Student Success Story: Moss

What challenges did you have before Excel University?

My name is Moss Levenson, and I live in the Denver area. I work as a financial analyst for the E-470 Public Highway Authority, a government nonprofit in the transportation industry. 

I just completed the Excel University Masters 1 and 2 courses. I was facing many routine manual tasks that were time-consuming and repetitive, and I was looking for ways to make them more efficient.

What has changed since you joined Excel University?

Since joining Excel University, I have found ways to make our processes more efficient. I have been able to automate many of them. 

Examples include operational reporting, monthly billing and invoices, and various accounting reconciliations. The one I would highlight most is our annual budget process. 

Now I have a way for users to put in their budget information, and as long as they hit save, I can hit refresh, and everything flows right through a lot quicker.

What makes Excel University better than searching Google or YouTube?

Excel University has a great format of videos and lectures. It also has scenarios and examples where you can practice everything. I made sure to watch the videos and then do it myself.

I learn by doing, so this was an effective way for me to learn these tools. I liked that Jeff, the instructor, is engaging and has a great way of getting to the point with quick and practical explanations.

What is one of your favorite time-saving techniques?

One example of an improved process I have implemented is operational reporting. We have these operational metrics that we look at each month. 

To make this extensive dashboard report each month, I have data from various sources. When I get that data, it is raw, and I have to format it to show what I want. 

Instead of doing that formatting each time, I did it once, and I made it in the form of a query. Now, each month when we have new data available, I simply hit refresh, and it performs all those steps for me.

This process extracts only what I need in that clean final report. This is something I didn't even know was possible in Excel.

Would you recommend Excel University?

I would recommend Excel University for any accounting and finance professionals that have routine manual tasks they do each week, month, or quarter.

Excel University is a way to learn a fantastic tool that helps you automate repetitive tasks and will help you save time through the creation of more efficient processes.