Book Image

Exploring Microsoft Excel’s Hidden Treasures

By : David Ringstrom
Book Image

Exploring Microsoft Excel’s Hidden Treasures

By: David Ringstrom

Overview of this book

David Ringstrom coined the phrase “Either you work Excel, or it works you!” after observing how many users carry out tasks inefficiently. In this book, you’ll learn how to get more done with less effort. This book will enable you to create resilient spreadsheets that are easy for others to use as well, while incorporating spreadsheet disaster preparedness techniques. The time-saving techniques covered in the book include creating custom shortcuts and icons to streamline repetitive tasks, as well as automating them with features such as Tables and Custom Views. You’ll see how Conditional Formatting enables you to apply colors, Cell icons, and other formatting on-demand as your data changes. You’ll be empowered to protect the integrity of spreadsheets and increase usability by implementing internal controls, and understand how to solve problems with What-If Analysis features. In addition, you’ll master new features and functions such as XLOOKUP, Dynamic Array functions, LET and LAMBDA, and Power Query, while learning how to leverage shortcuts and nuances in Excel. By the end of this book, you’ll have a broader awareness of how to avoid pitfalls in Excel. You’ll be empowered to work more effectively in Excel, having gained a deeper understanding of the frustrating oddities that can arise daily in Excel.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
1
Part 1: Improving Accessibility
6
Part 2:Spreadsheet Interactivity and Automation
12
Part 3: Data Analysis

The dynamic amortization table

An amortization table details how loan payments are allocated on a period-by-period basis, such as monthly. Additionally, an amortization table shows how the amount of the loan declines over time, typically down to zero or to an agreed-upon balloon payment to be made at the end. You might have encountered an amortization table in the paperwork provided along with the purchase of a car or a house. Historically, amortization tables generally required manual adjustments to accommodate different loan lengths. For instance, an amortization table for a 48-month car loan would need to have 12 more rows added if you opted for a 60-month loan instead. Dynamic array functions now enable us to create dynamic amortization tables that do not require much maintenance but instead expand or contract automatically to match the length of the loan.

Prior to the advent of dynamic array functions, you could create a macro to resize an amortization table on demand, or you...