Excel Overview - Notes
Excel Overview - Notes
icrosoft Excel is a powerful application that allows users to do calculations, produce tables and graphs effortlessly. These can range from simple formulae to complex functions and mathematical models.
WORKBOOK
An Excel file is called a workbook Initially, each workbook consists of 3 worksheets (you can add and remove worksheets as needed)
WORKSHEET
Each worksheet consists of columns and rows that intersect to form boxes called cells in which you enter text and numbers The tabs at the bottom of the workbook (labelled Sheet1, Sheet2, and so on) allow you flip through the worksheets by clicking them with a mouse Double-clicking on a tab will allow you to change the name of a worksheet
Menu
Formulae bar
Namebox
Worksheet Tabs
Scroll Bar
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Formula Bar
Cell Name Box Cell Editor Cell Column Headings Row Headings Status Bar Worksheet Tabs Task Pane
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Click on the appropriate tab o If the sheet required is not in view, use the tab scrolling buttons to display the sheet o Press CTRL PAGE DOWN to move to the next sheet, or CTRL PAGE UP to move to the previous sheet
Previous Sheet
Last Sheet
GO TO
You can use F5 to tell Excel to move to a specific cell. F5 is the Microsoft Office Go To key When you press F5 in Excel a dialog box is displayed where you can type in a cell reference Type the cell reference that you want to move to in the Reference box and press ENTER o The following dialog box will appear
ENTERING DATA
Data can be text or numeric Text is defined as any combination of numbers and letters. Numeric entries are limited to numbers Numbers can exist as independent values or values derived from a formula (calculated values)
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ENTERING TEXT
Text will automatically align to the left in a cell If length of the text is greater than the width of the column, it will appear as if it were occupying adjacent cells To enter text: o Click the cell where the text will be entered o Type the text. The text will also appear in the Formula bar o Press the ENTER or the TAB key
ENTERING NUMBERS
Numbers are automatically aligned to the right in a cell To enter a negative value, type a minus sign before the number or enclose it in parenthesis You can also type a period to indicate a decimal point and enter decimals Dates are considered numeric values that can be manipulated through mathematical calculations To enter a number: o Click on the cell where data will be entered o Type the number into the cell. The number will also appear in the Formula bar o Press the ENTER key
NUMBER
Valid numbers can include the numeric characters 0-9 and any of these special characters: + - /. , ( ) $ % o This means that you can include commas, decimal points, dollar signs, percent signs, and parenthesis in the values you enter To enter a negative number, precede it with a minus sign or surround it with parentheses. To enter a fraction, precede it with a 0. Example: 0 If you enter a number and it appears in the cell as all pound signs (########) or in scientific notation (such as 8.25E+05), dont worry. The number is okay o The cell is just not wide enough to display the entire number o To fix it, move to the column headings at the top of the worksheet and double-click the right border of the column o The column expands to the largest entry The number appears in the cell, right-aligned
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As long as Excel recognizes the entry as date or time, it appears right-aligned in the cell If Excel doesnt recognize it, it is treated as text and left-aligned o Unless you type AM or PM after a time entry, Excel assumes that you are using a 24-hour clock o So if you mean PM, type the entry as 8:20 PM If youre entering a column of dates, you can specify the date format you want first. Then as you type your dates, Excel will automatically adapt them to fit that format o For example, suppose you like the MMMMMMMMM DD, YYYY format. o Instead of typing each date in full, you could select that format for the column and then type 4/14/98, and Excel would change it to display April 14, 1998
FORMULAS
Worksheets use formulas to perform calculations on the data you enter. FORMULAS typically consist of one or more cell addresses and or values and a mathematical operator Every Formula must begin with an equal sign (=)
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TO SELECT A RANGE:
Click the first cell in the range to be selected Drag the pointer across the range of cells to select Release the mouse button. The range of cells will be highlighted To select non-adjacent cells: hold the CTRL key down on the keyboard and click in the nonadjacent cell To select multiple, consecutive, adjacent cells: select the first cell, hold down the SHIFT key, and then click in the cell at the other end of the range
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o o o
Double click on the cell to edit and type in the additional data Click on the cell to edit and then click once in the formula bar. Anything you type in the formula bar will be added to the existing cells data Click on the cell to edit and press F2. Type in the cell directly
PASTE SPECIAL
The Paste Special option gives you the ability to choose what should be pasted into the destination cells o You may want to paste data without its formats, or you might want to convert a formula to a static value Right click anywhere within the highlighted block and choose Copy from the shortcut menu o The following dialog box will appear:
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Select an option in the Paste section of the dialog to choose what will be pasted into the destination cells Select an option from the Operation section of the dialog to choose the mathematical operation you want to perform on the copied data Check the Skip blanks box to suppress empty cells being pasted Check the Transpose box to change the arrangement of the copied cells from column to row and vice versa Click OK to close the dialog and paste the data
TO INSERT A CELLS/COLUMN/ROW:
Select the cell below or to the right of where you want the new one Click the right mouse button to access the shortcut menu Choose Insert. Press SHIFT + + o The dialog box will appear as provided on the right hand side
DELETE CELLS/COLUMN/ROWS
Select the cells you want to delete Click the right mouse button to access the shortcut menu Choose Delete
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Press CTRL + o The dialog box will appear as provided on the right hand side
This is because Excel, by default, uses relative referencing When you enter a formula, you enter specific cell references Behind the scenes, Excel translates those references into positions relative to the result cell Most of the time, this is what you would want, but there are occasions where you need to stop Excel updating cell references when you copy formulae
ABSOLUTE REFERENCES
The example below shows a formula being created to find the value of the share, post the illiquidity premium. The fair values are in column E and the discount rate is in C10.
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FREEZE PANES
When you want certain rows or columns to remain static on screen while you scroll down or across data on a worksheet, you can use freeze panes
TO FREEZE PANES:
Select the cell below and to the right of the cells you want to freeze Choose Window from the menu bar then click, Freeze panes o You will see solid lines appear below and to the right of the frozen rows and columns
TO UNFREEZE PANES:
Choose Window from the menu bar then click Unfreeze panes
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