Most small-business owners use Microsoft Excel for some aspect of running their business. Unfortunately, they may only employ a fraction of the function that could help them analyze data in their company.
Here are 10 shortcuts that may be able to help your small business:
1. Quick Analysis
This may be one of the easiest hacks, and it's almost never used. Highlight any cells on a spreadsheet and then click the Quick Analysis button that appears on the bottom right of the selected cells. From here, Excel will do a very raw analysis of the data using formatting, charts, totals or tables. It can be a great way to understand what the data means in an instant
Here are instructions on how to use this hack.
2. Goal seek
This is a what-if analytical hack to determine one variable when you know all the other data in an equation. For example, if you need to borrow money and know the amount, the term and how much you can afford to pay every month, Goal seek can help you determine the interest rate.
Here are other uses of this hack.
3. If
This is a way to display results if certain conditions in the data are met. It can be used to customize the content of specific cells depending on certain conditions in other worksheet cells. The form of Excel's IF function is: =IF(logic_test, value_if true, value_if_false). If the condition is true, the function can execute an action identified.
Here are more specific ways to use this hack.
4. Min and Max
A lot of analyses may look for the high and low values in any set of data. This hack can help identify each one, and may be easily used by specifying the set of data that needs to be analyzed.
Here are ways to construct this hack.
5. Filter
This hack can display only the data that meet criteria you specify and hide rows that don’t. After the data is filtered, it can be copied, edited or formatted without rearranging or moving it. This function is accessible on the data tab in the sort and filter group. Remember that filters are cumulative, so each additional filter is based on the current results and reduces the subset of data displayed.
Here are more details on this hack.
6. Conditional formatting
This hack allows the user to highlight certain data in the spreadsheet when various conditions are met. It is a bit complicated to use, but worth learning it. It can be accessed from the home tab. This hack highlights the data in a spreadsheet with the desired color or font when set conditions are met.
Here are details on how to use this hack.
7. Auto fill
This may be the most time-saving function in Excel, since patterns are often used in spreadsheet. With this hack, when Excel detects a pattern in initial data entry, it fills in the rest, even across rows and columns. The fill function is a black square in the lower-right corner of the selected cell or range. This feature can either fill the same value into every cell or fill in a sequence like days of the week, months or another numerical pattern.
Here are more details on this hack.
8. The dollar sign
In Excel, when utilizing the copy and paste function from one cell to another, the cell references change, relative to the new position in the spreadsheet. By using a dollar sign before each element (for example, $A$1), the cell reference remains absolute on that cell and does not move. F4 can also be used as a shortcut to put the dollar signs in their appropriate place.
Here are more details on this hack.
9. Addition of multiple rows or columns
You may constantly add new rows or columns to expand your spreadsheet. Adding these one at a time can become tedious and time-consuming. To do it easily, insert one row, then press F4 to insert multiple blank rows or columns.
Here are more details on this hack.
10. Concatenation
This can be useful when adding two or more text strings into one. It can put first and last names together or combine other elements, which can be beneficial in data analysis. For example, using the formula =Concatenate(B2, " ", C2) joins three things: a string in cell B2, a space character and a value in cell C2.
Here are details on this hack.
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