What is this course about?

In this introductory course, you learn how to summarise data with Excel by incorporating formulas, formatting, and charts and graphs. You also gain the skills to efficiently navigate and manipulate multiple spreadsheets in a workbook, optimise your worksheets using templates, graphs and formulas, and design simple-to-complex formulas by nesting Excel functions.

Who will benefit from this course?

This course is valuable for anyone who uses Microsoft Excel and needs to acquire the skills to design formulas, create and edit worksheets, and present data results.

What background do I need?

No previous experience with Excel is assumed. Familiarity working in Microsoft Windows is assumed.

How is this course different from Course 195, Course 195, Power Excel^®: Analysing Data to Make Business Decisions?

In Course 195, Power Excel^®: Analysing Data to Make Business Decisions, you learn how to leverage features of Microsoft Excel to build sophisticated spreadsheets and facilitate business decisions.

By contrast, this is an introductory course providing you with the skills to create Excel worksheets, develop formulas, and apply formatting to capture and visually present your data.

I already use Excel. Should I take this course?

Yes. Most self-taught Excel users miss many of the important and time-saving features in Excel, or they don't know how to use the best tool for the job. In this course, you learn how to apply the most powerful Excel tools used by beginner and intermediate users.

Will I learn how to acquire and manipulate non-Excel data?

Yes. You learn how to integrate data from servers, other Excel worksheets and databases. You even learn how to remove data duplicates as you organise your corporate data in Excel.

Will I learn how to chart my data?

Yes. You learn how to present your data visually, which includes determining when charts are required as well as modifying charts, chart layouts, titles and labels. Upon completion of this course, you will even be able to change your data source after formatting your chart.

I use Excel 2003. Will this course still be useful for me?

Yes. The user interface is significantly different in Office 2007; however, much of the functionality is the same in both Excel 2003 and 2007. While there are many new features in Office 2007, the basic principles of the course apply to 2003 users, as well.

I always have trouble getting my worksheets formatted properly. Will this course help me with that?

Yes. Formatting can be a difficult task in Excel with so many formatting options. In this course, you learn basic cell formatting-including text, numbers, currency and decimal places. You also learn how to efficiently format cells and ranges of cells, such as conditional formatting, cell borders, fonts and colors.

Will I learn advanced features of Excel in this course, such as PivotTables?

This course does provide a basic overview of PivotTables. However, for in-depth coverage of PivotTables, as well as for coverage of PivotCharts, the Solver, and other advanced features, please refer to Course 195, Power Excel: Analysing Data to Make Business Decisions.

I've often found formulas a bit daunting. Will we work with formulas in this course?

Yes. Using formulas properly is a core piece of this course. You learn how to create formulas from scratch as well as use the Expression Builder. You learn how to use many of the built-in functions in Excel, including VLOOKUP, MIN, MAX, COUNT and many others. You also create inline functions for more complex tasks in Excel.

I've heard that Excel has tables. Will we learn how to use these?

Yes. Excel tables are a powerful tool in data analysis. In this course, you learn how to import raw data and convert that into a table. You also learn how to manipulate the imported table, including using the sort, filter and add new features of Excel.

Will I learn how to create and use macros?

Yes. Macro recording and running macros from the Ribbon are covered in this course. To learn how to use the code generated by the macro recorder, please see Course 209, VBA Programming: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction.

How much time is spent on each topic?

How much of this course is hands-on?

Throughout this course, exercises provide you with experience applying Excel features, formulas and formatting. Hands-on exercises include:

• Navigating the Excel interface for efficiency and speed
• Formatting existing data for greater visual impact
• Designing formulas to manipulate, summarise and refine raw data
• Troubleshooting and tracing formula errors
• Charting your data for clearer presentation
• Recording macros to streamline tasks
• Linking worksheet with references

How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses?

The following Learning Tree courses may also be of interest:

• Course 195, Power Excel^®: Analysing Data to Make Business Decisions, is the next step after completing this course. In Course 195, you use Excel techniques to build sophisticated spreadsheets to facilitate business decisions.
• In Course 970, Microsoft Access^®: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction, you learn how to utilise Microsoft Access 2007 to design robust database applications.
• In Course 194, Hands-On Visio^®: Designing Effective Visual Solutions, you gain the skills to create professional diagrams for a wide range of applications with Visio.
• Course 209, VBA Programming: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction, provides the skills to develop customised solutions using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).
• Course 972, Microsoft Office^®: Streamlining Tasks for Improved Productivity, offers the skills to leverage the extensive features in Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Course 1361, Microsoft Excel^®: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction, covers the innovative and sophisticated features of Microsoft Outlook.
• In Course 146, Introduction to Microsoft^® Tools for Business Intelligence: Hands-On, you learn how to achieve an end-to-end business intelligence solution using the Microsoft toolset.