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Excel Tips and Tricks #441 - Under the (Easter) Bonnet: What’s an XLSX file anyway?

  • Article
  • 13 Apr 2022
  • ICAEW
In this article we talk about Excel file types and explore the inner workings of an XLSX file.
Read more

Online training for Excel Community members

We now offer a new and improved range of Excel online training, exclusively available as part of your Excel Community membership subscription. Track your progress and improve your Excel capabilities.

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Excel training

Latest articles

Read the latest support and guidance from the Excel Community, including our very popular Tip of the Week series.

Exclusive How to review a spreadsheet
  • Article
  • 16 May 2022
  • John Tennent
This series of six blogs will explore the Excel Community 2021 publication ‘How to Review a Spreadsheet – Reduce the risk that your spreadsheet gives you the wrong answer’.
Exclusive Working with Power Query – solving even more business problems
  • Article
  • 12 May 2022
  • Simon Hurst
A great deal can be achieved in Power Query just by using the editor interface and allowing Power Query to create each formula line for us. However, understanding how to make simple edits in the formula bar can extend what Power Query is capable of. We will use the example of entering a value in a cell in an Excel worksheet to filter a transaction table by date. The example also shows how to make a value from a single worksheet cell available in the editor.
Exclusive Excel Tips and Tricks #443 - Next level FILTERing (The FILTER Function)
  • Article
  • 11 May 2022
  • ICAEW
Hello all and welcome back to Excel Tips and Tricks! For today’s Creator post we’re looking at the FILTER function, which remains a relatively recent and underutilised addition to Excel. Given it opens up more sophisticated filter options than the standard drop-down filters, it’s time to change that.
Exclusive Excel how to: speed up formulae - using Excel tables part 2
  • Article
  • 06 May 2022
  • Simon Hurst
In our first look at Excel Tables, we concentrated on referring to Table contents from a cell outside of the Table itself. This time we will consider formulae within Tables.
Exclusive Excel Community round up April 2022
  • Article
  • 06 May 2022
  • Ian Pay
Here are all the new Excel articles and webinars from the Excel Community in April 2022. Posts marked as public can be accessed by anyone; other articles are accessible to Excel Community subscribers and can be accessed by logging in to your ICAEW account.
Exclusive Multiple running totals
  • Article
  • 26 Apr 2022
  • Liam Bastick
Cumulative balances in Excel can be harder to construct than you might think. Here's a running commentary on multiple running totals.
Exclusive Excel Tips and Tricks #442 - Revisiting Screenshots
  • Article
  • 25 Apr 2022
  • ICAEW
In this article we're going to explain the various ways to create an image of an Excel spreadsheet, or just part of it.
Exclusive Working with power query - don't think cells
  • Article
  • 22 Apr 2022
  • Simon Hurst
Power Query offers an alternative way to address a significant range of Excel issues. However, knowing which problems could benefit from the use of Power Query, and understanding how best to work with Power Query, depend on expanding the way in which we think about spreadsheet solutions.

Excel hints and tips

The Excel community has produced an extensive list of helpful tips and tutorials including its 'Excel tip of the week' series.  
Exclusive Excel Tips and Tricks #443 - Next level FILTERing (The FILTER Function)
  • Article
  • 11 May 2022
Hello all and welcome back to Excel Tips and Tricks! For today’s Creator post we’re looking at the FILTER function, which remains a relatively recent and underutilised addition to Excel. Given it opens up more sophisticated filter options than the standard drop-down filters, it’s time to change that.
Exclusive Excel Tips and Tricks #442 - Revisiting Screenshots
  • Article
  • 25 Apr 2022
In this article we're going to explain the various ways to create an image of an Excel spreadsheet, or just part of it.
Exclusive Excel Tips and Tricks #441 - Under the (Easter) Bonnet: What’s an XLSX file anyway?
  • Article
  • 13 Apr 2022
In this article we talk about Excel file types and explore the inner workings of an XLSX file.
Excel Tip of the Week #440 - How to get better at Excel
  • Article
  • 05 Apr 2022
Over the past nine years, I have typed those words many times, opening each of the four hundred and thirty-nine previous TOTWs. But I am leaving ICAEW for a new role – in fact, I will have left already by the time you read this article – and so after a long run, it’s time for this series to come to an end, at least for now.
Exclusive Excel Tip of the Week #439 - Power Pivot - Creating a running total
  • Article
  • 29 Mar 2022
Hello all and welcome back to the Excel Tip of the Week! This week we have a Developer level post in which we’re going to look at how to make some more unusual types of measures in Power Pivot. If you want a refresher on how Power Pivot measures work, check out TOTW #369 for the lowdown.
Exclusive Excel Tip of the Week #438 - Power Query: Creating custom functions
  • Article
  • 22 Mar 2022
Hello all and welcome back to the Excel Tip of the Week! This week we have a Developer level post in which we are taking a look at how to create your own custom functions in Power Query.
Exclusive Excel Tip of the Week #437 - Revisiting dynamic arrays
  • Article
  • 15 Mar 2022
Hello all and welcome back to the Excel Tip of the Week! This week we have a Creator level post in which we’re taking a timely second look at the biggest change to Excel formulas in recent years, the nifty dynamic array formulas.
Exclusive Excel Tip of the Week #436 - Trimming excess space redux
  • Article
  • 08 Mar 2022
Hello all and welcome back to the Excel Tip of the Week! This week we are taking a deep dive into a very annoyingly necessary data cleaning task – removing excess spaces.

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.
View all the series

Webinars and recordings

View our archive of Excel Community webinars.

Find out here about the Excel community's forthcoming webinars.

Exclusive Power Pivot for management reports
  • Webinar
  • 22 Mar 2022
“Excel Tip of the Week” author David Lyford-Tilley takes us on a deep dive into how the powerful and flexible Power Pivot add-in can be used to connect datasets together to make simpler management reporting dashboards.
Exclusive A comprehensive guide to PivotTables (2022 webinar)
  • Webinar
  • 21 Feb 2022
Join David Lyford-Tilley as he walks you through everything you need to know about summarising and condensing your data using Excel’s famous PivotTables.
Excel Tip of the Week Live: your questions answered (Winter '22)
  • Webinar
  • 25 Jan 2022
In the latest instalment of the “Tip of the Week Live” series, series author David Lyford-Tilley tackles your Excel questions, quandaries, and more. 
Exclusive Getting started with VBA
  • Webinar
  • 22 Nov 2021
John Tennent draws back the curtain and shows you how to get started with this powerful Excel tool.
How to review a spreadsheet: launch event
  • Webinar
  • 02 Nov 2021
Join “Excel Tip of the Week” author David Lyford-Tilley and spreadsheet expert John Tennent for the launch of the Excel Community’s latest thought leadership report, “How to Review a Spreadsheet”.
Scenarios in Financial Modelling
  • Webinar
  • 14 Oct 2021
An introduction to building scenarios.
Excel Tip of the Week Live: your questions answered (no 5)
  • Webinar
  • 21 Sep 2021
In the latest instalment of the “Tip of the Week Live” series, series author David Lyford-Smith tackles your Excel questions, quandaries, and more. 
Exclusive The top 10 Excel formulas
  • Webinar
  • 06 Jul 2021
Excel "Tip of the Week” author David Lyford-Smith goes through the most used and most popular formulas in Excel – collated from Microsoft’s own list of the most popular plus a couple of choices of our own.

Excel Thought Leadership papers

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.

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.

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Professional development

Excel Community's programme of webinars

Improve your Excel knowledge and minimise spreadsheet risk by attending our webinars. We have a programme of CPD webinars that you can join from the comfort of your office.
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Expert knowledge

Excel Community group membership

The Excel Community is for professionals who use Excel and want to understand how to use it better. Joining the Excel Community as a group member will provide you with an Excel online training dashboard so you can monitor the training progress of your colleagues.
Find out more

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 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 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.
Exclusive Principles of financial modelling: model design and best practices using Excel and VBA
  • eBook
  • 01 Jan 2018
A practical guide to financial modelling, demonstrating how to plan, design and build financial models.
Exclusive Financial modeling in Excel for Dummies
  • eBook
  • 01 Jan 2017
A beginner's guide to financial modeling using Microsoft Excel.
Exclusive Power Pivot and Power BI: the Excel user's guide to DAX, Power Query, Power BI and Power Pivot in Excel 2010-2016
  • eBook
  • 01 Jan 2016
Microsoft PowerPivot is a free add-on to Excel from Microsoft that allows users to produce new kinds of reports and analyses that were simply impossible before, and this book is the first to tackle DAX formulas, the core capability of PowerPivot, from the perspective of the Excel audience.
Exclusive Mastering financial mathematics in Microsoft Excel: a practical guide to business calculations (3rd edition)
  • eBook
  • 01 Jan 2015
Fully updated and compliant with Excel 2013, this clearly explains the basic calculations for mathematical finance, backed up with simple templates for further use and development, and a workbook with exercises and solutions at the end of each chapter
Exclusive M is for (data) monkey: the Excel Pro's definitive guide to Power Query
  • eBook
  • 01 Jan 2015
Power Query is one component of the Power BI (Business Intelligence) product from Microsoft, and "M" is the name of the programming language created by it. This book shows how to use the Power Query tool to get difficult data sets into both Excel and Power Pivot, and is solely devoted to Power Query dashboarding and reporting.
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