Excel 2010 Shortcuts

WALL STREET PREP FOUNDATIONAL COURSE
Excel
Crash Course
For Microsoft Excel Versions 2010, 2013, 2016
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Excel Crash Course
Excel Basics
v
Excel Crash Course > Excel Basics
Welcome to Wall Street Prep’s Crash Course in Excel

• This crash course is designed to teach you how to use Excel 2010, 2013 and 2016
• This self-paced course starts by assuming you have never used Excel before and quickly
progresses through Excel’s most useful and powerful features, such that even Excel “power
users” will benefit from the middle to late drills.
• If you find the beginning chapters to be too basic, feel free to fly right through them until you
get to the chapters that reflect your Excel knowledge

Excel 2016 vs. 2013 vs. 2010

• This course applies to Excel 2010, Excel 2013 and Excel 2016 users
• The versions are virtually identical but we will encounter a couple of differences
• When those differences emerge during the course, we will identify them
The 2010 Ribbon
The 2013 Ribbon
The 2016 Ribbon

Keyboard versus the mouse

• Novice Excel users depend on the mouse to perform the majority of tasks in this application.
• However, since professionals like financial analysts spend significant amounts of time with
Excel, learning keyboard shortcuts and more advanced functionality in Excel will greatly
improve the efficiency and quality of the modeling output.
• Almost everything that can be done in Excel using a mouse can also be done using the
keyboard shortcuts. Accordingly, this Excel module has been developed around keyboard
shortcuts.
• The best way to learn these shortcuts is to literally disconnect the mouse from your computer
and work through this Excel module using only the keyboard. If you do this, you will come out
of this program a more efficient Excel user.
• Initially, learning all of the useful shortcuts will be frustrating, but it is absolutely worth the
time to learn. The more shortcuts you know, the more efficient you will be in Excel.

Take the time to explore Excel

• If you are completely new to Excel, this chapter will introduce
the standard sections making up the Excel spreadsheet layout.
• If you have used Excel in the past, go directly to the next chapter
• As you go through the discussion (starting on the next slide) of

each section of the Excel spreadsheet, take the time to explore it
in the Excel file – open up each tab (when appropriate), scroll
up and down the worksheet, etc. – to get a better idea of the
makeup of Excel. The first step in mastering Excel is to gain
familiarity with its various features and functions and where to
find them.
• Don’t worry if certain icons or tab contents may not make sense
right now; we’ll cover many in the subsequent chapters.
• And of course, use your keyboard, not your mouse, as your Before proceeding to the
navigation guide. next slide, open up a
blank Excel file

The Start Screen in Excel 2013 and 2016

• The first difference
between Excel 2013/16
and 2010 can be
observed immediately
upon startup
• Unlike Excel 2010,

which takes you straight
to a blank Excel page on
Startup, Excel 2013/16
has a Start screen which
shows recent files and
allows you to go online
to find Excel templates.

• Name Box – Tells you what cell you are in.
• Formula Bar – When you insert a formula Name box

into a cell and hit return, the cell will show
you the output. The Formula Bar, however,
will show you the formula. Formula bar
• Worksheets – An Excel file is called a Worksheets

workbook; you start with 3 worksheets in a
workbook in Excel 2010 (only 1 in 2013), but
you can add/delete more (alt i w).
• Move back and forth between the

worksheets in a workbook by pressing Ctrl
PageUp or Ctrl PageDown.
• The active worksheet is highlighted in Click to add

Excel (see Sheet1 to the right). worksheets or hit
alt i w

• Columns are alphabetically labeled (A, B, C, etc.)
• Rows are numerically labeled (1, 2, 3, etc.)
Rows Columns

Main Tabs
• Although we focus on shortcuts, virtually all commands, functions, and Excel features can be
accessed through the task-oriented tabs which organize them into eight logical categories:
2010
Ribbon
2013
Ribbon
“Draw” tab – new in 2016
2016
Ribbon

Main Tabs
To access the features in the ribbon, you have several options:
1. Press ALT or F10 and the appropriate letter associated with each tab. Once you are in a
specific tab, press the appropriate letter associated with a specific feature or task. This
option will work for all commands. For example, open a new blank Excel file by hitting Alt f
n.
2. Many commands have alternate shortcuts using the Ctrl, Shift, Alt, or Function buttons (or a
combination of two out of the four, typically).. For example, we could have also opened a
new file by hitting Ctrl n – these types of shortcuts you just have to commit to memory, but it
is worth it.

The File tab
• Many Excel features (Open file, Save file, Print file, etc.) are located in the File tab
• Excel also has alternative keyboard shortcuts (using Ctrl) for many of these features.
Open a file
• Alt f o
• Ctrl o
Save a file
• Alt f s
• Ctrl s
Print a file
• Alt f p
• Ctrl p

Toolbars
• Within each of the eight main tabs you will

find all of Excel’s features, logically grouped
by commands. For example, under the
Home tab, all commands related to Font are
grouped together.
Navigating to the toolbars without the

mouse
• Hit Alt and the appropriate letter (or use the

right/left arrow keys) to get to the desired
tab. Once there, use the Tab and Shift Tab
keys to navigate around
• If you give it a try, you’ll find that it is

probably not the most efficient way to go.
The good news is that many commands in
these tabs have quick keyboard shortcuts
(Ctrl b to bold, for example), which we’ll be
learning.

The Home Tab
Includes most formatting

properties:
• Font type, size, and color
• Background color
• Text/cell alignment
• Changing currency,
decimal, percent formats
• Inserting, deleting, and

hiding rows and columns
• Adjusting columns and

rows width
• Inserting, deleting, and

renaming worksheets

The Insert Tab
• Pivot tables
• Tables
• Pictures, clip art, and

custom shapes
• Charts
• Headers & Footers
• Inserting text boxes,

objects, and symbols

Page Layout Tab
• Includes page layout

options:
1. Adjust margins,
orientation, size,
and print area of
page
2. Scale a
worksheet
3. Sheet formatting
options,
including
showing
gridlines
4. Apply a theme of
colors, fonts, and
effects to the
worksheet

Formulas Tab
• Includes most options related to function and formula making:
1. Insert a function
2. Select a function from a function library
3. Name cells
4. Formula auditing to trace relationship between cells
5. Adjust Excel’s calculation settings including iterations

Data Tab
• Includes options to manipulate and analyze data:
1. Retrieve data external to Excel
2. Sorting and filtering data
3. Splicing long text into columns
4. Data validation
5. Scenario analysis
6. Goal seek
7. Data tables
8. Grouping rows/columns
9. Statistical data analyses

Review Tab
• Includes editing and proofing features:
1. Check spelling
2. Create comment boxes
3. Protect worksheets and/or workbooks
4. Share workbooks with other users
5. Track changes made to your file

View Tab
• Includes editing and proofing features
• Adjust the way one views the

workbook
• Show or hide worksheet features such

as gridlines and the formula bar
• Select an appropriate zoom level
• View multiple workbooks

simultaneously
• Freeze panes for more efficient

scrolling
• View and record macros

Developer Tab
• Recording Macros
• VBA development

Accessing Settings (Excel Options)
• File > Options (Alt f t)
• Alt t o works too (don’t ask why)

Excel 2013/16: Disabling the Start Screen and adding more worksheets on startup
• Most of the time, the Start
Screen is an unnecessary
extra step to get to the
Excel screen
• To disable the Start

screen: Click on ‘Blank
worksheet’
1. Hit alt f t to go to
Excel options (you can
get there from the
ribbon by clicking on
the file tab)
2. Under ‘General’
unselect “Show the
Start screen when this
application starts”

Recommended settings
• Enable iterations
• Automatic except for data

tables

Advanced – recommended settings

• After pressing enter, move selection down?
• Automatically insert a decimal point?

Advanced – recommended settings

• Excel 2013/2016: Turn off the
animation by disabling hardware
graphics acceleration (also good if Excel
is performing slowly)

File > Info > Password protecting files

• You can password protect files “Encrypt with Password”
• You can also protect individual worksheets so that people can’t see or edit formulas “Protect
Current Sheet”

Practice by doing
• We are now ready to delve further into Excel contents through some basic Excel exercises, a
series of progressive steps building off one another.
• Excel can be mastered only through practice, and the following exercises provide such hands-
on application. As you go through this chapter, make sure to replicate the steps in your own
Excel file.
• While the first step in mastering Excel is to gain familiarity with its various features and
functions and where to find them, the second step is finding the most efficient way to use
them. Accordingly, try repeating certain commands introduced in each step multiple times to
get them “under your belt”.
• As you go through the various steps, resist the initial temptation to use a mouse. Use the Excel
shortcuts list to help you.

• Most keyboard shortcuts involve Alt or Ctrl keys, so it is crucial that you understand how to use
each of them.
• When using keyboard shortcuts involving Alt, you can press each key and let go; that is, you do
NOT need to hold down the Alt key as you press ‘f’ and ‘a’ keys.
• You can think of the above ‘Save As’ shortcut as consisting of the following three distinct steps
(do each of them slowly to see what happens):
i. Press Alt (and let go) – it activates the Main Tabs
ii. Press f (and let go) – it opens the Office Button menu
iii. Press a (and let go) – it brings up the ‘Save As’ screen
Alt commands
Most commands involving Alt are shortcuts to
the commands and functions inside the eight
default Main Tabs.
For example, a keyboard shortcut to ‘Save As’

a file is Alt F A (File > Save As).

• Most commands involving Ctrl are shortcuts that have been automated by default to make
Excel more efficient and user-friendly.
• For example, a keyboard shortcut that makes contents of a cell bold is Ctrl b.
In Ctrl commands, the Ctrl key

must be held down as you
press the other key in the
shortcut sequence (‘b’ in the
above example).
Notice how this is different

from Alt commands which
involve “distinct steps”
(pressing one key after, not in
conjunction, with another).

Input Data
If you haven’t already, please open up a blank Excel file
1. Within the worksheet you just opened, without the mouse, using only the arrow keys on your
keyboard, go to B2 and type in the text “Revenues” and hit the down arrow key on the
keyboard in order to exit the cell and move to the next cell down (cell B3).
2. In cell B3, type in the text “Cost of Goods Sold” and again, hit the down arrow key to move
down to cell B4.
3. In cell B4 type in the text “Gross Profit”
4. Again using the arrow keys move to cell C1 and type in “2005”
5. In cell D1 type “2006”, E1 type “2007”, F1 type “2008”
6. Now populate the with the numbers below.
2005 2006 2007 2008

Revenues 100 125 150 175
Cost of Goods Sold 50 60 70 80
Gross Profit

Widening Columns & Rows
• Notice how the text in column B was cut off when we input data into column C – it’s because
the text in column B is too long, so we need to widen Column B.
1. Highlight Column B by pressing Ctrl Spacebar. Then press Alt h o i to auto-fit the column
width.
2. If you want a column to have a certain width, press Alt h o w and enter the desired width
(Excel’s default column width setting is 8.43).
3. Analogously, to expand a desired row, press Shift Spacebar, and then press Alt h o a to
auto-fit the row height.
4. If you want a row to have a certain height, press Alt h o h and enter the desired height
(Excel’s default row height setting is 12.75).
The following shortcuts also work:

• Auto-fit column width: Alt o c a
• Column width selection: Alt o c w
• Auto-fit row height: Alt o r a
• Row height selection: Alt o r e

Calculations & formulas
• Excel formulas start with the = sign: Additional Operations in Excel

Operation In Excel
• The = sign tells Excel that the information that will follow Addition and subtraction + and -
the = sign should be treated as a formula and not as plain Multiplication *
text. Division /
Exponent ^
• Once you type in the = sign, use the arrow keys to navigate
()
around the Excel workbook to find the cells you need for Grouping operations
your formula. The signs for formulas are intuitive in Excel
and are as follows:
• In cell C4, use the = sign to write a formula that

calculates 2005 Gross Profit. Hit Enter when you are
done writing the formula.

Copying and pasting
• Copy the formula in cell C4 and paste it into cells D4 through F4: press the up arrow key to
hover over cell C4 and press Ctrl c (shortcut for Copy). Now, holding down the Shift button, use
the right arrow key to highlight cells D4 through F4.
• Now hit Ctrl v (shortcut for Paste). Notice that Excel automatically pasted the formulas – not
the output – through all the cells, and as we moved the formula into columns to the right of
column C, the cells that are being referenced in the formulas also moved to the right.

Format Cells (Ctrl 1)
• Notice how the text in column B is

aligned to the left, while the numbers in
columns C through F are aligned to the
right.
• Excel aligns numbers to the right and

text to the left by default. You can, of
course, always override any default
formatting by pressing Ctrl 1 to access
the ‘Format Cells’ menu.
• Hitting Ctrl 1 from an Excel worksheet

pulls up the ‘Format Cells’ menu, from
where any formatting that Excel is
capable of can be applied on the active
cell or highlighted cell region. In the
Alignment tab, for example, users can
change the alignment of text.

Navigating the ‘Format Cells’ menu
• After hitting Ctrl 1 to pull up the ‘Format

Cells’ menu, you can navigate around
tabs by hitting Ctrl tab.
• Each category within a tab can be

accessed by pressing Alt and the
appropriate underlined letter, or by
hitting tab to move clockwise and shift
tab to move counter clockwise.
• When on the desired tab, For example,

within the alignment tab, horizontal
alignment can be accessed through Alt h
and vertical alignment through Alt v.

Formatting
Excel 2013/16: Add 2 worksheets to your workbook before proceeding (alt I w)
• Press Ctrl Page Down to go from Sheet1 to Sheet2 within the workbook and create the
following matrix without using the mouse. Remember the following:
• Auto-fit the width of Column B.
• Copy and paste the formulas across the appropriate cells in row 4 – by using the Shift right
arrow key (not the mouse!)

Formatting
1. Format all numbers to 1 decimal, thousands

should be separated by commas, while
negative numbers should appear in
parenthesis:
i. Hit Ctrl 1 to open the ‘Format Cells’

menu.
ii. Within the Number tab, hit the Tab key

and scroll down the category menu to
the ‘Number’ category.
iii. Press the Tab key again to select the 1

decimal place preference.
iv. Select the comma separator option.
v. Select the (1,234.0) treatment of

negative numbers.
vi. Press Enter to exit to format cells menu.

Formatting
1. Bold row 4 (Shift spacebar and then Ctrl b).
2. Input cells C2 through F3 should be blue.
• Hint: The ‘Font’ tab under the ‘Format Cells’ menu – don’t use the mouse!
3. Insert a border line below the year column headers.
• Hint: The ‘Border‘ tab under the ‘Format Cells’ menu.

Referencing other worksheets
• We are now going to consolidate both matrices in Sheet 3:
1. Copy and Paste the row and column headers from Sheet2 into Sheet3.
2. In cell C2, press = then holding the Ctrl key press Page Up until you reach Sheet1. Within
Sheet1, use the arrow keys to hover over cell C2.
3. Press the + key (Shift =) and then hit Ctrl Page Down to go to Sheet2 and then again,
using the arrow keys hover over C2. Your edit box should now have the following formula
inside: =Sheet1! C2+Sheet2! C2.
4. Hit Enter. Notice that once you hit enter, Excel takes you back to Sheet3, where it has
added up C2 from both Sheet1 and Sheet2.
5. Now hit Ctrl C to copy this cell and using shift and the arrow keys, hover over the cell input
range (C2:F3) and then hit Ctrl V to paste.
6. Calculate the gross profit in row 4 as you did in both earlier exercises.
7. Format the cell range as you did in the last exercise using the ‘Format Cells’ menu.

Excel Crash Course > Basic Excel Drills
Paste Special
• Highlight the already-formatted cell range in

Sheet2, press Ctrl c to copy and then highlight the
corresponding cell range in Sheet3 and press Alt h
v s t (or Alt e s t).
• This is the shortcut to “Paste Special”. What is

special about it is that it only applies the formatting
style – not the formulas – onto the target cells.
• Within the “Paste Special” menu (Alt h v s or Alt e

s), you can choose to paste specific features of a cell
range, not just its formats. Remember, you must Paste Special Formats is the
first copy a cell range in order to reach the “Paste equivalent of the paintbrush icon:
Special” menu.
• Paste special can be quite powerful and can do

things you may not have expected - much more on
this in the next section.

Excel Crash Course
Navigation
Within Excel
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Excel Crash Course > Navigation Within Excel
Practice makes perfect
• As you go through each of the upcoming drills, make sure to replicate the steps in your own
Excel file and just as importantly, understand how to access each feature most efficiently.

Navigation drills
1. Open a new blank workbook (Ctrl n) and then switch back to Sheet3 of the existing workbook
(Ctrl Tab).
2. Move from Sheet3 to Sheet2 and back to Sheet3 by using the appropriate keyboard shortcuts.
• Move left: CTRL Page Up.
• Move right: CTRL Page Down.
3. Navigating within the spreadsheet.
i. Using the arrow keys, go to cell B2 of Sheet3.
ii. Go from B2 directly to the final projection of revenues (cell F2) by clicking Ctrl -> (right
arrow key). Note: In Excel, you can go to the end of any contiguous range by clicking Ctrl -
> (or any appropriate arrow).
iii. From cell F2, highlight cells F2 through cell F4 by clicking Shift ->. You will need to press
-> twice in order to reach cell F4. If you would like to highlight cells F2:F4 simultaneously,
click Shift Ctrl -> .
iv. With cells F2:F4 highlighted, highlight the entire table B2:F4 by clicking Shift Ctrl ->

Navigation drills
1. Still within Sheet3, highlight all the cells in the worksheet by pressing Ctrl a.
2. Move Sheet3 to precede Sheet1 in the workbook by pressing Alt h o m, and hit Enter.
3. Change the zoom size to 75% by pressing Alt w q, (or alt v z) selecting 75% with the arrow
keys, and hit Enter.
4. Change the zoom size back to your default size by pressing Alt w q again, and selecting the
original zoom size and hit Enter.

Freezing & Splitting panes
• Excel worksheets often become too large to allow users

to view all of their contents on one screen.
• Accordingly, ‘Freezing Panes’ and ‘Splitting Panes’

options provide users with the flexibility to select
specific rows and columns that always remain visible
when scrolling in the worksheet.
• Panes are defined as portions of the worksheet that are

bounded and separated by vertical and/or horizontal
bars.
To Freeze Panes
• Click the cell below the desired row and to the right of
the desired column where you want to freeze panes and
hit alt w f f.
• To unfreeze panes, press alt w f f again.

Splitting panes
While freezing panes allows users to select

specific rows and columns that always remain
visible when scrolling in the worksheet,
splitting panes allows users to scroll in both
areas of the worksheet, while rows and columns
in the non-scrolled area remain visible.
To Split Panes:
• Click the cell below the desired row and to

the right of the desired column where you
want to split panes and hit alt w s.
• To un-split panes, click alt w s again.
• Press F6 to move from pane to pane in a

clockwise direction; press Shift F6 to move
from pane to pane in a counter-clockwise
direction.

Excel Crash Course
Entering & Editing

Data in Excel
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Excel Crash Course > Entering and Editing Data in Excel
Drill – Entering and editing data drills
The Undo and redo commands Undo (ctrl z)is very

useful; commit it to
1. Still within Sheet3, go to cell F4 and press the delete key. memory.
2. Undo the delete by hitting Ctrl z.
3. Redo the delete by pressing Ctrl y
Manipulating data inside a cell
1. Go to cell C4 and hit F2. F2 is the command that puts you “inside” a cell.
2. Within cell C4, press Shift left arrow until ‘C3’ is highlighted.
3. Hit Shift Ctrl left arrow and you’ll notice that C2 is instantly highlighted. Notice that it is a
similar idea to editing outside cells: Shift arrow-keys highlight characters one at a time,
while Shift Ctrl arrow-keys highlight contiguous ranges of characters within the cell.
4. Now hit backspace to delete the highlighted region, and while still within the cell hit Esc to
cancel everything we have done so far. Within cells, the Esc key is very useful when you will
be working with complex worksheets because it cancels unintended cell entries.

Drill – Cell edit vs. point mode: Hitting F2 a second time
• Go back to C4 and press F2, putting you “inside” again.
• Now try to add cell C6 by typing + and using the arrow keys - you’ll find that you are stuck –
hit F2 again to get “unstuck” and then use the arrow keys.
• Pressing F2 again activates the cursor and enables you to move to different cells, worksheets,
and even other open Excel files (you should see a dotted border when you move to any of these
locations) in order to insert additional formula components into the original cell’s pre-existing
formula (C4 in our example) .
Pressing the F2 key once:

• Shows the components of the formula you created earlier
• Puts you inside a cell and enables you to navigate through it to edit the existing cell data
Pressing the F2 key twice:
• Activates the cursor and enables you to move to different cells, worksheets, and even
other open Excel files

Drill – Deleting and clearing cell data
• You can delete the contents of a cell simply by hitting Delete on an active cell.
• Important – hitting delete does NOT delete the formatting in the cell – this is retained, so next
time you type a number into that cell, it will retain the formatting of the originally deleted
data. It also won’t delete a comment that may exist in the cell. So how do your truly delete a
cell?
• With your cursor on the desired cell, hit Alt h e (Home Tab -> Clear). From a drop-down menu,
choose the appropriate action:
1. (Alt h e) a = Clears ALL contents of the cell (values, formulas, and format)
2. (Alt h e) f = Clears the FORMAT of the cell only
3. (Alt h e) c = Clears the CONTENTS of the cell only (same as hitting Delete)
4. (Alt h e) m = Clears the COMMENTS of the cell only

Drill – right and down fills
• In Sheet3, highlight the cell range D2:F4 and hit Delete.
• Now highlight cell range C2:F4 and hit Ctrl R.
• Ctrl R tells Excel to look at the leftmost column of a range of highlighted cells and copy and
paste the inputs and formulas in that column to all the columns to the right.
• Ctrl D does the same thing for rows that Ctrl R does for columns, telling Excel to look at the
topmost row of a range of highlighted cells and to copy and paste the inputs and formulas
in that row down to all the rows below it.

Drill – Inserting comments
• Still in Sheet3, go to cell E4 and insert a comment that reads “Gross Profit was negative this
year due to a strategic restructuring undertaken by the company” by typing Shift F2.
• Hit ESC twice to exit the comment area.
• To edit an existing comment, go to the relevant cell and press Shift F2.
• To delete a comment, press Alt h e am (or alt e a m).

Drill – Inserting rows
• Go back to Sheet2 (Ctrl Page Down) and input data in rows 5 and 6 as pictured to the right.
• Remember to apply formatting as in the original exercise using only the keyboard.
• Keep in mind that the Net Profit cells should be calculations, not inputs.
Add 2 new rows with data as shown

Drill – Inserting rows
• Let’s say we want to add a row below operating costs for non-operating costs. To do this, go to
any cell in the row below operating costs (row 6) and press Alt i r. Or, highlight the row below
operating costs by pressing Shift Spacebar, and then press Ctrl Shift + to insert the new row.
A new row will appear.
• Input the new data as shown below and modify the net profit calculation accordingly.
Remember to format appropriately for inputs (paste special formats may be helpful here).
Insert row as shown

Recalculate as shown

Drill – Inserting columns
• We now add a column for 2004. To do this, go to any cell in column C and press Alt i c, or
highlight column C by pressing Ctrl Spacebar and then insert the column by pressing Ctrl
Shift +. Insert the new data as shown by copying (Ctrl C) and pasting (Ctrl V) the formulas in
rows 4 and 7, and hard-inputting blue cells as shown in the screenshot here.
Deleting rows and columns
• Alt h d r (row); Alt h d c (column)
• Highlight row/column and press Ctrl -
Insert column as
shown

More on Copying and Pasting
• Ctrl v pastes relative cell references: You’ve likely noticed that when we copy and paste
formulas, Excel maintains the relative position of the cell references.

More on Copying and Pasting
• Ctrl v pastes ALL cell attributes: When we

copied and pasted the formulas from cell D4
to C4, Excel not only copied the formulas, but
also the formatting. Had we had a comment
in that cell, Excel would have automatically
pasted it as well. Excel is programmed by
default to copy over all the attributes of a cell.
• This may not always be desirable to copy

all attributes. Perhaps a user wants to copy
over just comments, or just values, or just
the formulas but nothing else, etc.
• Paste Special (Ctrl c, followed by alt e s) lets

the user dictate the specific attributes of a cell
or highlighted region that should be pasted.

Paste special
• Back in Sheet2, highlight the cell range B1:G7, copy it (Ctrl c), and paste only the formulas
(not the formatting) into B13:G20 by pressing Alt e s f. Now hit Ctrl Z to undo the paste and
paste only the formatting (not the formulas) into B13:G20 by pressing Alt e s t.

Paste special – operators
• In addition to pasting specific combinations of formulas, formats, and values, the paste
special feature allows users to operate on multiple values in exactly the same way.
• Suppose you have a list of dollar prices (see below) quoted to you in thousands, but you wish
to see them quoted in ones (e.g., you want to convert $450 to $450,000).
• In another cell, enter the number 1000. Copy this cell, then highlight your list of prices. Press
Alt e s m. This will multiply each dollar price on your list by 1000.

Paste special – operators
• You can likewise add, subtract, or divide a list of data by a single number. For example, using
paste special is an easy way to convert positive numbers to negative numbers (by doing a paste
special multiply by -1).
Be careful when applying an operator paste special on ranges containing both formulas
and inputs
• Both formulas and inputs will be impacted by the operation, so if the formula cells are
dependent on the input cells, you may introduce unintentional errors

Paste special – transpose
• Another useful paste special feature is the “transpose” feature.
• It allows users to convert a vertical list of data into a horizontal list of data, and vice versa.
• Using the same set of data as in the prior slide, highlight the vertical list of prices.
• Move your cursor outside of the list range (to cell C3 in our case). Press Alt e s e. Your list of
prices should now be listed horizontally on a single row.
Be careful when applying a paste special

transpose on formulas
Paste special transpose will transpose
relative cell references

Drills – cut and paste
• Back in Sheet 2, highlight cell range B7:G7.
• Cut the range by hitting Ctrl x (the highlighted range should now look “active” with dashed
lines bordering the cell range).
• Move the cursor down to cell B8 and paste the cut range by pressing Ctrl v.
• The range has been relocated one row down from its earlier position in the worksheet.
Notice that the formulas calculating net profit inside the row have not changed. Unlike when
you copy and paste, when you cut and paste cells, the formulas inside the pasted cells do
not change.
Cut and paste from

row 7

Ctrl shortcuts
• Input the number 1254.34 into cell B10 of

Sheet 2 and apply all the shortcuts listed
below on this cell.
• After each shortcut, press Ctrl z to undo the

action and move on to the next one.
CTRL+SHIFT+! Number format: 2 decimals, 000 separator 1,254.34

CTRL+SHIFT+$ Currency format: 2 decimal places $1,254.34
CTRL+SHIFT+% Percentage format with no decimal places. 125434%
CTRL+SHIFT+# Date format with the day, month, and year. 7-Jun-03
CTRL B Boldface 1,254.34
CTRL I Italicize 1,254.34
CTRL U Underline 1,254.34
CTRL+SHIFT+ _ Remove all borders 1,254.34

Naming cells
• When formulas get longer and more complex, it is

sometimes (but not always!) useful to name cells that
are being referenced within the formulas.
• If in Sheet 2, for example, we had named cell C2

‘Revenues2004’ and cell C3 ‘COGS2004’, our formula
in cell C4 would read =Revenues2004–COGS2004.
Let’s do this now.
• Name cell C2 Revenues2004 by going to cell C2 and

pressing Ctrl F3, which will open the Name Manager.
Click ‘New.’ Name cell C3 COGS2004 the same way.
• Now any time you reference these newly named cells,

they’ll show up as ‘Revenues2004’ and ‘COGS2004’.
Caution: Naming cells is useful in very large files where a specific cell is being referenced by
many other cells in long complicated formulas. But there is a downside (see next page)

The downside of naming cells and ranges
• Names duplicate when copied to a new sheet (see error below).
• Harder to trace the calculations using F2.
• Deleting names will cause errors in cells that reference the name.

Anchoring cells (F4)
• When you copy and paste a cell containing a formula from one cell to another, Excel
automatically shifts the cells being referenced in the formula.
• Sometimes, this is not desirable. That is why Excel allows you to anchor cells.
• Anchoring (or “Fixing”) cells that are being referenced in a formula tells Excel that even if
you copy the formula to another cell, the cells in the formula that are anchored should not
change.
• Let’s demonstrate this in an exercise on the following page

Drill – Anchoring cells
• In Sheet 2, re-label row 8 header to “Pretax Profit”.
• Delete empty row 7 (Shift Spacebar to highlight, then Ctrl – to delete).
• Insert a row header called “Taxes” in cell B8 and “Net Profit” in cell B9.
• Insert a formula in cell C9 to calculate net profit (Pretax Profit – Taxes). Notice that since there
is nothing in the taxes row yet, net profit simply equals pretax profit for now.
• Insert a row header “Tax rate” in cell B11.

Anchoring cells
• Insert a tax rate of 35% in cell C11. Pull up the

‘Format Cells’ menu (Ctrl 1) to format the cell blue
and as a % with 1 decimal place. You must enter
0.35 in the cell in order to format as 35%.
• Calculate taxes in cell C8 as 2004 Pretax Profit x

Tax rate.
• Now, without doing anything else, try to copy the

formula in cell C8 (Ctrl c) and paste into cells D8:G8
(Ctrl v). Notice that Excel returns an output of 0.
Look inside the formulas and you’ll see that Excel is
referencing cells to the right of C11.
• We want to have Excel stay on cell C11 to calculate

the pretax income. Anchoring cells allows us to do
this without having to manually change formulas in
each cell.

• Undo the D8:G8 paste (Ctrl z). Note: if you went inside the cells, Excel’s memory may have
been cleared and you can’t undo. If that is the case, just highlight and delete D8:G8.
• Move your cursor to cell C8 and press F2 to get inside. Now highlight C11 within the cell and
press F4.
• You will notice that Excel has placed two $ signs – one before the “C” and the other before the
“11.” You have now anchored cell C11. Press Enter. Try again to copy and paste the formula
into cell range D8:G8 and you’ll see that Excel is holding the C11 reference fixed, and the
calculations should now work as below:
Anchoring data inside a cell

You can choose whether to
fix an entire cell (as we did in
this drill: $C$11), or just fix the
column ($C11) or just the row
(C$11) by repeatedly
pressing F4 until you find
your preference. Try it out!

Naming worksheets
• By now, we know that by default, Excel names its worksheets Sheet1, Sheet2, Sheet3, etc.
• Rename a worksheet you are working in by pressing Alt h o r which will highlight the current
name of the worksheet. Type in ‘Income Statement’ and press Enter.
Inserting & deleting worksheets
• Add a new worksheet (Excel provides 3 in Excel 2010 and 1 in Excel 2013 by default) by
pressing Alt h i s.
• Conversely, delete a worksheet by pressing Alt e l

Drill – Grouping columns & rows
• There is often a need to hide rows and columns (for formatting and presentation purposes, or
simply because the data in those columns is old and need not be shown all the time).
To group columns
1. Hit Ctrl Spacebar to select the desired column(s).
2. Hit Shift Alt right arrow key to create the group.
3. Hitting alt a h will hide the columns.
4. Hitting alt a j will unhide the columns.
5. Hitting Shift Alt left arrow key will remove the group.
To group rows
• Hit Shift Spacebar to select the desired row.
• Follow steps 2-5 outlined above.

Group – don’t hide

• Grouping columns and rows through the steps mentioned in the previous slide allows
users to group any number of desired columns and rows, and is therefore very useful as
a way to hide data that users would still like to have, but not necessarily show to others.
• Another way to hide data is by hitting Alt h o u r for rows and Alt h o u c for columns.
Don’t ever use this method. Why?
• Under this method, columns and rows are hidden, but there are no indications (no
minus or plus signs as in the first method) as to their location.
• In larger spreadsheets, you can easily forget which columns and rows you have hidden.
Just as importantly, it also makes it difficult for another person to audit your Excel
analysis, so stick with grouping

Drill – Grouping worksheets
• If you would like to format data in the

same manner or enter the same data
across multiple sheets, Excel provides
an efficient method to accomplish this [Group] after the filename indicates that
certain worksheets have been grouped.
goal. By grouping multiple worksheets,
any data and formatting that you
would perform in one of the grouped
worksheets would automatically be
reflected in all of them. All the worksheets have been grouped –
their shading is lighter than usual. Any data
To group worksheets: entry or formatting you now perform in one
of the grouped worksheets will be reflected
• Holding down Ctrl Shift, press in the others.
PageUp or PageDown to reach the
worksheets you would like to group.
All of the grouped worksheets are
highlighted and the file name on top of
the Excel screen should show [Group]
after it.

To ungroup worksheets:
• Press Ctrl PageUp or Ctrl PageDown until you reach one of the ungrouped worksheets; this
automatically ungroups all of the previously-grouped sheets.
• If you have grouped all worksheets, pressing Ctrl PageUp or Ctrl PageDown just once (to get
to another worksheet) ungroups all of them.
Word of Caution
Grouping worksheets serves as an efficient way of performing data entry and formatting
across multiple sheets; however, be careful – if you do not ungroup worksheets before
starting to work in one of them, you may override information in other worksheets.

Auditing cells
Good: F2
• You have already learned one way to audit

formulas: simply go to a desired cell and hit the
F2 key. Excel will highlight (in different colors)
all the cell components of an existing formula
present in that cell.
Better: Ctrl [ and Ctrl ]
• Hitting Ctrl [ on a cell will highlight the

precedent cell(s) - keep hitting Ctrl [ and it will
take you to the next precedent, and on an on.
• Hitting Ctrl ] on a cell will do the same thing but

for dependent cells.

Excel’s Formula Auditor
• When formulas become more complex, involving a number of cell references across different
worksheets and even Excel files, the formula auditing feature is helpful.
• Trace precedents (Alt m p): Trace cells that provide data to a formula (For cell C2 in Sheet3,
precedent cells are Sheet1!C2 and Sheet2!D2). A worksheet icon indicates that the precedent
cells are in another worksheet. Double clicking anywhere (with a mouse) on the black arrow
brings up the ‘Go To’ screen; selecting either of the precedent cell locations and hitting ‘OK’
will take you there.
• Trace dependents (Alt m d): Trace formulas that reference a particular cell. For cell C2, a
dependent cell is C4 (that cell references C2 in its formula).
• Remove trace arrows (Alt m a a)

Excel Crash Course
Basic Excel
Functions
v
Excel Crash Course > Basic Excel Functions
Introduction to Excel functions
• We have now completed our introduction to

Excel and are ready to get into the meaty
parts of Excel – the first being functions.
• Functions are pre-built combinations of

operations in Excel that facilitate
spreadsheet analysis. In Excel, there are
over 300 functions, which are grouped into
11 categories by the various purposes they
serve.
• Functions are useful on their own, but

become even more powerful when they are
combined together.
• We are going to go over the most common

functions and function combinations that
you are likely to encounter in financial
analysis.

• Before moving on to drills, let’s discuss the structure of Excel functions:
• Every function starts with an “=“ sign, then the function name, and then the cell range
(bound within parentheses).
• All functions follow the same syntax:=functionname(argument1,argument2,…,argumentx).
• Within the parentheses, functions can have 0, 1, or many arguments, separated by commas.
• In the SUM function =SUM(A1:A10), there is only one argument, and the argument is telling
Excel the specific cell range that needs to be summed up; we will encounter functions where
there are several arguments.
• Arguments will become a little clearer when we actually deal with them, but for now just
remember that arguments are things inside the parentheses of a function, separated by
commas, that tell Excel certain things about the function.
An IF function has 3 arguments:

Drill – SUM (Math & Trig)
• The SUM function below automatically adds all the numbers in a specified cell range.
• Without the SUM function, you’d have to individually add each cell using the “+” operation.
Using the SUM function:
1. Go back to Sheet3 and insert a column heading in G1 as shown below and move the cursor
down to G2.
2. Press Alt = and you will notice that Excel will automatically insert a function called SUM that
sums all of the revenues from historical years and calculates them in cell G2.
3. You could have also manually typed this formula and used the arrow keys to highlight the
range of cells you wish to sum together.

Drill – AVERAGE (Statistical)
• Now let’s say you want to determine what average absolute gross profit was from 2005-2008.
Excel has a built-in average function that calculates the average of a range of selected cells or
numbers.
• Calculate the average gross profit as shown below:

Common problems with formulas and functions
Error Reason
Formula Forgetting the equal sign (=) at the start or inserting a space before the equal sign of
treated as text the formula is treated by Excel as text
#DIV/0! Dividing a number by zero
#REF! An invalid cell reference
#NUM! Inserting invalid numerical values in a formula or function
#NAME? Unrecognizable text in a formula
# VALUE! Inserting incorrect arguments in a function
##### When the column is not wide enough to fit the data in a cell, You must widen the
cell to fix the error (Alt H O I)

Excel Crash Course
Logical, Date &

Concatenation
Functions
v
Excel Crash Course > Logical, Date & Concatenation Functions
Logical functions: IF
• The IF function is one of the most useful functions in Excel.
• The IF function returns one value if a condition you specify evaluates to TRUE and another
value if it evaluates to FALSE.
• Use IF to conduct conditional tests on values and formulas.
• All IF statements follow the same structure =IF(x,y,z), where:
x Criteria
y output if criteria evaluates to true
z output if criteria evaluates to
false
• Text output is designated by quotation marks around the outputs.

Drill – Error-trapping function IFERROR
• =IFERROR(value,value_if_error) returns a value you specify if a formula evaluates to an error.

If the formula does not result in an error, IFERROR returns the result of the formula.
Drill – Creating dynamic headers by combining cell references with text (“&”)
• Excel allows users to combine (or "concatenate") cells with a text string in them with other text
strings, creating one text string by using the "&" function.

Drill – Date functions (EOMONTH)
• Excel has many date functions, but Eomonth is perhaps the most useful for building financial
models or any analysis spread out over multiple periods.
• =EOMONTH(start_date,months) allows you to create monthly date headers, by outputting the

last day of a specified month.
• start_date represents a starting date reference.
• months represents x number of months before or after the start_date.
• To output a date x months before a start_date, x should be negative.
EDATE(start_date,months) is a similar function to EOMONTH
• The difference is that EDATE returns the exact date, x months from the start date.
Dates in Excel are serial numbers

When using dates in general in Excel, understand that Excel stores dates as serial numbers –
they must be formatted as dates (use Ctrl 1) in order to look like recognizable dates to the
user

YEARFRAC
The basis represents the number
• YEARFRAC(start_date, end_date, basis) returns the of days per month/year used to
proportion of the year between two given dates, the calculate the proportion of the
start_date and end_date. Basis is an optional year.
parameter – see sidebar. 0 or omitted = U.S. 30/360
1 = actual/actual
• YEARFRAC is useful in financial modeling when
2 = actual/360
projecting future cash flows or obligations for a
3 = actual/365
fraction of a year. We often term the fraction of a year
4 = European 30/360
a “Stub Year Fraction.”
DATE, DAY, MONTH, and YEAR functions
• DATE(year,month,day) is a function that combines

distinct year, month, and day elements into a valid date
function in Excel.
• Combining this function with DAY(serial number),

MONTH(serial number), and YEAR(serial number) is
sometimes useful for creating date functions out of
disparate data.

Cell contents as criteria in IF statements, ISNUMBER, ISTEXT
• A surprisingly useful criteria used in IF statements, is a test of whether a cell has anything in it.
• For example, the IF statement =IF(C1,C2,C3) would see if there is anything in cell C1, and if
there was, it would output C2, otherwise C3.
• Two functions that do something similar are the ISNUMBER and ISTEXT function, both
typically embedded within an IF statement, and test whether there is a number or text inside a
cell, respectively.
• In the example below, we combine an IF statement with the ISTEXT function to create outputs
that are different depending on whether there was text in the criteria cell.

Drills – AND, OR functions
• Recall the nested IF that we had to build in a

prior drill to output whether both you AND
your sibling are old enough to vote. The AND
function facilitates the type of analysis where
you need to evaluate multiple arguments at
once.
• =AND(logical1,logical2, ...) evaluates to true

if all its arguments are true; false if one or
more argument is false.
• A close cousin is the OR function

=OR(logical1,logical2,..) which evaluates to
true if at least one argument is true.

Excel Crash Course
Lookup Functions
& Data Tables
v
Excel Crash Course > Lookup & Reference Functions
HLOOKUP and VLOOKUP

Range lookup
• Some of the most useful functions in Excel are functions that allow
H/VLOOKUP have
you to locate data stored in large tables. HLOOKUP and VLOOKUP are an optional fourth
the most popular functions for performing this type of data argument called
extraction. range lookup.
If range lookup is
• =HLOOKUP( look up value, table range, row number) searches for a omitted or TRUE,
value in the top row of a table or an array of values, and then returns a an approximate
value in the same column from a row you specify in the table or array. match to the
lookup value is
• Use HLOOKUP when your comparison values are located in a row returned. If the
range lookup is
across the top of a table of data, and you want to look down a FALSE, an exact
specified number of rows. match is returned.
When lookup
• =VLOOKUP(lookup value, table range, column number) searches for a value is text or
value in the leftmost column of a table, and then returns a value in numbers in non-
the same row from a column you specify in the table or array. ascending order,
the FALSE range
• Use VLOOKUP when your comparison values are located in a column lookup is often
preferred.
to the left of a table of data, and you want to look across (and to the
right) a specified number of columns.

Other lookup functions
• Although less popular than HLOOKUPs and VLOOKUPs, Excel also offers several other data
extraction functions that are often a better fit for solving certain types of data extraction
problems.
• OFFSET returns a cell value or range of cell values that is a specified number of rows and
columns from a cell or range of cells. Syntax: =OFFSET(reference,rows,cols,height,width).
• INDEX returns a value from a specified row and column from within a table or range. Syntax:
=INDEX(array,row_num,column_num).
• CHOOSE returns a number from a specified list of up to 254 values. Syntax:

=CHOOSE(index_num,value1,value2,value3,…).

Drills – MATCH function
• The MATCH function returns the relative position (number) of an item in an array that matches
specified lookup value. Syntax: =MATCH(lookup_value,lookup_array,match_type).
• It does NOT return the value within the cell itself (as opposed to the HLOOKUP and VLOOKUP
functions).
Better together: Combining with lookup & reference functions
• Combining with functions like HLOOKUP, VLOOKUP, OFFSET, INDEX, and CHOOSE, to make
formulas more durable and dynamic.

Drills – Data validation
• Data validation is a utility in Excel, whose most frequently used feature is its ability to create
simple and quick drop-down menus.
1. To create a dropdown menu, with the cell where you want your drop down menu active,
open the data validation form (alt d l).
2. Within the Settings tab, select list from the dropdown menu.
3. Within the ‘Source:’ field, identify a contiguous cell range containing the data you want
to include in your dropdown, and hit OK and you should see your dropdown menu
appear (note: it only appears when you are on the active cell).

Drills – Data tables
• Data tables allow us to examine a piece of output data – such as a company’s EPS – and how it
is impacted by changes in input variables such as revenues and gross margin assumptions.
• Data tables output the results in a presentation-friendly matrix.
• Often used for sensitivity analysis (i.e. EPS’s sensitivity to changes in gross profit margin) and
is used widely by analysts to illustrate a range of possible output values.

Drills – Building a vertical data table
1. Identify the output variable:
• The variable you are trying to sensitize is the

output variable.
• Must be referenced from your analysis into the top

right corner of the data table.
2. Hard-code the input variable sensitivities:
• The variables whose impact on the output

variables you want to analyze are the input
variables.
• Input variable assumptions should not be

referenced from the analysis, but rather be hard-
coded and arranged in the column to the right of
the output variable.

Drills – Building a vertical data table
Run the data table
• Hit (alt d t); the Data Table dialog will appear.
• Row input cell: Not needed for vertical data tables.
• Column input cell: Reference the input variable from

the model.
• Highlight the entire range (including the output variable)

and hit OK when done – the data table should populate.
• You may need to hit F9 if Excel is set to “manual” or

“automatic calculations except for data tables.”
• Important: Data tables must always be in the same

worksheet as the input variables.

Drills – Building a horizontal data table
From a substance standpoint, it’s the same as vertical (difference is aesthetic).
1. Referenced output variable from your analysis into the bottom left corner of the data table.
2. Input the input assumptions in the row above and one cell to the right of the output reference.
3. Highlight the entire range (including the output variable) and hit (alt d t); the Data Table
dialog will appear.
• Row input cell: Reference the input variable from the model.
• Column input cell: Not needed.
• Hit OK when done – the data table should populate.

Drills – Building a 2-sided data table
• Same as vertical data table, but allows for 2 inputs instead of one.
• Output variable must be referenced from the model into the top left corner of the data table.
• See illustration below:

Excel Crash Course
Mathematical
& Financial
Functions
v
Excel Crash Course > Mathematical & Financial Functions
SUMPRODUCT
• We now turn to some of the most frequently used and beneficial mathematical functions in
Excel. Like the reference and lookup functions, the usefulness of these functions really
becomes apparent when combining with other Excel functionality.
• =SUMPRODUCT(array1,array2,array3, ...) multiplies corresponding components in two or

more arrays, and returns the sum of those products.
• A lesser know feature of SUMPRODUCT is the ability to embed criteria directly into the arrays.
• Before we can use that, we first need to understand how Excel really deals with arguments
that evaluate to TRUE or FALSE (Booleans).

Booleans in Excel
• When Excel spits out a TRUE or FALSE (see below), you can convert
them respectively into 1 or 0 by applying any operator on them:
• Interestingly, multiplying a TRUE (or FALSE) by another TRUE (or

FALSE) also has the effect of converting it into a 1 or 0, respectively.
• Understanding this will have surprisingly useful implications for us.

SUMPRODUCT with embedded criteria
• A lesser know feature of SUMPRODUCT is the ability to embed criteria directly into the arrays.
• For example, we can directly calculate proceeds on options that have an exercise price less
than the share price so you no longer need to calculate option proceeds for each tranche:
• We have 2 criteria – the options # and the exercise price per tranche, which is multiplied
against a TRUE or FALSE criteria for each exercise tranche.
• Tranche 1 evaluates to TRUE, so Excel multiplies the TRUE by the Tranche 1 exercise price,
and then by the # of options.
• Tranche 2 & 3 evaluate to FALSE, and become 0 when multiplied by the exercise prices.

SUMIF
• =SUMIF(range, criteria, sum range) adds the cells specified by a given criteria.
• Criteria can either be hardcoded which requires quotation marks as you see below, or a direct
cell reference (which would not need quotes around it).

SUMIFs
• =SUMIF(range1, criteria1, sum range1,

range2, criteria2, sum range2, etc).
• Same as SUMIF but can handle multiple

criteria and sum ranges.
AVERAGEIF and AVERAGEIFS
• Identical to SUMIF and SUMIFS but instead

of summing, this function averages the data
in the range.

Functions covered in this section
• ABS
• CEILING
• FLOOR

Functions covered in this section
• COMBIN
• ROUND
• ROUNDUP
• ROUNDDOWN

Drills – MIN and MAX
MIN and MAX functions are used frequently in financial analysis. A classic use in financial
modeling is to use a max function to prevent a revolving credit line balance from dipping below 0
when there is a cash shortfall.
• =MIN(number1,number2,…) returns the smallest number in a specified set of values.
• =MAX(number1,number2,…) returns the largest number in a specified set of values.

Drills – COUNT, COUNTA, COUNTIF
• COUNT =COUNT(value1, value2, … ) counts the number of cells that contain numbers within
the list of arguments. Cells with text are disregarded.
• COUNTA - same as COUNT except cells with numbers and text are counted.
• COUNTIF =COUNTIF(range, criteria) counts the number of items in the range that satisfy a
specific criteria - similar to the SUMIF function.
• COUNTIFS =COUNTIF(range1, criteria1, range2, critera2) allows for multiple criteria - similar
to the SUMIFS function.

Drill – PV function
• Returns the present value of a series of future payments.

Bond math
• Syntax =PV(rate, nper, pmt, fv, type), where: PV and FV functions are
Arguments Description
useful when the payments
in an annuity are constant,
rate interest rate per period like with fixed coupon debt
nper total number of payment periods
pmt payment made during each period (it cannot change)
fv future value
indicates when payments are due:
type • 0 or omitted = end of the period
• 1 = beginning of the period

Drill – FV function
• Returns the future value of an investment based on constant payment and interest rate.
• Syntax =FV(rate, nper, pmt, pv, type), where:

Arguments Description
rate interest rate per period
nper total number of payment periods
pmt payment made during each period (it cannot change)
pv present value
indicates when payments are due:
type • 0 or omitted = end of the period
• 1 = beginning of the period

Drill – NPV function
• =NPV(rate, value1, value2, …) returns the NPV vs. PV functions

net present value of an investment based on • PV assumes constant payments, while
a discount rate and a series of future NPV cash flows can vary from period to
period
payments (negative values) and income
• NPV does not require user to explicitly
(positive values). identify number of periods and simply
assumes equal periods based on the
• Values are assumed to occur at the end of number of values
each time period and must be referenced in
• NPV assumes payments occur at the end
the order in which they occur. of the period (but formula can be
adjusted to simulate payments occurring
at beginning of period)

Drill – XNPV function
• NPV performs equal discounting on each cash flow – this is not desirable when the timing of
cash flows is uneven.
• XNPV Syntax =XNPV(rate, values, dates) returns the net present value for a set of cash flows
that do not necessarily occur at equal time intervals.
• Unlike NPV, the first cash flow is not discounted, while dates of subsequent cash flows can be
included in the formula in any order.

IRR
• IRR Syntax: =IRR(values, guess) returns the IRR for a

series of values.
• IRR is the rate corresponding to an NPV of 0.
• While values do not have to be identical each period,

the periods are assumed to be equally far apart.
• ‘Guess’ is an optional argument. Excel needs a

starting point to iterate to the right IRR. If you
There must be both positive and
choose not to input a “guess”, Excel will negative value
automatically use 10% as the guess. • For an IRR or XIRR to be
calculated, there must be both
XIRR positive and negative values.
• XIRR =XIRR(values, dates, guess) returns the IRR for • Since IRR represents the rate at
which NPV is 0, cash inflows
a series values which may not be periodic. must be offset by some
outflows.
• The date of each cash flow must be referenced in the
formula (the “dates”).

Excel Crash Course
Text Functions
v
Excel Crash Course > Text Functions
Text functions
• For professionals that have to work extracting data from large inconsistent and poorly
formatted data sets, text functions can be absolutely critical.
• We will cover the ones listed here:
Text functions we will cover

LEN
LEFT
RIGHT
MID
PROPER
UPPER
LOWER
TRUNC
SEARCH
FIND
SUBSTITUTE
REPLACE

Excel Crash Course > Text Functions
Flash Fill (Excel 2013 Only)
• Excel 2013 has introduced a real improvement to working with large data sets in the form of
Flash Fill (Ctrl e).
New in Excel 2013

Excel Crash Course
Making Good Use

of the Indirect
Function
v
Excel Crash Course > Making Good Use of the Indirect Function
INDIRECT and Concatenation (“&”)
• Indirect is a very interesting function in Excel. At first

blush, it seems somewhat pointless, but in certain
contexts can be very useful.
• Syntax =INDIRECT(reference text) returns the

reference specified by a text string.
• For example =INDIRECT(“B4”) will output the

value of what is in cell B4.
• One of the most common ways to get value out of this

function is to combine with concatenate.
• Look at the illustration on the right. The model allows

for a flexible user defined start and end date for
calculating a cumulative EBITDA result?
• How would you create such a utility?
• INDIRECT would really help here.

Excel Crash Course
Sorting, Filters
& Pivot Tables
v
Excel Crash Course > Sorting, Filters, and Pivot Tables
Drill – Sorting data
Excel has very powerful sorting and filtering capabilities that make working with large data sets
more manageable. We will start by covering Excel’s sort and subtotal functionality.
• Insert new worksheet and fill in data as shown below.
• Highlight the entire table or have the cursor in one of the cells in the table.
• Hit alt d s (Data Tab -> Sort) to bring up the ‘Sort’ menu.
• You can choose to sort various columns by value, cell color, or font color, and in ascending or
descending order. In this drill, please sort by LTM revenue in ascending order.

Drill – Sorting data
• You can sort multiple levels, so if you wanted to sort by industry first and then by revenue
within each industry, you just need to click ‘add level.’

Combining Sort & Subtotal
• Combining Sort with

Subtotal (alt a b) can add
further clarity to data sets.
• In the illustration below, we

first sort by industry, and
then by market cap, and
create a subtotal for each
industry.

Drill – Autofiltering
• What if you wanted to filter your list of

companies to only show those with an EBITDA
that is greater than the group average?
• Auto-filter (alt a t) is a tool that enables you to

filter by a wide range of criteria.
• You should now see drop-down arrows in the

column headings of your table.
Notice that the filtered rows have been

hidden, but not deleted
Fortunately, if you copy and paste the
filtered range to another area of the
worksheet or a different worksheet
altogether, it does not copy over the
hidden rows

Drill – Autofiltering
• Once a filter is applied – you can tell

which column was filtered via the funnel
icon.
• To remove individual filters, click on the

filter icon and ‘Clear filter.’
• To remove all filters, hit alt a t again.

Pivot Tables
• A Pivot Table is an efficient, visual tool for analyzing,

exploring, and presenting large amounts of data.
• It is particularly useful when your data needs to be

sliced and diced in a variety of ways.
• Can be a huge time saver over complicated lookup &

reference formulas, sorts and filters.
• Here we see a large data set. With a pivot table we

can quickly answer questions like:
1. Which property type is most expensive / most

common in a specific region?
2. Which REIT had the greatest sales within a

specific region or for a specific property type.
• The name “Pivot Table” comes from the ability to

‘Pivot,’ or quickly swap out different row and column
parameters to observe data in different ways.

Drill – Pivot Table
• Locate the worksheet titled “PT Input” in Excel

Practice Sheet 1.
• Use your arrows to move to any cell inside the

table of data and hit:
• Alt n v t (Excel 2010).
• Alt n v (Excel 2013).
• Excel will automatically highlight the entire

table of data. Select to open the Pivot Table in
a new worksheet.

• A new worksheet will open showing the

Pivot Table Field List. This shows a list
of the data’s categories (REIT, property
type, etc.) and the 4 areas of the Pivot
Table:
• Using your mouse, you can drag any of

the data categories into any of the 4
areas of the Pivot Table. As you drag a
category into one of the 4 areas of the
table, the Pivot Table itself will
automatically reorganize to Drag fields down to any of the 4 areas to
accommodate the newly added build your Pivot Table
category.

1. Drag ‘Property Type’ to COLUMNS.
2. Drag ‘REIT’ to ROWS.
3. Drag ‘Sq. Ft.’ to VALUES.
• The Pivot Table should automatically show the 4 property type column headers and a Grand
Total column as illustrated.

• Clicking on the drop-down arrow allows you to sort and filter

the column headers in various ways. For example, if you
wanted to show data only for BRE Properties, you could
unselect the other REITs:
• You can have lots of fun with the pivot table:
1. Drag the ‘Region’ field below REIT in ROWS see how each
REIT performs by region.
2. Replace the ‘Sq. Ft.’ field with ‘Property Values’ in VALUES.

Drill – Value Field Settings
• To see counts of properties by REIT and Region instead of sum of all their property values, all
you need to do is change the Value Field Settings of the field in VALUES .
• The Field Settings enables you to show outputs in a variety of different ways.

Drill – Value Field Settings
• The Value Field Settings also has a “Show Values As” tab, which enables you to present the
VALUES in a variety of useful ways.
• In this illustration we present property values for each REIT and Region as a % of the total.
• Another very useful “Show values as” output is ‘running totals’, for when the data table is
presenting tiered data.

New to Excel 2013 – Distinct Count
• Prior to 2010, a challenge was capturing distinct counts of duplicate items presented in large
data sets. To illustrate, say we wanted to identify the distinct count of invoices by manufacturer
so that Toyota’s sedan invoice #234 is only counted once.
• In Excel 2010 you could see counts (like in the prior screen) but not distinct counts.
• In Excel 2013 distinct counts have been added, to the elation of many.

Excel Crash Course
Introduction to
VBA & Recording
Macros
v
Excel Crash Course > Introduction to VBA and Recording Macros
Introduction to VBA & Recording Macros
• Frequent Excel use almost certainly entails The sky is the limit
repeating many tasks. For example, you might • Excel also enables users with no
find yourself setting up print ranges in a programming knowledge to write
particular way, or formatting cells in a particular Macros using Excel’s intuitive
macro recorder, which essentially
way. watches what you do visually in
Excel and converts it into a
• Rather than repeatedly going through the same programming script.
series of steps to do this manually, Excel allows • Of course, having a computer
you to record a sequence of instructions, and programming background can
assign a keyboard shortcut to invoke them as definitely help to power charge
desired. The instructions are called macros. your macros because Excel
enables you to write these
Macros using programming
scripts
• The goal of this brief treatment of
macros is to introduce you to the
macro recorder and give you just
a sliver for vast capabilities of
using macros in Excel.

Introduction to VBA & Recording Macros
• Before we begin, make sure that you see the Developer tab in the ribbon
Don’t see the Developer tab?

• Click the File tab.
• Click Options.
• Click Customize Ribbon.
• Under Customize the Ribbon and under Main Tabs, select the Developer check box.

Drills – Recording Macros
Create a macro to turn a cell’s contents blue, format

it to have 1 decimal place, comma delineated, with
a yellow background.
1. Select ‘Use Relative References.’
2. Place the cursor in any cell.
3. Alt l r brings up ‘Record Macro’ menu.
4. Input a name and shortcut key (ctrl shift z).

As soon as you hit ‘OK’, you are starting to
record this macro.
5. Format the cell (using Ctrl 1).
6. When finished, hit alt l r to stop recording.
• Now try going to any cell or a range of cells and

hitting ctrl shift z; those cells’ contents should
be formatted per your preferences.

Caution on using macros
• The biggest problem with macros is that after you run

your macro, you lose the ability to undo all the prior work
so be careful!
• Custom shortcuts override pre-existing shortcuts.
• If you want your macro to run every time you use Excel,
select Personal Macro Workbook instead of ‘This
Workbook’.
• After the macro is created, you can always delete or

rename a macro or change shortcut keys assigned to it by
clicking ‘Macros’ in the Developer tab.

Excel Crash Course
Creating Dynamic
Headers, Custom
Formatting & the
TEXT Function
v
Excel Crash Course > Creating Dynamic Headers, Custom Formatting & the TEXT Function
Miscellaneous tips
• Creating dynamic headers
• Using TEXT for formatting numbers within text
• Incorporating Alt ENTER inside cells for breaks

Terms and Conditions
This presentation is proprietary to Wall Street Prep and are designed for illustrative and training
purposes only. Distributing, sharing, copying, duplicating or altering presentation in any way is
prohibited without the expressed, written permission of Wall Street Prep, Inc. This training is
designed for illustrative purposes only and does not, in any way, constitute any investment thesis
or recommendation.
Copyright
Wall Street Prep, Inc. All rights reserved. “Wall Street Prep,” “Wall Street Prep,” and various
marks are trademarks of Wall Street Prep, Inc.

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WALL STREET PREP FOUNDATIONAL COURSE

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Welcome to Wall Street Prep’s Crash Course in Excel

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Excel 2016 vs. 2013 vs. 2010

The 2010 Ribbon

The 2013 Ribbon

The 2016 Ribbon

Licensed to Max Clarke. Email address: clarkemax@gmail.com

Keyboard versus the mouse

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Take the time to explore Excel

• As you go through the discussion (starting on the next slide) of

Licensed to Max Clarke. Email address: clarkemax@gmail.com

The Start Screen in Excel 2013 and 2016

• Unlike Excel 2010,

Licensed to Max Clarke. Email address: clarkemax@gmail.com

• Name Box – Tells you what cell you are in.

• Formula Bar – When you insert a formula Name box

• Worksheets – An Excel file is called a Worksheets

• Move back and forth between the

• The active worksheet is highlighted in Click to add

Licensed to Max Clarke. Email address: clarkemax@gmail.com

• Columns are alphabetically labeled (A, B, C, etc.)

• Rows are numerically labeled (1, 2, 3, etc.)

Licensed to Max Clarke. Email address: clarkemax@gmail.com

“Draw” tab – new in 2016

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To access the features in the ribbon, you have several options:

Licensed to Max Clarke. Email address: clarkemax@gmail.com

The File tab

Licensed to Max Clarke. Email address: clarkemax@gmail.com

• Within each of the eight main tabs you will

Navigating to the toolbars without the

• Hit Alt and the appropriate letter (or use the

• If you give it a try, you’ll find that it is

Licensed to Max Clarke. Email address: clarkemax@gmail.com

The Home Tab

Includes most formatting

• Font type, size, and color

• Inserting, deleting, and

• Adjusting columns and

• Inserting, deleting, and

Licensed to Max Clarke. Email address: clarkemax@gmail.com

The Insert Tab

• Pictures, clip art, and

• Headers & Footers

• Inserting text boxes,

Licensed to Max Clarke. Email address: clarkemax@gmail.com

Page Layout Tab

• Includes page layout

Licensed to Max Clarke. Email address: clarkemax@gmail.com

• Includes most options related to function and formula making:

2. Select a function from a function library

4. Formula auditing to trace relationship between cells

5. Adjust Excel’s calculation settings including iterations

Licensed to Max Clarke. Email address: clarkemax@gmail.com

• Includes options to manipulate and analyze data:

1. Retrieve data external to Excel

2. Sorting and filtering data

3. Splicing long text into columns

9. Statistical data analyses

Licensed to Max Clarke. Email address: clarkemax@gmail.com

• Includes editing and proofing features: