Four Fundamental Spreadsheet Skills for Business
Spreadsheet software has become inseparable from the business world because it provides a means to perform arithmetic and mathematical functions. Not only that, professional programs can display statistical graphs, charts, and even perform financial operations.
Even if you are not an expert in marketing, dealing with a spreadsheet program is inevitable since data is everything in today’s business. Therefore, without further adieu, here are four fundamental spreadsheet skills that you must have.
1. Mastering the Essential Formulas
Calculating a sum of data in a column is as simple as selecting the auto sum feature on Excel. However, the conditional sumif is the formula that you need to pay attention to. SUMIF can help with conditional summing so that you can calculate the total value of a range of data that match the determined criteria. This function is commonly used in logistics.
The other formulas that you must know are INDEX MATCH, IF AND/OR, OFFSET combined with SUM/AVERAGE, CHOOSE, XNPV/XIRR, COUNTIF, PMT/IPMT, LEN/TRIM, and CONCATENATE. These are advanced functions for complex calculation and data organization. If you master them, you’ll surely have no problem with being placed in any positions in any company.
2. Mastering the Shortcuts
Shortcuts are the most underestimated feature. However, if you are good at using them, you can save 30% time during your regular workflow. Copy and paste with the keyboard, undo an action, switch between tabs, are probably the shortcuts that you have used on a daily basis already. However, have you heard of the ribbon keyboard shortcuts? It can make your workflow faster than before because it groups some actions of your preference on one tab.
Different programs will use different shortcuts. All you need to do is to read the manuals and start getting used to them.
3. Importing Data From the Internet
Data flows like a big flood on the Internet. And those who can process them efficiently hold the upper hand against the others. Therefore, you have to know the right ways to import data from a source on the Internet into your spreadsheet so that your presentation is more factual than before. Watch this video to learn exactly how to do so:
4. Making Your Sheet Shareable
Mobility and shareability are two factors that shape the modern business world. Unlike in the past, where you have to send an email first to your colleague before he/she can edit the attached sheet, today’s cloud technology enables registered collaborators to edit the data on a spreadsheet in real time.
Therefore, you must consider subscribing to a cloud service that supports spreadsheet sharing features, such as Google Drive and Microsoft’s One Drive. They do cost you some money, but it will be worth the expense!
