The Most Powerful Ways to Summarize Excel Data for Reporting and Analysis
(Note: I wrote this before Microsoft introduced Excel Tables or SUMIFS. This post is scheduled for an update.)
Excel users often need to summarize data...
How to Create Even-Payment and Straight-Line Amortization Tables in Excel
When you borrow money for a fixed period with periodic payments, you could have two types of loans: even-payment or straight-line.
Microsoft recognizes those loan...
Chart Recessions and Other Boolean Conditions in Excel
I doubt you’ve seen an Excel chart like this before. It shows multiple Boolean conditions that might affect the trend in the annual Rate...
How Fast Is Too Fast?
(Originally published in Inc Magazine.)
What typically tops the list of worries of the chief executive officers of fast growing companies? Financing that growth, according...
A Lesson in Excel Analysis Learned from Rising US Inflation
Looking at the trends in the annual rate of change (ROC) of business and economic measures is an excellent way to reveal hidden information...
Chart of the New Economic Index that Tracks GDP Weekly
In April 2020, the Federal Reserve Economic Database (FRED) added a measure that will be followed closely during the Covid-19 economic devastation and recovery....
Excel and the Rule of 72
I recently learned that my son—who's an avid amateur investor—had never heard of the Rule of 72.
The rule of 72, I texted him, says...
Inflation Tracker Excel Dashboard with Consumer Prices
U.S. President John F. Kennedy once said of a growing economy, "A rising tide lifts all boats."
However, a rising inflationary tide does not lift...
Show Useful Year-to-Date Variance Charts in Your Excel Dashboards
Many companies have a difficult time creating charts of spending variances. In fact, many companies rely on charts that are nearly useless for that...
How to Fight Spreadsheet Hell with Three Excel Lookup Functions
(I wrote this long ago, and there's much to be added. It's high on my Update list. Charley)
Many Excel users build their reports like...
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Getting Radical with Excel
It's time to think about Excel in a radical new way—when we use it to work with business or economic data.
It's time, in fact,...
How Fast Is Too Fast?
(Originally published in Inc Magazine.)
What typically tops the list of worries of the chief executive officers of fast growing companies? Financing that growth, according...
How to Smooth Data by Using the TREND Function
Years ago, I read that Prof. William S. Cleveland had suggested that data could be smoothed by calculating a centered trendline through adjacent data—a...
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