Excel 101: Establishing Structure and the Five Key Questions Every Spreadsheet Should Answer

Microsoft Excel’s greatest strength—flexibility—is also its greatest weakness. This Excel course for new and even the most skilled Microsoft Excel users demonstrates how to build structure and consistency into your spreadsheets to maximize accuracy and minimize errors. We also explain the five key questions that you need to keep in mind when constructing your spreadsheets for external review.

We review the methods and best practices for building a structural foundation for your spreadsheets, and provide a downloadable template file which you can adapt to your own style as you develop it. We cover:

• Why structure matters
• Creating a structural foundation for consistent spreadsheets
• Constructing spreadsheets that meet three main goals using key five questions
• Tips for using calculation and functionality to maximize accuracy and minimize errors