icons are turned off (greyed out), including the ever popular AutoSum icon. That’s when it pays to know keyboard shortcuts.
Treating text as zero in Excel
Let’s say you are getting inputs you can’t control and in some cases you get text and others you get numbers. You want the numbers, but you need to treat text as zero. Here’s the easy way to do that.
Sequences of a Repeating Series of Numbers in Excel
MOD and SEQUENCE used together
In budgets, forecasts, financial models and even reporting models repeating the numbers 1 to 12 can be useful. The SEQUENCE and MOD functions can make it easy and scalable.
Prefix Numbers Conditionally in Excel
Conditional Format to the rescue
Let’s say we need to put a prefix in front of a number to identify the period being used. Whether that be year, month or week.
Validate a whole number in Excel
Very INTeresting
If you need to confirm a number is a whole number you can use a function with a short name.
The New LET Function in Excel
LET there be rock!
If you have the subscription version of Excel you may have the new LET function. This function lets you capture variables within a formula. Let’s see an example.
Time to Play with Dynamic Arrays
Let play time begin
Many things that were hard or complex are now much simpler. Creating dynamic drop down lists based on previous selections used to be tricky in Excel. Dynamic arrays make it straightforward.
The End of SUMPRODUCT
Dynamic arrays will carry it off in to the sunset
The SUMPRODUCT function has been my favourite function for about 20 years. It is so flexible. Soon it will be redundant thanks to dynamic arrays.
Adding a message to grouping icons
A SUBTOTAL trick
It is best practice to use grouping to hide and unhide rows in Excel. I recently saw a technique that also displays a message.
Extracting End of Quarter Dates in Excel
Another MOD solution
A few years ago I wrote an article on extracting the end of quarter date from a date. I recently had a query that was related and I tweaked the previous solution to solve it.
Indian Financial Year Month Number in Excel
The Indian Financial Year start on 1 April. Like Australia its Financial Year month numbers can be painful. Here is a formula to sort them out.
Sometimes you need a conditional AVERAGE
AVERAGEIF to the rescue
There are times when estimating numbers that an average is a good message to use.
Issue with extracting a sheet name in Excel
Single sheet file issue
I wrote about a formula to extract the sheet name many years ago, but I just found an issue with it. Click here to see older blog post.
Free Webinar Recording – Excel Format as Table Feature
Feedback score 95% based on 58 responses
In March 2020 I presented a session on Excel’s Format as Table Feature. I covered it’s advantages and how to use it to improve your Excel files.
The detailed pdf manual and example file can be downloaded using the button below. Content is listed below the video.
CPD note – if you are claiming CPD for watching this recording you need to keep your own records. People who attend the live sessions receive an annual listing of attendances.
In this session you will learn all about Excel’s formatted tables.
Many of Excel’s features and functions work seamlessly with formatted tables. They can help you improve the structure and reliability of your spreadsheet files.
Formatted tables can allow you to create powerful reports like those in a relational databases.
Topics covered
- advantages and limitations of formatted tables
- keyboard shortcuts
- using formatted tables with formulas
- solutions to some of the limitations of formatted tables
- using range names with formatted tables
- using formatted tables with data validations
- creating a running total
- using PivotTables
- Relationships (Data tab)
As always I will share a few other tips.
Weeks and days calculation in Excel
In Excel we tend to work in years, months or days. There may be times when you want to work in weeks.
Free Webinar Recording – Excel Budget Challenge Solution
Feedback score 92% based on 83 responses
In February 2020 I reviewed my solution to an Excel Budget Challenge from late 2018. This included some advanced Excel budget techniques.
The detailed pdf manual and example file can be downloaded using the button below. Content listed below the video.
CPD note – if you are claiming CPD for watching this recording you need to keep your own records. People who attend the live sessions receive an annual listing of attendances.
This session includes a lot of useful content and it brings together a number of different techniques. The content is worthy of a paid session but since it was a public challenge I am presenting the session for free.
The materials includes the challenge documentation, the pdf manual and the solution file. I assume you have read the documentation. You also receive the blank Excel file if you want to create your own solution.
Techniques/topics covered include
- using INDEX-MATCH (better alternative to VLOOKUP)
- 3-D formulas to summarise all report sheets and techniques to make using them easy
- using a reporting template to speed up creation
- validations
- extracting sheet names
- automating reports
Another plural technique for Excel
Out of LEFT field
Recently I found an interesting way to handle plurals in Jordan Goldmeier’s book on dashboards.
Free Webinar Recording – Date and Time Calculations
Feedback score 95% based on 61 responses
In January 2020 I looked at solving some of the frustrations date and time calculations can cause in Excel.
The detailed pdf manual and example file can be downloaded using the button below. Content listed below the video.
CPD note – if you are claiming CPD for watching this recording you need to keep your own records. People who attend the live sessions receive an annual listing of attendances.
Discover the functions that handle different types of calculations.
See how to avoid some of the frustrations that dates and times can cause. Topics covered include:
- adding months to a date
- formulas for the first and last day of the month
- using today’s date in a formula
- handling days of the week calculations
- automating dates in headings
- how to avoid the traps in time calculations
- remove times from dates
- generating random dates (for testing)
As always there will be a few other tips and tricks shared during the session.