Student Success Story: Leslie

“My biggest win with Excel University has been learning how to automate reports, both for myself and for colleagues.”

Results

  • Can now easily automate reports
  • Has the confidence to teach others
  • Has a good understanding of VBA
  • Saves time generating reports

Developed a Deeper Understanding of Excel

  • Well structured courses at all levels
  • On demand learning
  • Tasks and exercises to consolidate learning
  • A high level of support from tutors and the community
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What was life like before you joined Excel University?

My name is Leslie Pfeiffer and I am a CPA and Director of Financial Reporting for a privately held IT solutions provider in Colorado Springs. 

I have been using Excel for over 25 years, but I was self-taught. I learned on the job and I knew what I knew, but, I didn't know what I didn't know. 

Getting reports out of our financial system is difficult. We can get reports out, but often, we have to cobble reports together to get the data we need, which is stressful and time consuming. 

We did a lot of manual routine tasks that were very time consuming. You spend so much time formatting the data or getting it into a format you can use that you have less time to do the analysis.

Not to mention that it is boring to do the same routine tasks over and over.

 

What has changed since you joined Excel University?

Using Power Query, VBA, and improved formulas, I save a ton of time every day pulling reports out of our accounting system, and formatting them with the click of a button. 

One trick that I learned with VBA is to create a table of contents. If I have a workbook with a bunch of worksheets, it will create a list of all the worksheets in the workbook with links to every worksheet. 

I can create a really nice table of contents where people can use a link to go to different tabs, which is useful, because some of my workbooks have 30-40 tabs in them. That is one of the little VBA macros that I enjoy.

 

What makes Excel University better than searching Google or YouTube?

I definitely use Google and YouTube to find specific answers to questions, but I would say you don’t know what you don't know.

For example, I didn't even know that Power Query existed! Without taking courses with Excel University, I would never even have known to search for it.

 

What is your favorite time-saving technique?

I have been having fun teaching my colleagues, and building reports for colleagues.  We also have monthly accounting department meetings, so every now and then, I will take a few minutes out of those meetings and show people different Excel tips and tricks. 

I think other people get value out of that, and it is fun for me to teach some of the stuff I have learned.

 

Would you recommend Excel University?

I would absolutely recommend Excel University to anybody that uses Excel. There are many different levels at Excel University, from basics to the masters courses and VBA. 

I honestly wish that I had Excel University 25 years ago when I started using Excel, because I would have been much more productive throughout my entire career. I would recommend it for anybody that uses Excel.