Best Excel Crash Course ???
Can anyone recommend a good Microsoft Excel crash course that I could finish in a day or so? It does not have to have any advanced modeling instruction or anything like that, just a refresher course for someone who hasn't really used it since college haha...
Thanks guys..
Search function, google. Honestly, most crash courses will be substantially the same and can be found all over.
What are you looking for? Hotkeys, forumlas, etc?
Just an overall crash course to re-teach someone the basics...so yeah I guess formulas, hotkeys, shortcuts, etc. It will be for an interview where I am going to have to take a basic excel test.
I really don't want to come across as a jerk, but: Youtube.
There are some really great videos out there that has always helped me out when I needed to learn more. Now, it may not be as structured as you want, but might be your best bet if you just want 5-10 hours worth of content.
http://www.hieconsulting.com/images/cheat_sheet.pdf
Basic hotkeys.
Are you doing modelling? Manipulating large amounts of data? "Basic" Excel is different things to different people.
Things that are likely important are lookups (v/h), index matching, nested ifs, pivot tables clearly communicating desired intent. If you're just looking to be more efficient get a good (more comprehensive than my link) list of hotkeys, unplug your mouse, and go to town.
Hi Lhazerbheem
Where do you suggest learning lookups (v/h), index matching, nested ifs, pivot tables ?
Youtube? Or any specific links that you would like to share?
Personally I've learned by doing so I don't have any resources I'd immediately recommend. I do know some people who have used Lynda.com
http://www.lynda.com/Excel-training-tutorials/192-0.html
About.com could probably have some good stuff for most also.
Index match: http://www.randomwok.com/excel/how-to-use-index-match/
Pivot tables it'll probably be good to grab a decent sized data set and just say ok I have X and I need to display in Y format and figure it out. I'd say learning by doing is the best way to master pivots.
I guess what is your end goal? Do you have an interview and need to demonstrate proficiency or is this for personal enrichment?
Personal enrichment buddy. I havent done any of those functions before and i thought i could learn something new. If you have any more good sources to share, would gladly appreciate it =)
I got a lot out of taking Skillsology courses in Excel (Basic and Advanced). Basic is a great refresher for, well, the basics, and Advanced provides basically everything you'd ever need to use in Excel. The lessons all have videos and PDF lectures that you can follow at your own pace, and it's great if you want to focus in on specific areas in Excel.
Excel Crash Course (Originally Posted: 04/08/2009)
I was thinking about buying the Wall Street Prep Excel Crash Course to help get ready for a S&T internship because it has been awhile since I have used some of the advanced Excel functions. Has anyone used this before and what did you think? Is there a better alternative?
The WSP Excel crash course is more focused on banking. Although it is a generic excel course, I think you can get a few from there to S&T. For S&T you would have to learn VBAs, macros, and of course the very basics. But you are better off finding another provider rather than WSP for this one. I had a friend working at a BB in S&T and they had several programmers to be used exclusively by traders when they needed anything in special...
So, this WSP excel program is sufficient for IBD? I have taken only 1 course in college using excel, at it was 2 years ago. There will be no training at my boutique, so I could use an excel resource.
You might be interested in this document which contains a list of Excel shortcuts provided by Training the Street: http://www.gottamentor.com/viewDocument.aspx?d=857.
www.gottamentor.com
The link doesn't work
Nvm, it works just fine
N/A
Yeah, seems like BIWS is the cheapest option. Just to add a little more color, I need to build out the 3 financial statements projections and either a DCF or LBO. So I am going to prepare for everything and I have a week to do it. Which BIWS is best for this situation?
So I got the "Financial Modeling Fundamental" BIWS package. I have been toiling away all day and have made some good progress. However, I tend to learn better when actually doing something myself. The vids and instructions are great, but unless I "get in the trenches" I have a hard time actually absorbing the material.
As a result, what do you all recommend I do in order to best prepare for an IB financial modeling exam? I am thinking that I will take a company's 10-k and build out the models from scratch. That is, take 2 year historical info from the 3 financial statements in order to build a 5 year projection, as well as a DCF and LBO.
Thoughts on the plan of attack?
pick a company (large company probably Dow30 that has consistent financials and growth. model it from the ground up using the course as reference if you get stuck. use 3 years of historicals to get a better grip on growth rates
Just a heads up to anyone hitting this old discussion: I put together a side by side comparison of the top financial modeling training courses here: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/financial-modeling-training
Mission Excel (Originally Posted: 07/30/2012)
Good afternoon monkeys,
I will meet with a financial recruiter in the next 24 hours and will be asked to conduct a general excel test.
What are some resources I should use to prepare (time is of the essence so an excel book will not do)? Anyone care to share some tips?
Help a monkey out.
Yours Truly,
R0bin
The only tip I'm gonna give you is, less mouse more keyboard.
That's not really a tip, I'm really looking for resources where I can make practice runs.
pivot tables, data tables, v/hlookup. if i think of anything else i'll drop back by.
Look at my past posts. I created practice sheets bro.
Functions to know: vlookup, hookup, index, match, offset, sumproduct, nested ifs, sumif(s), countif(s), indirect, row(s), column(s), text. Also, date functions are used often in financial models: eomonth, yearfrac, datevalue, month, year.
Also good to know: pivot tables, When to use VBA, and working with arrays.
The tip "less mouse, more keyboard" is accurate. Efficiency in excel is measured in #ofkeystrokes.
You won't learn all this in a day. Don't even touch VBA, you'll just confuse yourself - instead, just know VBA is best used to automate tasks.
Now you're getting somewhere, yea no way I will learn VBA in the span of 24 hours. So I'll just focus on the other areas. Anything else anybody?
You should also know some of the built-in Excel features (depending on what you position entails). Text-to-columns is a good example of a powerful built-in tool. Other tools: goal-seek, solver, data tables, data analysis tool pack, trace dependents/precedents, mail merge, camera, excel help.
Know the hotkeys! ctrl+arrows, shift+arrows, Ctrl+shift+arrows, ctrl+v/z/y/c/x/pageup/pagedown/1/enter/` etc. Also the Alt ones are useful, and lesser known. (alt+e+s+v for example -> paste special, values - or alt+n+d scatter plot chart)
Two other functions I didn't list in my first post - lookup and choose.
If formatting is part of the test...
FORMATTING. For god's sake, formatting. I'll see if I can post something.
For practicing formatting and speed. Made this for a special lady friend of mine to help teach her excel.
Tab 1 is the start. Do your work on tab 2. It should look like tab 3 when done. Probably 30 minutes if you are good.
edit - having trouble with fileshare site, bear with me
Here we go, should work now
http://www.4shared.com/file/Thvgh9E5/Sara_Excel_Exercise.html?
[quote=frgna] http://www.4shared.com/file/Thvgh9E5/Sara_Excel_Exercise.html?[/quote]
Just tried this and didn't even know how to get started. that's hard to format.
Thanks for all the help fellow monkeys. I think it's just a general excel test (or so they said). I think it's highly unlikely that I will have to construct an lbo model or any of the sort. So I'm thinking on the lines of pivot tables, vlookup, if functions, etc.
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