One of Microsoft’s most popular and used platforms is Excel, and everyone from teachers to students and business leaders is familiar with the green and white spreadsheets. The multiple rows and fields make it easy to organize data, whether it’s words or numbers.
While these spreadsheets are great for organizing and assigning tasks, the primary function deals with mathematical formulas. Addition, subtraction, and percentages, to name a few, are a breeze to calculate with Excel. However, are you taking advantage of built-in formulas? There are plenty in a simple Excel spreadsheet. If you think you may be missing out, here’s what you should know.
Why it Pays to Learn a Few Basic Formulas
Thinking about learning formulas is rarely anyone’s idea of fun unless they’re a really serious engineer or math aficionado. Thankfully, Microsoft Excel formulas don’t require going back to school—most of the built-in formulas are pretty simple to use, even the ones that provide more complex solutions.
Yes, there are a few complicated formulas, but don’t worry about these—master the basics first. If you want to keep going, congratulations. If you don’t want to go any further, that’s okay. Once you’ve got the basics down, you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish with a simple Excel spreadsheet.
If you’re still not sure it’s worth the time and effort, here are a few reasons why it pays to take advantage of Excel’s built-in formulas.
- Formulas are vital for some of your employees’ tasks. Without the formulas, some tasks can take days or weeks to complete, and this can mean downtime for your business operations as your staff sorts through and organizes the data. Need a quick calculation on last month’s data? Without the built-in formula, the response is going to take some time.
- You can save an often-used solution using a built-in formula, meaning every time you perform the same calculation, you’re not starting from scratch. You’ll also notice a boost in accuracy. Memorizing solutions often results in errors. The same applies even if you write the solution down. Using a built-in formula means errors in your calculations are a thing of the past.
- Seeing an idea in your head is easy. You can probably even visualize the solution. The problems come when you try to put this into words. Often, describing a concept means not everyone is seeing the same vision. This changes with a formula. Excel’s formulas make it easy to put your solution on a spreadsheet in a way that everyone can understand.
- An effective way to reduce the amount of time you spend fixing errors and troubleshooting issues is by using built-in formulas. When you understand at least a few of Excel’s built-in formulas, you can organize data without worrying about making any errors. Along with eliminating the need for troubleshooting calculations, you’re also improving staff productivity. They can start using the compiled data without waiting for you to make any necessary corrections.
- If you want to stand out at work, learn some of the basic Excel formulas. Just think, if you’re the only one familiar with the formulas you’re quickly on your way to being a valuable and indispensable team member. For employers, your staff may start looking at you as a well-informed leader they want to be associated with. This means less employee turnover and fewer costs spent training new hires.
- Excel’s formulas work to keep things simple and this is always a benefit. After all, no one enjoys staring at a jumbled spreadsheet. The formulas let you create simple solutions out of complex data. Now instead of team members looking around in confusion, everyone will have a general idea of what the information means on the spreadsheet. Meetings can even be reduced since you’re eliminating the need to explain every calculation.
- If you love being in the midst of all of the action, learning a few Excel formulas is a great way to get in the door. If you’re the only one who understands the formulas, you may even get a front-row seat to the decision-making process. Just imagine what you can learn from industry leaders just by providing them with easy-to-understand spreadsheets.
- Excel’s built-in formulas make it easier to visualize the data. Instead of staring at seemingly random numbers, the data is organized by trends, relationships, or insights.
Hopefully, you now have a good idea of why it pays to learn at least a few basic built-in Excel formulas. To quickly recap, the formulas make data easier to understand. You can also use your understanding of the formulas to become a key team player. This even applies to business owners and managers.
A Few Formulas You May Want to Learn
Okay, don’t start panicking. You don’t need to be a math or even a computer whiz. As long as you have a general understanding of Excel’s capabilities and functions, you can easily learn a few basic formulas. Let’s start with =INDEX (). This simple formula makes finding a specific row or column a breeze within a specific set of cells. This eliminates the need to carefully search every cell looking for a specific value.
Here’s another basic formula =SUMIF (). With this built-in formula, you can add values from a specific range. Another useful formula to learn is =VLOOKUP (). This is similar to the index formula. Vlookup searches for specified values in specific cells and then returns the value of another cell located in the same row.
As you can see from these formulas, the primary purpose is to make it easier to find data. If your spreadsheets tend to be long and crammed with data, it’s pretty easy to see why finding it quickly is an advantage.
Making Excel Spreadsheets Work for You
Spreadsheets have earned their place as a universally cherished tool, indispensable to a wide range of users, from students to business leaders. They excel in their ability to systematically organize virtually any type of data, simplifying the task of locating specific information.
Harnessing the power of built-in formulas not only maximizes the utility of spreadsheets but also enhances the accuracy and accessibility of the data they contain. These formulas enable users to perform complex calculations, data analysis, and automate tasks directly within the spreadsheet, ensuring that information is both reliable and readily available for decision-making or academic purposes.