Expand your Excel proficiency with data analysis and business automation courses. You’ll master formulas and visualization to drive efficiency and insights.
Become proficient in Microsoft Excel and go from beginner to pro with our hands-on Excel Bootcamp. Learn functions, formulas, Pivot Tables, macros, and time-saving techniques to conquer all the key skills needed to excel in Excel.
Join us for a beginner Excel workshop where you'll learn the essentials of Microsoft Excel, including calculations, basic functions, graphs, formatting, and printing. This comprehensive course is perfect for those with limited experience looking to expand their proficiency.
Learn intermediate Excel functions like VLOOKUP and SUMIFS, and how to summarize data with Pivot Tables, Sort & Filter databases, and split and join text. Gain the skills needed to utilize complex Excel functions and prepare for more advanced training.
Learn advanced Excel functions, macros, and data analysis to improve efficiency and manage complex data in any job setting. This advanced course is ideal for Excel power-users.
In this hands-on course, learn how to automate repetitive tasks in Microsoft Excel using VBA programming. Develop macros, custom commands, and new worksheet functions to streamline your Excel workflow and increase productivity.
Boost your resume with a Microsoft Excel Certification. Our program offers three courses, private training, the Specialist Exam fee with free retake, lifetime access to Excel video courses, and free exam proctoring.
Developed by Microsoft, Excel is a versatile spreadsheet software used around the world for organizing data and performing financial analysis. It’s one of the most popular computer applications in the professional world, and virtually everyone can benefit from knowing Excel. This software is used in finance and accounting for budgeting, forecasting, and analysis, but can also be used in your personal life to track budgets, organize trip planning, and so much more. It supports various functions, formulas, and shortcuts to enhance productivity and efficiency, making it a vital tool.
Since the release of Excel 365 and Excel 2019, Microsoft has continued to provide the most popular, flexible business application across the globe. When used with other Office apps like PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook, Excel can adapt to nearly any business process. Excel continues to provide users with core features such as the ability to efficiently analyze and model data, create charts, and quickly identify key data points. In addition, this application now offers cutting-edge customization options, as well as the capability to use VBA to automate various operations.
In the time since Excel 1.0 was released in 1985, this application has transformed from a basic spreadsheet tool into a complex business intelligence and data analytics tool with an impressive assortment of features, functions, and tools to help users better manage data. Whether you have personal or professional goals in mind, learning Excel can help you achieve them.
Excel’s popularity is in part due to its versatility, so there’s a lot you can do with the software. It can help users of all skill levels organize their data, regardless of how much they happen to be working with. Additionally, a single Excel spreadsheet can be grouped with others to form a workbook. These workbooks can track data over time with a worksheet to represent each month of the year, day of the week, or task. Excel spreadsheets can hold numbers, dates, times, and formulas that calculate new data in adjacent columns.
You can also use Excel to perform basic mathematical functions like adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing numbers. These functions can be programmed to use specific cells or numeric values and are often used for budget management or calculating a final total. Going even further, you can use the software to perform basic statistics on data, including mean, average, mode, permutations, and quartiles.
Excel also has several advanced data analysis, processing, and visualization features. Users can automate significant calculations and tasks by building complex functions and macros within their spreadsheets, turn their spreadsheets into elaborate and functional databases, and use data visualization tools to transform raw data into charts, graphs, and maps. Professionals like Data Analysts can also use it to communicate information with stakeholders and other invested parties.
For each section, include the name of the skill you’ll learn and then write a paragraph explaining what that skill is and why it applies to Excel. Most of the focus should be on technical skills you’ll learn (for subjects like animation, graphic design, or data science, these should be things like After Effects, Photoshop, SQL, etc.), but at least one skill mentioned should be a ‘soft skill’ (programming teaches you logic, Photoshop teaches you composition).
Learning the foundational skills of Excel is crucial as they set you up to perform much more complex tasks in the future. There are five basic Excel functions that everyone should know:
Whether you’re keying in data yourself or importing data from another source, mastering data entry will be covered in Excel training. You’ll learn to navigate a spreadsheet, add new rows of data, and use the autofill handle to help save you time and energy when entering data.
Formatting changes the appearance of cells, including the font color, style, size, text alignment, and formatting effects of cells. In comparison, conditional formatting highlights specific values or cells based on certain conditions. For instance, you can change the appearance of a cell range based on a condition such as the value of the cell or the value of a formula in the cell. This can help make patterns and trends in data more obvious.
A Pivot Table is an interactive way to quickly summarize large amounts of data. You can use them to analyze numerical data in detail and answer unanticipated questions about your data. A Pivot Table is especially useful for querying large amounts of data in many user-friendly ways; subtotaling and aggregating numeric data, summarizing data by categories and subcategories, and creating custom calculations and formulas; expanding and collapsing levels of data to focus your results; moving rows to columns or columns to rows (or “pivoting”) to see different summaries of the source data; and much more.
Analyzing and visualizing data is important because it can help you understand your data, identify patterns and trends, make better decisions, improve communication, and save you time. It isn’t enough just to know your data; you also need to be able to represent that data in a clear, concise, and engaging visual format to the various stakeholders or partners that you work with.
Learning Excel can be challenging for those without previous experience in managing data or spreadsheets. Thankfully, though, mastering the initial basic skills is considered fairly easy regardless of experience. Plus, the more you use Excel, the more comfortable you’ll become with its functionality. Daily practice can help you quickly master beginner features and, eventually, even advanced features. Anyone can learn Excel with the right amount of commitment and passion to fuel their education.
Perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of learning Excel is combining multiple functions into a formula, also known as nested functions. You may also have trouble choosing the right function for a specific task. Additionally, data manipulation is an advanced skill that involves using complex formulas to change datasets. Examples include combining columns, extracting data, consolidating lists, and removing duplicate data, all of which will take time and practice to master.
How quickly you can learn Excel depends on two main factors: your previous experience and what skills you want to learn in Excel. You can learn the basics of Excel, like data entry and simple formulas, in 1–2 weeks with regular practice. If you’re looking to master intermediate skills like PivotTables and VLOOKUP, you can expect to take a bit longer, around one to two months of consistent learning. Advanced proficiency, including macros and complex data analysis, can take three to six months or more. As previously mentioned, these estimates will depend on your previous experience. If you’re familiar with data analytics, the basics of finance, or are well-versed in math, learning Excel may take less time. If you don’t have these pre-existing skills, don’t fret. A quality Excel training course will teach you everything you need to know in a concise amount of time.
There are many factors to consider when answering this question. Firstly, you’ll need to decide what learning environment is best suited for you. Do you excel in a collaborative environment that allows you to interact with your peers and receive instant feedback from your instructor? Or, do you prefer a more solitary learning environment, perhaps one where you can learn at your own speed?
You’ll also need to decide how much time you can commit to your education and what level of flexibility your schedule requires. Are you looking to dive deeply into an intensive program? Do you work full-time and require your classes to be scheduled for evening and weekend hours?
In-person classes offer face-to-face interaction with both your fellow students and your expert instructor. This collaborative environment is available for both full-time and part-time classes and provides structure and accountability, two things that can help you succeed. Online courses may lack this in-person interaction, but they make up for it with increased flexibility. Live virtual courses still offer instant feedback from your instructor and interactions with other students, while on-demand virtual training allows for the most flexibility since you can decide where and when you learn.
The good news is that, no matter which version you attend, you can obtain a quality data analytics education with a top-notch curriculum and expert instructors.
There are some additional skills and subjects to consider learning either alongside or after learning Excel. Complementary tools like VBA, Tableau, SQL, and Python can help enhance your data management and analysis skills further. A brief explanation of these tools is below:
Any of these tools will help expand your capabilities in Excel, taking your knowledge one step further.
Toronto is a highly desirable location for many, and it isn’t hard to see why. A beautiful landscape, a diverse and vibrant city, and plenty of professional opportunities make it a fun and exciting place to live and work. The top industries in Toronto are outlined below, each of which will need Excel experts to help them achieve their goals.
Toronto has the second-largest financial industry in North America and is the biggest financial center in Canada. Some of the nation’s largest banks, such as the Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank, Bank of Montreal, and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), are headquartered in Toronto. One in 12 jobs in the Toronto area is in financial services, and many of these will use Excel for financial modeling, budgeting, and forecasting.
The construction, rental, and housing market is the second-biggest industry in Toronto, which should come as no surprise since Toronto has the highest population among Canadian cities.
Home to Canada’s largest real estate agencies, the Toronto housing market has exploded due to an influx of new residents. In fact, 47% of Toronto’s population was born outside of Canada, causing a high demand for new homes, rental space, and affordable housing options. Excel can be used in real estate to store client information, track leads, and perform financial analysis.
Toronto’s tech industry is the fastest-growing tech sector in North America and has created more jobs than the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and Washington, DC combined. The city is also home to many digital media and video game producers, including Ubisoft, Zynga, and Gameloft.
Additionally, many IT directors also find Toronto-based managed service providers (MSPs) appealing, as they offer the same quality IT services as international firms, but at a more affordable price.
Toronto’s Discovery District is the densest biological research hub in the world, hosting over 30 different research medical facilities. Some of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies have sites in Toronto, too, including Pfizer and AstraZeneca, creators of two of the most popular COVID-19 vaccines. Many researchers and pharmaceutical companies benefit from being close to major medical device manufacturers, so Toronto’s thriving manufacturing scene provides a boost for the life sciences industry. Researchers and scientists will use Excel for data analysis, quantitative analysis, and visual representation of their results.
Excel is arguably one of the most popular tools for data tracking and analysis, so it comes as no surprise that it’s used in a wide variety of professional fields. A few of these are outlined below with general job descriptions and expected pay ranges included, to help give you an idea of how you can apply your Excel skills professionally.
Accountants are financial professionals who perform a variety of tasks to help businesses and individuals manage their finances. They use Excel to track cash flows, income statements, and tax returns to help keep businesses profitable. The average salary for an Accountant in Toronto is $60,244, slightly above the national average.
Existing in almost every industry, a Project Manager (PM) is responsible for the success of a project from start to finish. They work with stakeholders and clients to define the project’s concept and create a process that brings it to life. PMs use Excel to manage budgets and resources and make around $88,509 in Toronto.
Data Analysts gather, organize, and analyze data to help businesses make strategic decisions. They’ll use a variety of tools and methods to gather data from internal and external sources, like surveys, software, and data collection specialists. Data Analysts use Microsoft Excel to organize, interpret, and evaluate data with the help of PivotTables, conditional formatting, and VLOOKUP. An entry-level Data Analyst can make $68,261, while senior-level professionals can earn over six figures.
Cost Estimators collect and analyze data to assess the time, money, materials, and labor required to manufacture a product, construct a building, or provide a service. They use Excel to calculate estimates for the money, time, and labor needed to finish projects. The average salary of a Cost Estimator in Toronto is $82,630.
Attending an Excel class in person or online can help you become a master in no time. While Toronto currently has limited in-person offerings, make sure to check Noble Desktop’s classes near me often for updated listings. Below are a few of the top courses available, both online and in Toronto.
The three-day Excel Bootcamp from Noble Desktop will take you from beginner to pro as you progress through the three included courses. You’ll start with Excel Level I: Fundamentals, where you’ll learn the essentials, including calculations, basic functions, charts, formatting, and printing. You’ll then move on to Excel Level II: Intermediate, which covers more complex functions such as VLOOKUP and SUMIFS; summarize data with Pivot Tables; Sort and Filter databases; and split and join text. Finally, you’ll attend Excel Level III: Advanced, where you’ll master advanced database functions like INDEX and MATCH; create basic macros; and use What-If Analysis for Goal Seek and Data Tables. Each of these courses can also be taken on its own, so that you can find the best fit for your current level of knowledge.
Of course, you could attend each of these six-hour courses separately, going to the level you need. There are also two certification programs: the Excel Specialist Certification Program and the Excel Expert Certification Program. These offer training with the intent to get you prepared for the corresponding exams.
If you’re looking to offer Excel training to your office or team, Noble Desktop can help. They offer a variety of corporate training programs, including for Excel. You can also order vouchers for regular classes in bulk at a discount, choose which courses are available to employees, and even let your employees choose their own schedule.
With a top-notch customizable curriculum and instructors who are experts in their industries, Noble Desktop’s corporate training is designed to cater to your business or organization’s needs. For more information or to schedule a free consultation, you can reach out to Noble Desktop at corporate@nobledesktop.com.