Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program used to analyze and report data in rows and columns. The Excel window includes a title bar, menu bar, toolbars, and worksheet containing cells intersected by rows and columns. Users can select, insert, delete and format cells and their contents. Key functions covered include freezing panes, protecting sheets and workbooks, merging cells, and sorting data.

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YACAR-YACARA CONSULTS
FINANCIAL MODELLING
PART 1
EXCEL BASICS

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What is Excel?
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program written and distributed by Microsoft for computers using
the Microsoft Windows operating system and for Apple Macintosh computers.
Uses of excel
It features an intuitive interface and capable calculation and graphing tools. It is used to analyze
business, personal, or financial data and create reports in a table format consisting of rows and
columns.
Excel Window Overview
THE TITLE BAR
Title Bar shows the name of the application, document, group, directory or file.
MENU MAR
Menu Bar contains the available menus from which you can choose commands.
STANDARD & FORMATTING BAR
Standard & Formatting Toolbar provide a quick method of working with various parts of the
worksheet. Toolbars can be customized and multiple toolbars can be displayed at the same time.
ACTIVE CELL
Active Cell has a black border that appears around it.

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VERTICAL & HORIZONTAL SCROLL BARS
Vertical & Horizontal Scroll Bars enable you to move through a spreadsheet when the entire
spreadsheet does not fit in the window or the allotted space. Click the scroll arrows with the mouse
to move through the spreadsheet or to see one line at a time
Worksheet
A worksheet contains rows and columns that intersect to form cells. A black border appears around
the active cell.
Columns and Rows
A column in Excel is a vertical arrangement of data, and a row in Excel is a horizontal arrangement of
data. There are 16,384 columns and 1,048,576 rows available in a worksheet.
Inserting and deleting rows & columns
When you delete a column, existing columns shift their positions to close the gap. Any existing
columns you select for deletion is erased. Data in existing columns is shifted back to the left to fill
the gap left by the deleted columns.
When you insert rows into a worksheet, existing rows shift their position down. For example, if you
select row 3 and then insert a row, the data that was in row 3 is shifted down and becomes row 4.
Mouse Pointers in Excel
= Select – main mouse pointer used for selecting cells. Click once in a cell to select it or click
and drag to select several cells.
= Fill - appears after you have selected a cell (or cells) and will show only at the bottom right
of the selection (tiny box called the Fill Handle). Using this will allow you to fill a series such as
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.
= Resize - appears when you are between columns or rows, allowing you to resize them

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Selecting and de-selecting Cells
Before you can work with cells, you need to select one or more.
 To select one cell, click it.
 To select a group of cells, be sure the mouse pointer shows as the selection mouse pointer,
click in the first cell and drag through to the last cell (first cell will show white and all others
will be shaded).
 To de-select cells, click once in any cell – there will always be one cell active
 To select the entire worksheet, press Ctrl + A on the keyboard or click the blank area to the
left of column A and just above row 1.
Selecting rows or columns
 To select one column (e.g. column A), click on the A (above the cells) – the entire column
shows selected.
 To select one row (e.g. row 1), click on the 1 (to the left of the cells) – the entire row is
selected.
 To select multiple columns click the letter for one column and drag right or left to include
other columns
 To select multiple rows click the number for one row and drag down or up to include other
rows
Freezing Rows or Columns
When you need to keep the top row or left column in view as you work with a large amount of data,
you can Freeze it so it’s always visible on the screen (note – this does not affect printing).
 Go to View/Freeze Panes
 Select either Freeze Top Row (freezes row 1) or Freeze
 First Column (freezes column A)
 To unfreeze, select Unfreeze Panes
Protecting Worksheets
It is very important to secure your model/assignment/project to avoid data manipulation by third
parties. To protect your worksheet the following steps are taken: On the Menu Tab,
 Click on review
 Click on Protect Sheet
 Select protect worksheets and contents of locked cells
 Define the scope of protection by ticking and un-ticking the options
 Type your password (Note: You will not be able to do anything when you forget your
password)
 Re-enter the password and click Ok.
 Click Ok

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Protecting Workbooks
To protect your worksheet the following steps are taken: On the Menu Tab,
 Click on file
 Click on Protect Workbook
 Select encrypt with password
 Type your password (Note: You will not be able to do anything when you forget your
password)
 Re-enter the password and click Ok.
 Click Ok
Formatting
Merging Cells
On the Menu Tab,
 Click on Home
 Type some text in cell (A1) and the press the Enter key.
 Reselect cell (A1), then center and hold the mouse button down inside the cell. Drag the
mouse pointer (a thick white plus sign) across to column (H1).
 Click on the Merge & Center command located on the Formatting bar.
 Note: The cells remain active until you click outside the active area (merged cells).
Sorting Cells
On the Menu Tab,
 Select the range of cells that requires sorting.
 Click on the Sort & Filter command in the group Editing on the Home tab.
 Select from the options listed, Ascending order (A to Z), Descending order (Z to A), or
Custom Sort
 Click the tab Data then choose a sort option provided in the group Sort & Filtering