Healthcare
Excel 101: Spreadsheet Basics
CWS2026356
100 Minutes
Sep 25,2026
10:00 AM PDT | 01:00 PM EDT
Overview
In this presentation, author and Excel expert David H. Ringstrom, CPA, will guide participants through various essential Excel skills. David will start from the beginning with Excel, covering topics such as saving Excel files, entering text into worksheet cells, and managing column widths. He'll demonstrate nuances in formatting numbers and worksheet cells, copying formulas, and entering dates. A major highlight includes building a loan amortization table from scratch, covering a wide range of Excel topics and features.
You'll learn how to calculate loan payments with the PMT worksheet function, master Excel's order of operations, and utilize the F4 shortcut key to toggle cell references. Other practical skills include using the AutoSum feature and Freeze Panes. Attendees will gain real-world tips to improve their Excel proficiency and efficiency.
David is the author of “Exploring Microsoft Excel's Hidden Treasures: Turbocharge your Excel Proficiency with expert tips, automation techniques, and overlooked features.” He demonstrates every technique at least twice: first, on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps, and second, within Excel for Microsoft 365. He highlights differences between Excel 2021, 2019, or 2016 versions during the session and within detailed handouts that include an Excel workbook with examples.
Excel for Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based product with periodic feature updates. In contrast, perpetually licensed versions (e.g., Excel 2021, 2019, 2016) do not receive any feature updates.
Topics typically covered:
- Contrasting menu commands vs. keyboard shortcuts for formatting cells (e.g., bold, underline).
- Using the PMT worksheet function to calculate loan payments.
- Monitoring the Print Scale setting to save paper and reduce printing issues.
- Navigating through worksheets efficiently with keyboard shortcuts.
- Understanding cell-level editing versus worksheet-level editing.
- Getting familiar with Excel’s grid of rows and columns.
- Choosing from thousands of free Excel spreadsheet templates to prevent errors.
- Learning the nuances of copying formulas.
- Managing column widths effectively.
- Using keyboard shortcuts to avoid manually typing dollar signs in formulas.
- Mastering how to enter text into worksheet cells accurately.
- Handling instances when numbers appear as # signs on-screen or in Print Preview.
Your Benefits for Attending:
- Identify the three inputs required by Excel's PMT worksheet function.
- Recall which mouse action enables you to widen a column to display the longest cell entry.
- State which character signifies an absolute reference within a formula.
Who should attend: Professionals seeking to use Microsoft Excel more effectively.
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.