Human Resources
Excel For Administrative Assistants
CWS2026347
100 Minutes
Jun 26,2026
10:00 AM PDT | 01:00 PM EDT
Overview
Unlock the full potential of Microsoft Excel to increase your productivity and precision in this hands-on, skill-focused webinar designed specifically for administrative professionals. Join Excel expert David Ringstrom, CPA, as he walks you through powerful yet practical Excel fundamentals that can transform the way you manage data and perform routine tasks. Through clear, step-by-step instruction, David demonstrates essential features such as pivot tables, lookup functions, and the Table and Slicer tools, all aimed at improving accuracy, minimizing manual input, and streamlining your workflow.
David teaches each concept twice—first via easy-to-follow PowerPoint slides, and then directly in Microsoft 365 Excel—making it easy to follow along and retain the techniques. You'll also receive a comprehensive workbook with live examples and detailed handouts, including version-specific tips for Excel 2021, 2019, 2016, and earlier. Whether you're just starting to explore Excel’s capabilities or looking to polish your foundational skills, this course equips you with practical tools you can apply immediately.
Topics Typically Covered:
- Creating and modifying pivot tables
- Using the Table feature to enhance data integrity
- Utilizing the Slicer tool for quick data filtering
- Eliminating duplicate entries efficiently
- Applying lookup functions such as VLOOKUP and SUMIF
- Adjusting data entry settings for improved workflow
Your Benefits For Attending:
- Recall how to change the cursor direction to facilitate faster data entry in Excel.
- State the arguments used in Excel's VLOOKUP function.
- Identify the steps required to create a pivot table.
- Improve spreadsheet reliability using functions like VLOOKUP and SUMIF.
- Remove duplicates and filter data effectively with the Slicer feature.
- Create instant reports and drill down into data using pivot tables.
- Understand the differences in Excel functionality between Microsoft 365 and perpetual versions.
This webinar is a valuable opportunity for professionals aiming to strengthen their command of Excel and increase both speed and accuracy in daily tasks. You’ll gain time-saving techniques and practical knowledge that can make an immediate impact in your role.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Topics At A Glance
- Please Ask Questions
- Presenting with Microsoft 365 for Windows
- Section 1: Cleaning And Preparing Data
- Transforming and Separating Text with Flash Fill
- Combining Text With Flash Fill
- Removing Duplicates in Excel
- Highlighting Duplicates with Conditional Formatting
- Removing Conditional Formatting
- Section 2: Organizing And Filtering Lists
- Filter Feature
- Using Totals and Filters in Tables
- Filtering Excel Tables with Slicers
- Managing or Removing Table Formatting
- Section 3: Summarizing And Analyzing Data With Pivot Tables
- Creating a PivotTable from an Excel Table
- Building a Basic PivotTable
- Drilling Down into PivotTables
- Section 4: Formulas And Visuals
- Using the SUMIF Function in Excel
- Creating Self-Expanding Charts
- Inserting Recommended Charts
- Section 5: Everyday Productivity Boosts
- Using the Navigation Pane (Microsoft 365)
- Using Excel’s Analyze Data Feature (Microsoft 365)
- Exploring Microsoft Copilot for Excel
- Key Takeaways
- Speaker Closing
- Presentation Closing
Index
- Analyze
- Cell
- Chart
- Column
- Column Heading
- Conditional Formatting
- COUNT
- Dialog Box
- Drill Down
- Field
- Filter
- Flash Fill
- Format
- Formula
- Formula Bar
- Microsoft 365
- Microsoft Copilot
- Pivot Table
- Remove Duplicates
- Ribbon
- Row
- Slicers
- Spreadsheet
- SUBTOTAL
- SUM
- SUMIF
- Table
- Table Feature
- Total Row
- Undo Command
- Worksheet
Key Terms
Analyze: The ANALYZE tab has several commands that will enable you to explore the data in the PivotTable.
COUNT: Use the COUNT function to get the number of entries in a number field that is in a range or array of numbers.
Cell: In spreadsheet applications, a cell is a box in which you can enter a single piece of data. The data is usually text, a numeric value, or a formula. The entire spreadsheet is composed of rows and columns of cells.
Chart: In Microsoft Excel, a chart is often called a graph. It is a visual representation of data from a worksheet that can bring more understanding to the data than just looking at the numbers. A chart is a powerful tool that allows you to visually display data in a variety of different chart formats such as Bar, Column, Pie, Line, Area, Doughnut, Scatter, Surface, or Radar charts.
Column: A column is a vertical series of cells in a chart, table, or spreadsheet in Excel.
Column Headings : The column heading or column header is the gray-colored row containing the letters (A, B, C, etc.) used to identify each column in the worksheet. The column header is located above row 1 in the worksheet.
Conditional Formatting: A feature on Excel's Home menu that allows you to dynamically apply formatting such as colors, bolding, icons, data bars, and so on based on criteria that you specify for a given set of worksheet cells.
Dialog Box: A dialog box in Excel is a screen where you input information and make choices about different aspects of the current worksheet or its content, such as data, charts, and graphic images.
Drill Down: When a user double-clicks on any number within a pivot table, Excel creates a new worksheet that displays the underlying records.
Field: In a PivotTable or PivotChart, a category of data that is derived from a field in the source data. PivotTables have row, column, page, and data fields. PivotCharts have series, category, page, and data fields.
Filter: The Filter feature in Excel allows you to show or hide rows within a list of data by making selections from drop-down lists. The Filter feature is available on the Data tab of all versions of Excel as well under the Sort & Filter command on the Home menu.
Flash Fill: Flash Fill automatically fills your data when it senses a pattern. For example, you can use Flash Fill to separate first and last names from a single column, or combine first and last names from two different columns. Note: Flash Fill is only available in Excel 2013 and later.
Format: When we format cells in Excel, we change the appearance of a number without changing the number itself. We can apply a number format (0.8, $0.80, 80%, etc) or other formatting (alignment, font, border, etc). By default, Excel uses the General format (no specific number format) for numbers.
Formula: A formula is an expression which calculates the value of a cell.
Formula Bar: A toolbar at the top of the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet window that you can use to enter or copy an existing formula into cells or charts. It is labeled with function symbol (fx). By clicking the Formula Bar, or when you type an equal (=) symbol in a cell, the Formula Bar will activate.
Microsoft 365: Microsoft 365, formerly Office 365, is a line of subscription services offered by Microsoft which adds to and includes the Microsoft Office product line.
Pivot Table: A report creation tool in Excel that enables you to quickly summarize lists of data into summary reports by clicking checkboxes and dragging fields onscreen.
Remove Duplicates: This feature first appeared in Excel 2007. This Data tab command allows you to reduce a list of items to a list of unique constituents. This action required the Advanced Filter command in Excel 2003 and earlier.
Ribbon: The "ribbon" is the strip of buttons and icons located above the work area that was first introduced in Excel 2007. The ribbon replaces the menus and toolbars found in earlier versions of Excel. Above the ribbon are a number of tabs, such as Home, Insert, and Page Layout.
Row: A row is the range of cells that go across (horizontal) the spreadsheet/worksheet. Rows are identified by numbers e.g. row 1, row 5. Examples of use. A row might contain the headings of a table e.g. product ID, product name, price, number sold.
SUBTOTAL: A worksheet function that allows you to sum, average, count, and other otherwise analyze data on just the visible cells within a given range.
SUM: Microsoft Excel defines SUM as a formula that “Adds all the numbers in a range of cells”. This definition clearly points that Sum function has a job to add numbers and the arguments can be supplied using combinations of both numbers and range of cells. =SUM The SUM function is a built-in function in Excel that is categorized as a Math/Trig Function. It can be used as a worksheet function (WS) in Excel. As a worksheet function, the SUM function can be entered as part of a formula in a cell of a worksheet.
SUMIF: A look-up function in Excel that allows you to add up numbers based upon a criterion that you specify. Unlike VLOOKUP, the SUMIF function can add up two or more values and returns zero (instead of #N/A) if no match is found.
Slicer: You can insert slicers in Excel to quickly and easily filter pivot tables. Slicers were introduced in Excel 2010, and they make it easy to change multiple pivot tables with a single click
Spreadsheet: Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet developed by Microsoft for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. It features calculation or computation capabilities, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications. Excel forms part of the Microsoft Office suite of software.
Table: A table is an arrangement of data in rows and columns, or possibly in a more complex structure. Tables are widely used in communication, research, and data analysis. Tables appear in print media, handwritten notes, computer software, architectural ornamentation, traffic signs, and many other places.
Table Feature : The Table feature in Excel 2007 and later is an improvement on the List feature in Excel 2003 and earlier. The Table feature provides enhancements that make it much easier to analyze lists of data.
Total Row: A Total row appears below the data where each column has access to several automatic formulas. The default selection for the Total Row is none, meaning no function is selected when you first turn on the Total Row on your Table.
Undo Command: The Undo feature in Excel 2010 can quickly correct mistakes that you make in a worksheet. The Redo button lets you “undo the Undo.” The Undo button appears next to the Save button on the Quick Access toolbar, and it changes in response to whatever action you just took; the Redo button becomes active whenever you use Undo.
Worksheets: A worksheet is a collection of cells where you keep and manipulate the data. Each Excel workbook can contain multiple worksheets.
Wrap Text: Wrap Text is a feature that wraps the text within a cell. Wrap Text can be turned off by highlighting the cell and clicking the Wrap Text button again.
David H Ringstrom
David H. Ringstrom, CPA, is a nationally recognized Microsoft Excel expert. He is the president and owner of Accounting Advisors, Inc. based in Atlanta, Georgia. David founded Accounting Advisors in 1991 as a consulting-services business, later he began teaching continuing education classes as well. His mission since is to offer quality training and consulting services on Microsoft Excel via live webcasts, on-demand self-study webcasts, and in-house engagements. David has taught hundreds of webinars on Excel and other topics, in addition to speaking at conferences and in-house engagements. More than 24 providers, located throughout the country as well as overseas, now look to David for their Excel and accounting software training needs. More than 24 providers, located throughout the country as well as overseas, now look to David for their Excel and accounting software training needs.
David’s Excel courses cover the gamut of the software’s features and functions to provide CPAs as well as accounting and financial professionals the knowledge they need to work more efficiently and effectively in Excel. David is known for saying, “Either you work Excel, or it works you.” Based on this belief, he focuses on teaching users what they don’t know but should know about Excel.
His comprehensive yet easy to understand presentations cover Excel 2019, 2016, 2013, and 2010. David’s webcasts are fast-paced, and he welcomes attendees’ questions. In addition, his detailed handouts and slides serve as handy reference tools students can fall back on after participating in his webcasts or taking his self-study courses.