Excels LET and LAMBDA Functions (Video) (Course Id 2627)

• Who is this course for?
  Anyone needing Continuing Professional Education (CPE), particularly CPAs or accounting professionals with significant experience using Microsoft Excel.

• What is this course about or what problem does this course solve?
  This course teaches how to use Excel’s LET and LAMBDA functions—advanced tools that let you define names for intermediate values in formulas (to reduce repetition and enhance clarity) and create custom, reusable functions without programming. It also addresses common errors like #NAME?, demonstrates the Excel Labs Add-In, and shows how to save and share LAMBDA functions via GitHub.

• How can the knowledge from this course be used?
  You can apply LET to optimize formula efficiency and clarity, use LAMBDA to create and reuse custom worksheet functions, and seamlessly share or transfer these between workbooks—boosting productivity and formula management.

• Why is this course important to a CPA, Accountant, or IRS Enrolled Agent?
  Mastering these functions equips accounting professionals with powerful tools for efficient data manipulation and clean, maintainable formulas—crucial for sophisticated financial modeling and analysis using Excel.

• When is this course relevant or timely?
  The course was released in 2025 (with a revision on August 15, 2025), making it very current. It focuses on features available in Excel 2021 and Microsoft 365—both widely used now—covering the most up-to-date Excel capabilities.

• How is a course like this consumed or used?
  Delivered as a QAS Self-Study video (with 3 pages, review questions, a final exam), accessible upon purchase and must be completed (including passing the final exam with at least 70%) within one year to earn 2 CPE credits.

In this presentation, author and Excel expert David H. Ringstrom, CPA, will cover a range of topics to enhance your Excel skills. You will learn how to assign names to cells, which lays groundwork for the LET and LAMBDA functions. The LET function is available in Excel 2021 and Excel for Microsoft 365 and enables you to create pairs of names and associated values that can store intermediate calculations. David will address common issues such as the #NAME? error with the LET function and then introduce the LAMBDA function available in Excel for Microsoft 365, which enables you to create custom, reusable worksheet functions without writing programming code. He will also demonstrate the ISOMITTED function and showcase the Excel Labs Add-In. Additionally, you will discover how to save LAMBDA functions to GitHub and download them from there. David will guide you through the advanced formula environment and provide insights on moving LAMBDAs between workbooks. Don't miss this opportunity to expand your Excel expertise.

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 - 2627

Course Learning Objectives

• State the location of the Apply Names command within the Excel menu interface.
• Recognize what causes the #NAME? error in a LET function due to variable order.
• Recognize valid syntax and argument requirements when creating a LAMBDA function in Excel.

Chapter 1 - Excels LET and LAMBDA Functions

Chapter 1 Review Questions

Key Terms