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Creation Date: January 3, 2003

Modified Date: April 22, 2003
Introduction This reference guide provides instructions on using Excel to analyze data extracted from the
e*mpac HR and Financials system. It provides a step-by-step approach to using some of
Excel most common features. It assumes that you

§ extracted the data by copying/pasting an inquiry panel into Excel; by running a query or
by downloading a report to Excel;
§ are currently viewing the document;
§ have saved the document to your hard drive in Excel format.

Terminology The following terms are used in the reference guide.

Title Bar
Menu Bar

Toolbars (Buttons)

Column Headings
Column Labels (Headers)

Worksheet

Scroll Bar

Quick Reference: Using Excel to Format Output from Queries/Reports

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Problem Cells are showing #### instead of actual data.
Columns are too narrow or the columns are too wide.

Solution The column is not wide enough to display the data. Make the column wider.

Example The Gross Amount Paid column in the following worksheet is not wide enough to display the
data in the cells correctly. The Name column is too wide. Change the column widths to
make the data fit properly.

Instructions Step 1: Click and hold to drag the boundary on the right side of the column heading. Make
the column wider or narrower as needed.

Results The column widths have been changed.

Hint Row heights can be adjusted in the same way.

Quick Reference: Using Excel to Format Output from Queries/Reports

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Problem The spreadsheet does not have any column labels (i.e. a header row).

Solution Add appropriate column labels.

Example The following worksheet does not have any column labels. Insert a row at the top of the
worksheet and enter names for columns.

Instructions Step 1: Click once on the next to cell A1. This will highlight the entire row.

Step 2: Select Insert > Rows.

Step 3: Type the label of the first column (Column A) and press Tab to move to the next
column.

Step 4: Continue entering the column labels until done.

Step 5: If the row is no longer highlighted, then select (highlight) the cells containing the
column labels. Format the column labels using the font, size and color tools on the toolbar.

Results The columns contain descriptive formatted labels.

Quick Reference: Using Excel to Format Output from Queries/Reports

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Problem The columns are not in the correct order.

Solution Cut and paste entire columns in the correct order.

Example The following worksheet has Pmt Date in the last column. Move the Pmt Date to the left of
Voucher to make it the first column.

Instructions Step 1: Select the entire column by clicking on column header of the column you want to
move. The column headers look like this:

Step 2: Click the on the toolbar.

Step 3: Click on the column header to the right of where you want the column inserted.

Step 4: Select Insert > Cut Cells.

Results The column you cut is pasted to the left of the column you selected.

Quick Reference: Using Excel to Format Output from Queries/Reports

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Problem There are columns with repetitive or unnecessary information.

Solution Delete or hide the columns that contain the repetitive or unnecessary information.

Example In the worksheet below, you can see that several columns contain repetitive information. The
Unit and SetID columns hold only one value (UMLOW) and the Vendor Classification column
contains Employee. Delete these columns.

Instructions Step 1: Click on the column heading of the column you want to delete.

Step 2: Select Edit > Delete to delete the column or select Format > Column > Hide.

NOTE: You can always use the Unhide command later. You may not be able to “undelete”
the column.

Results The worksheet no longer displays columns with repetitive and unnecessary data.

Quick Reference: Using Excel to Format Output from Queries/Reports

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Problem Dollar amounts are not being displayed correctly (i.e. with $).

Solution The columns are not formatted to display the data correctly.

Example In the worksheet below, the Gross Paid Amount column contains dollar values. Format the
cells to display the data as currency.

Instructions Step 1: Select the range of cells that need to be formatted as currency.

Step 2: Select Format > Cells…

Step 3: On the Number tab, make selections as shown below.

Step 4: Click OK.

1. In the Category area, select Currency.

2. In the Decimal places field, type 2 or use the

up/down arrows.

3. Select the $ from the Symbol drop-down list.

4. Select the format you’d like for negative numbers in

the Negative numbers field.

5. Click OK.

Results The worksheet displays the data as currency.

Quick Reference: Using Excel to Format Output from Queries/Reports

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 Problem The output is not sorted in the correct way.

Solution Use Excel’s sort feature to re-organize the data. In the example below, the output is sorted
by the Vendor number. You might find that sorting by payment date is more useful to you.

Example The following data needs to be sorted by Name and Payment Date.

Instructions Step 1: Determine which column will be used as your primary sorting criteria. You may also
want a secondary sort criteria. For example, you may want to sort by Payment Date and then
by Gross Paid Amount.

Step 2: Select Data > Sort…

Step 3: Select the sort criteria as shown below. The drop-down lists will contain the Column
Labels (headers).

1. Select the Header row radio button at the bottom.

2. From the Sort by drop-down list, select the column

you want as the primary sort criteria.

3. From the Then by drop-down list, select the column

you want as the secondary sort.

4. Click OK.

Step 4: Click OK.

Results The data is sorted according to the primary and secondary criteria you entered.

Quick Reference: Using Excel to Format Output from Queries/Reports

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 Problem The spreadsheet contains too many rows of data. I just want to view the rows that are
relevant to me.

Solution Use Excel’s filter capability to view a subset of the data. Excel will display only the rows of
data that meet the criteria you specify.

Example The list in the example below is filtered to show only the rows for the salesperson Davolio.

Instructions Step 1: Determine which column(s) will be used as your primary filtering criteria. Click on a
cell in the list you want to filter.

Step 2: Select Data > Filter > AutoFilter. Arrows appear to the right of the column labels.

Step 3: Click on the arrow to display a list of all unique values found in that list.

Step 4: Select the value to display all rows containing that value. Notice that you can also
choose (Blanks) or (NonBlanks).

1. Click the arrow to display the list of values.

2. Select a value. Only rows containing that

value will be visible.

Step 4: To view the entire spreadsheet again, select Data > Filter > AutoFilter.

Quick Reference: Using Excel to Format Output from Queries/Reports

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Results The data is filtered according to the criteria you entered.

Only the rows containing the value you

specified in this column are visible.

Notes You can make selections from more than one column. Each time you make a filtering
selection from another column, you are further limiting your list (using a logical AND). In the
example below, you are viewing only the rows of data that have an HRDeptID of L690710
and an Hrly Rate of 10.00. These are all the student employees working in the Escort
Services area and making $10/hr.

Quick Reference: Using Excel to Format Output from Queries/Reports

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Problem There are no totals or subtotals in the spreadsheet.

Solution The query/report was not designed to provide the information. However, Excel provides
several options for calculating totals and sub-totals. Microsoft Excel can automatically
summarize data by calculating subtotal and grand total values in a list. To use automatic
subtotals, your list must contain labeled columns and the list must be sorted on the columns
for which you want subtotals, as shown below.

In this example, we have sorted (grouped)

the output by Salesperson in order to
calculate the Sales total for each one.

You can select which type of function or calculation you want Excel to perform on each
group. The most common function is the Sum function, where you calculate a total (sum) for
each group.

In this example, you can see a Sales total

for each Salesperson and a Grand Total at
the bottom.

Step 1: Sort the data on the columns by which you want the subtotals grouped.
Select Data > Sort… and select your primary and secondary sort criteria.

In this example, the data

was sorted by Name and
by Payment Date.

This will allow us to

calculate the Gross Paid
Amount for each person
and a Grand Total.

Step 2: Select Data > Subtotals…

Quick Reference: Using Excel to Format Output from Queries/Reports

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 Step 3: Make selections as shown below.

Select how you would like your data grouped. This should be
the same column by which you sorted your data in Step 1.

Select the function you’d like to use. The Sum function is the
most common but you may also choose Count, Average, Max,
Min, etc.

Select the checkboxes for the columns that contain the data
for which you want subtotals.

What did this do?

For each new name in the list, Excel will calculate the sum of
the Gross Paid Amount and a grand total.

Step 4: Click OK.

Results The results are shown below.

Quick Reference: Using Excel to Format Output from Queries/Reports

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