Excel University Blog

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Functions

Categorize Credit Card Charges with the COPILOT Function

By Jeff Lenning | July 7, 2026 |

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…

Formula-Based Reports with SUMIFS in Excel

By Jeff Lenning | June 30, 2026 |

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…

Power Query, PivotTable, and Pivot Chart: A Month-End Workflow

By Jeff Lenning | June 23, 2026 |

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…

FILTER with SEARCH

By Jeff Lenning | June 2, 2026 |

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

By Jeff Lenning | May 19, 2026 |

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…

XLOOKUP Basics

By Jeff Lenning | May 12, 2026 |

Excel’s XLOOKUP function provides a flexible and powerful tool for retrieving data. It removes many of the limitations of older lookup functions (yes, I’m looking at you VLOOKUP). In this post, we’ll build a foundational understanding of XLOOKUP, walk through practical applications step-by-step, and unlock best practices for common scenarios. Video What is XLOOKUP? A…

Mastering Excel’s PIVOTBY Function: A Dynamic Pivot Table Alternative

By Jeff Lenning | March 31, 2026 |

Sometimes, we need the flexibility of a PivotTable without actually building one. Whether we’re automating dashboards, preparing recurring reports, or just streamlining our workbooks, Excel’s PIVOTBY function gives us a powerful, formula-based solution. In this post, we’ll explore how to transform raw data into dynamic summary reports using a single formula — no PivotTable required.…

GROUPBY

By Jeff Lenning | March 24, 2026 |

Microsoft Excel continues to evolve, and one of the most impressive additions to the Excel formula family is the GROUPBY function. With it, we now have the power to create fully dynamic and flexible summary reports—all with a single formula. If you’ve relied on pivot tables or manual formulas for reporting, you’re going to love…

CHOOSEROWS CHOOSECOLS

By Jeff Lenning | March 17, 2026 |

When working with tabular data in Excel, there are often times we need to extract specific rows or columns based on custom logic. This is where the CHOOSEROWS and CHOOSECOLS functions come into play. These recently introduced dynamic array functions are powerful alternatives to functions like TAKE and DROP, offering more flexibility by letting us…

IMPORTCSV IMPORTTEXT

By Jeff Lenning | March 10, 2026 |

Bringing external data into Excel used to mean a lot of clicking: opening files, copy/pasting, or launching Power Query. But with Excel’s newer IMPORTCSV and IMPORTTEXT functions, you can now load external data directly into your sheet with a simple formula. Video Tutorial These functions are lightweight, fast, and flexible—great for quick access to structured…