Table of contents

1. Shortcuts
2. Formatting
3. Formulas and Drag Operations
4. Precedent and dependent tracing
5. Cell Referencing
6. Organization of HW and Exams
7. Common Errors

Links to Windows shortcuts

Excel https://support.office.com/en-us/article/keyboard-shortcuts-in-excel-1798d9d5-842a-42b8-9c99-9b7213f0040f#PickTab=Windo

Links to Mac shortcuts

Excel https://support.office.com/en-us/article/keyboard-shortcuts-in-excel-1798d9d5-842a-42b8-9c99-9b7213f0040f#PickTab=macOS
Numbers https://support.apple.com/guide/numbers/keyboard-shortcuts-tana45192591/mac

Common errors to make note of

#REF https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmWOiZXGCfo 
#NUM https://exceljet.net/formula/how-to-fix-the-num-error
#DIV/0 https://exceljet.net/formula/how-to-fix-the-div0-error
#VALUE https://exceljet.net/formula/how-to-fix-the-value-error
9b7213f0040f#PickTab=Windows

9b7213f0040f#PickTab=macOS
Changing Fonts
Tip: Stick to the same font on a single sheet

To change the font in Excel, simply select the font from the drop down menu in the Home tab

Example
This is Calibri
This is Times New Roman

DIY
Change me from Times New Roman to Comic Sans MS
Change me to Helvetica Neue

Changing Text Size or Style

Tip: Only change text style for answers or to highlight important data

Excel
To change the font size, simply change the number in the drop down menu next to the font button
To change the font style, click on B (Bold), I (Italics), U (Underline) under the font button

Examples
This sentence is bold
This sentence is italicized
This sentence is underlined
Note: You can also combine styles
This sentence is both, bold and italicized

To change colors, click on the following button and select color from drop down menu

DIY
My favorite color is blue (Change the color of the word blue to blue)
This is important (Highlight the word important)

Different Number Styles

Tip: Make sure to check the style of Number before performing any operations

In order to change a number to percentage, click on the following button in the Home tab

In order to change a number to currency, click on the following button in the Home tab (the $ sign in the photo above)

Examples
123 $ 123.00 12300%

DIY
Numeric Currency Percentage Fill out the table to the left
100
Rounding Up and Rounding Down Numbers

You can round up or round down a number by using the following button

Example Rounding Up Rounding Down

123.5345 123.535 123.534500

DIY Round Up to 1 decimal place Round Down the previous answer to 3 decimal places
12.5461

Changing Cell Color and Borders

Tip: Change cell color and introduce thicker borders to highlight answers or any other important data points

You can change cell colors by clicking on the bucket in the Home tab
Here
To change back simply click on the bucket again, and select 'No Fill'

To add a border, click on the dotted box in the Home tab

DIY
Change the color of this cell to red
Put a border on the bottom of this cell
Formulas
Two common ways of calling and using functions are:
1. Directly call the formula from from the Formulas tab
2. Directly type it into the cell

As good practice, I would always recommend calling a formula in an empty cell

In order to call formulas using the Formulas tab, first click on an empty cell. Then:

Select the required function from the drop down menu,

And finally enter references to cell containing data or directly input data into the fields

An easier and a more efficient way of calling functions is to directly type them into cells
You call functions by first putting an "=" sign (without the quotation marks) and then typing the name of the formula. Excel will usually recommend the c
Examples
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Find average 4.5 Double click on 4.5 to see the formula and inputs
Find sum 36 Double click on 36 to see the formula and inputs

Note:
Notice how I've selected the inputs in the formula above (I manually selected one cell, entered a comma, selected the next cell and so on)
There are two other ways of doing this
1. You write first_cell:last_cell within the bracket
2. You long press first cell and drag it all the way to the last cell within the bracket

DIY
Find out and implement a function to find the product of the numbers listed above
A) By calling the appropriate formula from the Formula tab
B) By directly writing into the cell

Your answer for A:

Your answer for B:

Find the sum of only the even numbers in the list above
A) Use a simple approach by only summing selected cells
B) Use the SUMIF function

Your answer for A:

Your answer for B:

Drag Operations
Imagine if you had to apply the same formula to very long rows of data cells. Won't that be an extremely annoying and laborious task?
Drag Operations allows you to quite simply "drag" a formula inputted in a cell and apply it to other pieces of data that are structured similarly

In order to apply a formula to a wide range of data:

1. Manually apply the formula to the first 1-3 pieces of data
2. Select all the cells that you have already applied the formula to (by pressing Shift + right/left button)
3. Press (left click) on the bottom right corner of the last cell to which the formula was applied
4. Drag it all the way to the end of the data (if you're doing this correctly, you should be seeing cells being highlighted as you pass through them)

Example
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
We have to find the average for every two numbers (eg.: avg(1, 2), avg(2, 3), etc.)
1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.5 6.5 7.5 8.5

DIY
Find the sum of every odd numbers, and every even numbers in the list above (HINT: use SUMIF)
Your Answer:
cel will usually recommend the closest match to what you're typing
ext cell and so on)

aborious task?
e structured similarly
you pass through them)

10

9.5
Relative References
Relative references change when a formula is copied to another cell. This is the default

Example
Quantity Price Revenue
1 1.5 1.5
2 2.5 5
3 3.5 10.5
4 4.5 18

Formula for revenue is price*quantity, so C6 is =A6*B6

Select bottom right corner of C6 and drag the formula down until C9
Notice how cell C6 references cell A6 and cell B6. Cell C9 references cell A9 and cell B9. And so on, each cell referen

This is a relative reference.

Absolute References
Absolute references, on the other hand, remain constant no matter where they are copied. You can use an absolute

Example
Miles km Conversion factor
1 1.60934 1.60934
2 3.21868
3 4.82802

Formula for km is miles*conversion factor (in km/miles). So for B22, it is A22*D22

However, if we drag this formula down, the default relative referencing will start using D23 aand D24 to find B23 an
So we must create an absolute reference to D22.
To do this, we want to "fix" the row and column reference by using a $ symbol in front of the column letter and row
B22 is now =A22*$D$22. Drag this formula down and it will produce the correct answers.

Mixed References
Sometimes, we need a mix of relative and absolute references. Specifically, in terms of "freezing" just the row or the

=A1 is a relative reference, allowing the column and row to change

=$A1 fixes the column, but allows the rows to change
=A$1 fixes the row, but allows the column to change
=$A$1 is an absolute referencing, freezing the column and row

Example: Multiplication Table

1 2 3
1 1 2 3
 2 2 4 6
3 3 6 9

DIY Find the two possible discounts for each price level

Discounts
Level Price 10% 15%
Standard $100
Premium $500
 so on, each cell references its two neighbors on the left.

You can use an absolute reference to keep a row and/or column constant.

aand D24 to find B23 and B24 respectively. This would just give us zero.

e column letter and row number.

ezing" just the row or the column.

Organizing your work
Always solve and present solutions in a logical and sequential manner
Highlight your answers by coloring or bordering the cells containing your solution
Make a note if you are filling out answers in the template provided for questions itself

Example
Note: All examples are independent of each other

Transaction Table
Transaction No. Assets Liabilities Equity
Amount Account Amount Account Amount Account
1 5000 Cash 5000 PIC
2 -2000 Cash -2000 Salary Expense
3 5000 AR 5000 Revenue
4 3000 PPE 3000 Notes Payable
Total 11000 3000 8000
Assets - Liabilities = Equity

Income Statement
Feb 1, 2020
Revenue 5000
COGS -2000
Gross Profit 3000

Salary Expense -500

D&A Expense -250
Rent Expense -100
EBIT 2150

Interest Expense -150

Tax Expense -300
Net Income 1700

Balance Sheet
Feb 1, 2020
Assets Liabilities
Current Assets Current Liabilities
Cash 5000 AP 6000
AR 2000 Total Current Liabilities 6000
Inventory 1000
Total Current Assets 8000 Long Term Debt 4000
Total Other Liabilities 4000
PPE 10000
Depreciation -1000 Total Liabilities 10000
net PPE 9000
Total Other Assets 9000 Equity
PIC 9000
Total Assets 17000 Retained Earnings -2000
Total Equity 7000

Total Liabilities + Equity 17000

Precedent Tracing
Precedent tracing is a great way to keep track of which cells were used in order to arrive at a certain answer

In Excel
Select the cell that you would like to do precedent tracing for, and then press Ctrl and [ together to see the highlighted list of preceding cells
You can then move through each cell using Enter or Tab
OR you can click "Trace Precedents" in the Formulas tab to see arrows

Example
1 2 3 4 5 6
Let's say that X = average of the first three numbers, and Y = average of the next three numbers. We need to find the result of 2X + 3Y
2 3 4 5
2X + 3Y = 19
Precedent tracing for 19 (the cells used are C12 and F12)

DIY
Try precedent tracing for cell C12

Dependent Tracing
Similar to precedent tracing, sometimes it is also very helpful to keep track of where a particular cell was used
You can do so through dependent tracing, which, as the name suggests, lets you look up cells that are dependent on a particular cell

In Excel
Select the cell that you would like to do dependent tracing for, and then press Ctrl and ] together to see the highlighted list of dependent cells
You can then move through each cell using Enter or Tab
OR you can click "Trace Dependents" in the Formulas tab to see arrows

Example
Checking cells dependent on A10 (only the answer 2 on the line below it (cell C12) is)
DIY
Try dependent tracing for cell F12
 list of preceding cells

sult of 2X + 3Y

particular cell

list of dependent cells