Blog & Excel Tips

Under a very specific set of circumstances, starting a formula with a plus causes other formula to change to R1C1 references (and don't work because they are typed in like text).

We have previously shown why, especially in South Africa, you shouldn't start an Excel formula with a +. In a recent course we found another reason that you don't use + to start an Excel formula. As a general rule just don't do it.

...sometimes you have to insert blank rows into a dataset to accommodate some other system. Perhaps your accounting system needs to have a gap between each journal entry. We look at some ways on how to insert blank rows in excel automatically.

One of the most common data cleanup issues is changing the structure of the data. Perhaps rows need to become columns and columns rows. In some cases you actually may need to turn a report back into a database..... The terminology to get right is whether you want to transpose or unpivot that data.

As you work through spreadsheets you will create links to other sheets and spreadsheets. But once it has been created you will need to know how to follow an excel link to another sheet/ spreadsheet. Otherwise you will need to remember each link and hope your memory lasts until you find it.

Excel formula to rank list with duplicates to avoid two or more items appearing with the same rank using some basic maths.

In Excel you can format a time to show the hours, minutes and seconds using the standard format options. But what is the Excel format for hundredths of seconds?

A two level axis in Excel charts allows you to show more information on the chart. For example if you want to clearly show items that are actuals versus the items that are budgets or forecasts you may want to set it up to look like this. Note that the first level shows the month name and the second level shows where the actuals and the forecasts start.