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Excel 2010
Tutorial 1
In this session you will learn how to:
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Enter data into a spreadsheet
Format data.
Enter formulas.
Copy formulas.
1. What is a Spreadsheet ?
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A spreadsheet is best thought of as a series of boxes or cells, each identified by its position in the
relevant row or column. Rows are identified by numeric characters and columns are identified
by alphabetic characters.
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Open the application Microsoft Excel 2010 by choosing it off the Start Menu.
You immediately see that a grid of columns and rows is already set up. A new spreadsheet
document is like a blank columnar pad - the type of pad used by accountants and scorekeepers.
Cell reference
Formula Bar
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Text typed into an active cell appears in the Formula Bar. Its contents can be edited here and the
changes are reflected in the cell. The Formula Bar also displays the cell reference for the active
cell.
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The Standard Ribbon is displayed below Home Tab. The other Tabs are displayed alongside
this. These tabs contain a series of ribbons and groups for common facilities used in Excel.
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2. Standard Toolbar
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The following table describes some of the tools on the Home tab.
Tool
Name
Description
Save
Save changes made to the active document.
Cut
Removes the selection and copies to the Clipboard
Copy
Copies the selection to the Clipboard
Paste
Pastes the selection from the Clipboard
Format Painter
Copies and pastes formats for cells and objects
Undo
Undoes last action or command
Repeat
Repeats last action or command
AutoSum
Insert SUM function and proposes sum range
Sort Ascending
Sort Descending
Sorts selected rows in ascending order
Sorts selected rows in descending order
3. Formatting Tools
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The following table describes the tools on the font and alignment groups on the Home tab
Font
Font Size
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Applies font
Applies font size
Bold
Applies bold formatting to the current selection.
Italic
Applies italic formatting to the current selection.
Underline
Applies underlining formatting to the current selection
Left Align
Aligns the selection to the left.
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Center Align
Centers the selection.
Right Align
Aligns the selection to the right.
Centre Across Columns Centers the text from one cell horizontally across the
selected columns.
Borders
Applies borders to the selection
Colour
Applies colour to the selection
Font Colour
Applies font colour to the selected text
 The following table describes the tools on the Number group on the Home tab
Currency Style
Applies currency style to selected cells
Percent Style
Applies percent style to selected cells
Comma Style
Applies comma style to selected cells
Increase Decimal
Adds one decimal place to number format
Decrease Decimal
Removes one decimal place from number format
4. Formula Bar
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A cell must be selected before data can be entered. Data are typically typed into the data entry
box of the formula bar
Data Entry box
Cell address/reference
Insert Formula button
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Select the cell B1 by clicking on the cell with the mouse
A heavy border indicates that the cell is selected. The text insertion point blinks in the data entry
bar as soon as you start to type.
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Type the text title "January".
This gives you a label for the first column.
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Press the TAB key to confirm the entry and move to the next cell on the right.
You can also press ENTER or click the check mark
cancel the entry, click the
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in the data entry bar to confirm. To
in the data entry box.
Add the headings “February” and “March” to cells C1 and D1 respectively.
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5. Adding a row of cells
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After typing the month headings you realise you forgot to put in a title for the report. To do this
you need to add a row to the top of the spreadsheet.
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Select row 1 by clicking on the row number 1.
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Choose INSERT SHEET ROWS from the INSERT Button
Excel inserts a blank row above the one selected.
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Add the title “2011 First Quarter” in cell A1.
on the CELLS group.
6. Making Room for Data
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You can see the title is too wide for the cell A1 so we wish to widen column A.
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Move the pointer into the column header (A) and carefully place it over the line between
columns A and B. The pointer should change its shape.
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Drag the column border to the right until the width is sufficient.
Another way is to double-click the left mouse button while the pointer shape has changed
7. Typing Data
You are now ready to fill in some numbers for expenses.
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Select cell A3 and enter the following data:
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Resize the columns if necessary to accommodate all the data you have entered.
8. Formatting Cells
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Having entered the data into the spreadsheet we wish to improve its appearance by making titles
stand out. The next few steps show you how to make the main title 12pt and bold, the headings
bold and add currency signs to the numbers, as below.
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Click on the title cell A1 and choose 12pt from the Size submenu of the Font group.
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Next we are going to change the entire first column to bold text. To select the entire column
click on the cell title A above the first cell. Now select the Bold button on the Font group.
The text of the entire first row should now be in bold.
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Similarly select our entire month headings row by clicking on the row number 2. Again make
the row text bold by choosing Bold as above.
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To add currency signs select the range of cells to be changed (cells B3 to D7). Choose the
Currency Style, € English (Ireland) from the Number goup.
Do not be surprised if your cells appear as
This just means that the data does not fit in the cell. Select the range of cells B3 to D7 again and
click the Decrease Decimal button on the Number group until no decimal places are displayed.
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Save your spreadsheet to your filestorage area.
9. Entering a Formula
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Formulae are used to perform simple or complex calculations on a cell or range of cells, each of
which may be numbers, text or other formulae. The result of the calculation appears in the
formula’s cell. Then, if any data in the cells used by the formula changes, the formula is
recalculated (usually) automatically.
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Click on cell A8 and enter the title 'Total Expenses'.
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Select B8 and type an equals sign ('='). This tells the spreadsheet you are entering a formula.
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Click on each cell from B3 through to B7 and include a + sign between each cell reference. As
you click the spreadsheet adds the address of the cell you have selected to the formula.
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Click on the Accept Icon
to confirm the formula. The total is now calculated and the result
appears in the formula cell B8.
10. Doing the Same Addition Faster
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Excel has a comprehensive set of built in functions for most of the more popular operations. We
shall now use one of these functions to repeat the totals calculation.
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Select cell B8 again and type an equals sign.
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Click on the Insert Function button
, which is displayed beside the data entry box.
You will then see a dialog box that allows you search for Excel functions.
Search for the SUM function.
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Select the SUM function and click OK. A dialog box is displayed, where you are prompted to
fill in the values for the function. You can drag this box to a suitable part of the spreadsheet so
that you can see the values you want to sum, as shown below:
Click on the Number1 box in the Sum function and highlight the cells on the spreadsheet you
want to add. Excel automatically adds the cell references as shown below:
Click the OK button to enter the answer.
11. Filling in Formulae
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We now want to total the remaining columns. We can use a shortcut so we don't have to enter
the same formula for each of the columns. This method is called filling.
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Click on the cell that contains the formula to copy, B8, and drag across the range of cells where
you want the formula to be copied to, i.e. C8 and D8.
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Select Fill, Right from the EDIT group to copy the formula to these cells.
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Click on cell C8. Its formula should appear in the data entry bar. Notice that it is slightly
different from the formula in B8 in that the column references are all C instead of B. This is
because Filling defaults to relative addressing, where the addresses are calculated using offsets
rather than fixed locations. We shall discuss this in more detail later
12. Adding More Data
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We now want to add more numbers and categories to the report to produce a more
comprehensive report as below. Follow the instructions below carefully.
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First insert three new rows after the month headings. Then type in “Turnover” in row 4 and
enter the relevant values. Note that formulae references are automatically modified to take
account of inserted rows.
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Insert a new row at 11.
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Enter the “Gross Earnings” heading and formulae in the cells of row 14. The general formula is:
Gross Earnings = (Turnover - Total Expenses). *Note:- Use the values for these items not the
words themselves. You should apply this formula to the individual months.
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Enter the values for the “Tax & VAT” row.
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Enter the “Net Earnings” row using the general formula:
Net Earnings = (Gross Earnings - Tax & VAT).
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To Do!! Answer the following questions (see next page for solution)
1. Enter a new row that calculates what percentage Tax&VAT are of gross earnings. Make
sure to display the result as a percentage.
2. Enter another row that calculates what percentage Tax&VAT are of total expenses.
3. Create another new column, which calculates the average of total expenses, gross earnings,
tax & VAT and net earnings over the three months. Use the built in function.
4. Create another new column and get the standard deviation for these averages, again use
the built in function stdev.
5. In yet another new column calculate the median for the same values. You will have to look
for the median function in the Insert Functions
dialog box.
The complete spreadsheet appears as follows:
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