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Microsoft Excel
Module 306
Formulas, Functions & percentage
©2005 COPYRIGHT. Steve Slisar owns the copyright for this publication. This publication or parts of it may not be reproduced in any form
physical or digital without the written consent of the copyright owner.
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306 Excel v3 050617
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................................................................ 1
DOWNLOADING THE EXERCISE FILES ........................................................................................................... 2
EXTRACTING THE EXERCISE FILES ................................................................................................................ 3
REVIEW EXERCISE................................................................................................................................................. 4
PERCENTAGE........................................................................................................................................................... 5
HOW ARE PERCENTAGES DISPLAYED ......................................................................................................................... 5
PERCENTAGE FORMATTING ....................................................................................................................................... 6
RELATIVE CELL REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 9
RELATIVE VS ABSOLUTE CELL REFERENCES ........................................................................................................... 10
COPYING FORMULAS USING RELATIVE REFERENCES ............................................................................................... 10
ABSOLUTE CELL REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 12
OUTCOMES.............................................................................................................................................................. 12
PREREQUISITES ....................................................................................................................................................... 12
ABSOLUTE CELL REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................ 13
KNOWLEDGE OF MATH...................................................................................................................................... 16
MORE FUNCTIONS................................................................................................................................................ 17
SYNTAX .................................................................................................................................................................. 17
MAX & MIN ............................................................................................................................................................ 17
AVERAGE ................................................................................................................................................................ 17
HIDING AND UN-HIDING COLUMNS ............................................................................................................... 19
INSERTING COMMENTS ..................................................................................................................................... 20
CHOOSING A FUNCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 22
USING THE FORMULA PALETTE & FUNCTION .......................................................................................................... 23
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Downloading the exercise files
1. Visit our web site www.ezylearn.com.au
2. Click on the Training Module button (left panel)
3. On the right side, click on exercise files (next to the module you are doing)
4. You will be taken to a download page with a list of all the modules that require exercise
files. (see below)
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5. Click on the module you want the exercise files for and you will be asked whether you
want to save or open. Click on Open. (or Run) (below)
Extracting the exercise files
6. After you click on open, your computer will open the file and you will then have the
opportunity to extract (or “unzip”) the files onto your own computer.
7. Notice what it says in the box under “Unzip to folder:” This is where the exercise files
will be extracted. You need to remember this for when you use Word or Excel and want
to open the exercise files.
8. The key to remember is that all exercise files will be in the C:\SLISAR folder.
9. Click the Unzip button and when the work is done, you will be told how many files were
extracted and moved to the “Unzip to folder:”
10. Click OK, then click Close on the window behind it.
11. Just remember the PATH of where the exercise files are found C:\SLISAR.
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Review Exercise
You should be confident in completing this exercise with the skills you have learnt in the
SLISAR Excel Level module.
AIM: Our aim is to produce a spreadsheet to show income vs expenses for a new venture called
121services.
1. Re-create the table on the left. (Make
sure you Enter the same information in the
same cell references as you will type
formulas later and we need the references
to be the same).
2. Save the file as 121services budget.
3. Widen column A using AutoFit
4. Change the width of columns B and C to
7.00 (54 pixels)
5. Enter a formula in cell B7 (using
addition) to calculate the total value of
projected income.
6. In cell C18 use the SUM function to
calculate the total value of all expenses
for cells C10:C17 (that means from C10 to
C17).
7. Change the format of cells C4 to C20
(everything in between) to Currency with
no decimal places.
8. Change the colour of the text for all
expenses to Red.
9. Merge and Centre the heading “Income
and Expense Projection” across cells A1
to C1.
10. Change the font of the heading to Arial,
12 point
11. Merge and centre the words Per week in
cell B3 over the cells B3 and C3.
12. Bold Row 7 and 18 (Select them both at
the same time and then apply the bold
formatting)
13. Print Preview the worksheet
14. Change the orientation of the page to
Landscape
15. Scale the spreadsheet to 135% and do
another print preview
16. Make any other changes that you can see
need to be done to make it look like the
image on the left (bottom).
17. Save the changes you’ve made to 121
services budget and close the file.
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306 Excel v3 050617
Percentage
Percentages are widely used, as they are a measure that is easy for most people to understand. To
say that you got 60% in an exam simply means that you answered 60 out of every 100 questions
correct.
How are percentages displayed
First lets understand how percentages work. 50% is the same as 50/100, which is the same as 5/10 or
if we convert it to a decimal it becomes 0.5. This type of manipulation of percentages is taught in
schools so there is nothing new about it in Excel but we will embellish this a little.
60/100 is the same as saying 60/100 and if you did that calculation on a calculator you would
find that the result is a decimal, because that is what calculators do. The answer is 0.6. It is
important to know that this value displayed as a decimal is 60%.
In other words,
25
/100 = 25 ÷ 100 = 0.25
= 25%
Before we go any further lets take a look at how a cell can be formatted as this will give you a
better understanding of how percentage formatting works.
Exercise: Cell formatting
1. Open the file called cell formatting and type 25 in cell C3 and press the tab key to
move to the right.
2. What is the result? …………….
3. What type of formatting do you think is applied to cell C3? ………………..
4. If you are not sure, click on cell C3 and then click Format (menu bar), then Cells and in
the Format cells dialog box, click on the Number tab.
5. Can you see how percentage is highlighted?
6. How many decimal places is it formatted to? ……………..
7. Move to cell D3, what type of formatting is applied to that cell? …………………
8. Go through the rest of the columns E to K and make a note of the formatting for
each of those cells. Write the results below:
F E
………………..
F F
………………..
F G
………………..
F H
………………..
F I
………………..
F J
………………..
F K
………………..
9. Now type the value “0.33” into cells C5 to K5 noting how the resultant figure varies form
row 3. The cells are formatted in exactly the same formatting as row 3 but the result is
sometimes a little different.
Now that you understand about cell formatting, we can go to the next step and show you the
difference between formatting a cell after the information is entered compared to before it is
entered.
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Percentage formatting
The first problem you “may” encounter when using Excel has to do with “formatting”. For
example if the formatting of a cell is set to Automatic (the default setting) then a calculation like
25 divided by 100 would return a value of 0.25. If however the cells formatting is set to
percentage then the value would be 25%. This information is based on the fact that the cell is
formatted BEFORE you enter the value in it.
To put it another way: If the a cell is formatted to automatic numeric formatting (default) and
you typed in 25, then the value would remain as 25. If however the cell is formatted as decimal,
then when you type 25, the resulting value is 25%. Let’s prove it.
Exercise: Percentage formatting
1. Open the file “percentage” and make sure you are in the Calculations sheet.
2. Enter the values shown in columns A
and B in the diagram and you should see
the same result that’s displayed in Column
C in your spreadsheet.
3. Did you notice that you can’t actually
click on any cell except for the blue ones?
This is because the spreadsheet is
protected. This is a very useful tool if you create spreadsheets for your work colleagues
and don’t want them to change the calculations. We’ll talk about this in a later module.
4. Scroll to the right so that you can see Column D. This is how the values would look if
displayed as a percentage.
5. Leave this file open for the next step.
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Exercise: Formatting a cell first or last
1. You should have the “percentage” file open from the previous exercise.
2. Click on the Sheet called “first”.
3. Try and click around the spreadsheet and see which cells can be selected? Only the
blue cells can be selected.
4. Click in cell C5 and type 25, then press tab (you should be taken straight to the only
other cell available for you to use.
5. Notice the value in cell C8 says 25 as well.
6. Now, in cell G5, type 25 and notice that it shows up as 25%? That is because the cell is
already formatted as a percentage.
7. Press tab (to enter the information into the cell) and notice that the value in that cell is
0.25? This is important to remember.
8. Keep the file open and Click on the “after” sheet.
9. See if you can select any cells other than the blue one. Can you? ………
10. Click on any cell (except the blue one) and see if you can type in it? Can you? ……….
11. This is one of the options when learning how to protect cells,
12. Click on cell C5 and change the formatting to percentage. Did it work? ……
13. Notice that the Actual value (in cell C8) stayed the same? Close the file, but keep Excel
running.
Exercise: Two ways to use percentage
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Open the file Sales commission table
Click in cell C6 and type 0.1 then press the down arrow to cell C7 and type 10%
These values are exactly the same according to Excel.
Make D6 the active cell and type =B6*C6 into it. Press Ctrl + Enter
Notice that when you press Ctrl + Enter you enter the information into that cell but it
remains the active cell. Normally you press Enter or tab or an arrow key and that moves
you to another cell.
6. Move your mouse to the fill handle for cell D6 and drag the formula down to D7.
Notice how the formula works, no matter how the information is entered.
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Exercise: Use Percentage in formulas
Scenario: Our sales people earn a commission of 10% of the total value of products that they
sell per month. We want to create a formula that calculates the commission payable to them. We
need to realise that 10% is 0.1 as a decimal.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Open the file called Sales Commission table.
Cell C6 should be the active cell. If it isn’t then click on cell C6.
Type 0.1 in cell C6
Use the Fill Handle to fill this value down to C10
Click on cell D6 and enter this formula =B6*C6 then press Enter
You can see that the total value of commission payable is 15000. Notice how this cell
isn’t formatted as dollars and cents?
6. Copy this formula using the Fill Handle from D6 down to D10 and you have all your
results in the D column.
7. Highlight the cells D6:D10 and change the formatting to dollars and cents by clicking
on the $ symbol in the formatting toolbar.
8. Click on cell C11 and type the word TOTAL
9. Highlight cells D6:D10 and click the AutoSum button. Notice the total value is plopped
into cell D11.
10. Save the file
This is what your new table should look like:
Well done.
©2005 Steve Slisar
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306 Excel v3 050617
Relative cell references
Relative cells references is the term used to describe formulas or functions that you enter, where
you simply refer to the cell reference (eg. C5). When you type a formula in a cell and you use the
fill handle to copy that formula down the column everything seems to work even though the
formula is being copied to a different row. Same applies when copying across columns.
Exercise: Formulas using relative cell references
Scenario: All sales people are on the same monthly retainer so we want to enter some
calculations to show us how much we owe each member of the sales team.
7. Open the file called Sales Commission table v2
8. Click in cell E5 and type Salary, then press the down arrow
9. In cell E6 Type 2000 and press Ctrl+Enter
10. Using the Fill Handle fill copy this value from E6 down to E10
11. Highlight cells E6:E10 and using the $ symbol in the formatting toolbar make them all
appear as Currency formatting.
12. Widen any column if needed, to show all the information.
13. Click in cell F5 and type TOTAL WAGES, then press Enter
14. Click in cell F6 and type the formula =D6+E6 then press Ctrl+Enter
15. Use the Fill Handle to copy this formula down to cell F10.
16. Remember that if you double-click divider between column headers 7 & 8, column 7 will
automatically widen or narrow to show all the information in it. Give it a go.
17. Click on cell F7 and notice that the formula now says =D7+E7
18. Click on cell F8 and notice that the formula now says =D8+E8
The cells used in the formula are changing as the formula is copied down. The formula is
using “relative cell references”
19. Click in cell D6 and type “=B6*C6” and press Ctrl + Enter
20. Move your mouse to the D6 fill handle & click & drag to copy that formula to cell
D10.
21. Click on cell D6 and look in the formula bar. Press the down arrow once. Does the
formula use relative cell references? ……..
The answer is yes, because the formula changed as it was copied down, but it was
changed to be relative for that new row. It is a relative cell reference.
If everything is correct you should have a table like the one below. Well done.
22. Highlight cells C6:C10 and click the percentage button.
23. Type TOTAL in cell C11 and press Tab.
24. You should be in cell D11, enter the function “=SUM(D6:D10)” and press Enter.
25. Save the file and then close it.
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306 Excel v3 050617
Relative vs Absolute cell references
The Commission Rate and Monthly Salary columns contain the same value repeated all the way
down. There is no point having a column for these values if they are all the same. This is when
you could use Absolute Cell references where the cell you are referencing is fixed.
The first problem people encounter when using absolute cell references is that you need to know
how to write them. We’ll cover that soon, but we’ll first show you what goes wrong when you
want to use the value in one specific cell when copying formulas.
Copying Formulas using relative references
When you copy a formula from one cell to another (where there is a formula using relative cell
references) the cells references are automatically adjusted as you copy down or across to suit that
row or column. You have seen that in a previous exercise. Now lets see it in a real example.
Exercise: putting a variable in one cell
Scenario: The sales commission is the same rate for everyone, so rather than devote an entire
column to it, we will put the value in one cell and make reference to that cell in any formulas that
need the commission rate.
1. Open the file Sales Commission
2. Click in cell C6 and type the formula =B6*A3 and press Enter (pressing Enter normally
moves your active cell away from where you are). If you want to keep the active cell as
C6 you could press Ctrl+Enter (see previous modules)
3. Now click on cell C6 and move your mouse to the fill handle and click and drag it
down to C10. Notice the error message that appears.
When #VALUE! appears it means that you tried to use a cell that contains text.
4. Keep the file open and follow the explanation on the following page to understand
what went wrong.
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What went wrong
As you copied the formula down it thought that the cells used in the formula would be relative to
each other so it took the value in the cell beneath it.
Let’s see what happened step-by-step
In this example the formula in cell C6 equals
The value in the cell to it’s left (B6), multiplied by
X
The value in the cell two to the left and 3 cells up (A3)
X
X
X
X
When you copied the formula down the cell A3 didn’t
remain Absolute. In other words, as you copied the
formula down, rather than referencing cell A3, it
started referencing cells A4, A5 etc
To prove it, click on cell C7 and see what the formula
says. See how it refers to B7 (this is correct) but it also
refers to cell A4, where we really want it to refer to
A3.
What we want to happen in this scenario is that we
want cell A3 to remain fixed or “Absolute” so that
every formula relates to that cells specifically.
Close the file and close Excel.
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Absolute Cell References
Outcomes
At the end of this module you will be able to
• Distinguish between relative and absolute cell references,
• Change a relative cell reference to an absolute cell references and visa versa
• Determine the best time to use Absolute Cell references
Prerequisites
You should be comfortable with:
• Applying number formatting
• Using Autofill to copy formulas
• Using Autosum
• Entering formulas
Before commencing this module.
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Absolute Cell References
You use absolute cell references when you want a formula to always refer to the same cell even
when it is copied or moved somewhere else.
Absolute cells references have a $ before the column reference and a $ before the row reference
and they look a little like this =B*$A$3. If you don’t have them in your formula and you want
them there you can simply type in the $ signs in the formula bar or when you double click in the
cell where the formula is.
A quick way to change a cell reference from relative to absolute is by clicking anywhere in the
cell reference and pressing the F4 key. Every time you press the F4 key you will alternate
between these 4 options:
A1, $A$1, A$1, $A1, and then back to A1.
Exercise: Using absolute cell references
1. Make sure you have Excel running and open the file Sales Commission
1. If there are values in cells under the heading “Commission” (cells C6:C10), highlight
cells C6:C10 and press the delete key on the keyboard. This clears the contents of the
cells selected.
2. Click on cell C6 and type the formula “=B6*A3” and press Ctrl + Enter. This is the
correct formula for this cell, but it’s no good if we want to copy it down the column. It
didn’t work in the last exercise
2. Click in between the A and the 3 (in the formula bar) and press the F4 key (top row –
inline with the Esc key).
Notice that the formula now reads =B6*$A$3. The dollar signs mean that the Column
and Row reference for the cell A3 will remain fixed. No matter where you copy the
formula, the value in these cells will always refer to cell A3.
If you press the F4 key again, you will toggle between A3, $A$3, A$3, $A3, and then back
to A3
3. Keep pressing F4 until it gets back to $A$3 and press Ctrl + Enter.
4. Move your mouse to the fill handle and use AutoFill to copy the formula down to C10.
Notice that all the answers are correct.
5. Well Done.
3. Save the file as Your Name Sales commission and then close it but leave Excel
running.
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306 Excel v3 050617
Task: Use absolute cell references
1. Open the file Sales Commission table v4_original
2. Make changes to it so that it looks like the table under the heading “completed file”
Original file
Completed file
These are some of the tools you will use:
X
X
X
X
X
Percentage formatting
AutoFill to copy
Formulas
Absolute cell references
Function (SUM)
You also need to Re-Centre the heading, change column widths and other parts of your
spreadsheet make a note of the things you had to do.
........................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................
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TASK: More Absolute References
You should already have completed the previous exercise by making changes to an existing
spreadsheet. Now we’ll go one step further:
4. Open the file called “Sales Commission table v4_completed”
5. Make it look like the spreadsheet under the heading AFTER below.
ORIGINAL FILE
List the changes you can see between the first and second image?
........................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................
AFTER
When you have completed the work save the file as YOUR NAME Sales commission table v5
and close the file.
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Knowledge of math
The more in-depth you go with formulas, the better it is to have an understanding of basic
mathematics. For example If we knew that we spent $2000 in July of 2002 and that all our costs
would increase by 3.1% the next year, how much would we spend in July 2003?
It’s simple, the answer is:
We multiply $2000 by 3.1% (remember this is also represented as 0.031) and that gives us $62,
then we add that value to the initial $2000.
Exercise: Writing down the formula
1. Given that the cells references for the formula are:
a. B3 for the $2000, and
b. H6 for the 3.1%
2. Write down (using the cell references above) the formula to get the value of $2000
increased by 3.1%.
………………………………………………………………
3. What about if we wanted the percentage figure (H6) to remain constant if we copied the
formula across a couple cells (using the fill handle for example)? How would the
formula look then? Remember you’ll need to use absolute cell references.
………………………………………………………………
Exercise: Forecasting using Calculations
6.
7.
8.
9.
Open the file called budget_basic functions
Click in cell B14 and use the SUM button to get the total of all the cells above it.
Now copy the formula across cells C14 and D14 using the fill handle.
Click in cell B15 and enter a formula that works out the value of cell B14 (the cell
above it) with 3.1% added to it (using cell H6).
10. Copy this formula across to D15
11. Click in cell B16 and enter a formula that adds an increase of 4.25% (using cell H7 as
a reference) to the value in the cell above it (B15).
12. Copy the formula in cell B16 across to C16 and D16 using the fill handle.
13. Keep the file open for the next exercise.
Exercise: Varied Formulas
1. You should have the budget_basic functions file open from a previous exercise.
2. Click in cell H10 and type a Formula using only +’s to add the value of every cell that
contains red numbers. Use your mouse to click on the cell rather than typing the cell
reference in.
3. Click in cell H11 (which should be the green text) and using the SUM function this time
add the values together that are formatted green.
a. Note you can click on the AutoSum button and then click and drag a box around
the first selection of green text, then press and hold the Ctrl key down while you
then select another range of cells etc.
4. When all the green cells are selected, press Enter.
5. Now copy the formula down to cell H12. Well done. Keep the file open
Exercise: Sum in a different cell
1. With the file from the previous exercise open. Use SUM
to give us the total expenses for 2002 and the forecasts
for 2003 and 2004.
2. Use the same cell references as in this diagram.
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More functions
Now that you are comfortable with the use of SUM, we’ll take a look at some other Functions
that you will find very useful. It is important to let you know at this stage that you will start to
see a huge range of functions. Don’t get over-whelmed by them. If you need to know a function
for your work you will probably already know about it. Before we get onto them however, let’s
understand a little about syntax; or the way a formula/function is written.
Syntax
Syntax is simply another word used to describe the sequence of how a formula is written. For
example we know that the syntax for SUM is:
=SUM(A1:G10)
You always start with an equals, then the name of the function, then in brackets you make a note
of the first cell and then the last cell of a range. The semi-colon in the middle tells you that you
want to add everything in between these two cells.
Here is another example of how SUM can be used and you may have seen that in the last
exercise we did.
=SUM(B6:B8,C9:C11,D12:D13)
The difference between this and the one above it is the commas, all this means is that we want to
add the values of three distinct ranges: B6:B8, C9:C11, and D12:D13.
In summary, if you want to get the results (Max, Min, Average, Sum) for:
a) A range of cells you would type the first cell reference, use a semi-colon, and then type
the last cell reference of the range – all in brackets of course.
b) A selection of scattered cells you would type each cell reference and then place a comma
after each cell reference – all in brackets of course.
Max & Min
If you have a range of numbers and want to work out what the highest or lowest is, these
functions will give you the answer. These functions are simply because their names are simple.
This is the syntax for the Maximum function: =MAX(B6:B8).
The Minimum function is written this way: =MIN(B6:B8)
Easy isn’t it.
Average
The average function of course is designed to:
a) Add all the values in a range together, and
b) Divide it by the number of values
c) To give you the average.
The syntax for Average is: =Average(B6:B8)
Let’s take a look at how to use these functions in some exercises.
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306 Excel v3 050617
Exercise: Typing Maximum & Average functions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Open the file budget_basic functions_MAX & AVG
Type the heading Average in cell E5
Type the heading Maximum in cell F5
Type a function in cell E6 that gives you the average of cells B6:D6 and press Enter
Use the fill handle to copy that function down to E16
Notice that it will even give you the average of the forecast expenses
Click in cell F6 and type a function to give you the Maximum value of cells B6:D6 and
press Enter
8. Copy the formula down to F16
9. Save the file as “Your Name Max & AVG functions”
10. Keep the file open for the next exercise.
This is how your resulting spreadsheet should look:
Well done. Make sure you show your trainer or computer coach so they can make sure
that you entered the right formulas and functions.
Task: Create a price list
1. Open the file “water filter pricelist_costs”
2. In cell E4 type a formula that works out the total retail price. This price is the cost
price plus a markup of what ever is in cell I4.
3. Copy that formula down the column. Delete the values in any blank rows
4. In column G (under the heading profit) work out the total profit in dollar terms of the
displayed price, minus the cost price. Save the file as “Your Name pricelist”.
The result should resemble this:
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306 Excel v3 050617
Hiding and Un-hiding Columns
Sometimes you’ll create a spreadsheet that contains confidential information that you don’t want
others to see. All you need to do to hide this column is to:
a) Select the column(s). (remember you could press and hold the Ctrl key down and then
select multiple columns)
b) Choose the Hide command (click Format, Column, then hide OR right-click on a selected
column and choose Hide from the shortcut menu).
It is important for you to know that this is effective if you want to print the spreadsheet out to
give to someone. If you are emailing the spreadsheet then the person who receives it from you
can simply unhide, just like you can.
You can tell a column is hidden when you can’t see that column’s letter where all the other
column headers are located. See in the diagram below how the column headers go A, B, C, then
F (D & E are missing), then H (G is missing).
To bring a hidden column back into view you simply select the columns either side of the hidden
one(s) and then choose the Unhide command (same whether you right-click or click Format in
the menu bar). Give it a go.
Exercise: Hiding & Un-hiding Columns
1. Open the file water filter pricelist_costs_complete.
2. Select column D (click on the column header) and then click on Format> Columns>
Hide. Notice that the column is no longer showing? ……….
3. How can you tell that there is a hidden column? …………..
4. Right-click on the Column G header and from the shortcut menu that appears, click on
Hide.
5. Hide column E using any method you prefer?
6. Save the file and close it.
7. Open the file water filter pricelist_costs_complete_hidden rows.
8. Select columns C to J.
9. Click Format, Columns and then click on Unhide.
10. All columns should now be revealed. Easy isn’t it.
11. Close the file without saving changes, but keep Excel running.
©2005 Steve Slisar
19
Phone: 1300 888 869
www.ezylearn.com.au
306 Excel v3 050617
Inserting Comments
Sometimes you will work on a spreadsheet that you think is complicated and you’ll want to
explain parts of it to people who read it. This is when you’ll appreciate that you can insert a
comment into a cell.
Exercise: Inserting comments
1. Launch Excel and you should have a blank spreadsheet on the screen.
2. Right-click in any cell and look at the options that appear in the shortcut menu.
3. Click on “Insert Comment”
4. Type the following text: “This is a comment created by YOUR NAME and it is
designed to provide you with information about the cell you are in.”
5. Click on any other cell outside the comment box to let Excel know that you have
finished entering information into it.
6. Notice there is now a small red triangle in that cell? Move your mouse over the cell with
the comment and take a look at what you have done.
7. Well done.
Exercise: Editing the name of the comment writer
1. Did you notice the name that appears at the top of the comments box? Well it can be
changed.
2. Right-click on the cell where you just inserted your comment and notice that you now
have two new options: Edit Comment and Delete Comment
3. Click Edit Comment and you will be inside the Comment box again.
4. Press the up arrow on your keyboard until you get to the top of the Comment box.
See how your text cursor can be moved around there?
5. Remove the current name using backspace or delete and replace it with your own
name, then click outside the Comment box.
6. Move your mouse back over the cell and notice that you are now the person who made
the comment. Well Done.
©2005 Steve Slisar
20
Phone: 1300 888 869
www.ezylearn.com.au
306 Excel v3 050617
Exercise: Formatting of comments
1. Open the file 121 services – run your own business.
2. Look at cell A4, where it currently says “Rent”. Can you see the small red triangle in the
top right corner of that cell? This tells you that there is a comment in that cell.
3. Move your mouse over cell A4 and read the comment. Notice that the box is square
and the font style of the text is Times New Roman.
4. Move your mouse to Petrol (cell A5) and notice that the comment box that appears is
tall and narrow. Notice also that some of the text inside is red?
5. Move your mouse to A6 and every other cell with a Red triangle in the top right
corner and notice the difference between the comment boxes. These differences are
things that you can change when you start using Comments in your spreadsheet.
6. Keep the file open for the next exercise.
Exercise: Edit Comments
1. You should have the file 121 services – run your own business open from the previous
exercise.
2. Right-click on cell A17 and from the shortcut menu that appears, click on Delete
comment.
3. That’s how easy it is to remove a comment.
4. Right-click on cell A18, then click on Edit comment.
5. Add the following text “Text can be larger or smaller, it can be bold, italic or underline
and you can change the colour of it.”
6. Make sure that where you mentioned the words that are bolded (above) that you change
the formatting of the text to reflect what it says.
7. Keep the file open for the next exercise.
Exercise: Change the shape of the Comment box
1. The file 121 services – run your own business should still be open.
2. Right-click cell A17 and click on Edit Comment.
3. While the Comment box is in edit mode, move your mouse to any handle (small black
rectangle at every corner and on every edge) and click and drag it to resize the comment
box to any size you prefer.
4. Click in a cell outside to tell Excel that you have finished editing the comment
5. Move your mouse back to cell A17.
6. Is the Comment box now the size that you set it?
7. Well done. Save the file and close it.
©2005 Steve Slisar
21
Phone: 1300 888 869
www.ezylearn.com.au
306 Excel v3 050617
Choosing a function
If you know how to type the function and are aware of the syntax or “structure” of the function
then the previous exercises show you how easy it is. Let’s now take a look at how to use the
Function Dialog box.
In earlier versions of Excel, there was a button in the toolbar with the symbols fx. When this
button was clicked you were given a range of functions to choose from. We are using Excel XP
and although the methods may vary, the result is what we are looking for.
Exercise: Inserting a function
1. Launch Excel, and by using just the default
blank spreadsheet, click on the drop down
, and
button next to the AutoSum symbol
then click More Functions… (Excel XP) or
click on the fx button in the toolbar (a list of
options will appear). (or, click Insert – menu
bar – and then click Function…)
2. See if you can locate the following list of
things:
a. Search Box for queries
b. Go button
c. Drop down list of function categories
d. List of functions
e. Function syntax
f. OK & Cancel buttons
3. Click on SUM in the function list and notice
the syntax? Write it down:
…………………………………………
4. Click on the Category drop down arrow and
then click Financial.
5. Notice the list of Financial functions?
6. Click on PV and notice under the list how it
shows you the syntax? All you need to know
now is how to use them practically.
7. Cancel the dialog box, but keep Excel
running.
As we said before there are hundreds of functions and if you need one for your job, you probably
know about them already. We will cover some basic functions in forth coming modules.
©2005 Steve Slisar
22
Phone: 1300 888 869
www.ezylearn.com.au
306 Excel v3 050617
Using the Formula palette & Function
When you use the Insert Function command (mentioned in the previous section) to choose your
function, you are presented with a Function Palette that tries to make it easier for you to
complete the task. Let’s take a look at the spreadsheet below:
B
E
C
In this example, we click on cell H6 and then clicked Insert, and selected function. When the
Function dialog box appeared we chose Average and then the box above appeared.
Exercise: Understand the Function Arguments dialog box
1. Make sure you are familiar with the following parts of the dialog box above.
A. Number 1 range
B. Function name location
C. Syntax
D. Current Result
E. Rolldown button
Rolldown button
It is important to know what the Rolldown button does as it often confuses people who use it for
the first time.
By clicking the Rolldown button the dialog box shrinks (usually to become only one line) so that
you can see the spreadsheet you are working with. You could also call this rolling up.
E
When you click on the Rolldown button a second time, the dialog box comes back to it’s normal
size. The whole purpose is to allow you to see your spreadsheet while working on the function.
©2005 Steve Slisar
23
Phone: 1300 888 869
www.ezylearn.com.au
306 Excel v3 050617
Exercise: Using the Function Arguments dialog box
1. Open the file called costs & income
2. Click in cell I3 and then click Insert (menu bar) and click on Functions… from the
menu list (or use one of the methods mentioned in the previous pages.
3. In the “Insert Function” dialog box, you should see the word “Average” in the function
list. If you don’t, change the category to All and simply scroll down the list (they are
listed alphabetically), until you see it, click on it and then click OK.
4. You should have the Function Arguments dialog box on the screen (in front of your
spreadsheet). Click on the rolldown button.
5. Did it shrink?
6. Click the Rolldown button again.
7. Did it go back to its normal size?
8. Click the rolldown button again.
9. Press the ESC key. Did it come back to normal size?
10. Can you see how all the information entered in the Number 1 field is highlighted?
11. That means that you can click and drag to select something on the spreadsheet and
whatever you choose will replace what is currently there.
12. Make sure the dialog box is rolled up and the text in the Number 1 field is highlighted.
13. Click and Drag cells B14:G14 and then press Enter.
14. Notice that the dialog rolled down to go back to its normal size.
15. Press Enter OR Click OK and your answer should appear.
16. What is the average monthly spend? …………
17. What is the monthly income? ……………….
18. What would happen if this trend continued without keeping track of it?
19. Do you think John Smith has a credit card? …………
20. What do you think needs to happen to make sure that John doesn’t go broke? There are
only two answers: …………………………………………………………………
21. Save the file as YOUR NAME Budget, and keep it open for the next exercise.
Exercise: Use absolute Cell reference
1. With the file open from the previous exercise, click on cell B16 and type a formula that
shows the balance of the monthly income (cell I2) minus the expenses for that month.
2. Copy the formula across.
3. Format the text in cells B16:G16 so that it is 12 Points, Bold, currency with no
decimal spaces, and red if the figure is a minus.
4. Save the file and close Excel.
©2005 Steve Slisar
24
Phone: 1300 888 869