English Finance Management Accounting - Dictionary of financial and business terms.pdf - Finance - chomikSGHowy

CHAPTER 1

Spreadsheet Basics

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Explain the basic purpose of a spreadsheet program.

2. Identify the various components of the Excel screen.

3. Navigate the Excel worksheet (entering, correcting, and moving data

within the worksheet).

4. Explain the purpose and usage of ExcelÓs built-in functions and macro

functions.

5. Create graphics and know how to print and save files in Excel.

The term ÐspreadsheetÑ covers a wide variety of elements useful for quantitative

analysis of all kinds. Essentially, a spreadsheet is a simple tool consisting of a

matrix of cells that can store numbers, text, or formulas. The spreadsheetÓs power

comes from its ability to recalculate results as you change the contents of other

cells. No longer does the user need to do these calculations by hand or on a

calculator. Instead, with a properly constructed spreadsheet, changing a single

number (say, a sales forecast) can result in literally thousands of automatic changes

in the model. The freedom and productivity enhancement provided by modern

spreadsheets presents an unparalleled opportunity for learning financial analysis.

Spreadsheet Basics

CHAPTER 1: Spreadsheet Basics

Spreadsheet Uses

Spreadsheets today contain built-in analytical capabilities previously unavailable in

a single package. Users often had to learn a variety of specialized software

packages to do any relatively complex analysis. With the newest versions of

Microsoft Excel, users can perform tasks ranging from the routine maintenance of

financial statements to multivariate regression analysis to Monte Carlo simulations

of various hedging strategies.

It is literally impossible to enumerate all of the possible applications for

spreadsheets. You should keep in mind that spreadsheets are useful not only for

financial analysis, but for any type of quantitative analysis whether your specialty

is in marketing, management, engineering, statistics, or economics. For that matter,

a spreadsheet can also prove valuable for personal uses. With Excel it is a fairly

simple matter to build a spreadsheet to monitor your investment portfolio, do

retirement planning, experiment with various mortgage options when buying a

house, keep a mailing list, etc. The possibilities are quite literally endless. The

more comfortable you become with the spreadsheet, the more valuable uses you

will find. Above all, feel free to experiment! Try new things. Using a spreadsheet

can help you find solutions that you never would have imagined on your own.

Starting Microsoft Excel

Excel 2002 Icon

Before you can do any work in Excel, you have to run the program. In Windows,

programs are generally started by double-clicking on the programÓs icon. The

location of the Excel icon will depend on the organization of your system. You

may have the Excel icon (left) on the desktop. Otherwise, you can start Excel by

clicking the Start button and then choosing Microsoft Excel from the All Programs

menu.

For easier access, you may wish to create a Desktop or Taskbar shortcut. To do this

right-click on the Excel icon in the All Programs menu and either choose Create

Shortcut or drag the icon to the Desktop or Taskbar. Remember that a shortcut is

not the program itself, so you can safely delete the shortcut if you later decide that

you donÓt need it.

Spreadsheet Basics

Parts of the Excel Screen

F IGURE 1-1

M ICROSOFT E XCEL 2002

The Title Bar

The title bar is the area at the very top of the Excel screen. It serves a number of

functions:

¤ Identifies the program as Microsoft Excel and displays the name

of the currently active workbook.

¤ Appears brightly colored when Excel is the active program.

¤ Can be ÐgrabbedÑ with the mouse to move the window around

within the Windows environment, if the window is not

maximized.

Spreadsheet Basics

CHAPTER 1: Spreadsheet Basics

¤ Contains the system menu (left corner) and the minimize,

maximize, and close buttons (right corner). The system menu

provides choices for moving the window or changing its size as

well as the ability to switch to or run other programs. The

minimize button will collapse the window down to an icon at the

bottom of the Windows screen where it is still active, but out of

the way. The maximize button causes the program to occupy the

entire screen. The close button will exit the program.

¤ When double-clicked, the title bar duplicates the functioning of

the maximize button.

The Menu Bar

F IGURE 1-2

T HE E XCEL 2002 M AIN M ENUS

The main menu bar in Excel provides access to nine menus, each of which leads to

further choices. There are two ways to select a menu: click on the menu of choice

with the mouse, or use the Alt key in combination with the underlined letter in the

menu name. For example, to choose the F ile menu, you could either click on the

word Ð F ileÑ or press Alt+F on the keyboard. Either method will lead to the F ile

menu dropping down, allowing you to make another choice.

In Windows, menus are persistent, meaning that they stay visible on the screen until

you either make a selection or cancel the menu by pressing the Esc key. While the

menu is visible, you may use either the arrow keys or the mouse to select a

function.

At times, some menu selections are displayed in a light gray color (grayed). These

options are not available for selection at the time that the menu is selected. For

example, if you have not cut or copied a cell, the P aste option from the E dit menu

has nothing to paste, so it is grayed. Only the menu options displayed in black may

be selected.

Refer to Appendix A for a short description of each menu selection.

Spreadsheet Basics

Parts of the Excel Screen

The Toolbars

F IGURE 1-3

M OST C OMMON E XCEL 2002 T OOLBARS

Immediately below the menu bar, Excel displays a series of shortcut buttons on

Toolbars. The exact buttons, and their order, may be different on different

machines. The buttons provide a quick way to carry out certain commands without

wading through menus and dialog boxes. To add, delete, or rearrange buttons

choose V i ew T oolbars C ustomize from the menus. You can learn what function

each button performs by simply moving the mouse pointer over a button on a

Toolbar. After a few seconds, a message will appear that informs you of the

buttonÓs function. This message is known as a ToolTip. ToolTips are used

frequently by Excel to help you to identify the function of various items on the

screen.

Note that you can move a Toolbar, or make it float over the worksheet, by clicking

on a blank area of the Toolbar and dragging it to the new location. Dropping it over

the worksheet area will leave it floating. The Toolbar will stay wherever you drop

it, even after exiting and restarting Excel.

The Formula Bar

F IGURE 1-4

T HE E XCEL 2002 F ORMULA B AR

The formula bar displays information about the currently selected cell. The left

part of the formula bar indicates the name of the selected cell. The right part of the

formula bar displays the contents of the selected cell. If the cell contains a formula,

the formula bar displays the formula, and the cell displays the result of the formula.

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