Disaster-Proofing Excel Spreadsheets

Level: Intermediate

Available Durations:

  • 50 minutes
  • 60 minutes
  • 75 minutes
  • 90 minutes
  • 100 minutes
  • 120 minutes

Description:

Sometimes your Excel formulas can grow out of control, or, more likely, you’ve inherited spreadsheets from others that you’re to take ownership of. In this insightful presentation, Excel expert David Ringstrom, CPA, shares various ways to make sense of complicated formulas in spreadsheets. You’ll have an abundance of tricks at your disposal to quickly decipher even the most complex formulas after attending this webcast.

David demonstrates every technique at least twice: first, on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps, and second, in the Microsoft 365 (formerly known as Office 365) version of Excel. David draws your attention to any differences in the older versions of Excel (2019, 2016, 2013, and earlier) 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.

Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based product that provides new-feature updates as often as monthly. Conversely, the perpetual licensed versions of Excel have feature sets that don’t change. Perpetual licensed versions have year numbers, such as Excel 2019, Excel 2016, and so on.

Topics/Areas Typically Covered:

  • Enabling the File History feature in Windows 10 to afford an additional level of file versioning.
  • Using Excel’s Scenario Manager feature to backup key inputs within a spreadsheet.
  • Exploring options for recovering lost passwords for Excel spreadsheets.
  • Improving the stability of Excel by deleting accumulations of temporary files in Windows.
  • Learning the mouse trick that lets you quickly make a copy of an existing worksheet.
  • Learning what steps to take if you can’t open a damaged workbook.
  • Limiting access to sensitive workbooks by way of password protection.
  • Protecting a worksheet to ensure users are limited to changing only specific areas of a worksheet.
  • Protecting hidden sheets from within a workbook.
  • Protecting macros by assigning a password that prevents macros from being viewed.
  • Protecting sensitive information by marking key worksheets as VeryHidden.
  • Recovering previous copies of Excel files from Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, or Windows 10 File History.

Learning Objectives/Why You Should Attend:

  • Identify the button within the Scenario Manager dialog box that allows you to apply a given scenario.
  • Identify the command within the Tools menu within the Save As dialog box that enables you to password protect an Excel workbook from being opened or modified.
  • Recall the section of the Excel Options dialog box where the AutoRecover setting resides that controls how often Excel creates a back-up copy of your workbooks.

Target Industries:

  • Accounting and Finance
  • Business
  • Excel Users
  • Consulting
  • IT
  • Auditing
  • Human Resources
  • Marketing
  • Sales
  • Government
  • Tax

Target Job Title:

  • Accountants
  • CPAs
  • CFOs
  • Controllers
  • Income Tax Preparers
  • Enrolled Agents
  • Financial Consultants
  • IT Professionals
  • Auditors
  • Human Resource Personnel
  • Bookkeepers
  • Excel Users
  • Marketers
  • Government Personnel

About the Instructor:

David H. Ringstrom, CPA is the owner of Accounting Advisors, Inc., an Atlanta-based spreadsheet consulting firm that he started in 1991. Throughout his career David has spoken at conferences on Microsoft Excel, and written dozens of freelance articles about spreadsheets. He offers Excel and Access training and consulting services nationwide.

Pricing and Format Options:

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