Excel Lesson 15Working with Auditing and Analysis

Tools

Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Cable / Morrison1

Excel Lesson 15

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced2

Objectives

Use the Trace Precedents feature. Use the Trace Dependents feature. Use the Trace Error feature. Check for errors in functions. Perform a what-if analysis using the Goal

Seek feature.

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Excel Lesson 15

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Objectives (continued)

Create a scenario. View the scenario summary. Consolidate data. Create a one-way data table.

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Excel Lesson 15

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Vocabulary

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audit consolidating dependent precedent Scenario Manager tracer arrow

Excel Lesson 15

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced5

Introduction

Excel offers many tools to:– Check for accuracy in formulas– Solve problems with formulas– Analyze existing data

Trace Precedents Trace Dependents Trace Error

Excel Lesson 15

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Introduction (continued)

Error Checking Goal Seek Scenario Manager Data Table

Excel Lesson 15

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Using Trace Precedents

When you audit something, you are checking it for accuracy.

The Trace Precedents feature finds the cells that are used in a function.

Precedents refer to cells that supply the values used in a function.

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Excel Lesson 15

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Using Trace Precedents (continued)

Example of trace precedents

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Excel Lesson 15

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Using Trace Dependents

The Trace Dependents feature works by locating formulas and/or functions that depend on the value in a selected cell.

If you select a cell containing data and then click the Trace Dependents button:– A tracer arrow is drawn from the selected cell,

called the dependent, pointing to the cell with the function.

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Excel Lesson 15

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Using Trace Dependents (continued)

Average function depends on cells with tracer arrows

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Excel Lesson 15

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Using Trace Error

To locate the source of an error, click the cell with the error and then click the Trace Error command.

Excel displays an information icon next to the cell with an error status.– Click the icon to see a list with options on how to

resolve the error.

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Excel Lesson 15

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Using Trace Error (continued)

Function error traced

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Excel Lesson 15

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Checking for Errors

The Error Checking feature is used to check all of the formulas and functions in a worksheet that has a lot of data.

When an error is located, the Error Checking dialog box gives information about the error.

If no errors are found, a dialog box lets you know that the error check for the worksheet is complete.

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Excel Lesson 15

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Checking for Errors (continued)

Error Checking dialog box

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Excel Lesson 15

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Performing a What-if Analysis Using the Goal Seek Feature

The Goal Seek feature finds the unknown value you need in order to accomplish your goal.

The Goal Seek feature is referred to as a “what-if” analysis tool.

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Goal Seek dialog box

Excel Lesson 15

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Creating Scenarios

The Scenario Manager performs a “what-if” analysis that lets you change several cells of data.

The Scenario feature is another type of “what-if” analysis.

Scenarios are sometimes used to view various changes in expenses.

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Excel Lesson 15

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Creating Scenarios (continued)

Scenario Manager dialog box with scenarios

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Excel Lesson 15

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Viewing the Scenario Summary

The Scenario Manager lets you view the created scenarios in a formatted report on a separate worksheet.

Excel automatically names the new worksheet Scenario Summary.– Excel also applies formatting to the data.

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Viewing the Scenario Summary (continued)

Scenario Summary worksheet

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Excel Lesson 15

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Consolidating Data

In Excel, consolidating involves bringing data from several worksheets together into one worksheet.

You can choose various functions to use when consolidating.– Examples: Sum, Average, etc.

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Excel Lesson 15

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Consolidating Data (continued)

Completed Consolidate dialog box

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Excel Lesson 15

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Creating a One-Way Data Table

A one-way data table uses one function to change cells that use this function.

22Example of a one-way data table

Excel Lesson 15

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Summary

In this lesson, you learned: The Trace Precedents feature finds the cells

that are used in the function. The Trace Error feature locates cells that are

used in a formula to assist in identifying the source of an error.

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Summary (continued)

The Trace Dependents button works by locating formulas or functions that depend on the value in a selected cell.

If a cell containing a formula has an error, the Trace Error feature displays the cells used in the formula.

You can check for errors throughout an entire worksheet, using the Error Checking feature.

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Summary (continued)

The Goal Seek feature can perform a “what-if” analysis based on a single function.

The Scenario Manager performs a “what-if” analysis and lets you view the results based on changing several cells of data.

You can view scenarios in the scenario summary.

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Summary (continued)

Data from multiple worksheets can be totaled using the Consolidate feature.

A one-way data table shows various results for a function within a range of cells.

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