1. Dynamic Excel Tips & Tricks By Leslie Miller, MCE Presented to American Society of Women Accountants - Northwest Regional Conference Bellevue, WA May 31, 2008

2. Dynamic Excel Tips & Tricks • How are you at spinning plates? • Spreadsheets are too labor intensive? • Want to standardize some spreadsheet reports? • What about external data? • Do you really know the ins and outs of using the mid level or higher level functions of Excel? • Don’t have time to deal with the hyperbole of an extended class? • Here are the tools that you need to do your  job - by someone who speaks “accountant”!

3. Just Show Me! • Shortcuts • Simple macros • Subtotals • Pivot tables • Conditional formatting • Hidden sheets • Concatenating cells • Data validation • Solver • Filtering • Goal seeking

4. Basic Tools • Paste Special: • Intern error sample • Paste Links • Shortcut Macros (Auto fit) • Auditing Tool Bar

5. Basic Tools • Numbering ID • ABC-1 works • 27-ABC-1 works • 1-ABC does not • Grouping Tabs • 3D References • Hiding Gridlines using Macros • Removing Duplicates • Custom Formatting – KWH • Custom Lists • Hyperlinks (do not work with Chart Pages) • Cover Pages

6. External Data Create “Live” Dashboards using external data. Use this same concept for integrating standard monthly data.

7. This spreadsheet needs to provide more information, separate names, and additional criteria. Raw Data

8. Subtotals Be sure to sort in ascending order the column you want the first subtotals to be assigned to. Click on the + or – to show or hide the detail for each department.

9. Filtering By Department Quick Tips: You can toggle your formulas by CTRL+~.

10. Advanced Filtering Set up Criteria for Advanced Filtering By Department and by Wages over 15.00 Quick Tips: Hide those rows or columns that you do not in your view.

11. Macros Create a simple “Auto Fit” Macro Create Departmental Macros

12. Concatenating Cells Combining Cells Result

13. Pivot Tables & Charts • Quick Tips: • Excel Options • Advanced Items • Display for worksheet • No Grid Lines • No Zeros to Print

14. Conditional Formatting Highlight largest and smallest items.

15. Hidden Sheets • Excel 07: • Right mouse click on tab • Select “Hide” • Excel 03: • Go to Format • Sheet • Hide • Quick Tips: • Hold down the ALT key to adjust the size of an object and bypass the “snap to grid”.

16. Data Validation Set criteria that will be validated during input. This sheet shows those cells that do not fit the criteria.

17. Goal Seeker Quick Tips: Named Ranges will help make your formulas sensible.

18. Solver Left Brain: Logical Sequential Rational Analytical Objective Looks at parts Right Brain: Creative Artistic Colorful Verbose Random Intuitive Holistic Synthesizing Subjective Looks at wholes

19. Solver - Right Brain: You are a farmer who raises cattle and wheat on your farm. Your farm consists of 5000 acres of land usable for either wheat or cattle. You are limited to a maximum of 5,000,000 gallons of water during the year. What is the best mix of cattle and wheat to maximize your profit? REMEMBER: You can grow a partial acre of wheat but you cannot raise part of a cow! Your answers should reflect this small but vital point. • As an experienced farmer: • It takes • 10 acres to raise one head of beef. • 1/50 of an acre produces one bushel of wheat. • Current Market Price • $400.00 per head of beef. • $2.20 per bushel of wheat. • Water • One cow will drink 1500 gallons of water during its time on your farm. • One bushel of wheat requires 25 gallons of water during the growing season. • To be profitable, you must raise at least • 50 head of cattle. • 1000 acres of wheat (how many bushels is that?). Watch for glazed eyeballs…..(too many words)

20. Solver - Left Brain: Left Brain:

21. Solver - Answer

22. Custom Dashboards

23. Fiscal Year 2004 Commercial Dashboards • Fiscal Year 2005 Annual Report • Market Risk

24. CommercialProducts Idashboards.com http://www.idashboards.com/?gclid=CNPEgPPhhI8CFQibggodTFfl2Q

25. 1st Year Sales Figures • Market Distribution • Financial Summary • Our perennial 3rd Quarter boost was larger than expected contributing to an exceptionally strong year. Distribution of sales across the geographic markets looks fairly steady. • Our new product line, released this year, is early in its adoption phase. We expect to see substantial revenue contribution from these products over the next two years. Market Summary Analysis

26. Microsoft Business Scorecard Manager 2005

27. Strategy and Action • Business Performance Applications • Challenges • Solutions • Execute objectives • Articulate Strategy • Monitor Performance Against Objectives • Perform Group Analysis • Drive Informed Decisions, and • Act in Ways that Tie Back to Strategic Goals

28. Features and Benefits

29. Samples

32. Q&AThank You! Leslie Miller 509.939.7641 URL for file downloads – http://edresources.org/aswa