Exclusive
Featured article
10 must-read tips for designing and formatting your spreadsheets
- Listing
- 03 Feb 2023
- Excel Community
Welcome to the Excel Community! To help you get the most out of the community content, we've rounded up 10 top articles, drawing on content from years gone by, to help you master the design and format of your spreadsheets.
Read more
Read the latest support and guidance from the Excel Community, including our very popular Tip of the Week series.
Exclusive
Is there anything that Power Query can't do?
- Article
- 30 May 2023
- Simon Hurst
There are many things that Power Query can't do but, in this occasional series, we will be looking at some of the less obvious techniques available. In this episode we look at automating the changing of column heading text.
Exclusive
Excel Tips & Tricks #473 – Refreshing customising the ribbon
- Article
- 30 May 2023
- Jonelle Johnson Turner
This week, we have a Creator level post in which we're dipping our toes back into the pool of customisation options available through Excel.
Exclusive
Avoiding another Find mess
- Article
- 26 May 2023
- Simon Hurst
A seemingly simple question during a lecture reveals the benefits of delving beneath the surface of Excel’s user interface in order to help find what you are looking for.
Exclusive
OFFSET
- Article
- 26 May 2023
- Liam Bastick
In recent months, I have covered VLOOKUP, LOOKUP, INDEX MATCH and XLOOKUP – yet there are still others that can help us look up or find data. I now move on to one of my favourites – OFFSET – which it’s true to acknowledge is not admired universally. This is a function modellers either love or hate. It considers disposition or displacement and has the following syntax:
Exclusive
Building an Excel model to test if you are a going concern
- Article
- 25 May 2023
- John Tennent
At times of uncertainly and high inflation the assessment of an organisation’s going concern is going to be high on the agenda for the Board and in particular the accounts sign off meeting with the auditor.
Exclusive
Excel Tips & Tricks #472 – Conditional formatting components
- Article
- 18 May 2023
- Bani Lamba
Hello and welcome back to Excel Tips and Tricks! This week, we have a Creator level post where we explore how to use different components of conditional formatting including data bars, colour scales and icon sets.
Exclusive
LOOKUP
- Article
- 04 May 2023
- Liam Bastick
Regular readers will recall I took VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP to task recently, before moving on to the INDEX MATCH combination and then XLOOKUP. You don’t always need the latest and greatest though: LOOKUP may seem a less versatile function upon first glance, but it is quite useful for modelling. It’s an “oldie but goodie”.
Exclusive
Excel fundamentals training – what should be included?
- Article
- 04 May 2023
- Simon Hurst
Should basic Excel training stick to simple formulas and functions or should it extend the horizons of learners to consider the likes of Dynamic Arrays, PivotTables and Power Query?
Guidance
Supporting you with CPD
- Helpsheets and support
- 24 Apr 2023
Accessing content from this community may help towards meeting ICAEW's revised Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Regulations, which come into effect on 1 November 2023. Find out more about what your new CPD obligations will be.
Find out more
View our archive of Excel Community webinars.
Find out about the Excel community's forthcoming webinars.
Exclusive
Financial Modelling and Scenario Planning: Mastering Effective Decision-Making
- Webinar
- 31 May 2023
The importance of scenario planning and how to use it effectively.
What's new in Excel from the last year
- Webinar
- 30 Mar 2023
This webinar will go through a digest of the new features in Excel.
Exclusive
Power Tools Part 1: Why Power Query can change your life
- Webinar
- 08 Mar 2023
This webinar will look at using Power Query to revolutionise your use of Excel and help make all of your spreadsheets more robust, more automatic and capable of delivering more impact.
Exclusive
Excel error horrors (and how to avoid them)
- Webinar
- 20 Feb 2023
In this webinar, Liam Bastick we will explore how to spot errors that are made regularly when using common Excel functionality.
Excel tips and tricks live - your questions answered
- Webinar
- 20 Jan 2023
Join our experts as they tackle your Excel questions, quandaries, and more.
Exclusive
Excel vs Google Sheets: the battle of the spreadsheets
- Webinar
- 08 Dec 2022
This webinar from the Excel Community will cover a range of themes including core formulae, collaboration, visualisations and advanced functionality.
Exclusive
Excel success stories
- Webinar
- 07 Nov 2022
This webinar from the Excel Community will explore the best of the best examples of making the most of Excel.
New 2021-22 features for Excel, PowerPoint, Teams & Microsoft 365
- Webinar
- 26 Oct 2022
This webinar from the Excel Community will keep you up to date with the new features from Microsoft 365.
The Excel community has produced an extensive list of helpful tips and tutorials including its 'Excel tip of the week' series.
Exclusive
Excel Tips & Tricks #473 – Refreshing customising the ribbon
- Article
- 30 May 2023
This week, we have a Creator level post in which we're dipping our toes back into the pool of customisation options available through Excel.
Exclusive
Excel Tips & Tricks #472 – Conditional formatting components
- Article
- 18 May 2023
Hello and welcome back to Excel Tips and Tricks! This week, we have a Creator level post where we explore how to use different components of conditional formatting including data bars, colour scales and icon sets.
Exclusive
Excel Tips & Tricks #470 – Introducing Office Scripts in Excel
- Article
- 28 Apr 2023
Hello and welcome back to Excel Tips and Tricks! This week we have a Developer level post where provide a high-level overview of Office Scripts in Excel, a potential replacement for VBA to help automate tasks.
Exclusive
Excel Tips & Tricks #469 – Exploring the ‘Info’ view in Excel
- Article
- 04 Apr 2023
Hello and welcome back to Excel Tips and Tricks! This week we have a General User post where we explore document properties and version history in the ‘Info’ view in Excel to help manage spreadsheets, and show why it’s really important to use it correctly.
Exclusive
Excel Tips & Tricks #468 – Refreshing dealing with Objects
- Article
- 16 Mar 2023
Hello and welcome back to Excel Tips and Tricks! This week we have a General User post where we take a look at how to insert and deal with objects including images, charts, or files in Excel.
Exclusive
Excel Tips & Tricks #467 - Excel functions that do not return arrays or ranges
- Article
- 23 Feb 2023
Hello and welcome back to Excel Tips and Tricks! This week have a Creator level post where we take a look at Excel functions that are harder to use with arrays or ranges.
Exclusive
Excel Tips & Tricks #466 - Setting range permissions in Excel Online
- Article
- 13 Feb 2023
Hello and welcome back to Excel Tips and Tricks! This week we have a Basic User level post in which we look at how to set up range permissions in Excel Online to protect your spreadsheets.
Exclusive
Excel Tips & Tricks #465 - Using #N/A in charts redux
- Article
- 02 Feb 2023
Hello all and welcome back to the Excel Tips & Tricks! This week we have a Creator level post in which we're taking a look at how to make use of the #N/A error to help customise charts. This was previously covered in Tip #297.
Introduction to Financial Modelling
This 19-part series from 2020 and 2021 works through the chapters of our Financial Modelling Code and explains how each element translates into practice.
Intro to Financial Modelling - Part 1: Model definition and purpose
- Article
- 23 Jan 2020
The development and use of financial models in Excel continues to proliferate, as does the variety of approaches and methodologies adopted. Without a universally accepted set of agreed principles, it can be difficult to know what good looks like in financial modelling terms.
Intro to Financial Modelling - Part 2: Layout & Structure - Laying out a model
- Article
- 20 Feb 2020
The layout and structure of a model is arguably the most important piece of a model. It is the foundation on which the rest of the model is built: the model infrastructure.
Intro to Financial Modelling - Part 3: Layout & Structure - Navigation
- Article
- 19 Mar 2020
In this instalment of the blog series, I will be talking about the principles covered in page 5 of the Financial Modelling Code, “Make Navigation Simple”.
Intro to Financial Modelling - Part 4: Layout & Structure - Managing Inputs
- Article
- 23 Apr 2020
Following from last month’s blog on Layout Structure – Laying Out a Model, we continue with this theme and examine some common ways to manage model inputs.
How to review a spreadsheet
- Thought leadership report
- 20 Oct 2021
Reduce the risk that your spreadsheet gives you the wrong answer.
Improve your financial modelling practice
- Thought leadership report
- 12 Nov 2018
ICAEW’s Excel Community has worked with a broad swathe of modelling organisations and experts, taking a half dozen methodologies and paring down to the commonly held, widely accepted beliefs about what constitutes good modelling.
Spreadsheet Competency Framework
- Report
- 05 Jul 2016
The framework is a structure for assessing ability and proficiency when using spreadsheets.
Twenty spreadsheet principles
- Helpsheets and support
- 13 Jun 2014
Twenty principles for good spreadsheet practice aims to reduce spreadsheet errors and wasted time.
Archive articles and articles by topic
Search the Excel Community archive
This archive of Excel Community content from the ION platform will allow you to read the content of the articles but the functionality on the pages is limited. The ION search box, tags and navigation buttons on the archived pages will not work. Pages will load more slowly than a live website. You may be able to follow links to other articles but if this does not work, please return to the archive search. You can also search our Knowledge Base for access to all articles, new and archived, organised by topic.
eBooks
The ICAEW Library & Information Service provides full text access to a selection of key business and reference eBooks from leading publishers. eBooks are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users. If you are unable to access an eBook, please see our Help and support advice or contact library@icaew.com.
Exclusive
Hands-on financial modeling with Excel for Microsoft 365: build your own practical financial models for effective forecasting, valuation, trading, and growth analysis
- eBook
- 17 Jun 2022
Financial modeling is a core skill required by anyone who wants to build a career in finance. This book explores financial modeling terminologies with the help of Excel. Starting with the key concepts of Excel, such as formulas and functions, this updated second edition will help you to learn all about referencing frameworks and other advanced components for building financial models.
Exclusive
Guerrilla data analysis using Microsoft Excel: conquering crap data and Excel skirmishes.
- eBook
- 01 Mar 2022
Includes examples and case studies that teach users the tricks for analysing data in Excel.
Exclusive
Excel data analysis for dummies
- eBook
- 15 Feb 2022
For those new to data analysis. Takes the reader on a tour of Excel's data analysis tools.
Exclusive
Financial modeling in Excel for dummies
- eBook
- 19 Jan 2022
This books provides practical hands-on exercises to help you build powerful models from scratch, and to work with existing financial models in Excel. Includes chapters on tools and techniques for financial modeling, applying scenarios, charting and presenting model output, building an integrated financial statements model, discounted cash flow valuation, and budgeting for capital expenditure and depreciation.
Exclusive
Data visualization with Excel dashboards and reports
- eBook
- 01 Apr 2021
Large corporations like IBM and Oracle are using Excel dashboards and reports as a Business Intelligence tool, and many other smaller businesses are looking to these tools in order to cut costs for budgetary reasons.
Exclusive
Financial modeling for decision making: using MS-Excel in accounting and finance
- eBook
- 01 Sep 2020
This book provides accounting students in post-secondary institutions with an advanced level understanding of how to use MS-Excel.
Exclusive
Hands-on financial modeling with Microsoft Excel 2019: build practical models for forecasting, valuation, trading, and growth analysis using Excel 2019
- eBook
- 11 Jul 2019
This book will help you understand financial modeling concepts using Excel, and provides you with an overview of the steps you should follow to build an integrated financial model.
Exclusive
Using Excel for business and financial modelling: a practical guide (3rd edition)
- eBook
- 15 Apr 2019
A hands-on guide to using Excel in the business context. Contains step-by-step instructions of how to solve common business problems using financial models, including downloadable Excel templates, a list of shortcuts and tons of practical tips and techniques you can apply straight away. Formerly titled Using Excel for business analysis.
Terms of use
You are permitted to access, download, copy, or print out content from eBooks for your own research or study only, subject to the terms of use set by our suppliers and any restrictions imposed by individual publishers. Please see individual supplier pages for full terms of use.