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Microsoft Excel is considered one of the most useful tools in the workplace. However, if Excel is used incorrectly, it can seriously drag down productivity. This course guides you through shortcuts and functions to enable you design better workbooks. You'll learn:
Better Summing
What function do you use the most? Is it the SUM function? It probably shouldn't be. This online Excel class explores better summing. The Excel lesson examines a summing function that is preferred to the SUM function.
Skinny Row
The skinny row technique helps improve the reliability and efficiency of recurring-use workbooks. It helps avoid the errors that can sometimes result from inserting new rows of data between the last data row and the formula row.
Hide Worksheets
This online Excel class demonstrates how to hide worksheets in order to prevent users from viewing extraneous information.
Highlight Input Cells
Highlighting input cells improves efficiency and reduces errors. This online Excel class reviews highlighting input cells and the advantages of using cell styles rather than manual cell formatting.
Workbook Organization
Did you know that the way we organize our workbooks can impact our efficiency? This online Excel course discusses key ideas to consider when building and organizing Excel workbooks.
Worksheet Organization
Organizing worksheets is a skill needed to maximize efficiency, especially in recurring-use workbooks. This online Excel class walks through many worksheet organization ideas and concepts.
Nested Functions
Nested functions are an absolutely fundamental and critical skill in Excel, and they enable us to write comprehensive and beautiful formulas. This online Excel course walks through the basic idea of nested functions.
Selection Groups
This online Excel class discusses the performance boost that can be achieved when you group select items first, and then perform a command one time to all items in the group.
Workbook Design Principles
This online Excel class reviews 5 critical workbook design principles. This lesson covers the concepts to keep in mind as you build workbooks in order to maximize efficiency in recurring-use workbooks.
Course Series
This course is included in the following series:
5 CoursesJeff Lenning's Excellence in Excel Training
- Excel Shortcuts Training: 5 Top Productivity Boosting Shortcuts
- Excel Training: Skills for Better Workbook Design
- Excel Training: Boosting Proficiency with Selected Shortcuts (PC Version)
- Excel Training: Mastering Fundamental Functions - IFERROR, IF, List Comparisons and More
- Excel Training: Tips for Improving Data Validation, Error Checking, Reporting and Other Performance Obstructions
Learning Objectives
- Explore alternatives to the SUM function
- Be able to hide and unhide worksheets
- Improve your workbook organization for better, faster use
- Demonstrate the basics of nested functions
- Demonstrate better workbook design
Last updated/reviewed: March 17, 2024
Included In Certifications
This course is included in the following Certification Programs:
9 CoursesExcel Certification
- Excel Shortcuts Training: 5 Top Productivity Boosting Shortcuts
- Excel Training: Skills for Better Workbook Design
- Excel Training: Boosting Proficiency with Selected Shortcuts (PC Version)
- Excel Training: Mastering Fundamental Functions - IFERROR, IF, List Comparisons and More
- Excel Training: Tips for Improving Data Validation, Error Checking, Reporting and Other Performance Obstructions
- PivotTable Essentials
- How to Use PivotTables instead of Formula-Based Reports
- PivotTable Conclusion and External Data Introduction
- Using PivotTables and PivotCharts to Prepare External Data
154 Reviews (352 ratings)
Reviews
Robert Godfrey
(CPA at Robert Godfrey, CPA)
Love your courses. Sadly, I may be running out of any more to take. Do recommend you bring up the pitfalls of pivot tables and steer people away from them. Likewise with lookups, as matching against indexes is more powerful. I don't see tables used in practice. Tables mitigate the weakness of lookup functions, but specifying a named range isn't necessary when you just use whole columns or rows in data ranges. Also, Subtotals change when the data are filtered, which can create false results and is such a scary potential that I never use subtotals.
Really love your separation of data from output reporting, totals on top, consistent formulas top to bottom. How I've preached these things myself.
I knew about many of these topics in this lesson. An example was the SUBTOTAL function, but I was not aware of the benefits of the SUBTOTAL function. It will be used much more frequently now I know how to use it. I also liked the Workbook and Worksheet organization lessons. Plus the flat file tip for data. These tips are very applicable to my current projects. Thank you!
Cynthia Gutierrez
(Administrative Associate / Admissions As.. at St. Michael's Catholic Academy)
I liked how detailed the course was. By providing examples that we could walk through, it made it a lot easier to understand the excel training I was learning. However, I felt the walk-through did move a little fast and at times I felt myself constantly having to pause and back up to make sure I was getting everything!
Ezgi Ustundag
(Financial Analyst at Cisco LIFT)
Once again, I came into Jeff's course assuming it would be a review, and I ended up learning a ton of new tips and tricks. This is the first time I've heard of the skinny row technique, and Jeff's workbook/worksheet design principles made so much sense. I'm excited to apply what I've learned to my own workbooks.
Lucy Maddock
(Finance and Administrative Director at Maddock Center for Radiation Oncology)
This is graded as a beginner course so I almost skipped it. I am glad I took the course. While I knew a lot of the material, I like the two chapters on workbook organization very much and realized afterward that I could improve a few Excel habits like keeping data and reports on separate worksheets religiously.
Anonymous
(Sr. Accountant)
Excellent course with loads of great tips for anyone who wants to create more efficient workbooks. The content was effectively delivered by a qualified instructor (thanks, Jeff...I will definitely enroll in more of your courses). I am able to immediately implement what I learned in this course.
Anonymous
(VP Finance)
Jeff Lenning is the best presenter on Excel topics of any Excel course I've ever had! Kudos for keeping it interesting, moving at a good pace and showing this long-time user some better options. That said, this course took longer than 1 hour, so should have been worth more credits.
Anonymous
(Senior Financial Analyst, Consumer Ecosy..)
Good intro to Excel/refresher of some Excel basics. Lot of it was pretty self-explanatory, but there is probably a thing or two that everyone can pick up from this course. Recommend for everyone open to learning some basic best practices for using Excel.
Leslie Harding-Ide
(Lead Wireless Data Analyst at Charter Communications)
I liked this course. It contained small shortcuts and more efficient ways to complete a task that may have been missed in other types of excel classes where it is assumed the info is universally understood, whether it is or not.
Overall, I thought the course was excellent. I've been an Excel user for years and Jeff pointed out several simple ways to increase my effectiveness. Also, Jeff is a very good presenter integrating humor into the presentation.
Virginia Jacobs
(Senior Financial Analyst at Intuit)
This is the first Jeff Lenning class I took. I didn't realize that it covered later chapters in his book; it would have been nice to know that so I could have taken his courses in order. I also really liked Jeff's enthusiasm!
Anonymous
(Controller, KRx)
The worksheet supporting only include the subtotal example. Also, the PDF only has a short explanations of a few terms.
Overall, the supporting materials were not helpful. However, the course content was very good.
Anonymous
(Director)
This course is very helpful for those who are starting to use and manage Excel workbooks. It explains and gives many functions that are useful and easy to understand. This course can be considered as Excel 101.
Norman West
(Financial Manager at Lockheed Martin)
Mr. Lenning does a very good job explaining the concepts and he also explains why they are important. If you want to build Excel workbooks that are useful and efficient, these are excellent rules to follow.
Michelle Mazepa
(Senior Business Consultant at Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited)
The course structure introduces the concepts first, then illustrates them with (in most cases) multiple examples. These concepts are ideal for anyone who, like Jeff, is a strong proponent of efficiency.
Anonymous
(Independent Financial Consultant)
Lots of great and useful stuff in this course. I have been using the Skinny Row idea for awhile now and it really does help when you have to unexpectedly insert a new row into an existing table.
Anonymous
(Assistant Controller)
Course provided excellent suggestions for documenting and making
excel workbooks more efficient as well as providing excellent guides for future updates and understanding of that same workbook.
Pleasantly surprised that this course provided quite a few good tips for workbook efficiency, even to a seasoned user of Excel. I will be implementing some of these in my workbooks in the future
bunmi adeboye
(student at university of houston)
Skills for better workbook design was very enlightening. I struggled with data validation discussed under highlight input cells but I hope this will be clarified further in preceding courses.
Richard Dandan
(Senior Accounting Specialist at National Food Authority)
Nice. Well presented - fast and easy and of course, there's never a dull moment. Kudos to the lecturer. I learned new techniques and so excited to apply these on my working tables. Great job!
Balaji Ramanujam
(Senior Manager at Schwing Stetter)
Its really fantastic and useful. I am using Excel for almost 17 years but never knew that SUBTOTAL has so many advantages compared to SUM function. Thanks a lot for the knowledge sharing.
Anonymous
(Controller)
I liked the excel workbooks provided to follow along with the presentation. This is a great resource for someone with some understanding of excel but probably not for a beginner.
Kaitlin Shimizu
(Sr Tax Analyst at Gap Inc.)
Had helpful tips that were simple to implement. Can improve the design of a workbook without extensive effort. Anyone who regularly builds workbooks could use this course.
Anonymous
(Business Manager)
Great timesaving tips! I learned more useful information in this one hour than in any other class I've taken. The entire hour was packed with helpful tips. Thank you.
Anonymous
(Owner)
Excellent, excellent course!!! I build huge spreadsheets and will put this items discussed to use immediately and often. Can't wait to get into more Excel courses!
Richard Schultz
(CFO at SoMedia Networks )
The concepts in this course are fundamental to someone who regularly works in Excel. I like the focus on concepts, rather than just going over a list of functions.
Anonymous
(Unemployed)
This was soo great. I am going to go back over it and back over it again. There is so much useful information and the examples and descriptions are great.
Shirley M Jack
(Corporate Accounting and Cash Manager at Evergreen Packaging Inc)
This was a very well organized training of excel. I use excel all the time but I leaned a few tricks and found out why I should be using others. Great!
Anonymous
(Senior Tax Accountant)
Great Beginner itinerary - I've been using excel for years and was still able to take away a few gems and will incorporate them into my day-to-day work.
April Flowers
(Statutory Accountant at Surety Life Insurance Company)
I found everything in this course to be beneficial. I was really surprised at how easy the data validation could be when naming a selection of data.
Anonymous
(CFO)
a general comment to proformative...if we pass the course, but do not get all answers correct, it would be great to be able to review the question.
Kathleen Busk Varas
(Principal Financial Consultant at V Ventures Consulting)
Made the key points to Excel efficiency clear and very teachable. Love all of the points made and look forward to implementing many immediately.
Anonymous
(Accounts Payable Specialist)
Great course, thank you for passing along your excel knowledge. I enjoyed the short, but thorough courses on how to really utilize the workbook.
Anonymous
()
For a long time excel user, I learned a few efficient techniques and organizational guidelines that I will put into practice immediately
Don Wademan
(Vice President Operations at Lester Electrical)
Very efficient topic coverage; like the introduction of topics so that it was easy to know whether items covered were familiar or new.
Ben Brown
(Senior Global Strategic Sourcing Manager.. at Intuit)
I was happy to learn new techniques that I can apply in my daily work. A lot of the content feels like common sense approaches.
Alexandra Coleman
(Administrative Assistant at EYC Companies)
Great tools to improve efficiency when using Excel. The skinny row is a great example of this, and has so many applications!
Cathy Kyriakis
(Distribution & Sales Ops Mgr at Intuit Canada)
There were great tips in here! I'm an intermediate excel user at best, so this course provided a lot of useful lessons!
Anonymous
(Sr. Project Manager)
Very informative. I have some experience, yet not at this level, yet i understood the instructions....good information
Shirley Bailey
(Board Member at GMR Protection Resources)
Great tips for designing workbooks and making them easier to use and maintain. Wish I had known this a long time ago.
KURT LETAIN
(CFO at ENGINEERED ASSEMBLIES INC.)
If, like me. you have picked up Excel through using it, but have not taken formal training, then this is for you.
Wanda Richardson
(Unemployed at Not Applicable)
This course did an exceptional job in presenting the feature and demonstrating how to use them effectively.
scott ellis
(controller at self)
Very helpful Excel tips and techniques. I really enjoy courses by this author, very useful and fun to watch.
Anonymous
(Sr Accountant)
Great tips and advice. The segments make it easy to do in smaller increments. The technology worked well.
David Tahan
(Controller at Kuehne Chemical Company, Inc.)
As advanced an Excel user as I consider myself, I still learned a handful of new and very useful tools.
Yoshihiro Nishimura
(Director of Finance, Coporate Business F.. at WACOM Co., Ltd.)
I feel I now have fundamental guidance for creating financial modeling with excel. thank you very much
Anonymous
(Controller)
I thought I was good but this course taught me a thing or three - especially SUBTOTAL and Cell Style
Anonymous
(Accounting Manager)
Good tips. I'll be examining my frequently used workbooks to find ways to incorporate these tips.
Anonymous
(Finance & Accounting Consultant)
Very well organized course. Very useable tips that will improve the workbooks for any Excel users
Angela Cavin
(- at Mcgee)
Great class will implement the information on subtotal tomorrow will look for more of these
Anonymous
(FP&A Manager)
It takes a little too long to explain pretty simple concepts like skinny row or better summing.
Marsha Maillet
(Accounts Manager at ELC )
I will be using several of these techniques in my Excel Workbooks in the future. Go Sub-total!
William Doherty
(VP, Financial Reporting and Accounting at WWE)
Very helpful. Many reminders of info we have learned before, but some new tips. Great course.
Qingkui Qiu
(Finance supervisor at Wanli New energy corporation LTD.)
great course!
It tells me the bigger picture that I was weak at designing the excel workbook.
Anonymous
(GL Accountant)
Clear and organized presentation; I especailly like the sample/exercise on the topics/training
Anonymous
()
Great clarity in information! Learned several time-saving techniques. Fantastic instructor!
Cheryl Somers
(- at -)
Excellent Instructor, I have learned many of the additional features that excel has to offer.
Susan McCarthy
(- at NYC Charter Center)
This was very helpful. It would be great to include a pdf of some of the info on the video.
Skyler Jones
(Managing Director at Ste Michelle Wine Estates)
This course is great for anyone looking to build a foundation on basics of workbook design.
Monique Simpson
(Director, Financial Reporting at ALR Life Reinsurance Ltd.)
Another good course. I am really enjoying them and really learning a lot. Good work, Jeff!
Paul Whatley
(Lead IT Auditor at Gulfport Energy)
The overall guidelines to standardize workbooks and make them more efficient was helpful.
Anonymous
(Bookkeeper)
great techniques taught in this course. Instructor is upbeat but a little fast at times!
Kerry Schanno, CPA
(Accounting Manager at Minnesota Vikings Football, LLC)
Good content, easy to understand. Module "Workbook Design Principles" would not load.
Ellen Hynes
(Financial Consultant at Pacific Life)
Good knowledge given on how to organize worksheets, workbooks, for greater efficiency.
Kenneth Oliven
(Alsip Finance Director & Government .. at Village of Alsip)
Got a little silly at the beginning, but Mr. Lenning is clear and to the point again!
Amy Mintner
(None at None)
I was surprised how much useful information I learned from a 1 hr course. Thank YOU!
Anonymous
(Accounting Professional)
Each course I'm learning a nugget I can apply right away, and I'm an advanced user!
Anonymous
(Accountant)
It was clear and direct to the point. Plus the instructor gives prompt responses.
BETH BROOKS
(Owner at Brooks Accounting Services, LLC)
Great course. I've been searching for a course that discusses good design ideas.
Anonymous
(Sr. Accounting Analyst)
The information and tips provided are very helpful and I will use them routinely.
Kevin Moschella
(Sr. Director, FP&A at Evidera)
I really enjoy Jeff's enthusiasm for the lessons. His "bam" quotes are the best.
Rod Streets
(Vice President - Finance at YESCO LLC)
Jeff is an excellent presenter who makes technical concepts easy to understand.
Libby Antognoli
(CFO at LSI (Landscape Services Inc.))
The information presented is easy to understand. The examples are very helpful.
Anonymous
(Accountant)
Great course. Learned some excellent techniques to improve workbook efficiency.
William Van
(Accounting Support at Intuit)
The course was very good and provided helpful tips to become more efficient.
Anonymous
(CM)
The training is easy to understand because jargon are limited by the trainer.
Anonymous
(VP, Finance)
Great intro course to spreadsheet design - he hits all of the major points.
Anonymous
(Controller)
Liked the concepts for workbook organization and the error check sheet.
Anonymous
(Financial Consultant)
Expert instructor with excellent presentation flow and engaging style.
Anonymous
(Sr. Statutory Accountant)
Great presentation. Helpful content and examples.
Ready for Volume 2!
Liliane SIV
(Financial Analyst at GravoTech group)
Great tips, love the instructor very clear explanantions and examples
Anonymous
(-)
Really like the =Subtotal explanation. Very helpful and a time saver.
Marquis Huntsman
(CFO at Castle Breckenridge Management)
Awesome and useful information that can be implemented tomorrow.
Anonymous
(Consultant)
Very useful topics covered. Also liked the presenter's delivery.
Anonymous
(Credit and Collections Specialist)
ErrorChk worksheet was interesting new concept for me. Good tip!
Terri Salazar-Rodriguez
(None at None)
Always has great ideas. A shortcut cheat sheet would be helpful.
Anonymous
(Global Accountant)
Definitely excel beginners would get the most from this course.
Brad Hyatt
(Finance Systems Manager at State Auto Insurance)
Great class! Very helpful for all but beginning Excel users!
Anonymous
(Sr. Finance Manager)
It will be great to include all worksheets for all examples.
Anonymous
(Head of Internal Audit)
Great functions / tools. My work will be easier from now on.
Zulfiqar Haider
(None at None)
Common sense features that are unusually smart! Great stuff
Kenneth Lopez
(Analyst at Not Provided)
Great simple explanation of concepts on worksheet design.
Anonymous
(Finance Manager)
A lot of great design tips that are easy to incorporate.
Matthew Reilly
(Assistant Controller at GA Telesis LLC)
Useful information that I will apply to daily functions
Mucio Batista
(Treasury Lead at Ppro Financial Ltd)
Great course! Pleasant classes even for advanced users.
Muriel Santos
(Senior General Ledger Accountant II at Netsuite Inc.)
Very informative and can really be used in my reports.
Anonymous
(Financial Reporting Manager)
Great presentation! Good Excel tips. Highly recommend.
Sharon Vincent
(CFO at MJC Electronics Corporation)
Very good tips. Presentation was a bit entertaining.
Scott Thompson
(Accounting/IT Director at Mercer)
Thanks for making Excel fun and interesting to learn.
Ivan Makarov
(Vice President of Finance at SmugMug)
Fast and useful - love all the tips in the course.
Fay Chen
(Finance Manager at Kowa Research Institute Inc.)
Very helpful skills for improving excel efficiency.
Lenny Wu
View Instructor Profile
Nice course even for an Excel power user.
Thanks
Anonymous
(Financial Services Professional)
Easy learning and well explained.Worth learning.
Anonymous
(Full charge Bookkeeper)
Its great. Will ook into more classes like this.
Good intro and refresher for experienced users
Chris Grimes
(Rules Master at Cisco)
Good overview of how to organize data in Excel
Kenneth Hopkins
(Senior Financial Analyst at The University of Texas Health Science C..)
Course jumped around, but was still effective.
Anonymous
(PayrollSpecialist II)
I liked the Subtotal and Skinny Row function
Radhesh Pradhan
(Accounting Manager at DGN Technologies Inc)
Amazing course. Must take for accountants.
John Noble
(Controller at eComEngine)
Excel nerds like me will love this course.
Sheilah Brown
(Controller at SMB LTC)
Good examples. Lots of ways to do a thing.
Anonymous
(Accounting Clerk)
The SUBTOTAL alternative is a great tip!
Anonymous
(Assurance Manager)
Contains simple tips to use immediately
Brian Johnson
(Self Employed at Self Employed)
A lot of helpful information and ideas
Anonymous
(Corporate Accounting Consultant)
Very nice sample files to practice on.
Anonymous
(VP)
covers aspect well with good examples
Ruijie Jia
(Senior Accountant at Gensler)
Great class, very useful information.
Aaron Teddington
(Staff Accountant at Silicon Valley Finance Group)
Very thorough and informative course!
Renee Stanley, CPA
(Associate with Two Degrees at Nuance Communications)
I learned a couple of useful tricks!
Anonymous
()
Very simple and easy to understand.
Anonymous
(President)
Very basic - good excel tips though.
Anonymous
(Senior Business Analyst)
The information is good and useful.
Michael Collins
(- at Michael Collins CPA)
Now I use the sub total function.
Joanne Pasqualini
(Director, General Accounting at WWE)
very clear and easy to understand.
Anonymous
(Director of Financial Anlaysis)
Some very helpful tricks and tips
Anonymous
(Sr. General Ledger Accountant)
Great presentation! very helpful
Anonymous
(Controller)
The course met its objectives
Vahé Hovakimian
(Financial Analyst at Great Place to Work Institute)
great at illustrating the point
Claudia Brady
(Senior Accountant at Artsy Inc.)
Great course, great instructor
Anonymous
(Principal Auditor)
Several points I did not know
Geoff Bosley
(Corp Controller at Aperture Credentialing, LLC)
Good course, great job Jeff!
Todd Stanley
(Fiscal Officer at County of Passaic)
interesting presentation
Tim Philips
(Controller at Self)
Good overview. New tips
Anonymous
(Chief Financial Officer)
Great, Good Presenter.
Peter Abader
(- at BMO)
Good tips and tricks
Robert Workman
(Senior Lean Development Officer at Confidential)
Good course to have.
Anonymous
(General Ledger Accountant)
A very good course.
Anonymous
(-)
Great presentation!
Shelly Woods
(Market Controller at KTXS News)
Learned good tips
Anonymous
(Farm and Nursery Manager)
Very helpful tips
Alexander Makielski
( at Pero)
Very informative.
Anonymous
(Accounting Manager)
A bit fast pased
Anonymous
(Operations Analyst)
Very informative
Anonymous
(-Accountant)
Great overview.
Hossam Ali Elsherief
(General Accountant & senior Auditor at Authorized Policy Insurance Brokers)
Great Course
Douglas Ronald
(---- at ------------)
Well done!
Baris Arslan
(Internal Audit Director at Freelance)
Very helpful
Anonymous
(Accounting Manager)
Very clear
Anonymous
(Finance Director)
very basic
Anonymous
(Senior Accountant)
Very good.
Anonymous
(acctg)
Excellent
Haley Gismondi
(CPA - Fund Accounting at Technology Crossover Ventures)
Helpful
Jaclyn DiCostanzi
(Admin at Kuehne Company)
Helpful
Siva Vinay
(Controller at Park n Fly)
great
Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Foundational
No Advanced Preparation or Prerequisites are needed for this course. However, it is recommended to take the other courses in the series prior to completing this one.
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
.
Jeff LenningAuthor of Excel University
About Illumeo
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- Phone: 408-400-3993
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- Av #221, Campbell, CA 95008
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