How do you benefit from Microsoft Excel for your business analysis role? have you ever used Excel differently?

Here are five of the top features and benefits of Microsoft Excel:

Build great charts : Excel allows business users to unlock the potential of their data, by using formulas across a grid of cells. Data is inserted into individual cells in rows or columns, allowing it to be sorted and filtered, and then displayed in a visual presentation. Using pie charts, graphs and clustered columns adds meaning to data, which otherwise may just exist as row after row of numbers. These visualizations can add extra emphasis to business reports and persuasive marketing material. Excel recommends charts most suitable for the type of data being presented on the X and Y axis.

Use conditional formatting : Excel users can format their spreadsheets using different colour shades, bolds and italics, to differentiate between columns and bring the most important data to the fore. This function could be useful when presenting accounting information, such as the pre-tax profit and the balance being carried forward by the company. Users can select an appropriate colouring scheme via the Quick Analysis button, and then by utilising the Formatting tab.

Help identify trends : When presenting data in the form of charts or graphs, it can be helpful to include average lines, which explicitly detail the key trends emerging from the information. This may help demonstrate the key points to other users in a straightforward manner - for instance, an executive from a different department during a board meeting. Excel allows trend lines to be extended beyond the graph, to offer predictions of future activity - and such forecasts can help businesses develop their future strategy.

Bring data together  : Excel can be used to bring information from various files and documents together, so that it exists in a single location. As well as raw data and information from other spreadsheets, it is possible to import text and images. Other objects can be added using the Insert tab, or additional spreadsheets can be added to the file.

Online access : Excel is available online as part of Microsoft's Office365 productivity suite. This means business leaders and employees have access to the program from a range of devices, from almost any location. Providing they have a web-enabled PC, laptop, smart phone or tablet it should be possible to access Excel, making remote and mobile working viable.

> Posted Mohammed Yaseen

pivot tables , diffente formulas  available, charts , filter and sort functions

Hi all,

== Considering Business as a main part of our life and this term cannot be found as isolated symbol from renewable life scenarios. In turn, the role of technology in general and of Microsoft Company in specific is to define the requirements of business and economics to be widespread, efficient and continuously productive for the forthcoming decades of civilizations at all aspects.

== Business work dependence on Microsoft Office can be found in Excel uses and what benefits can be gained from through Cash flow service. Cash flow is the best way to figure out how to maximize profitability and minimize risk on your business investments.

= Take a look at your cash flow, or what goes into and what goes out of your business. Positive cash flow is the measure of cash coming in (sales, earned interest, stock issues, and so on), whereas negative cash flow is the measure of cash going out (purchases, wages, taxes, and so on). Net cash flow is the difference between your positive cash flow and your negative cash flow, and answers that most fundamental of business questions: How much money is left in the till?

= To grow your business, you need to make key decisions about where to invest your money over the long term. Microsoft Excel can help you compare options and make the right choices, so that you can rest easy both day and night.

a-                 If you want to take your money out of the till, make it working capital, and invest it in the projects that make up your business, you need to ask some questions about those projects:

·                     Is a new long-term project going to be profitable? When?

·                     Is the money better invested in another project?

·                     Should I invest even more in an ongoing project, or is it time to cut my losses?

·                     What are the negative and positive cash flows for this project?

·                     What impact will a large initial investment have, and how much is too much?

b-                 In the end, what you really need are bottom-line numbers that you can use to compare project choices. But to get there, you must incorporate the time value of money into your analysis.

c-                 There are two financial methods that you can use to help you answer all of these questions: Net present value (NPV) and Internal rate of return (IRR).

d-                 Both NPV and IRR are referred to as discounted cash flow methods because they factor the time value of money into your capital investment project evaluation. Both NPV and IRR are based on a series of future payments (negative cash flow), income (positive cash flow), losses (negative cash flow), or "no-gainers" (zero cash flow).

e-                 NPV (rate, value1, [value2]...):

n    It returns the net value of the cash flows that occur at regular intervals, such as monthly or annually. Because of the time value of money, receiving a dollar today is worth more than receiving a dollar tomorrow. NPV calculates that present value for each of the series of cash flows and adds them together to get the net present value.

n    Each cash flow, specified as a value, occurs at the end of a period. If there is an additional cash flow at the start of the first period, it should be added to the value returned by the NPV function

f-                  NPV(IRR(values),values) =0

n    IRR is based on NPV. You can think of it as a special case of NPV, where the rate of return that is calculated is the interest rate corresponding to a0 (zero) net present value. It determines the internal rate of return using cash flows that occur at regular intervals, such as monthly or annually.

n    When all negative cash flows occur earlier in the sequence than all positive cash flows, or when a project's sequence of cash flows contains only one negative cash flow, IRR returns a unique value.

n    IRR is calculated through an iterative search procedure that starts with an estimate for IRR — specified as a guess — and then repeatedly varies that value until a correct IRR is reached. Specifying a guess argument is optional; Excel uses10% as the default value.

n    If there is more than one acceptable answer, the IRR function only returns the first one it finds. If the IRR doesn't find any answer, it returns a #NUM! error value. Use a different value for the guess if you get an error or if the result is not what you expected.

n    Most capital investment projects begin with a large negative cash flow (the up-front investment) followed by a sequence of positive cash flows, and, therefore, has a unique IRR. However, sometimes there can be more than one acceptable IRR, or sometimes none at all.

g-                 To compare between projects:

-                     NPV determines whether a project earns more or less than a desired rate of return (also called the hurdle rate) and is good at finding out whether a project is going to be profitable.

-                     IRR goes one step further than NPV to determine a specific rate of return for a project.

-                     Both NPV and IRR give you numbers that you can use to compare competing projects and make the best choice for your business.

h-                 Which Office Excel functions can you use to calculate NPV and IRR? There are five: NPV, XNPV, IRR, XIRR, and MIRR. Which one you choose depends on the financial method that you prefer, whether cash flows occur at regular intervals, and whether the cash flows are periodic.

i-                   Cash flows are specified as negative, positive, or zero values. When you use these functions, pay particular attention to how you handle immediate cash flows that occur at the beginning of the first period and all of the other cash flows that occur at the ends of periods.

j-                   XNPV(rate, values, dates): it determines the net present value using cash flows that occur at irregular intervals. The value occurs at a scheduled payment date.

k-                 XIRR(values, dates, [guess]): it determines the internal rate of return using cash flows that occur at irregular intervals. The value occurs at a scheduled payment date.In similar to IRP calculation, XIRR is calculated through an iterative search procedure that starts with an estimate for IRR — specified as a guess — and then repeatedly varies that value until a correct XIRR is reached. Use a different value for the guess if you get an error or if the result is not what you expected.

l-                   MIRR(values, finance_rate, reinvest_rate) – to determine the modified internal rate of return using cash flows that occur at regular intervals, such as monthly or annually, and consider both the cost of investment and the interest that is received on the reinvestment of cash. The interest rate that you pay on the money that is used in the cash flows is specified in finance_rate. The interest rate that you receive on the cash flows as you reinvest them is specified in reinvest_rate.

I wish all Good business and best performance on your duties.

Build great charts

Use conditional formatting

Help identify trends

Bring data together

Online access

In business Excel is likely one of your day-to-day productivity tools, and can gives you more if you are a VBA programmer.

For me, I'm using PivotTable, Developer and PowerPivot on Excel especially when I deal with a huge data, and nothing like creating your own Functions and Formulas to get the final results in the shortest time.

you can use pivot table &pivot chart to summarize and analyze data

you can make many statistical and engineering analysis with the Analysis ToolPak in Excel

just go to the excel's help and search for Analysis Tool, you will be guide by the instructions to learn how to istall the tools and you will see the description about each one

if function have agreat usage to analyse and filter data

Using povite  table 

preparing reports 

Special  Sort 

hyperlinks 

Excel users can format their spreadsheets using different colour shades, bolds and italics, to differentiate between columns and bring the most important data to the fore. This function could be useful when presenting accounting information, such as the pre-tax profit and the balance being carried forward by the company. Users can select an appropriate colouring scheme via the Quick Analysis button, and then by utilising the Formatting tab.

Excel is agreat tool for assimilation/ analysis

 of data. Pivot table, Filters, Auto sum,Charts are some of them.

I create spreadsheets for business analysis in EXCEL. It greatly simplifies the process because you can change the numbers in one cell and the rest automatically changes. Charts also make it easier to understand the material presented in visual format.

I am planning to give advanced EXCEL FOR BUSINESS course in the near future.  If interested, do take the survey  https://t.co/k2x2Wx8SMX . Survey participants are entitled to20% discount on the regular course fee.