Spreadsheet software remains one of the most ubiquitous pieces of software used in workplaces around the world. Learning to confidently operate this software means adding a highly valuable asset to your employability portfolio. Across the globe, millions of job advertisements requiring Excel skills are posted every day. At a time when digital skills jobs are growing much faster than non-digital jobs, completing this course will position you ahead of others, so keep reading.
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In this last course of our Specialization Excel Skills for Business you will build on the strong foundations of the first three courses: Essentials, Intermediate I + II. In the Advanced course, we will prepare you to become a power user of Excel - this is your last step before specializing at a professional level. The topics we have prepared will challenge you as you learn how to use advanced formula techniques and sophisticated lookups. You will clean and prepare data for analysis, and learn how to work with dates and financial functions. An in-depth look at spreadsheet design and documentation will prepare you for our big finale, where you will learn how to build professional dashboards in Excel.
Course 4 of 4 in the Excel Skills for Business Specialization
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Spreadsheet Design and Documentation
As an intermediate Excel user, you have the basics down. The first module of the Advanced course focusses on creating and maintaining accurate, flexible, responsive and user-friendly spreadsheets. You will learn how to design flexible and auditable spreadsheets, construct transparent calculations, create user-friendly navigation, and use styles, themes and formatting to tie it all up in a nice bow.
WEEK 2
Advanced Formula Techniques
Excel often requires you to perform complex analysis on large sets of data. This can be made a lot easier using array formulas, which can perform multiple calculations simultaneously and ensure the accuracy of your spreadsheet. This module covers the use of array formulas, how to build them and use them effectively.
WEEK 3
Data Cleaning and Preparation
Been handed a messy spreadsheet? This module focuses on data cleaning and preparation. You will learn how to use dynamic and automated fixes, clean messy data, automate these processes through functions, and ensure data remains clean dynamically. We will use functions to fix dates, replaces blanks and remove unwanted characters from data – all to help us build an efficient solution that lasts.
WEEK 4
Financial Functions and Working with Dates
This module introduces financial functions into our Excel knowledge base. Financial functions are often used in businesses and Excel has a variety of tools to help you with that. This week, you will learn to apply date formulas in calculations, create loan schedules with financial functions, as well as use depreciation functions.
WEEK 5
Advanced Lookup Functions
It is always a good idea to make your spreadsheets (and work!) more automated. Automated lookups can make your work fast and efficient. This module builds on your array capabilities and explores a range of functions to create dynamic lookup ranges – INDIRECT, ADDRESS, OFFSET and INDEX.
WEEK 6
Building Professional Dashboards
To bring it home, this module guides you through the steps of building a professional dashboard. Data is meaningless unless it tells a story and can be used as business intelligence. This module will help you set up a dashboard – learn how to visualise data through graphs and charts, create data models, and add interactivity.
Final Assessment
