Entries by

Discussion: Spreadsheet Layout

One weakness in spreadsheet development isn’t weak formulas or not knowing how to use pivot tables. The weakness is poor layout. This is one topic that won’t show up in a help menu. This video discusses spreadsheet layout and formula development. The key points for avoiding “octopus spreadsheets”: – Don’t think about the results first. […]

Using Excel To Figure Out Who Owes What

Thanks to “Bob” who commented on a post at TheSpreadsheetGuru In response to Chris Newman’s “Excel Christmas Expense Tracker,” Bob said he’d be interested in an additional feature: how to determine who owes what after multiple people have agreed on splitting the expenses on multiple gifts. (See the complete question here: http://www.thespreadsheetguru.com/blog/christmas-expense-tracker-excel-spreadsheet-template#comment-2420421320 While Chris is […]

The Dark Side of Working With Data

In response to a previous video about using data to solve problems, someone brought up the question, “if you were supposed to be answering phones, were you supposed to be that deep in the data?” (The original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnKq5wWC4Wk) Her question reminded me that data involves more than Excel, pivot tables and being a hero. […]

Kevin Lehrbass and More About Named Ranges

This is fun! First, I try to figure out how tall Kevin Lehrbass is. I saw a picture of him and he’s almost in the sky. In the second half of the video, I compare Kevin’s video on named ranges and my video. Kevin’s video goes beyond the named ranges and points out that contiguous […]

Indirect & Named Ranges Part 2

Erika asked for more detail about my previous video: Indirect & Named Ranges for a Quick Summary. That video also has a link for downloading the workbook. Here, I respond to Erika by going deeper into the named ranges. Let me know if you have questions so that i can get you an answer. Also, […]

Why Data & Excel: feeling the true impact

One important aspect of working with data and Excel is being in touch with the impact and the people who live with the consequences. Those ARE NOT big data and IT issues. Those are the issues of people who face the customers and need to be empowered to work with data. When I wrote Guerrilla […]

Intersection Feature & Named Ranges To Create a Summary

This came from a real problem with creating a summary from a source of non-contiguous data. The solution used includes: named ranges the intersect feature SUBSTITUTE function That was after I considered SUMIFS and pivot tables. Sometimes a person gets to a place where a quick, dirty result is preferable to “the right way.” So, […]

Excel Tools for Planning Christmas

Excel can even help plan Christmas! In this video I describe 4 tools: 1. Excel Christmas Planner Debra Dalgleish http://www.contextures.com/Excel-Christmas-Planner.html This has multiple components to help Christmas go right. 2. 2015 Advent Calendar Mynda Treacy Excel Advent Calendar 2015 3. Christmas Expense and Budget Tracker TheSpreadsheetGuru.com Chris Newman http://www.thespreadsheetguru.com/blog/christmas-expense-tracker-excel-spreadsheet-template 4. Download the Naughty-Nice-O-Meter at my […]

Trailer: Excel in the Wild Guest – Paige Worthy

Paige Worthy is the next guest on Excel in the Wild. Paige is a Content Strategist, Client Services Manager, Writer, Editor … and has a love-hate relationship with data. It happens here: https://blab.im/oz-du-soleil-excel-in-the-wild-paige-worthy-data-and-real-talk-2 Wednesday 25NOV15 @ 10:30am Pacific 1:30pm Eastern We’re going to discuss data, spreadsheets, Excel from a “regular person’s perspective. This isn’t an […]