Excel expert David Ringstrom, CPA, teaches you how to create dynamic financial reports—for any month of the year—on a single worksheet. Many Excel users build a worksheet for each month of the year, which can be inconvenient and tiresome to revise. Rather than using such a cumbersome method, David demonstrates how to apply the VLOOKUP, OFFSET, and SUM functions to quickly create accounting reports that allow you to toggle to any reporting period with just a couple of mouse clicks. In addition, David shares effective ways to export data from your accounting package so you can create a “set-and-forget” link to your accounting data in Excel.

David demonstrates every technique at least twice: first, on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps, and second, in Excel 2016. He draws your attention to any differences in Excel 2013, 2010, or 2007 during the presentation as well as in his detailed handouts. David also provides an Excel workbook that includes most of the examples he uses during the webcast.

Topics Covered:

  • Creating an in-cell list by way of Excel’s Data Validation feature.
  • Improving the integrity of spreadsheets with Excel’s VLOOKUP function.
  • Discovering how to incorporate Check Figures and Alarms into your work.
  • Overcoming VLOOKUP’s quirks by using SUMIF to look up numeric values.
  • Using Excel’s VLOOKUP function to look up an item description based on an input provided by the user.
  • Using Conditional Formatting to draw attention to reports that don’t balance to the source data.
  • Learning a simple design technique that greatly improves the integrity of Excel’s SUM function.
  • Learning why, in many cases, you should export reports intended for spreadsheet analysis to a .CSV file instead of an Excel workbook.
  • Seeing how to use the Trusted Document feature in Excel 2010 and later to suppress the Data Connection security prompt.
Learning Objectives
  • Identify what object type Microsoft Query considers worksheet tabs within Excel workbooks to be.
  • Recognize how to determine if you’re using the Office 365 version of Excel.
  • Discover how and when to use the Name Manager command.
Last updated/reviewed: March 17, 2024

Included In Certifications

This course is included in the following Certification Programs:

17 CoursesExcel Modeler Certification

  1. Excel Efficiency: VLOOKUP
  2. Excel Efficiency: Logic Functions
  3. Excel Efficiency: Filtering and Formatting Data
  4. Excel Efficiency: Intermediate Pivot Tables
  5. Excel Efficiency: Auditing Spreadsheets
  6. Excel Efficiency: Minimizing Worksheet Errors
  7. Excel Efficiency: Workbook Links
  8. Excel Efficiency: What-If Analysis in Microsoft Excel
  9. Excel Efficiency: Quick and Easy Financial Statements in Excel
  10. Excel Efficiency: Budget Spreadsheets
  11. Hands-On Excel: Waterfall Calculations
  12. Excel Efficiency: Table Feature
  13. Excel Efficiency: Intro to Macros Part 1
  14. Excel Efficiency: Intro to Macros Part 2
  15. Excel Efficiency: Excel Chart Speed Tips
  16. Excel Efficiency: Taming Large Spreadsheets
  17. Excel Efficiency: Internal Controls
18 Reviews (75 ratings)

Reviews

5
Anonymous Author
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4
Member's Profile
This was a lot of information to cover in 2 hours. It felt a little rushed at the end. If a person hadn't dealt with data before they might be a little lost.

5
Member's Profile
Great course for beginners or experts. Solid tools and techniques for using Excel and getting the most out of the tool. Up to date to Excel 2016.

5
Anonymous Author
Thank you instructor David Ringstrom, for this course is really good . I recommend everybody to take it and improve your excel skills really fast

4
Member's Profile
A bit dated, different menus in Excel. The Excel workbook didn't seem to match what he was showing. However instructor is great.

5
Member's Profile
This is a must do if you are building any kind of excel financials from data exported out of other accounting systems.

5
Anonymous Author
Excellent training! I learned a lot of new formulas and strategies to create financial statements in excel.

5
Member's Profile
Nice overview overall. Covered a lot of “hidden” features in excel related to data connections.

4
Anonymous Author
Great class... lots of information to absorb. Will be using the additional info to refer back to!

5
Anonymous Author
Great info on using Microsoft Query to help automate reporting. A lot of great tips in this one.

4
Member's Profile
This class should be broken out into two classes. This is a lot of information for one class.

5
Member's Profile
The presenter was very thorough. This is a great resource if you need to create financials.

4
Anonymous Author
I enjoyed this course. Excel has a lot of capabilities that I was not aware of.

5
Member's Profile
Some of the slides and attached excel workbook did not match the presentation

5
Member's Profile
Great course and awesome instructor. All of his CPE courses are worth while.

4
Anonymous Author
It's really helpful to understand and learn. Great course

5
Member's Profile
Course met all objectives as stated. Overall good class.

5
Member's Profile
Great course and great example. I highly recommend it.

Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Intermediate

Program Prerequisites: Experience Working with Excel Spreadsheets Recommended

Advance Preparation: None

 

Education Provider Information
Company: Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA 95113
Contact: For more information regarding this course, including complaint and cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to .
Course Questions and Answers(2 Questions)
Member's Profile

This was a great course and my head is spinning with how I'm going to integrate this into what I am currently doing with four entities using four different accounting systems. It will certainly help me organize my data much more efficiently. Do you have anything on how to get the data into more sophisticated or complicated reports? I am presenting income statement and balance sheet of 4 entities, an elimination column and a consolidated total, Qrtly and YTD, and prefer to present the Qtr as the difference between the current YTD and prior YTD as opposed to adding up three months. Only way I can conceive of doing that is to save the prior YTD report and not update it. Have any suggestions on how I might simplify the follow on quarter other than subtract one from the other?

Thanks,

Ted

Member's Profile

Ted,

I'd first try to accomplish this with a pivot table. Or if you can export a 24-month report from your accounting software, you'd be able to just add some helper formulas to the right as I show in this presentation. If you need more specific guidance, please feel free to book a free 15 minute online meeting with me at www.davidringstrom.com. Any time the calendar lets you choose will be fair game. I'd then be able to give you more targeted advice. This is a standing offer for anyone that has attended one of my presentations.

David

Instructor for this course
Course Syllabus
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
  Introduction to Automating Financial Statements5:15
  2 Quickbooks Desktop 12 Month P&L7:59
  3 Quickbooks Online 12 Month P&L9:47
  4 Looking Within an Excel Workbook7:59
  5 Returning Data to Microsoft Excel8:37
  6 Helper Formulas6:55
  7 Creating and In-Cell List of Report Periods9:44
  8 MONTH Function10:04
  9 Data Worksheet: YTD Column9:47
  10 Consolidating/Departmental Report9:13
  11 Group/Ungroup Columns8:36
  12 Consolidate Multiple Entities7:19
CONTINUOUS PLAY
  Excel Efficiency - Financial Statements1:41:16
SUPPORTING MATERIALS
  Slides: Excel Efficiency: Financial StatementsPDF
  Excel Efficiency: Financial Statements Glossary/IndexPDF
  Workbook: Excel Efficiency: Financial StatementsXLSX
REVIEW AND TEST
  REVIEW QUESTIONSquiz
 FINAL EXAMexam