Breaking Down Excel Formulas (Video) (Course Id 2549)

• Who is this course for?
  This course is designed for anyone needing Continuing Professional Education (CPE), particularly CPAs and professionals working with Excel.

• What is this course about or what problem does this course solve?
  The course teaches methods to verify the integrity of complex Excel workbooks and provides instruction on editing and understanding both traditional and dynamic Excel formulas.

• How can the knowledge from this course be used?
  Participants can apply the techniques learned to audit, troubleshoot, and improve the accuracy of Excel spreadsheets using features like Show Formulas, Evaluate Formulas, and structured references.

• Why is this course important to a CPA, Accountant, or IRS Enrolled Agent?
  Understanding Excel formulas is essential for ensuring accurate financial data analysis and reporting, which are key responsibilities for CPAs and accountants.

• When is this course relevant or timely?
  This course is especially relevant with the ongoing use and updates of Excel in Microsoft 365 and the differences among versions like Excel 2021, 2019, and 2016.

• How is a course like this consumed or used?
  The course is delivered as a self-study video, combining PowerPoint demonstrations with Excel examples, and includes review and final exam questions for CPE credit.

In this session, author and Excel expert David Ringstrom, CPA, shares techniques you can use to verify the integrity of even the most complicated Excel workbooks. Features covered include Show Formulas, Evaluate Formulas, Trace Precedents, and the FORMULATEXT function. David will contrast editing traditional formulas with dynamic array formulas in Excel 2021 and Excel for Microsoft 365 and writing formulas by using structured references. 

David is the author of “Microsoft Excel 365 for Dummies”, “Exploring Microsoft Excel’s Hidden Treasures”, and has written or co-authored six other books. He demonstrates every technique at least twice: first, on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps, and second, in the subscription-based Excel for Microsoft 365. David draws your attention to any differences in Excel 2021, 2019 or 2016 during the presentation and in his detailed handouts. The handouts include an Excel workbook with most of the examples he uses during his demonstrations.

Excel for Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based product that receives periodic feature updates. Conversely, perpetually licensed versions have year numbers in their names and do not receive any feature updates.

Video - NASBA QAS - NASBA Registry - 2549

Course Learning Objectives

• Identify which menu in Excel contains the command that launches Insert Function dialog box.
• Recall keyboard shortcuts used to trace formula precedents and dependents in Microsoft Excel.
• State what the FORMULATEXT displays when you reference a cell that does not contain a formula.

Chapter 1 - Breaking Down Excel Formulas

Chapter 1 Review Questions

Key Terms