Excel University Blog
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Functions
This tutorial shows how to use Microsoft 365 Copilot like a reusable macro in Excel. Instead of writing VBA or building Power Query solutions, we describe a list of tasks in plain language, paste that list into Copilot, and let it take action directly in our workbook. Video Tutorial We walk through three real-world exercises…
Have you ever opened an old workbook and stared at a formula packed with nested RIGHT, LEN, FIND, INDEX, and MATCH functions, wondering if there is a cleaner way? There is. Copilot in Excel can read those legacy formulas, figure out exactly what they do, and replace them with modern Excel functions that are easier…
For CPAs and accounting professionals, Excel isn’t just a spreadsheet tool — it’s the engine behind financial reporting, month-end close, audit workpapers, and budget models. Mastering Excel directly improves the speed and accuracy of your work. And when that mastery comes through structured, qualifying coursework, it also satisfies your CPE requirements. Excel for CPAs CPE…
For accountants who rely on Excel daily, knowing when to use XLOOKUP versus VLOOKUP can save hours of rework and eliminate costly lookup errors. The short answer: XLOOKUP is the more powerful, flexible replacement for VLOOKUP in nearly every accounting scenario — but understanding why helps you use both tools with confidence. Here’s a practical…
Complex nested formulas can be intimidating. We have all opened a workbook and stared at a formula bar full of nested IFs, VLOOKUPs, and IFERRORs and had absolutely no idea what was going on. That is exactly the kind of situation where Copilot in Excel shines. In this tutorial, we walk through three exercises that…
Mapping credit card charges to GL accounts is one of those month-end tasks that is tedious enough once, and exponentially more painful every month after that. Raw credit card descriptions are cryptic, the volume is high, and the manual effort adds up fast. In this tutorial, we walk through three exercises that show how to…
Pivot tables are great, but they do not always produce the exact report layout that corporate requires. When the format is locked in and a pivot table simply will not fit, we turn to formulas. In this tutorial, we walk through three exercises that show how to use the SUMIFS function to build formula-based reports…
Month-end reporting often means the same tasks, repeated every single month. We pull data from a CSV, clean it up, build a summary, and maybe add a chart. If we are doing all of that manually, we are leaving a lot of time on the table. In this tutorial, we cover a three-exercise workflow that…
Mastering Excel FILTER: Advanced Filtering with Multiple Conditions and Partial Matches Excel’s FILTER function is a game-changer for dynamic data analysis. Not only does it allow us to extract data sets that meet specific criteria, but it also empowers us to layer multiple conditions using AND/OR logic and perform partial text matches with the SEARCH…
SUMIFS Between Two Dates: The Excel Pro’s Complete Guide If we regularly analyze data in Excel, several functions quickly become our go-to tools. Among these, SUMIFS stands out for its power and flexibility, especially when we need to sum data conditionally, such as calculating totals between two dates. We’ll cover this powerful capability in this…