Microsoft Excel tips and tricks

Steps to create a chart template in Excel

To create a custom chart template that can be used later is a simple process — follow this step-by-step guide to save time when reusing a bespoke visual.

Using Excel’s Recommended Charts feature

Learn from an Excel expert about how Recommended Charts can provide simple ways to convey your message with data.

Excel modelling: How to implement 3 types of checks

Build in checks to your Excel model early in development to avoid later critical and costly mistakes.

Working with images in Excel

Excel has several features that relate to images — from extracting data from picture files, using the IMAGE function, to use with PivotTables.

December FM: Capital investment decisions, AI in Power BI, and more

FM’s editor-in-chief details articles on capital investment decisions, building skills beyond core finance, and Excel modelling. Listen to the podcast episode or read the Q&A.

How to use Data Tables in Excel

Data Tables should be used sparingly but are useful for sensitivity analysis or scenario modelling when you want to flex one or two variables.

How Excel builds on basic principles to assist forecasting

Understand how to calculate an implied growth rate, and then use the Forecast Sheet button in Excel for objective forecasting.

An introduction to Copilot: Uses, limits, and value

Generative AI tool Microsoft Copilot can be accessed through several applications — but central to its use must be data security policies and controls.

6 ways to create scalable financial models in Excel

Excel MVP Liam Bastick explains how to add flexibility to a financial model to allow for scaling without major structural changes to a spreadsheet.

June FM: Gen AI risk, Excel forecasting, tips before a holiday

FM’s editor-in-chief details the advice and insights featured in the June edition of the magazine. Listen to the podcast episode or read the Q&A.

Tips for using the Power BI suite of tools

Microsoft’s “Power” suite of tools can help make you both more efficient and effective in your data preparation, analysis, and visualisation work.

BI tools: Power Query, Power Pivot, and Power BI

Excel MVP Liam Bastick introduces three business intelligence tools and provides an applied example using Power Query.

Excel: How to calculate cumulative balances

Excel MVP Liam Bastick describes a method for calculating cumulative balances or multiple running totals.

Using Excel to calculate an investment payback period

Excel MVP Liam Bastick describes a method to work out the time to recoup an initial investment that allows for irregular cash inflows.

Excel: How to count unique items in a list

Using dynamic arrays, PivotTables, and the SUMPRODUCT function are three approaches to this common task.

Excel: How to reference a row dynamically

Excel MVP Liam Bastick explains the OFFSET(COUNTA) function combination, used for dynamic lookups.

Excel: Broken y-axis charting

Breaking the y-axis on a chart can be a useful way to display data, but the technique should be used with discretion, says Excel MVP Liam Bastick.

How to LOOKUP the data you want to find in an Excel range

Many options exist to search for data in Excel, but what do you do if the data is in a range?

Identify external links in Excel without using VBA

Take a LINKS function stored as a defined range name and Transpose it via dynamic arrays.

Excel: Simple prorating over time

Excel MVP Liam Bastick provides a formulaic solution to the common financial modelling issue of how to correctly prorate amounts over time.

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