Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program used by many individuals and businesses to keep financial and accounting records. In this introductory lesson, you will learn how to create a new spreadsheet, enter text and numerical data, and write simple arithmetic formulas.
Contents
Opening Excel
The Tool Bars
The Spreadsheet
Writing Basic Formulas
Highlighting Data
Printing Your Spreadsheet
Saving Your Spreadsheet and Exiting Excel
To open Microsoft Excel, begin at the Start menu, and select Programs => Microsoft Office => Microsoft Excel.
At the top of the screen you should see Microsoft Excel-Book1. This tells you what program you are running (Excel) and which file you have open (Book1). An Excel Book consists of three Spreadsheet pages.
The Menu Bar
Just below you can see the menu headings File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Data, Window, and Help. If you click on any of these menu headings, you will see a variety of tasks available under each. In this introductory lesson we will be using File and Format.
The Button Bars
Below the menu headings there is a line of "buttons" or icons (beginning with a dog-eared sheet of paper and ending with a lightbulb/question mark) that serve as shortcuts for common editing tasks. This is the Standard Toolbar. Along the third line of the Microsoft Excel screen header you will find more editing functions. This is the Formatting Toolbar. For this lesson we will be using only the Bold Text [B] button in this line.
The Excel spreadsheet screen is divided into a grid of cells. Each cell has its own Cell Address consisting of a Column Letter and Row Number. Thus, the first cell is A1, to the right of that is B1, C1, D1, etc.
Creating a Spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel
To move from cell to cell, place the mouse icon over the desired cell and click once. The selected cell should be outlined. Now we are ready to start entering data and writing formulas. Follow along with the steps below.
- Change the Font Size to 14, and click on the Bold Text [B] button (both on the Formatting Toolbar).
- Select cell A1, Type: New User Monthly Budget
- Select cell D4, click Bold Text [B], Type: September
- Select cell B5, click Bold Text [B], Type: Income
- In cell B6 Type: Financial Aid, In cell D6 Type: 200
- In cell B7 Type: Work Study Job, In cell D7 Type: 64
- In cell B8 Type: Family Gifts, In cell D8 Type: 100
- Select cell D9, click Bold Text [B], Type: Total Income
- Select cell B12, click the Bold Text [B], Type: Expenses
- In cell B13 Type: Books and Supplies, In cell D13 Type: 250
- In cell B14 Type: Films, In cell D14 Type: 20
- In cell B15 Type: Eating Out, In cell D15 Type: 80
- Select cell B16, click Bold Text [B], Type: Total Expenses
- Select cell B18, click Bold Text [B], Type: Monthly Balance
Your spreadsheet should look like this:
Writing Basic Formulas
At this point we will write a formula to total the September income and expenses. In Excel all addition and subtraction formulas begin with the = symbol followed by SUM, and use the : symbol as an addition sign, and the - symbol as a subtraction sign.
- To calculate the Total Income (add the numerical contents of cells D6, D7, and D8) Type: =SUM(D6:D8) in cell D9. Hit Enter. Excel automatically places the result in the cell indicated and hides the formula.
- To calculate the Total Expenses (add the numerical contents of cells D12, D13, and D14), Type: =SUM(D12:D14) in cell D16. Hit Enter.
- To calculate the Monthly Balance (subtract the Total Expenses from the Total Income) Type: =SUM(D9-D16) in cell D18. Hit Enter.
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Highlighting Data
To emphasize data in Excel spreadsheets we can outline the cell(s) in which the data are located. In this case we want to draw attention to the Monthly Balance. Select cells B18, C18, and D18 by holding the mouse button down on B18 and dragging over to D18. This should highlight cells B18, C18, and D18. Click the Format menu heading and select Cells. Click the Border index tab. Under Presets choose Outline, and click OK.
Your spreadsheet should now look like this:
To print your spreadsheet in a resource center, click on the File menu heading and select Print. Click OK and pick up your printout at the PC printer (if you don't know which one it is ask the Lab Consultant).
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Saving Your Spreadsheet and Exiting Excel
- To save this spreadsheet click on the File menu and select Save As, giving you the Save As dialog box. Your home directory should appear in the Save In field in the upper right of the dialog box.
Example: lsmith on 'Otelia\Lo_home\... - If you wish to save your spreadsheet to a diskette, click on the arrow to the right of the Save In field, and choose 3 1/2 floppy (A:) from the menu.
- Name your spreadsheet in the File Name field at the bottom of the dialog box, retaining the .xls extension.
- Click on OK to accept drive choice and filename.
- Close Excel by clicking on the File menu and choosing Exit.