Essential Excel for Business
Analysts and Consultants?
Practical guide
1
Excel is a powerful yet a bit overwhelming tool that every
business analyst and consultant will use extensively
>300 built-in Built-in Analytical Tool
Pivot Tables Visual Basic
functions functionalities Pack
2
I will show you want you should know to be effective using
80/20 rule. You will learn also how to use them effectively
Essential built- Essential
~ 30 built-in Essential Pivot Essential
in Analytical Tool
functions Tables Visual Basics
functionalities Pack
3
If you follow my suggestion you will significantly improve
your speed of work in analyzing data with Excel
Improved speed of working 10 x
You will manage to reuse
significate share of your Excel 40%
for new purposes
You can master or need things
in short time 1 week
4
This presentation will show you the most useful
side of Excel that you need to be a great and
efficient Business Analyst or Consultant. I will try
to achieve it in shortest possible time
5
What I will show in this presentation is a part of extensive on-line
course where I show you in details how to do it in Excel
Essential Excel for Business Analysts
and Consultants?
$45
$15
Click to check my course
6
I will talk about 8 different things in this presentation
Merging data from Cleaning and unifying IF and their
different sources data alternatives
Other useful
Being faster with
functions and Pivot Tables
Excel
functionalities
Elements of Visual
Example of analysis
Basic
7
Below you can find the list of functions and functionalities that you
should master
Basic functions Financial / Mathematical Others
SUMIF / SUMIFS RAND / RANDBETWEEN Pivot
COUNTIF / COUNTIFS MOD Slicer
HLOOKUP NPV Relative addresses
VLOOKUP IRR Formats
MATCH ABS Hyperlink
SUMPRODUCT MAX / MIN Remove Duplicates
IF CORREL Filters
AND / OR Sorting
IFERROR Data Validation
AVERAGEIF Trace Dependents / Precedent
LEFT / RIGHT / MID Analysis Tool Pack
FIND
CONCATENATE
YEAR / MONTH / DAY
ROUND / ROUNDUP /
ROUNDDOWN
TODAY
VALUE
WEEKDAY
8
Agenda
Merging data from Cleaning and unifying IF and their
different sources data alternatives
Other useful
Being faster with
functions and Pivot Tables
Excel
functionalities
Elements of Visual
Example of analysis
Basic
9
How to merge data from
different sources
10
You quite often have want to merge 2 data set or on the basis
of one data set assign categories to a second one
1 Merging data
2 Assigning categories
11
In most cases you can merge data from 2 different data sets
(sheets) using VLOOKUP in combination with other function
Assigning 1-1. For example using this you can assign to
VLOOKUP specific car his brand (from other table) on the basis of the
Exact match registration number as ID)
Assigning on the basis of interval condition. For example
VLOOKUP using this you can assign to all shops between 0 and 500 sq
Approximate match m of space the category small
VLOOKUP
+ MATCH
Assigning categories to data set on the bases of 2 criteria.
For example you can use it to show the probability of
VLOOKUP startup failing depending on money invested and the
+ HLOOKUP business model they are using
VLOOKUP
+ a list of all options
12
For more criteria than 2 you have to create first a list of all possible
options and then assign to them the values. Below example for estimating
the probability of success for a startup
2 1
What business model you are after? Marketplace SaaS
How much money you have? <300
10 >300
20
<300
10 >300
20
Which country your startup is based in? Poland USA Poland USA Poland USA Poland USA
100 200 100 200 100 200 100 200
Option number
112 212 122 222 111 211 121 221
What is the probability of success of 7% 16% 11% 20% 9% 12% 14% 15%
your startup?
13
What we will talk about in this course
Merging data from Cleaning and unifying IF and their
different sources data alternatives
Other useful
Being faster with
functions and Pivot Tables
Excel
functionalities
Elements of Visual
Example of analysis
Basic
14
How to clean and unify data?
15
As a business analyst or consultant you will quite often get data that lack
consistency. There are number of problems you can face with cleaning
data. Below the most often occurring examples
Lack of assigned categories Warsaw Shopping Mall Warsaw
Different Names Warsaw Shopping Mall & Warsaw Shop Mall
Different Units 100 000 USD & [‘000 USD] 100
Joining 2 data points into 1 Asen Gyczew Asen Gyczew
Dividing 1 data points into 2 Asen Gyczew Asen Gyczew
16
To tackle low quality an lack of consistency of data you have to use a
bunch of functions that operate on text as well as some built-in
functionalities of Excel that will make the cleaning process easier
SEARCH LEN Filters
LEFT CONCATENATE Ctrl + H
IFERROR Remove
RIGHT
duplicates
MID VLOOKUP Pivot Table
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You should first make sure that the data you are working on are
consistent. This will help you speed up analyzes and make sure that you
are recommending the right actions
Clean and unify Check and provide Form
Get data Analyze data Draw conclusions
data data consistency recommendations
80% of the workload
18
What we will talk about in this course
Merging data from Cleaning and unifying IF and their
different sources data alternatives
Other useful
Being faster with
functions and Pivot Tables
Excel
functionalities
Elements of Visual
Example of analysis
Basic
19
How NOT to use IF function
20
IF function is universal yet it is too complicated and time
consuming to be used in many situations
Example with IF function Example without IF function
=IF(G6<=Target!D7;Target!E7;IF(AND(G6>Target =VLOOKUP(G6;Target!C:E;3;1)
!C8;G6<=Target!D8);Target!E8;IF(AND(G6>Targ
et!C9;G6<=Target!D9);Target!E9;Target!E10)))
21
Luckily in most cases you can use shorter options to replace
the IF function
Transform one category Choice between
Avoid errors:
into another one options
IFERROR
VLOOKUP VLOOKUP / MIN / MAX
IF
Check to which interval
Numerous IF conditions
certain KPI belongs
VLOOKUP + tricks
VLOOKUP
22
I will show you how to replace it with other simpler functions
on using the motivation system of sales rep as an example
Target / Plan
Bonus
Trainings
Activation of new
customers
23
What we will talk about in this course
Merging data from Cleaning and unifying IF and their
different sources data alternatives
Other useful
Being faster with
functions and Pivot Tables
Excel
functionalities
Elements of Visual
Example of analysis
Basic
24
Other useful funtion
25
There is bunch of useful functions and functionalities that you have to
master to speed up
R1C1 reference
INDIRECT Regression
style
Grouping /
NPV, IRR Histogram
Ungrouping
Conditional
MOD Data Validation
formatting
26
For more you can go to my extensive on-line course where I show you in
details how to do it in Excel
Essential Excel for Business Analysts and
Consultants?
$45
$15
Click to check my course
27
Conditional Formatting
28
Sometimes you want to see in more graphical way the data or
build a dashboard.
29
There is built-in module in Excel that you can use to achieve this. Go to
Home > Conditional Formatting and pick one of the available templates
30
Regression
31
Sometimes you want to predict certain things using the
available data
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I nice way to find relation and create prediction is to use the
linear regression
𝑌𝑡 = 𝛼 + 𝛼1 𝑋𝑡 + 𝜀𝑡
33
There may be situation that the thing we want to predict
depend on more than one variable
𝑌𝑡 = 𝛼0 + 𝛼1 𝑋1𝑡 + 𝛼2 𝑋2𝑡 + 𝛼3 𝑋3𝑡 + 𝜀𝑡
𝑋1
𝛼1
𝑋2 𝛼2 𝑌
𝛼3
𝑋3
𝛼0
34
I nice way to create prediction is to use the linear regression
Size of the store
Located in
suburbs?
Located in towns
street?
Sales in the store
Located in
shopping mall?
Is it a big city?
Basic level of sales
35
There is built-in module in Excel that you can use to do linear
regression. Go to Data > Data Analytics > Regression
36
Histogram
37
A good way to look at data on a general level is to create a histogram that
shows you the distribution of certain characteristics
Histogram
14
12
10
Frequency
6 Frequency
0
2 000 3 000 4 000 5 000 More
Bin
38
There is built-in module in Excel that you can use to do
Histogram. Go to Data > Data Analytics > Histogram
39
What we will talk about in this course
Merging data from Cleaning and unifying IF and their
different sources data alternatives
Other useful
Being faster with
functions and Pivot Tables
Excel
functionalities
Elements of Visual
Example of analysis
Basic
40
Pivot Tables and their
alternatives
41
Pivot Tables enable you do to a lot of things
Group big tables into
Fast analytics Filter things
categories
Pivot Tables
From general to specific
Dashboards of KPIs
analyses
42
For some purposes can be replaced with other functions
COUNTIFS
Pivot Tables SUMIFS
AVERAGEIFS
43
For more you can go to my extensive on-line course where I show you in
details how to do it in Excel
Essential Excel for Business Analysts
and Consultants?
$45
$15
Click to check my course
44
What we will talk about in this course
Merging data from Cleaning and unifying IF and their
different sources data alternatives
Other useful
Being faster with
functions and Pivot Tables
Excel
functionalities
Elements of Visual
Example of analysis
Basic
45
Rules for Excel
46
What rules should be used when building analysis in Excel
Usage of colors Shortcuts
Consistency between
No mouse
sheets
Pyramid principle Description
1-source rule Data source
Repetition of variables Master sheet
47
Below the most important shortcut that you should use on PC (1/3)
opens the table with formatting the cells
Ctrl + 1
saves the file
Ctrl + s
uploads the cell for copying
Ctrl + c
copies the value of the cell
Ctrl + v
undoes a command
Ctrl + z
Go forward with the command previously undone
Ctrl + y
makes the text bold
Ctrl + b
underlines the text
Ctrl + u
48
Below the most important shortcut that you should use on PC (2/3)
makes the text italic
Ctrl + i
edits the given cell
F2
enables to freeze the formula in the addresses
F4
changes the cell formula into value
F9
select everything
Ctrl + a
turns on the search box - you can look for a string
Ctrl + f
replaces 1 string with another one
Ctrl + h
inserts hyperlink
Ctrl + k
49
Below the most important shortcut that you should use on PC (3/3)
Shift + space and afterwards Ctrl + Shift + "+" adds a new row
Shift + space and afterwards Ctrl + "-" removes the row
Ctrl + space and afterwards Ctrl + Shift + "+" adds a new column
Shift + space and afterwards Ctrl + "-" removes the column
Ctrl + Shift + "+“ lets you add new columns or rows
You select the rows (i.e. Shift + Space and arrow down or up group a bunch of rows
to select the specific rows) and then Shift + Аlt + arrow Right
You select the rows (i.e. Shift + Space and arrow down or up ungroup a bunch of rows
to select the specific rows and then Shift + Аlt + arrow Left
You select the Columns (i.e. Ctrl + Space and arrow left or group a bunch of columns
right to select the specific columns) and then Shift + Аlt +
arrow Right
You select the Columns (i.e. Ctrl + Space and arrow left or ungroup a bunch of columns
right to select the specific columns) and then Shift + Аlt +
arrow Left
50
The most useful functions
Financial /
Basic functions Others
Mathematical
SUMIF / SUMIFS RAND / RANDBETWEEN Pivot
COUNTIF / COUNTIFS MOD Slicer
HLOOKUP NPV Relative addresses
VLOOKUP IRR Formats
MATCH ABS Hyperlink
SUMPRODUCT MAX / MIN Remove Duplicates
IF CORREL Filters
AND / OR Sorting
IFERROR Data Validation
AVERAGEIF Trace Dependents / Precedent
LEFT / RIGHT / MID Analysis Tool Pack
FIND
CONCATENATE
YEAR / MONTH / DAY
ROUND / ROUNDUP /
ROUNDDOWN
TODAY
VALUE
WEEKDAY
51
What we will talk about in this course
Merging data from Cleaning and unifying IF and their
different sources data alternatives
Other useful
Being faster with
functions and Pivot Tables
Excel
functionalities
Elements of Visual
Example of analysis
Basic
52
What kind of analysis you can
make using Excel?
53
You will find this section well developed in another
presentation suggested below. Click on the cover below to go
to the presentation
How to become world class
analyst
A practical guide
presentation 54
For more check our on-line course on how to use the Excel as a Business
Analyst and Consultant
Essential Excel for Business Analysts and
Consultants?
$45
$15
Click to check my course
55
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