In todays Microsoft Excel quick tip we are going to make use of the Format Painter tool. The Format Painter tool allows as to take the formating from one cell and apply it to many other cells.  You can find the Format Painter in the Home Ribbon on the very left hand side as shown.

The Format Painter tool is very simple to use and can be very usefull when you have custom formatted cells.

1. Simply click in the cell that you want to copy the format from.
2. Click on Format painter then the cursor will change to a paintbrush.
3. click and drag to apply format to desired cells.

This Format Painter tool’s really comes in handy when you have custom formatted cells. For standard formatted cells other methods will probably be sufficient.

Naming a Cell in Excel

Simply double click  in the field that is shown in the image below.

Simple Named Cells Example

In this example we will name three cells, InterestRate, Balance and iEarn. After the cells have been named in cell iEarn enter the formula:

= InterestRate * Balance

Another Way you can use named cells is for navigation. Click on the button next to the name cell field and a drop down list of cells will appear. Simply select the desired cell and that region will become active.

]]> http://www.traineetrader.com/excel-quick-tips-howtoname-cells-to-simplify-formulas/feed/ 0 http://www.traineetrader.com/excel-quick-tips-working-with-time-series-data/ http://www.traineetrader.com/excel-quick-tips-working-with-time-series-data/#comments Tue, 18 Jan 2011 11:50:09 +0000 Mark http://www.traineetrader.com/?p=1366 In our previous Microsoft Excel quick tip we made use of the WEEKDAY() function and introduced the concept of a serial_number to represent dates.  In this article we will look at dates in a little bit more detail. The quickest way to get the current date and time in a cell is to use the NOW() function.

Date & Time Functions NOW( )

Simply type = NOW() in the desired cell and the current date and time will be returned. I should point out that whenever formulas are recalculated the time and date will change to the current time and date. therefore you should only use the now function where you require a dynamic date and time field.

More Fun With Dates and Times

As Excel treats dates as serial number we can do normal arithmetic operations add subtract, divide and multiply dates. In the example below we add 5, subtract 5 and multiply and divide by 2 to our date and time field.

The WEEKDAY( ) Function

The WEEKDAY( ) function is a simple function that takes two parameters and returns an integer from 1-7 as  the result.

WEEKDAY(serial_number, return_type)

serial_number

You may be wondering what a serial number is, by default Excel stores dates as serial numbers January 1st 1900 has the serial number 1. For this reason you must ensure that dates you wish to look at are formatted as excel dates and not text.

return_type

The return type simply specifies the integer range that the WEEKDAY() function will return. If you do not specify a return type or use return type 1 the days of the week will start at Sunday:

• Sunday = 1
• Monday = 2
• Tuesday = 3
• Wednesday = 4
• Thursday = 5
• Friday = 6
• Saturday = 7

In this case if WEEKDAY( ) returns 1 or 7 we know it is a weekend. Knowing this we can write a simple formula to test to see if a range of dates correspond to a weekday or weekend.

Step 1

Setup a range of dates in column A2. Ensure the cells are formatted as dates.

Step Two

In cell A2 we will write our formula using the IF( ), OR( ) and WEEKDAY( ) functions. In cell A2 type the following formula:

=IF(OR(WEEKDAY(A2)=1,WEEKDAY(A2)=7),”Week End”, “Week Day”)

This function will return true if it is a Saturday OR Sunday and the appropriate string will be inserted into the cell. Fill down for your remaining date range.

Click on the split cell portion of the window and drag down to the bottom of row A1.

After completing this step you should now be able to navigate your document and be able to view the column labels from any cell.

Activating the Developer Toolbar Excel 2010

Click on the File tab on the ribbon and then click Options.

1. An option window will now pop-up.
2. Click on Customize Ribbon.
3. Click the unchecked developer check box in the right hand pane and click OK.

Activating the Developer Toolbar Excel 2011 Mac OS X

In the latest release of Excel for Mac the full array of visual basic features are available to Mac users. As with most things on Mac the process to enable the developer toolbar is simple.

• Launch Excel Preferences by going to menubar Excel —> Preferences.
• Click on the Ribbon Option.

• The Ribbon Options window will change.
• In the Customise field scroll down to the bottom
• Click on the Developer Check Box and click OK.

]]> http://www.traineetrader.com/excel-quick-tips-howto-enable-the-developer-toolbar-in-excel-20102011/feed/ 0 http://www.traineetrader.com/excel-quick-tips-howto-absolute-cell-references-in-formulas/ http://www.traineetrader.com/excel-quick-tips-howto-absolute-cell-references-in-formulas/#comments Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:30:02 +0000 Mark http://www.traineetrader.com/?p=1297 Today’s Microsoft Excel tip of the day should be common knowledge. I have been surprised by the number of people who didn’t know how to use an absolute cell reference for a fill. In todays example we want to fill down in the return column however we want to keep the reference to Interest Rates or cell B1 constant. In cell B4 we multiply balance by interest rate and start our fill down.

When we filled down Excel changed our reference from cell B1 to B2. To make Excel use an absolute or constant reference we need to precede the cell and row number with the dollar sign as shown below.

Now that the formula has a constant or absolute reference we can now fill down. The image below shows the output of the downfill.

Pretty basic info I know but if this post helps one person I will be happy.

]]> http://www.traineetrader.com/excel-quick-tips-howto-absolute-cell-references-in-formulas/feed/ 1 http://www.traineetrader.com/excel-quick-tips-howto-make-use-of-the-today-function/ http://www.traineetrader.com/excel-quick-tips-howto-make-use-of-the-today-function/#comments Mon, 10 Jan 2011 18:30:47 +0000 Mark http://www.traineetrader.com/?p=1287 Microsoft Excel has an extensive array of built-in date functions which can be very handy when working with time series data. In todays Microsoft Excel Quick Tip we will look at some uses for the TODAY( ) function.

To get the current date in a cell simply hit the equals key on the keyboard and type TODAY(). You should now have todays date in the cell.

You can use this feature to dynamically update linked cells to display the last n days trading data. Simply use the formula =TODAY() in cell A2 and in A3 do A2-1 and fill down. Link price in cells B2:B12 to the price lookup and every time excel recalculates the date the price cells will contain the 11 day window. The image below shows the initial state.

The image below shows the current window after Excel has re-calculated the formulas and the date has changed.

Instead of clicking on the dividing line between columns and dragging double click on the dividing line between the columns and the column will be dynamically resized. The result is shown below.

Excel Screenshot

As you can see from the screenshot above it is simple to use, you just enter your income and residency status. 

Notes: This is a simple tax calculator and does not take into account capital gains tax, HECS/ SFSS repayments, tax offsets and tax credits.

Download: 2010 /2011 Australian Tax Calculator