Wrapping Text For multiple line entries of labels, comments, notes, or descriptions in Microsoft Excel, select the cells (or an entire row or column), choose Format > Cells, pick the Alignment Tab, and check the option for Wrap Text, finish with OK. The column width will determine how many lines are needed to display the [...]

Formulas entered in Excel are relative to the cells they are entered in. Now you want copy the “result” of a formula to another cell.  So you go ahead and copy the cell where the result is and “paste” it it into the new cell. Whoops! What hapened? The reult is not the same as what [...]

These days to make a call you have to dial the 10 digit number…which means dialing the area code as well as the local phone #. Formating the # for each entry is a PAIN! For example to enter my phone number you would have to type “(613) 347-9893″. Thats a total of 14 keystrokes. [...]

Here’s the scenario:   You are maintaining a customer list in Excel. Your column names and widths are as follows:   Note: To set column widths Select Format from the top menu then choose Column and select Width. Enter the names and widths shown below.   Last Name            = Lname           [...]

Geez! I have a big file of customers with all their information including phone #’s & addresses .  I want to talk to Jim Smith but I can’t find him in my Excel spreadsheet. I also know that I have a lot of “Jim”s in my spreadsheet.  So let’s find the one I want. Go [...]

Go to a blank cell in a worksheet. Enter the fraction 3/4. Hey! Wait a minute! I didn’t say March 4th …. I entered three quarters. Simple… I’ll just format the cell as a number or fraction (Format Menu/Cells) the result is 39145. Where did my fraction go? Here’s the answer. Excel automatically interprets your [...]

Often you want enter a number that begins with a Zero (Invoices, Zip codes). How frustrating it can be when you want the preceding zero(s) to appear in the cell.  In an Excel cell enter 0012345 and press enter.  OOPS! No Zeros! – only 12345 appears.  Go back to the cell and check the edit [...]

You can spend a lot of time inserting and deleting rows in your worksheet so that when you print it your information stops and restarts on the next page where you want it to. This can be very frustrating and cost you a lot of ink and paper when testing each adjustment. Help is on [...]

When Did I do This? What if you’re using Excel to track the hours you are working for a customer. Naturally, you will use Excel’s date formatting in column A , # of hours worked column, a rate/hour column, a formula to calculate that day’s billing amount and a total billing to date column. Hey! [...]

What Is A WorkBook ? – What is a WorkSheet ? The terms WorkBook and WorkSheet mystify new users of Excel. Let’s have a look through “The WayBack Machine”. I just bought a beautiful bookkeeper’s ledger book. Each page has 14 columns. On each page of the bookkeeper’s ledger book I keep information about a [...]

Excel has a nifty feature that allows you to format your headings to look better on the printed page. You can center the contents of a cell so that it is spread across several columns. For instance, if the body of your worksheet is six columns wide, you can center your headings across all six [...]

A well designed name and address database would define a separate cells for the First Name and Last Name. Reasons to separate the name fields are for the purposes of Sorting the list and Finding a Customer  in your list using Excel functions. Below are instructions to combine the First and Last Names into a single cell… these [...]