All the files in the tool were created using Microsoft Office XP.  They will work with older versions of MSOffice, although the automatic formulas may not function in versions older than Office 98.  In this case, some data and/or formulas may need to be entered manually.  File formats include Excel, Word and PowerPoint.

 

 

With intermediate Excel skills, you will be very comfortable with this tool.  However, if you are still learning basic Excel navigation, functions and capabilities, with a little practice you can still master it.  By following the steps in this manual and using the following Excel Hints/Tips, you should find yourself confidently working through the tool structure and preparing plan documents in no time.

 

 

·  Excel includes many of the same menus and toolbars of other Microsoft applications.  The familiar ‘title’ and ‘menu’ bars line the top of the screen, with the ‘standard’ and ‘formatting’ toolbars following underneath them.  Below those, you’ll find the ‘Formula’ toolbar, which is unique to Excel and used for creating various automated formulas. 

 

·  An Excel file is called a workbook and it is possible to have multiple worksheets included in any workbook file.  Worksheets are formatted in a grid system resembling a spreadsheet.  Each worksheet is identified by a tab at the bottom of the screen.  To select and display a worksheet, click the desired tab once.

·  The columns are identified with letters along the top of the screen and the rows are identified by numbers going down the left side of the screen.

·  Intersecting column and row gridlines form a box called a cell.  Generally, each cell is able to hold its own data.

·   A cell’s address is identified by a combination of the column letter and the row number (i.e. A4).

 

·  To move from one cell to the next either click your mouse on the desired cell, use the arrow keys, or tab to move right.  Remember, if a cell is not surrounded by a black-box, it is not selected.

·  Use ‘Home’ to jump to column A in the current row you’re working in.

·  Use ‘Ctrl+Home’ to jump to cell A1.

·  Use ‘Ctrl+End’ to jump to the last active cell in the worksheet.

·  Use ‘Page Up’ to move one entire screen up in the current column you’re working in.

·  Use ‘Page Down’ to move one entire screen down in the current column you’re working in.

·  The scroll bars to the right and at the bottom of the screen will help you quickly find a specific area of a worksheet. Once you find it, be sure to remember to click your mouse in the desired cell to select it before entering content.

 

·  At times, it may help to zoom your screen in or out to get perspective.  To do this, choose ‘View’ on the menu bar and select ‘Zoom’ from the drop-down menu.  A dialog box will appear with several choices and corresponding radio buttons.

·  When scrolling or zooming, it is fairly easy to lose your place in a worksheet if the column and row headings are not affixed in place.  This can be done with the ‘Freezing window panes’ feature.   To use, position your pointer in the cell to the immediate left of the column(s) you want to freeze and/or immediately below the row(s) you want to freeze, then choose ‘Window’ from the menu bar and select ‘Freeze panes’ from the drop-down menu.  At this point, regardless of whether you scroll or zoom, the frozen columns and rows will stay put.  To unfreeze, choose ‘Window’ and ‘Unfreeze panes’.  For your convenience, some worksheets have already be set-up with this feature.

·  You can also see more of the screen by switching to the ‘Full screen’ view, which will hide all the menus to give you full advantage of the viewing area.  To do this, choose ‘View’ and then ‘Full screen’ from the drop-down menu.  To return to the standard view, simply go through the exact same motions to toggle back. 

 

·  Many of the templates have built-in sorting formulas and/or filtering.  In most cases these apply to a particular column of data you’ve entered.  If one of these special formulas is included, you will see a small down arrow to the right if the heading text at the top of the row.  When you click on the arrow, a drop-down list will appear with the selection criteria for sorting or filtering the respective data in that column.