Working Smarter With Excel 2007: Tore Søfting

Tore Søfting:
Working
Smarter
With
Excel 2007
Working smarter with Excel 2009
Table of contents
Table of contents ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 4
What is new in Excel 2007 ....................................................................................................................... 5
News..................................................................................................................................................... 5
New user interface .......................................................................................................................... 5
New file types .................................................................................................................................. 5
New functions ................................................................................................................................. 6
Improved graphics ........................................................................................................................... 6
Conditional formatting .................................................................................................................... 6
The Basics ................................................................................................................................................ 7
Navigation ............................................................................................................................................ 7
Selection ............................................................................................................................................... 7
Smart summing-up ............................................................................................................................... 8
Copying formulas ................................................................................................................................. 8
Adjusting column width (and row height) for multiple columns ......................................................... 9
Automatic cell formatting .................................................................................................................... 9
The right mouse button ..................................................................................................................... 10
List functions ......................................................................................................................................... 11
Freeze column headings .................................................................................................................... 11
Repeat headings on print ................................................................................................................... 11
Sorting ................................................................................................................................................ 12
Subtotals ............................................................................................................................................ 12
Filter ................................................................................................................................................... 13
Advanced filter ................................................................................................................................... 14
Identifying and removing duplicates from a list ............................................................................... 14
Some easy-to.use functions .................................................................................................................. 16
The IF-function ................................................................................................................................... 16
The SUMIF-function ........................................................................................................................... 17
Useful functionality in Excel .................................................................................................................. 18
Validation and protection .................................................................................................................. 18
Validation ........................................................................................................................................... 18
Protection........................................................................................................................................... 19
Output validation ............................................................................................................................... 20
Conditional formatting ....................................................................................................................... 20
Using the IF-function to highlight cells .............................................................................................. 21
Pivot table .......................................................................................................................................... 21
Other useful functions........................................................................................................................... 22
VLOOKUP - Vertical lookup ................................................................................................................ 22
HLOOKUP - Horizontal lookup............................................................................................................ 22
PMT .................................................................................................................................................... 24
SUMPRODUCT ....................................................................................................................................... 24
Array formulas ....................................................................................................................................... 25
“Straight” array formulas ................................................................................................................... 25
Conditional Array Formulas ............................................................................................................... 25
When should I use array formulas, and when should I use Pivot Tables? .................................... 26
D-functions ............................................................................................................................................ 27
DSUM, DAVERAGE, DMAX,DMIN , etc. .............................................................................................. 27
Other ribbon-based tools. ..................................................................................................................... 28
www.excelkurs.com Page 2
Goal Seek............................................................................................................................................ 28
Solver.................................................................................................................................................. 28
Scenarios ............................................................................................................................................ 30
Consolidation ..................................................................................................................................... 31
Single value and dual value table ....................................................................................................... 32
Importing data from the Internet and from other applications ........................................................ 32
Importing live data from the Internet ................................................................................................ 34
Split cell content................................................................................................................................. 34
Retrieving information from inside a text string................................................................................ 35
Text to columns .................................................................................................................................. 35
Hiding error messages........................................................................................................................ 37
Tracing relations in formulas ............................................................................................................. 38
New and useful features in Excel 2007 ................................................................................................. 39
New functions .................................................................................................................................... 39
Improved graphics ............................................................................................................................. 39
Conditional formatting .................................................................................................................. 40
Graphics rendering ........................................................................................................................ 40
Some keyboard shortcuts...................................................................................................................... 41
Finally – how to get help with Excel-problems .................................................................................... 42
The built in help system in Excel ........................................................................................................ 42
Internet resources .............................................................................................................................. 42
Websites............................................................................................................................................. 42
Practice files .......................................................................................................................................... 42
Copyright © ........................................................................................................................................... 42
Introduction
Ever since the computerized worksheet was hatched as a concept in the late seventies, and the first
worksheet application became commercially available in 1979 (VisiCalc), it has become the
foundation for all financial calculation for companies, public institutions and private citizens all over
the world. It is indeed hard to fathom advanced calculations without the use of an electronic
worksheet. And, with an estimated worldwide market share of around 90%, a worksheet is in most
cases an Excel worksheet.
This compendium has been developed as a reference tool for Excel training beyond the fundamental
level. The content of the compendium mostly follows the progress of the course in its description of
the cases. This is no complete textbook for learning Excel; rather, it is a collection of cases for those
who are already literate in the basic use of Excel.
For those of you who want to immerse yourselves in Excel, there are several excellent books
available. I have listed some of these elsewhere in this publication.
The various versions of Excel in use today do not differ too much form each other, except for the
2007-version. If you are running Excel 2000, 2002, or 2003, there are only marginal differences. But,
if you are running 2007, you know that there are serious differences. The working of the worksheet
itself is not much different, but the interface is totally changed. Gone are the menus and the
toolbars. In their place we have gotten The Ribbon. The result is that the first few days (or weeks)
running 2007 will consist of a lot of searching for the various functions. But – having conquered the
principles of the placement of functions – things should start working very smoothly. And – after still
more time, one tends to find those earlier versions somewhat old fashioned.
Norwegian vs. American/English versions.

These two language versions have few problems communication with one another. A model built in a
Norwegian version can be opened in an American/English version without any problems, and vice
versa. There are two things we should be aware of when typing a formula manually, and that is the
use of symbols in the formula, and the names of the functions. The American/English version uses
comma (,) to separate sections of the formula, while a Norwegian, or metric European version uses
semicolon (;). So, a formula that looks like this SUM(A1:A10,B1:B10) in an American/English version
would look like this SUM (A1:A10;B1:B10) in a metric European version. Also, the function names are
different, and this has to be taken into consideration when creating formulas in the respective
versions.
You can download practice files for this compendium from my website, www.excelkurs.com .
Asker, November 2009
Tore Søfting
tore.softing@excelkurs.com
www.excelkurs.com
What is new in Excel 2007

This compendium was originally developed for Excel 2003 and older versions of Excel. As part of
updating the compendium to match the 2007-version, I’d like to mention some of the highlights of
the new version, and saying a few words on how to find your way around it
News
The new stuff in 2007 can be summed up as:
 New user interface
 New file types
 New functions
 New functionality
New user interface

At first sight, the new user interface looks very familiar, symbols and buttons are immediately
recognizable, When you start using the program, things tend to become a little more challenging;
placement and grouping of the same functions is totally new. The old and familiar toolbars and manu
bar has been replaced by what is officially called The Ribbon. There is no simple “translation-key” you
can use to understand the placement of the various functions in Excel 2007. The Office Team has
more or less started with clean sheets when designing the new interface. There is only one way to
handle the new interface, and that is - of course – by working with it and using it. Once familiar with
it, the new interface will most likely feel very natural and logical, while the old interface feels exactly
that way; old.
Microsoft has provided transition applications that show us where functions are located in the new
interface. I have linked to these on www.excelkurs,com . Scroll down to the paragraph Office/Excel
2007, and click the links for Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Access!
New file types

Office 2007 marks the transition to new and improved file types. The most obvious property of the
new file type is the size, typically identical workbooks take up half as much space in 2007-format as
they do in 2003-format. Other notable improvements are improved stability, and better provisions
for exchanging data with other systems. As usual when new file types are introduced, we have to
deal with compatibility challenges vs older Excel versions, meaning that an Excel 2007-file cannot be
opened in 2003 without a conversion add-in, and even then new functions and functionality will not
work. The only 100% safe way to secure backwards compatibility is to save files in 2003-format from
Excel 2007. But, by doing this, we also miss out on the improvements of the 2007-file type. So, it is
important to think this through and do “the right thing” in your organization.
Excel 2007 has a built-in compatibility checker, so you will be notified of compatibility issues when
you save a 2004-workbook in 2003 file format.
The new file types are recognizable on a modified icon, and the new file extension (for standard
workbooks), .xlsx (vs .xls in 2003)
Another important, and useful, feature in Office 2007, is the ability to save documents in pdf-format.
This feature is not activated upon installation of Office 2007, you have to go through an initiation
procedure to activate this feature (Office button – Save as - Search for other file types).
Another notable feature of the new file format in Excel 2007 is the size of the sheet:
Excel 2003: 256 columns 65 536 rows

Excel 2007: 16 384 columns 1 048 576 rows
This is great news for all of you working with analysis of large data volumes, for most others it
probably does not matter much.
New functions
Excel 2007 is equipped with a number of new functions. The most notable are:
Name Description
IFERROR Simplifies handling of error messages in formulas
AVEREAGEIF Calculates averages when a condition is met
AVERAGEIFS Calculates averages when multiple conditions are met
SUMIFS Sums when multiple conditions are met
COUNTIFS Counts items when multiple conditions are met
Improved graphics
Things tend to look better with every new version, and Office 2007 is no exception. Graphical
renderings look much better now, making older versions look a little “home-made”.
Conditional formatting
Conditional formatting is a well-known feature from older versions of Excel, and this tool has been
extensively re-worked for 2007, providing a vast array of visualization options for your Excel
worksheets. Here is an example:
Sales Sales Sales Sales

127 935 127 935 127 935 127 935
202 651 202 651 202 651 202 651
238 567 238 567 238 567 238 567
127 101 127 101 127 101 127 101
192 267 192 267 192 267 192 267
150 504 150 504 150 504 150 504
225 494 225 494 225 494 225 494
162 690 162 690 162 690 162 690
221 378 221 378 221 378 221 378
The Basics
It is very important to use the basic functionality of Excel correctly in order to work rationally. The
typical participant on this course is an experienced Excel user who may use the application for quite
complicated calculations. However, my experience tells me that the same user does not always use
the smartest ways when it comes to the basic functionality of Excel. The following describes a
collection of basic techniques that should speed up your use of Excel, even if you are an experienced
user.
Navigation
Everybody knows we can click the cursor into any position in the worksheet. Instead of clicking, we
may use the keyboard for much quicker navigation.
Jump to A1:
Wherever the cursor might be located in the worksheet – jump to A1 by pressing Ctrl + Home.
If we use only the Home

command, the cursor moves
horizontally to column A
Similarly you can navigate within your tables like this:
From B2 to B9 (next break in the series) using Ctrl + (arrow down), and from A6 to G6 (next break in
the series), Ctrl (right arrow)
This is particularly useful when

you have to move the cursor
greater distances.
Selection
Selection and navigation are
closely linked. Selection is done from the keyboard by pressing the Shift key while moving the cursor
by means of the navigation commands. All navigation commands can be combined with Shift,
thereby enabling selection, for example:
If you want to select the whole table (the area A1:G9) when the cursor is located in G9, you press
Ctrl+ Shift +Home, and presto, the table is selected.
Alternatively we may use the

command Ctrl A to select the
whole table (when the cursor
is located inside the table).
The first use of Ctrl A will
select the table; the second
use of Ctrl A will select the
whole sheet.
You may practice this by using

other keyboard commands
for selecting parts of a table!
Smart summing-up
We all know Excel is clever when it comes to summing up numbers, but do you know that Excel can
sum up this way:
In this case we want the table

summed both horizontally and
vertically, in other words we are
going to make 13 formulas. We can
create a formula in B9 and auto-fill
it horizontally, and we can create a
formula in G2 and auto-fill it
vertically. But, we can do it even
quicker:
Select the range (or table) to be

summed up, including the blank
column to the right of the table – G2:G8, and the blank row below the table - B2:G9
One click on the Auto Sum Button

will create the 13 formulas
instantly. You tell Excel whether you
want to sum up the table
horizontally, vertically or both ways
by selecting the empty column to
the right or the empty row below
the table.
Copying formulas
Instead of creating formulas one by one, we can use the Auto-fill function to copy a formula from one
cell to several other cells. The vertical copying (or Auto fill) is normally accomplished even quicker by
double clicking the Auto Fill handle instead of grabbing ahold of it and dragging it. This is particularly
useful when you want to auto fill a formula vertically

over a large number of rows. If you have tried this you
will know that you will often end up several hundred
rows down on the sheet, and then you have to reverse
your motion, and so on. This won’t happen if you
double click as Excel will only auto fill as far down as
there are corresponding cells to the left of the
formula.
Notice that the auto-fill stops if there is a breach in

the series –that is an empty cell in the closest column
on the left.
Adjusting column width (and row height) for multiple columns

By selecting all columns (or only the columns that are to be adjusted) you can give them the same
width by dragging on one column, or you can automatically adjust them according to the size of the
content by double clicking (Auto Fit
function).
If you drag – left or right – in the indicated

location, the selected columns will get the
same width.
Automatic cell formatting

Initially a cell in Excel has no particular formatting. When we type something into a cell, Excel will
interpret this and apply the formatting it deems correct. This works like a charm 99% of the time, but
there are occasions where undesired formatting is applied, thereby making problems for us.
Example: We have a reference number like this:

30-8. If we enter this into a cell, it will be
transformed into 30. August.
As we understand, the entry is interpreted as a

date, and the cell is formatted accordingly. That
gives us two challenges:
How do we prevent this from happening, and

how do we get rid of the date formatting of this
cell?
Prevention:
We can either:
Pre-format the cell as Text, or
Type an apostrophe (‘) before we enter whatever
needs entering. The apostrophe (‘) will format the
content to Text.
Removal:
We can apply another format, or remove both content and format (Home – Editing – Clear – Clear
All)
The right mouse button

Experienced users are well familiarized with the right mouse button. In any case, I take this
opportunity to remind you of it. Instead of searching for solutions on a number of possible locations
on the ribbon, we can simply point to “the problem” and get a limited number of choices by right-
clicking. An example: You may wonder whether you can minimize The Ribbon. You get the answer
when you point to the ribbon
and right-click:
List functions
A list in Excel-is a collection of data organized in such a way that various tools and functions in Excel
can be applied to it.
Characteristics of a list:
 Each column has a heading
 The heading is formatted different from the content(for example bold)
 Preferably nothing above the list itself
 No blank rows or columns
 No information located to the right (or the left) of the list
Practice file: Ordrer.xls
Freeze column headings

What happened to the column heading when you scrolled down your worksheet? Excel 2007 offers
some new ways to freeze the headings. You can find the alternatives under View – Window – Freeze
panes
Repeat headings on print

Here we have the same problem, but an entirely different solution. Since this is related to the print
format, you point to Page Layout – Page Setup – Print titles, place your cursor in the field Rows to
repeat at top .and
click on row 1 in the
worksheet. If your
table is too wide for
the sheet you are
printing on, you can
also repeat the key-
column on the left
by placing your
cursor in the field
Columns to repeat
at left and clicking
on the column(-s)
you want to have
repeated.
Sorting
Located in Home – Editing – Sort & Filter (Also in Data - Sort & Filter – Sort)
We select the Sorting Key by placing the cursor in the column we wish to sort by, and then clicking
the sorting buttons to sort the list in ascending or descending order.
Note! Do not select the whole column we want to sort by! If we do, we risk sorting only the selected
column, thereby messing up our list totally.
Excel through version 2003 can sort by up to three simultaneous keys, while Excel 2007 has an
unlimited number of
keys available.
If you want to sort by

another system than
alphabetically or
numerically top to
bottom or bottom to
top, you can click the
Order dropdown menu
on the sort setup dialog.
This option gives you
access to all your
Custom Lists, and they
can be used as sorting
keys.
Subtotals
Located in Data – Outline -
Subtotals
Practice file: Pivot og
delsammendrag.xls
We have a very quick and
easy way of extracting
information from a large
list by using the tool
Subtotals. Point your
pointer to Data – Subtotals
to use this tool. In this case,
we have asked for a sum of
the columns “Antall”, “Brutto pris” and “Netto pris” at every change of “Selger”.
The Subtotal-function groups the salespersons and totals their sales :
By clicking the
numbers (1, 2, 3)
in the top left
corner we can
change the
detailing of the
numbers. If we
want to remove
the subtotals we
point to Tools –
Subtotals and
select Remove all.
Note! Before
applying subtotals
to a list, we have
to sort it by the
key we want to
subtotal by, in this
case ”Selger”.
The Subtotals-tool works fine with limited amounts of data, but tends to be very slow executing
larger volumes. Some testing on a data list with 85 000 records shows that generating subtotals, and
changing subtotal options can take 2 . 3 minutes. Generating and changing a pivot table on the same
data takes no measurable time at all.
Filter
Located in Home – Editing – Sort &
Filter (and in Data – Sort & Filter –
Filter)
Earlier versions of Excel used the
term Auto filter. Functionality of
the filter has been vastly improved
in the 2007 version, and the term is
now simply filtering. Filtering
makes it very easy to filter out
records we have no interest in
seeing – in order to see those that
are of interest to us.
The procedure is as follows:

Place your cursor inside the list,
point to Home – Editing – Sort &
Filter, and filtering buttons will be
placed at the top of each column.
Using the Auto filter is simple and intuitive. , we just deselect or select the records we want to leave
visible. We can combine as many conditions as we need to in order to secure the desired result.
Advanced filter
Located in Data – Sort & filter - Advanced
In earlier versions of Excel we had to resort to the Advanced filter function ever so often. As
described above, the functionality of the Auto filter has been expanded so much that we only very
rarely should have to use the advanced filter. Hence, I will limit my coverage of the advanced filter to
saying that it should be used when or if the desired results are not achieved by the Auto filter.
Identifying and removing duplicates from a list

Practice file: Liste med dubletter.xls
Located in Data – Data tools – Remove duplicates
Many Excel users are familiar with the task of “washing” a customer list (or other data list) that may
have been exported from the CRM-system. How can we automate the process of removing
duplicates from such a list? If we have a hundred records we may just handle this manually, by first
sorting, and then going through the list. If we have a few thousand records, we can’t do that.
Earlier versions of Excel had no dedicated tool for this, and we had to combine various other
functions and tools to accomplish this.
Excel 2007 is equipped with a built-in tool designated to do just this. After locating (Data – Data tools
– Remove duplicates) the function and starting it, we get this dialog:
Using the
dialog, we tick
off the
parameters, or
column
headings, to tell
Excel which
fields have to
match in order
to constitute a
duplicate. Make
sure you have a
clear
understanding
of what actually
is a duplicate. A
company name
may appear
several times
due to the fact
that they have
branches in
several
locations, so if you want to keep all of these branches, you tick off both Company Name and Address.
The Remove Duplicates Tool is easy and logical to use, the only obvious caveat being the fact that
Excel deletes the duplicates without asking your consent.
If you feel you have to inspect the duplicates before they are deleted, you have to resort to the “old”
way of doing this, which is described in the following paragraph.
If we start with the practice file, we first need to sort the records based on Customer ID. This will
place possible duplicates adjacent to one another. We then use the IF-function to compare each and
every Customer ID with the next one. The formula looks like this: =IF(B2=B3;”Duplicate”;””). Use Auto
fill to extend this formula to all cells in column A. As we have asked the IF-function to type the word
“Duplicates” next to a record that is equal to the one above, we can quite easily see where the
duplicates are located. However, if we have a large list with thousands of records, we would
probably want to relocate all duplicates to the top of the list. This entails a little more than just
sorting the list. First of all we need to end the dependency of the comment “Duplicates” on the
content of the adjacent column. This we do by converting the formula into value, or put in another
way, into the result of the formula.
1. Select the cells that are to be converted

2. Copy the selection (leave the selection)
3. Point to Home – Clipboard – Paste – Paste values
The copied area is now pasted on top of the area we originally selected and copied, and the formulas
are converted into whatever they were showing at the time. Now we have only the text “Duplicates”
next to the duplicates, and we can sort the list (descending) without any problems. This will place all
duplicates on the top of the list, where they can be easily inspected, deleted or edited.
We can also envisage that the criteria for a duplicate is that both the Customer ID and the name-
columns have equal contents. The procedure is in principle the same, but the formula is a bit more
complicated:
=IF(B2&C2=B3&C3;"Duplicate";"").
By using this system we can ask Excel to check any columns for duplicates, either individually or in
any combination.
The practice file shows this case in detail.
Some easy-to.use functions

Practice file: Liste med dubletter.xls
MIN – finds the lowest value in a selection

MAX – finds the highest value in a selection
AVERAGE – calculates the average value of a selection
IF - Makes a choice based on the outcome of a test
SUMIF – Sums up numbers from a column based on a criteria in another column.
The MIN, MAX and AVERAGE functions are basic and obvious both in their use and their functionality,
so we will not cover them here. We will concentrate on functions that require more input than just a
selection in the worksheet.
The IF-function
Practice file: HVIS-funksjon
This function enables Excel to make a choice for us, in its most basic form between two alternatives,
based on the outcome of a logical test.
=IF(TEST;TRUE;FALSE)
A test (or a claim) has two possible

outcomes, either it is TRUE or it is FALSE.
This example shows how we can use the IF-

function to assign the correct membership
fee to the members of the homeowner’s
association based on a test of their age:
If the age is greater than (or equal to) 67,

the fee is 75, is it is less than 67, the fee is
150.
This is the formula:
=IF(C9>=$C$6;$C$5;$C$4)
After entering the formula into cell C9, we use the auto-fill handle to copy it into the other cells in
the range (C10:C20), making sure we use the absolute reference-designation correctly.
Another example of the use of the IF-function can be found is the file HVIS-lønn.xls. Here we test
for the value of the sales of each person in order to decide if they should have a bonus, and what it
should amount to.
Please refer to the file for all details on this example.
The IF-function can be used to select between up to 7 alternatives when we use the technique of
nesting the functions, that is to say putting them inside each other. An example of such use is located
in the file Nested IF-functions. ,
The SUMIF-function
Practice file: Ordrer.xls
The SUMIF-function sums up a given column based on a matching criteria in a column to the left.
What is the total value for the field Beløp for the customer Alfreds Futterkiste? We can easily answer
that question using this function.
Range is the range where the criteria is located

Criteria is in this case the name of the customer. To make a more flexible solution we prefer to refer
to a cell where we enter the criteria instead of typing the criteria into the dialog.
Sum_range is the range that we wish to sum up.
COUNTIF – counts the number of occurrences of a text or value, for example how many occurrences
are there of the customer Alfreds Futterkiste in column A.
Useful functionality in Excel

Validation and protection
Practice file Innrapporteringsskjema.xls
In any (real) database much effort is put into minimizing the possibility of incorrect entries in the
various fields. If a year is to be entered into a field, there are always limitations as to which years can
be entered, and you will also not be able to register
something entirely different in the field, like a name
or similar. This is a common practice for entering any
kind of information into a database.
As long as we are working on our own stuff in Excel,

we usually do not put much consideration to this. But,
when we create models others are to enter data into,
we should start thinking about this. We have two
tools in Excel that help us reduce the chances of
messing up things; Validation and Protection. The
Validation tool limits what can be entered into a cell,
and the Protection tool makes sure nobody can
change the parameters in validation or formulas in
the worksheet.
Validation
Located in Data – Data Tools – Data Validation
By using the validation tool, we can decide what can be entered into a cell. The practice file depicts a
case of reporting financial info. The user can enter information into the input cells. These are the
only cells where information can be entered, and we have decided what kind of information can be
entered. In the cells C3 and C6 only predetermined alternatives from a drop-down list can be
entered, while in cells B7 and B8 only numbers within a given range can be entered.
To set the limitations on what may be entered, point to Data – Data Tools – Data Validation. Here we
can see that initially we can enter anything
into a cell.
Then we can set the validation parameters:
Cell C3:
Here we are to register one out of five
departments, and to make this job as easy as
possible for the user, we select:
Allow: List
Source: here we can type the alternatives,

separated with a semicolon, and when we
tick In-cell dropdown, the alternatives will
appear on a dropdown-list. We can also refer
to a list that we have typed somewhere else
in the same worksheet. There is a way around having to place the list in the same worksheet, and
that is naming the location of the list and referring to that in the Source-field.
We can choose to visit the tabs Input Message and Error Alert and type an instruction and an error
message.
Cell C6:
Here we select Allow list and enter the names of the “reporters”, in the same way we entered the
alternative departments for the first cell, or by referring to a range within the worksheet that
contains the list of months.
Cell C9:
This is the cell where we are to enter the revenue figures. To keep the user from entering a digit too
few or too many, we can set a lower limit of 30 000 000 and an upper limit of 40 000 000, based on
empirical data, as shown on the right:
Cells C11, C12:

Expenses can be validated in a similar way.
The other cells contain formulas that

retrieve their information from the input
cells, so we do not place any validation
criteria on these.
Protection
Step one - unlock cells is located in Home – Font – Open group - Protection
Step two – protect sheet is located in Review – Changes – Protect Sheet
Now that we have decided what can be entered into the cells, it is time to make sure nobody
tampers with the validation – or with the
formulas, for that matter. Before we do that,
two things must be clear:
On the menu Home – Font – Open group –

Protection:
Any cell is by default set to Locked. This

setting has no effect until we protect the
sheet. Any cell with the formatting set to
Locked will be unavailable after Protect
Sheet is activated. Consequently, we have to
deselect the Locked setting before we
activate Protect Sheet.
The final step is to activate the Protect Sheet function in Review – Changes – Protect Sheet
We have now achieved two things:
We have decided which cells are available for data entry, and
We have decided what can be entered into the same cells.
Output validation
We first and foremost use data validation to control and limit what is entered into a cell. But, we can
also use validation on an output cell, which is a cell containing a formula. The scenario is then
somewhat different. It would be unthinkable to deny the display of whatever values appear in such a
cell, so we use this function to accentuate values that are outside what we deem an acceptable
range.
The screenshots are from the file Validering og beskyttelse.xls. You can also find examples in the file
Analyseeksempel.xls.
To show which cells put

out values outside an
acceptable range, we set
the validation as described
earlier. To circle
unacceptable values we
point to Data – Data Tools
– Data Validation – Circle
invalid data.
This will make Excel circle

unacceptable values with a
red circle. We click the
next button to remove the circles.
Practice file: Analyseeksempel.xls
Located in Home – Styles – Conditional formatting
The tool Conditional formatting can be used to focus on values that are remarkable in a positive or
negative way.
This function has been

refined and developed
substantially in Excel 2007.
The illustration shows one
example on how it can be
used, showing data bars in
each cell in the selected
range:
Using the IF-function to highlight cells

We can also use the IF-function to test values of numbers and render a comment like ”Bad”, or
”Good” based on the outcome of the test. Examples can be found in the practice files
Analyseeksempel.xls, on the sheet Løsningseksempel4.
Pivot table
Practice file: Pivot og delsammendrag.xls
Located in Insert – Table – PivotTable.
Earlier, we have looked at the use of the tools Subtotals, Auto filter, and Advanced filter to retrieve
information from large lists. The Pivot Table is a tool that does many of the same things, usually even
more elegantly than the other tools.
Once more we can open this file and ask ourselves the inevitable question: How are our salespersons
actually doing?
The procedure is as follows:
Place your cursor inside the list

Point to Insert – Table -
PivotTable
and check the proposed
selections in the dialog. When
you are satisfied they are as
desired, click ok and the
template for the Pivot Table is
created.
To move our data into the Pivot
Table, tick the appropriate
boxes in front of the column
headings shown on the right.
Let us start with a simple
request; we want to know what
each salesperson has sold of the
various products, and the value
series is the net price.
To answer this question, we tick

off Selger, Produkt and Netto
pris. This produces a table like
this:
We are not too happy about this

configuration, so we wish to re-
arrange the table to make a cross
table with the salespersons as
row labels and the product as
column labels.
To do this, we grab ahold of the field

“Produkt” in the area Row Labels on the
right and move it to the area Column
Labels. This renders a table like this:
This is better, now we have a great

outline of what the various sales
persons have sold of the different
products.
We can experiment my moving the

fields around in the table, thus
rendering other displays.
The Pivot table is an extremely powerful tool, maybe the most powerful analysis tool in Excel. Data
can be analyzed in innumerable ways using this tool. The example described here is definitely the
short version of the saga of the Pivot Table, and should be considered as a quick introduction to the
subject.
Other useful functions

Excel has several hundred built-in functions. Many of these are very specialized, requiring extensive
knowledge of a subject to be of any use, while others are more general, and may be useful to many
users.
VLOOKUP - Vertical lookup
HLOOKUP - Horizontal lookup

Practice file – Finn.rad.xls
These are two lookup-functions that respectively search by column or by row for a value defined
from our input.
Example:
By entering the employee number,
the VLOOKUP-function will search
vertically in the designated column
for the value that corresponds to
the employee number.
One notable feature with this

function is that we designate the
column it should look for the name
in by entering an Index. That means
we count columns from left to right (within the matrix), and the index 2 will give us the first name of
the employee.
This file also contains an example on the use of the function .HLOOKUP.
Note! Two important considerations:

You should make sure you enter the
parameter FALSE into the field
Range_lookup, like this:
If we do not do that, Excel will return

the closest value to the one we asked
for, and this may have unforeseeable
consequences. If we enter 120 instead
of 102 as we intended, Excel will
return the name of the number closest
to 120, which is 110. This is somebody
entirely different from the person we
were looking for!
The sorting sequence doesn’t mayyrt

when we use VLOOKUP with the FALSE logic. There are, however, times when we want to use
VLOOKUP with the TRUE logic, meaning we want the closest match with the lookup value. In such a
case, the lookup column has to be sorted in ascending order. or the lookup will return wrong results.
Have a look at the file Nested IF and VLOOKUP.xls for an example of this use of VLOOKUP.
PMT
Practice file – Målsøking.xls
This function calculates the payment per term for an annuity based loan, and as such is useful to
everybody involved in financial calculations.
When the function is set up properly, the parameters can be changed, and we can see the result on
the payment directly.
Note! The interest rate that is referred to from cell B2 must be divided by the number of terms per
year in cell B3.
Also, the total number of payments (B5) must be the result of a formula. If it is typed into the cell, it
won’t update when parameters are changed, and the payment will not be correct.
SUMPRODUCT
Practice file – Pivot og delsammendrag.xls
The SUMPRODUCT function seems to lead a somewhat anonymous life. The function is a true power-
function, and it can do the most amazing things. From that perspective, it may not be very
sensational to be able to multiply two arrays with each other and give us the sum. What is more
impressive, is its ability to do these things while taking multiple conditions into consideration.
Somewhere else in this
compendium I have
mentioned the new-for-
2007 function called
SUMIFS, which is also able
to do that trick. A more
general way of saying this
is that SUMPRODUCT can
do some of the tricks of an
Array Formula without
behaving like and being an array formula.

In the example above, we can use SUMPRODUCT to extract information about the sales of one or
more products for a given salesperson, or for multiple salespersons, for that matter.
Array formulas
Practice file: Array formulas.xls
“Straight” array formulas

We can find the answer to such a questions in several ways. We can use functions like SUMIFS,
DSUM, or use a pivot table. Personally, I am a fan of array formulas, as this is a technique that can be
used on several different functions to solve all kinds of complex problems.
So, what is an array formula? Consider that a normal formulas basically deals with relationships
between individual cells, whereas we cans ay that an array formula deals with arrays of numbers,
and can do arithmetic operations directly on the arrays, without taking a detour to each individual
cell.
This is an example of how we normally get

the grand total by multiplying each row,
units * unit price, and finally summing up
the line totals for the grand total.
Now, if our sole interest is the grand total, we

could go straight to that by using an array formula.
An array formula must be entered in a particular
way, by hitting
Control + Shift + Enter
If you close it the normal way, with only Enter, you

will sometimes get an error message, and
sometimes the wrong answer, so make sure you
remember this!
Conditional Array Formulas

Practice file: Salgsdata_stor.xlsx, sheet LøsningMatriseFormel.
Array formulas really come into their right when we use them for extracting data, or doing other
kinds of operations while taking multiple conditions into consideration. Using array formulas this way
means using Boolean logic. An approximate definition of Boolean logic that it reduces a
mathematical problem down to a TRUE or FALSE outcome. Also, bear in mind that TRUE can be
substituted by the digit “1”, and false can be substituted with “0”. Boolean logic is used in array
formulas to make them retrieve information from database-like worksheets. Have a look at these
basis calculations:
TRUE * TRUE = TRUE

TRUE * FALSE = FALSE
1*1=1
1 * 0 = 0, or
1*1*1*1*0=0
So, all it takes is one FALSE/ZERO in a calculation, to give the calculation the outcome of FALSE or 0.
What this means in practice, is that only records where all conditions come out with TRUE or 1, will
be retrieved.
This is a screenshot of the file Pivot og Delsammendrag.xls:
We can extract Herbert Schulz’ sale of “bukser” with the following array formula:
=SUM((A2:A12=”Herbert Schulz”)*(B2:B12=”Bukser”)*(H2:H12)). Remember to close with Control +
Shift + Enter!
When should I use array formulas, and when should I use Pivot Tables?
Different people have different preferences, but the general answer would be this:
Use pivot tables for quick analysis of static data. Nothing beats pivot tables for speed and ease!
Use formulas when you design a model that will live over some time, and where the data changes, or
grows. The (array) formulas will make sure you always have updated and correct calculations, no
manual action is required.
D-functions
Practice file D-funksjoner 2.xls
DSUM, DAVERAGE, DMAX,DMIN , etc.

Excel has a series of functions with the D-
prefix. The “D” comes from Database, so
these are functions designed to retrieve
data from large collections of structured
data.
Setting up these functions is very similar to

the set-up of advanced filter. We type the
arguments of the function somewhere in
the worksheet and refer to them, instead
of typing them directly into the function.
Example:
In the file D-funksjoner.xls,on the sheet
Uttrekk_1, we have a dump from an
accounting system. The records all have three references; Avdeling, Periode, and Prosjekt. We wish
to match these three criteria to be able to answer a question like:
What is the total result for the combination of Avdeling 2, Prosjekt 2?
First we enter the criteria, see the sheet Uttrekk_2. We then set up the function in B4 in the same
sheet. Then we start the function wizard, and enter parameters this way:
Database is the sheet Data, select the area with contents, including the heading.
Field is the data we want to sum up. We identify this column by selecting the heading – and only
that.
Criteria is the area of the sheet where we have entered out criteria. Make sure you select both yje
criteria and the headings. The headings are used to identify the columns, so they have to be included.
Excel has D-functions corresponding to many of the better-known functions, DSUM, DAVERAGE,
DMIN, DMAX, etc.
In most cases we would probably be better off creating a pivot table, so the D-functions should be
used when the layout of a pivot table does not fulfill our needs, or when we need immediate and
automatic update of the results, without having to run a manual update of a pivot table.
A drawback of the D-functions is their very specific requirements for setting up the criteria ranges in
the worksheet. If you need t analyze many different combinations of criteria, it will take a lot of work
so set this up, and you might want to have a look at other ways of solving this; conditional array
formulas, SUMIFS, pivot table.
Other ribbon-based tools.

In Excel we solve problems partly by using functions in formulas, and partly by using tools located on
the ribbon. Let us take a look at some of these ribbon-based tools:
Goal Seek
Practice file – Målsøking.xls
Located in Data – Data Tools – What-if-analysis – Goal Seek
This is a simple and easy-to-use tool that calculates backwards by simulating alternate input
arguments in a function
much quicker than we are
able to do this.
Example:
We are buying a new house.
We have calculated that we
can manage 8000 per
month in payments. The
interest rate is 6%, and the
bank says the maximum
number of years for re-
payment is 15. How much
money can we borrow?
We have looked at the

function PMT earlier. We
might use this and simply
type in amounts until we
were close to our 8 000 per
month. This would take
some time, and we would never be able to get an accurate amount. However, if we use Goal Seek,
we can get the exact amount immediately:
Locate Tools – Goal Seek on the menu, and enter parameters as shown:
Set cell B9 to value 8000

by changing cell B3
- and we have the answer immediately.
Solver
Practice file: Solver.xls
Located in Data - Analysis - Solver
Goal Seek is ok for its intended use, but in many cases we have problems with multiple variables.
These variables have to be optimized simultaneously and against each other, and that is not possible
with Goal Seek. We have to use a much more advanced tool, the Solver.
Example:
We have a budget for next year for our company. This is no common budget where we calculate
values outside the budget-model and enter the values into the model. This is a “live” budget
application where we want to optimize the use of our advertising money. The idea is that spending
money for advertising will increase our sales, up to a point. When a certain level of spending has
been reached, more spending will not increase sales sufficiently to leave is a profit. Thus, beyond this
point, we will lose money by spending even more for advertising. The real-world challenge is of
course to know the
formula that relates
Sammenheng mellom reklameinnsats og overskudd
these two The profit culminates
parameters. 120000 here?
Graphically we can
render it like this: 100000
80000
60000
40000 Reklameinnsats:
Advertising spending
Profits
Overskudd
20000
0
Alt 1 Alt 2 Alt 3 Alt 4 Alt 5 Alt 6 Alt 7 Alt 8
Note! If you can’t find the Solver-tool at the described location, it has not yet been installed. In that
case you have to run the installation routine. Click the Office button and point to – Excel options –
Add ins, and select Excel Add-ins. Select the Solver Add-in in the lower part of the window and click
Go. Excel 2007 should normally not ask for the installation disk.
We will now
maximize the
profit (F14) by
letting Solver re-
distribute
advertising
spending
between the
quarters, but at
this stage we do
not accept an
increase in the
total advertising
spending. To
illustrate how we
do this, we set a
limitation to
total advertising
spending (F13):
in the
constraints
group, click add
and type/select: F13<=40000.
We also have to tell Solver that advertising expenditure in any given quarter cannot be less that 0,
that is to say that negative numbers are not accepted. The constraint looks like this: $B$13:$E$13>0.
With these criteria the profit is maximized to around 109 000. If we run the simulation without
setting any limitations on advertising spending, the profit will go up to 145 000, and advertising
spending will be more than 160 000. This is the point where the graph for profits starts pointing
down.
The Solver is a very powerful tool, b it in order to use it meaningfully, we need models that describe
reality in a realistic way. To design such models is often the problem.
Scenarios
Practice file: Budsjettscenario.xls
Located in Data – Data Tools – What-if-analysis – Scenario Manager
The term scenario is a familiar term to everybody working with accounting and finance. We often
have three scenarios, one worst case, one best case, and one middle-of-the-road. Technically
scenarios can be handled in many different ways, even with adjacent columns in the budget. Excel
has a built-in tool that enables storing several different values in one cell, and retrieving these values
based on selecting the different scenarios.
Example:
Here we have a small and simple budget consisting of one cell for income and one for expenses.
These two cells have three alternative values connected to three scenarios, and we will now enter
and store these values in their respective cells. We start by entering the numbers for the scenario
Worst Case. In order to keep track of the different scenarios, it is a good idea to enter the name of
the scenario in a cell – here B7. The next step is to select the cells in the scenario, B3:B4 and B7. Go
to the scenarios tool (see location above) and click Add in the dialog. Type the name of the scenario
and click ok until we
have closed the
dialog. Next, we
deal with the other
two scenarios the
same way. After
entering the three
scenarios, we can
point to the
different scenarios
the Scenario
Manager, and
change scenario for
our budget by
selecting the
appropriate scenario
and clicking show.
Consolidation
Practice files: Konsolidering Oslo.xls, konsolidering Bergen.xls, konsolidering
Trondheim.xls
Located in Data – Data Tools - Consolidate
These three files all show sales figures for our branches in these three different cities. Now, we want
to total the numbers. There is however, a problem with that; the three worksheets we need to total
are not equal. We have different brands of cars, and they are placed haphazardly in relation to each
other. We could build formulas to sum up all
this, but with a large number of cells, we
would be lucky to get everything right, and we
would spend quite some time accomplishing
this.
This is where the tool Consolidation shines. It

is able to sum up sheets based on referring to
column and row headings, not the usual cell
references!
Example:
First, open all three files, and then open

another blank workbook. Point to the
consolidate tool to start the dialog. Leave the
cursor in the field Reference, browse to the
first open workbook (Oslo), select A3:D10, and click Add in the dialog. Next, browse to Bergen and
Trondheim do the same procedure. Make sure you select correctly, you need to include the column
and row headings. The dialog should look like the illustration above:
Note! We have ticked off

all three tick boxes for
labels and for links to the
source data!
The new workbook is now

showing the totals, and we
have accomplished this
very quickly!
Clicking the plus-signs in

the left margin will
display the specification
behind every
consolidated number.
As the months do not

appear in their correct
sequence, we should sort the columns. Start by selecting the columns C through G. Go to Data – Sort
and Filter – Sort. Clikc the Options button and select Sort left to right:
Then you go to Order,

select Custom List and
locate the months in
the list:
This will re-arrange

the columns, and the
months will be placed
in their correct
sequence.
Single value and dual value table

Practice file: Datatabell.xls
Located in Data Data Tools – What-if-analysis – Data Table
The Table function allows us to analyze alternatives very quickly, and have the results lined up for
side-by-side comparison.
Example:
We want to analyze the cost
of borrowing with two
variables; interest rate and
amount borrowed.
A description of the
procedure can be found in
the practice file:
Importing data from the Internet and from other applications

Practice file: Hente data fra internett.xls
Excel ”talks” very well to many other applications. Thus we can import information from other
applications into Excel for further analysis and calculation. When exporting to Excel from any
administrative system, we use the features in that respective system. In many cases we just click an
Excel-button to create an Excel file from whatever query or report we have created.
When looking at this process from the Excel-side, we use the Import features of Excel to get the
various reports into Excel..
Example:
We wish to import a table from a page at the website of Norwegian Statistical Office. The address is
http://www.ssb.no/fobhusinnt/tab-2003-12-18-01.html
Some of us may have tried to ”import” by just selecting and copying data from a web page and
pasting into a worksheet. In most cases this is highly unsuccessful. The correct way of doing this is to
use the Import Wizard in Excel. The Import Wizard can be engaged two ways, either from Excel, as
described below, or simply by right-clicking (Export to Microsoft Excel) the web page we wish to
import.
Start by opening the web page referred to above. Here you may right-click the page, or do the
following:
Select the URL (the web address) and copy it to the clipboard (Ctrl C)
Go back to Excel and point to Data – Get External Data – From Web
A “mini”-browser appears, and we now paste the address that we just copied into the address field
at the top, replacing the start page address that is there.
Hit Enter (or click Go)
Klikk og merk
her!
After a few seconds the

page will open, and we get
these yellow selection
handles that enable us to
import only the stuff we
want form the page. We
just select the table(-s) we
want to import by clicking
the yellow arrow.
Next, click Import, then select destination cell, and presto, everything is nicely imported into the
worksheet. The numbers are correctly formatted, and we can now proceed in our analysis of the
numbers.
In most cases you can accomplish this result by simply right-clicking in the web table and select
Export to Microsoft Excel. The caveat with the right-click method is that you are not given a choice to
select parts of the web page, you will in most cases get the whole web page imported into Excel.
Note! This works only with Internet Explorer – tests with other browsers have all been
unsuccessful.
Importing live data from the Internet

In many calculations we have to take into account ever changing outside factors, for example
currency rates, interest rates or stock values.
In the following example we will create a live link from Dagens Næringsliv’s currency rate website to
a workbook. The address is http://www.dn.no/finans/valuta/
Procedure:
First we locate the website from where we want to import live data
Then we select and copy the URL (web address)
Browse to Excel and place you cursor in a blank worksheet
Point to Data – Get External Data – From Web.
Paste the address you copied into the address field of the mini browser.
Select the table(-s) you want to import by clicking the selection handles.
You may go to Options and select HTML formatting for a nicer look.
Click import
In the next dialog, click Properties, and set the update frequency as you want it.
Click ok, and the data is in the worksheet!
Now we have a live link into a web page and our calculations will update when new information is
retrieved from that web page!
Note! You can start the import process by right-clicking the web table and select Export to
Microsoft Excel.
Split cell content.

Practice file:the result of the import from the Statistical Office
When importing data we don’t always get the data separated the way we want. In this case we have
both the ID number and the name of the municipality in the same cell. We have the same challenge
when a customer name and number both are in the same cell.
There are several ways of dealing with this in Excel, here are some examples:
We can use the functions LEFT and RIGHT to solve this. These functions are easy to use as long as we
are to split at a given number if digits. In this case all numbers have four digits, so it is easy to say
that the first four digits should be extracted and placed in a separate cell. It is harder to extract the
name, but it can be done.
The example is
elaborated on the
sheet Høyre_Venstre
in the workbook
Hente data fra
Internett.
Retrieving information from inside a text string

In addition to the two functions LEFT and RIGHT, we have the function MID that is used for extracting
digits from inside a string
The syntax is:
MID(Cell reference of text string; Number of characters from the left; Number of characters to be
extracted)
Text to columns
Using the built-in tool Text to columns is normally the easiest way to accomplish the splitting. This
tool is located in Data – Data Tools – Text to Columns.
Example:
In the worksheet Tekst til kolonner we want to split the municipality number and the name and place
these in separate cells:
Procedure:
Insert two new columns between cols A and B
Select the cells you want to split(A9:A26)
Point to Data – Data Tools - Text to Columns
Here we have the choice to split on a character or on fixed width, and as the municipality number has
four digits, we can use both ways. As some of the municipalities have hyphenated names we get the
best and easiest results by going for fixed width. Next, we see the dividing line between number and
name. If we select B9 as destination cell, we won’t overwrite any of the present information in the
worksheet.
To avoid losing the leading zero in the number, select the column and format it as Text:
That’s it, we have split number and name and placed them in separate cells.
If we had not formatted the number as text,

we would have lost the leading zero. If we
are presented with material where this has
happened, we can use the following
procedure to rectify the situation:
Procedure:
Select the cells in question
Point to Format- Cells –Custom
Type four zeros into the field Type.
A few words on text vs. numbers in the postal (zip) code.
As long as the numbers are to continue living their lives in Excel, we can keep the described
formatting. However, if we want to work on these numbers in certain ways, notably merging the
numbers into a Word document, we will run into trouble. The merging process will once more
remove the leading zero. The solution to this is to do as described above, format the number as text
during the import procedure.
The numbers will now be stored as text, and the leading zeros will survive any abuse we might
subject them to.
But, they will be text, and we can’t use them for any kinds of calculations.
Hiding error messages
Practice file: Skjule feilmeldinger.xls
There are times when we are annoyed by cryptic error messages in our worksheets. In an otherwise
stellar set-up we get this error message if we try to divide by zero:
#DIV/0!
The reason may simply be the fact that the cell we try to divide by doesn’t contain any information at
all:
Error messages can be hidden (or dealt with) in two different ways
 Conditional formatting
 The function IFERROR – which is new to Excel 2007, and greatly simplifies this procedure.
Earlier versions of Excel need a formula where we use a combination of IF and ISERROR.
We simply use conditional formatting go give the cell contents white color when a condition is met,
thus making it look “invisible”. This solution only cures the symptom, and if this is not good enough,
we have to resort to solution number two.
Procedure
Select the cells you what to apply conditional formatting to
Point to Home – Styles - Conditional Formatting
From the drop-down list you select New rule and after that Use a formula to determine….
Type the following formula into the formula field:
=ISERROR(C2)
– where C2 is the cell with the calculation where the error message may appear.
Click Format and set the character color to white.
The error messages will now be invisible.
The function IFERROR

In this example we have added the text No data:
Tracing relations in formulas

Practice file: Løsningsforslag Totalresultat for Bedriften AS_startslutt.xls
Most of us are familiar with this scenario:
You have inherited an Excel model
from a colleague (who of course has
quit), and you are trying to decipher
the relations, and also the basic logic
in the model.
Point to Formulas – Formula

Auditing for tools to help you get the
understanding of an Excel-model.
Let’s say we are looking at the Resultat cell and we are wondering where this number actually comes
from. Place your cursor on the cell, click the Trace precedents button, and arrows will tell you where
the input to this formula. Click once more, and you will see where the contents of those cells stem
form, and so on. If you get a dotted arrow with an icon depicting a worksheet at the end, point to the
arrow, and double click. You will now get a dialog showing the origin, and you can follow it by
selecting the reference and clicking ok. Using this technique, we can follow the “trail” all the way to
the end. or rather, the start of the model.
New and useful features in Excel 2007

New functions
The examples in this compendium are based on use of Excel 2007. Excel 2007 has gotten a thorough
overhaul, mostly in the interface and looks departments, but also when it comes to functionality.
Notably:
 New user interface
 New functionality
The number if new functions is limited. Altogether there are less than ten new functions; some of
them are really something we have been waiting for. These are:
 IFERROR
 AVERAGEIF
 AVERAGEIFS
 SUMIFS
 COUNTIFS
IFERROR simplifies handling of error messages substantially. As we have seen earlier in this
publication we have had to use a combination of IF and ISERROR to make Excel (2003 and earlier
versions) type a free text in case of an error message. This can now be accomplished directly by
using this function.
AVERAGEIF corresponds to SUMIF and COUNTIF, and it calculates the average from a
series of values while taking into account a given criteria. The following formula gives the
average of values that are greater than 100 in the selected range:
Practice file: Averageif.xlsx
=AVERAGEIF(A2:A5;”>100”;B2:B5)
AVERAGEIFS works with more than one criteria.
SUMIFS
In earlier versions of Excel we have the function SUMIF (and COUNTIF). These are great
for their intended use, but what if we need to sum while testing for multiple criteria? This
can be done in these versions, but it is a rather daunting task. This has become very
simple in Excel 2007.
Practice file: Countifs.xlsx and Countifs2.xlsx
Improved graphics
I guess we all expect things to look a little nicer in the new version of an application. This hope is
fulfilled in the newest Excel. Among other things, the graphics engine – that makes graphs, has made
great leaps, for unrivalled graphics rendering.
We have discussed conditional formatting at length before. This functionality has been dramatically
improved for 2007. This is an example on how we can use CF to render numbers more
understandable in relation to each other.
Salg Salg Salg Salg

127 935 127 935 127 935 127 935
202 651 202 651 202 651 202 651
238 567 238 567 238 567 238 567
127 101 127 101 127 101 127 101
192 267 192 267 192 267 192 267
150 504 150 504 150 504 150 504
225 494 225 494 225 494 225 494
162 690 162 690 162 690 162 690
221 378 221 378 221 378 221 378
Graphics rendering
The improvements mostly consist of a nicer look to graphics. A graph in Excel 2007 may look like this:
300 000
Salg
250 000
Kostnader
200 000
150 000
100 000
50 000
-
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Or, we may go to war withSalg

a partly transparent data point in a graph. All in all, the possibilities for
spending hours and days “improving” the looks of your graphs have taken a great leap forwards.
150 504 127 935
192 267 202 651
127 101
238 567
Some keyboard shortcuts

Many users find the use of keyboard shortcuts very challenging. The problem is often the sheer
number of shortcuts, so we should try to keep the number of shortcuts limited. I have listed some
that I use regularly below!
Action Shortcut Comment
Copy Ctrl+C general, works in all apps
Cut Ctrl+X general, works in all apps
Paste Ctrl+V general, works in all apps
Save Ctrl+S general, works in all apps
Print Ctrl+P general, works in all apps
Open Ctrl+O general, works in all apps
Close Ctrl+W general, works in all apps
Auto sum Alt += same as clicking 
Browse to next sheet Ctrl PageUp/PageDown
Select row Shift+ Space
Select column Ctrl +Space
Insert(Cells/row/column) Ctrl ++
Delete (row or column) Ctrl+ – (minus)
Formatting Ctrl +1 Opens formatting dialog
Undo Ctrl +Z
Undo undo Ctrl +Y
Today’s date Ctrl +;
Time right now Ctrl+:
Select table Ctrl + A
Select all cells in worksheet Ctrl +A Ctrl+A Ctrl+A twice
Move cursor to next breach in Ctrl +→ (arrow in the
series desired direction)
Select from here to next breach Ctrl +Shift+ → (arrow in
in series the desired direction)
Move a column with the mouse Select column, press left
mouse button and drag
Copy column/ row Same as above, but
press Control, too
Finally – how to get help with Excel-problems

This little leaflet and the corresponding course have both hopefully advanced your knowledge of
Excel a few steps. None of them can give The Final Answer to Excel problems. This means that the
advanced and interested Excel user will run into problems from time to time. The more you learn,
the more you realize how much there is you don’t know. Therefore, it is very useful to know here you
can turn to get some assistance:
The built in help system in Excel

The help system has been getting steadily better over time, and I find many of the examples
described there very useful. It is also easily searchable, so go ahead, try it out!
Internet resources
What you can’t find on the internet, is hardly worth finding. You can feel certain that whatever
problems you are faced with have been encountered by a few thousand, or even a few million users
somewhere else in the world. The search engines are great for retrieving this information, so just go
ahead and type in keywords.
Example:
Let’s say I don’t know how to split cells. I will therefore try a Google search like this:
Excel split cells
In less than a second I am presented with more than 194 000 references to this subject.
Websites
There are several websites dedicated to Excel. Just pay them a visit and do a search if you have a
problem. You can find lot of great tips here.
http://www.j-walk.com/ss/ - this is John Walkenbach’s website, the author of The Excel Bible
http://www.cpearson.com/excel.htm
http://www.mrexcel.com
And, my own website is also updated regularly with new Excel tips:
http://www.excelkurs.com
Practice files
This compendium is accompanied by a package of practice files. You can download this package from
www.excelkurs.com . The link yopu should look for is called Zippede øvingsfiler.
Copyright ©
All rights to this compendium, other compendiums published on www.excelkurs.com , practice files,
and other downloadable material, belong to Tore Søfting. You are granted a license to use this
material for developing your Excel skills, solving Excel-related problems and related activities. Use of
this material for training third parties is prohibited.
Index
A G O
Advanced filter, 14 Goal Seek, 28 Output validation, 20
Array formulas, 25
Auto filter, 13 H P
AVERAGE, 16
help, 42 Pivot table, 21
hiding error messages, 37 PMT, 24
C HLOOKUP, 22 protection, 18
cell formatting, 9 Protection, 18, 19
column headings, 11 I
column width, 9 R
Conditional Array Formulas, IF, 16, 21
25 IF-function, 16 Remove duplicates, 14
Conditional formatting, 20, Importing, 32, 34 Repeat heading, 11
37, 40 Internet, 32 Right mouse button, 10
Consolidation, 31 Internet resources, 42 row height, 9
Copying formulas, 8 ISERROR, 37
COUNTIF, 17, 39 S
K Scenarios, 30
D keyboard shortcuts, 41 Selection, 7
Database, 27 Solver, 28
DAVERAGE, 27 L Sorting, 12
D-functions, 27 Subtotals, 12
list, 11, 14, 15, 18 SUMIF, 16, 17
DMAX, 27 List functions, 11
DMIN, 27 summing-up, 8
live data, 34 SUMPRODUCT, 24
DSUM, 27
duplicates, 14, 15 M T
E MAX, 16 Text to columns, 35
MID, 35 Tracing, 38
error messages, 37 MIN, 16
F V
N
Filter, 13 Validation, 18
Navigation, 7 VLOOKUP, 22
formatting, 20
functions, 16

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Norwegian vs. American/English versions.

Asker, November 2009

What is new in Excel 2007

New user interface

New file types

Excel 2003: 256 columns 65 536 rows

Sales Sales Sales Sales

If we use only the Home

Similarly you can navigate within your tables like this:

This is particularly useful when

Alternatively we may use the

You may practice this by using

In this case we want the table

Select the range (or table) to be

One click on the Auto Sum Button

useful when you want to auto fill a formula vertically

Notice that the auto-fill stops if there is a breach in

Adjusting column width (and row height) for multiple columns

If you drag – left or right – in the indicated

Automatic cell formatting

Example: We have a reference number like this:

As we understand, the entry is interpreted as a

How do we prevent this from happening, and

The right mouse button

Practice file: Ordrer.xls

Freeze column headings

Repeat headings on print

If you want to sort by

The Subtotal-function groups the salespersons and totals their sales :

The procedure is as follows:

Identifying and removing duplicates from a list

1. Select the cells that are to be converted

The practice file shows this case in detail.

Some easy-to.use functions

MIN – finds the lowest value in a selection

A test (or a claim) has two possible

This example shows how we can use the IF-

If the age is greater than (or equal to) 67,

This is the formula:

Please refer to the file for all details on this example.

Range is the range where the criteria is located

Useful functionality in Excel

As long as we are working on our own stuff in Excel,

Then we can set the validation parameters:

Source: here we can type the alternatives,

Cells C11, C12:

The other cells contain formulas that

On the menu Home – Font – Open group –

Any cell is by default set to Locked. This

We have now achieved two things:

To show which cells put

This will make Excel circle

This function has been

Using the IF-function to highlight cells

The procedure is as follows:

Place your cursor inside the list

To answer this question, we tick