Microsoft Excel is the leading spreadsheet application around the globe, with an estimated 750 million users. This industry-standard tool was created nearly four decades ago by Microsoft. In the time since, it’s been used by professionals across industries and professions to perform tasks like data management and entry, financial analysis and modeling, charting, accounting, customer relationship management, and task management. It’s also become a go-to tool for individuals doing personal bookkeeping or organizational tasks.
The information contained in Excel is stored in a spreadsheet, where it is organized into rows and columns that contain cells. Each cell contains one piece of data. Excel users can work with this app to arrange information such that the data they require can be easily retrieved and manipulated with the help of formulas and functions. This spreadsheet application remains popular because it can drastically improve workplace efficiency and make it much faster and more accurate to handle huge volumes of data. Whether it’s used to perform rudimentary calculations or assist with complex budgeting tasks, Excel users can perform recurring tasks like organizing data, unearthing patterns or averages, and organizing information much quicker than they would be able to do manually. Once the information in an Excel spreadsheet has been organized and analyzed, the data findings can be presented in the form of charts or graphs, which helps audience members from a non-technical background understand the data findings.
Today, nearly two-thirds of businesses use Excel to help with daily tasks. One of the main reasons Excel remains a popular tool is because the data from its spreadsheets can be used in various other Microsoft 365 applications, including PowerPoint, without having to re-enter information. This app’s advanced tools, including VBA and macros, are useful for automating repetitive tasks and creating complex formulas in mere minutes, tasks that would otherwise take many hours to complete. Excel skills are in-demand across industries. Those who know how to work with spreadsheets not only bring value to their current professional role by being more productive employees who make fewer errors but also contribute to their organization as a whole operating more smoothly.
What Can You Do with Excel Training?
Although Microsoft Excel has many applications for personal or professional use, it’s most commonly used in the business sector for tasks like performance reporting, HR management, and operations management. Organizations employ those with Excel training to perform tasks like gathering and verifying data, storing and organizing this information, and analyzing it. This spreadsheet app is a powerful tool for statistical analysis, budgeting and accounting-related tasks, project management, and account management. Those who work in education rely on this app to present information to students in a visual format that they can understand, as well as to keep records of student attendance and performance. Excel is especially useful for financial-related tasks, including expense tracking, budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, and loan calculation. It can also assist with inventory tracking and daily scheduling tasks. Spreadsheet skills are also useful for logging and tracking employees’ time.
In addition to its myriad professional uses, Excel remains popular in other settings as well. Students of all ages work with this spreadsheet tool to keep track of sources when writing term papers, organize mathematical information for reports, or budget time for studying for upcoming exams. Those who are throwing large events such as a wedding or graduation party, can use an Excel spreadsheet to create a seating chart to streamline this tedious task. Busy individuals can even work with Excel to make comprehensive to-do lists and track their progress as they check items off. This app has applications for managing and sorting long lists of names and contact information, which can help users keep track of mailing lists for campaigns or send invites to holiday parties. Excel skills can even assist with vacation planning tasks; its trip planner template helps those packing for a long trip store all their essential travel details, including airline information, budgeting details, and hotel accommodations.
What Will I Learn in an Excel Class?
If you live in Miami and want to get started learning Excel, you may not be sure what to expect from your studies. While it’s true that each class offers students a unique learning experience, and the content covered depends on the scope of the program, the level of difficulty, and the educational provider offering the class, there are several core spreadsheet skills you’re likely to encounter during your training. The following sections will take a closer look at some of the techniques, skills, and tools you can expect to learn when you enroll in an Excel class in Miami, as well as why they are important to acquire.
Formatting
Introductory-level Excel training is likely to begin by providing learners with instruction on how to navigate this app’s spreadsheet layout and how each part functions in a worksheet. The process of formatting begins by entering data into a cell, or individual Excel block. Each row and column in an Excel spreadsheet consists of many cells where individual pieces of data will be placed. Columns can be adjusted to be wider as needed to accommodate the data being entered. Within an individual cell, the information can be formatted as well, including its font, alignment, or even the background color given to the cell. Visual formatting cues play an integral role in helping Excel users easily spot important values. Excel formatting options include adding borders to cells, bolding values, or ensuring that the values within a range of cells are all uniform as numerical values, currencies, or date displays.
Basic Calculations & Formulas
When you enroll in a beginner-level Excel class in Miami, coursework will likely cover how to work with this app’s basic formulas and make common calculations. In Excel, formulas include basic mathematical commands that work with values in a predefined set of cells to generate a result. Excel users can use formulas for division, multiplication, subtraction, or addition rather than manually making these calculations. Formulas are used to perform tasks like AVERAGE, COUNT, or SUM. AVERAGE calculates the average value of the numbers contained in a range of cells; SUM adds cells’ values; and COUNT is used to determine the number of cells that contain numeric values that fall within a specified range of cells.
Macros
Those interested in taking their Excel skills beyond the basics can explore more complicated Excel tools, including how to work with macros. Macros are individual actions or commands, or sets of actions or commands, that can be created and recorded in Excel and run as many times as desired. Recording macros involves recording keystrokes and mouse strokes. Macros can be applied to any Excel task that is done repeatedly. Recording macros allows Excel users to automate any task or sequence of tasks they perform regularly, however simple or complicated the task is. Macros can be recorded for basic actions such as entering an organization’s contact information in a spreadsheet, as well as more involved tasks like designing custom reports. Excel users can also assign keyboard shortcuts to macros, which allows them to run macros with just a few keystrokes.
PivotTables
When enrolled in an Excel class in Miami, another core skill you’ll likely encounter is how to work with PivotTables. PivotTables are one of Excel’s most useful features and are used to summarize the data that are stored in a table. PivotTables provide a way for Excel users to transform huge datasets into an interactive summary of the information. Those who know how to create PivotTables can use them to provide a detailed analysis of numerical data, as well as find answers to unexpected data-related questions. PivotTables provide a way for Excel users to perform data calculations, as well as summarize and analyze this information in a manner that allows them to see trends, patterns, or comparisons in the data.
Organization
Whether it’s used for professional or personal tasks, Microsoft Excel skills help users become better organized. This popular spreadsheet application helps businesses of all sizes organize and manage their data in a tabular structure. This information can then be easily accessed and manipulated to perform tasks like managing financial records, tracking inventory, and storing sensitive information. The spreadsheet format where the data is stored consists of rows and columns that are easy to sort and filter. This structure helps Excel users easily view and study huge amounts of data that may otherwise be too difficult to conceptualize or understand. Excel skills not only help individuals with organizational tasks, but assist entire organizations in becoming better organized. This transferable skill extends beyond any single work project into a range of real-world applications, from personal bookkeeping tasks to vacation planning.
How Hard is It to Learn Excel?
The difficulty level associated with learning Excel depends on a range of factors, including your learning style, method of study, and ultimate goals of working with Excel. This spreadsheet app was created to be accessible to users of all ages, from high school students to Accountants handling complex financial information. This is why the challenges of learning Excel depend on the student’s background and ultimate goals using this application. Some individuals studied Excel decades ago while in school and haven’t used it since. Others work with spreadsheets daily at their current job and may be much more fluent with Excel’s interface and basic features. Those who work with Excel regularly will likely find it much faster and easier to learn new spreadsheet features and functions than those who haven’t interacted with this app in years.
While it can initially be challenging to learn how to work with Excel if you’re new to handling data or using spreadsheets, most users consider Excel’s interface fairly straightforward. Like any skill, it’s much easier and requires much less time to acquire Excel basic knowledge than it is to work with this app’s more advanced features like automating tasks with macros or working with VBA. Regardless of the level of Excel proficiency you’re ultimately hoping to acquire, an excellent way to expedite the learning process is to enroll in a class in Miami that provides live instruction. This supportive and engaging training format ensures you’ll be able to learn Excel basics and create a strong foundation before moving into more complex spreadsheet skills.
What Are the Most Challenging Parts of Learning Excel?
If Microsoft Excel is compared to a similar spreadsheet program like Google Sheets, some users consider it more challenging to learn because it has more features. Excel offers more features for statistical and data analysis than Google Sheets and similar programs and includes better tools for tasks like conditional formatting. Those who are new to Excel can find this software intimidating because there are more than 450 functions and 270 shortcuts. While these numbers may seem overwhelming, it’s important for Excel users to remember that they likely will not need to know most of these. Instead, they can structure their Excel studies around their specific spreadsheet needs, beginning with the basics and building from there. Like any new skill, studying Excel requires time and practice. The more time Excel users spend learning this app’s features, functions, and shortcuts, the easier it will be to perform tasks, and the time it will take them to do so will reduce drastically.
How Long Does It Take to Learn Excel?
Although the amount of time it takes to learn Excel depends on the individual’s learning process and their existing skill set, most individuals can acquire basic Excel proficiency in about 18-20 hours. Those who want to learn Excel should consider their motivation for learning this spreadsheet application before they begin working with it. Individuals who want to learn the basics of how to navigate a spreadsheet for personal purposes such as to keep track of addresses and phone numbers or perform basic budgeting tasks, likely won’t require extensive Excel training and can acquire core skills in just a few hours. However, those who are interested in fully mastering Excel for a new job or to complete a work project at their current position will likely require structured instruction. A sure way to learn Excel basics is to enroll in a bootcamp or certificate program in Miami, which provides real-world Excel training in a supportive, small-class environment. Regardless of whether you choose to learn Excel on your own or through guided coursework, it’s essential to practice. The more time you spend working with this app, the more proficient you’ll become with it.
Should I Learn Excel in Person or Online?
Once you’ve decided to learn Microsoft Excel, the next decision is what sort of class to select. Miami residents have many options available for learning this industry-standard spreadsheet application, either through in-person coursework or online content. The most interactive and engaging way to study Excel is through in-person classes. These courses take place at a designated training facility in or near Miami. Students use the provided computer lab, which has Excel already installed. In addition to learning from an instructor with industry experience creating spreadsheets, participants also benefit from the support of other students in the class. This learning environment can be a great way to network and make lasting professional connections. It’s important to consider that in-person Excel classes require that you live relatively close to a training facility and have reliable transportation to get to and from class for regularly scheduled meetings. This may be difficult for those who live far from Miami or don’t have access to a car.
Live online Excel classes are a great alternative to in-person coursework. These courses provide many of the same learning benefits and educational perks as in-person study but eliminate the need to commute to class every week. Students complete their training using a teleconferencing platform like Zoom and can do so from any location with a strong internet connection. Since these classes take place in real-time, participants can ask questions as necessary and even opt to give the instructor permission to share their screen for additional support. Because live online Excel classes take place synchronously, learners who opt for this type of training will need to commit to attending classes that meet regularly. This type of training, therefore, may be prohibitive for those who have busy work schedules or are juggling a range of extracurricular commitments in addition to work.
Can I Learn Excel Free Online?
Because Excel is the most popular spreadsheet application available, many free online resources are available to help learners work with this tool:
Noble Desktop provides learners with a range of helpful Excel tutorials and articles, as well as video content on the Ten Beginner Excel Tricks You Need to Know.
DataCamp's free Introduction to Excel video provides learners with 13 videos and 36 exercises that cover basic Excel concepts, including how to navigate the Excel interface, perform basic functions, and create a range of visualizations to depict data findings.
Microsoft offers Excel Video Training content for those interested in learning the basics of how to use this application. Material is posted on topics like charts, tables, rows and columns, PivotTables, Power Query, and formulas.
Those interested in introductory-level Excel content can find it with Udemy. This provider offers introductory-level, free tutorials and videos that range from thirty minutes to ten hours on a range of pertinent Excel skills and topics like Excel for accounting and Excel features all Analysts should know.
Free online Excel resources are a great place to start learning this industry-standard spreadsheet application. They provide a low-stakes opportunity to learn basics without having to invest hundreds of dollars on more comprehensive bootcamp programs or certificates. However, it’s important to keep in mind that since so much content is posted online, it varies in quality. Learners should evaluate the free resources they select to ensure they’re current and are offered by a reputable provider. While free online Excel training material can be a great starting point in your Excel learning journey, most individuals who need to learn more than basic spreadsheet functions will ultimately benefit from enrolling in a live class to fully master this application’s full functionality.
What Should I Learn Alongside Excel?
Excel is a core tool for aspiring Data Analysts. The more knowledge you have of the data analytics process, the easier it will be to apply your Excel skills to the larger process of helping your organization make sense of its data. For this reason, studying the basic steps of data analysis is useful for most Excel users. This involves first articulating a driving business question that will fuel the data collection process such as a specific problem that’s trying to be solved or a need the company currently has. Next, data must be gathered and stored. Excel spreadsheets are an excellent place to store this information. Then, it is cleaned and prepared. The next step of the data analytics process involves analyzing the data using techniques like machine learning, deep learning, or natural language processing. Once the data has been analyzed, it’s shared with others in the form of data visualizations, which can be created with tools like Tableau or Excel.
Since advanced Excel training typically involves knowledge of VBA, Excel’s built-in programming language, another skill set some data professionals acquire alongside their Excel studies is knowledge of programming languages like Python and SQL. SQL, which is short for Structured Query Language, is a coding language used to communicate with the data contained in relational databases. SQL helps users store, retrieve, and analyze data without having to search through hundreds or even thousands of sheets or tables. It can be a powerful tool for those who want to move beyond Excel and access huge volumes of data. Python is another core programming language that complements Excel for data-related roles. Professionals like Data Scientists and Analysts often use Python for tasks like automation or machine learning. One of the reasons Excel users may find it helpful to learn this language is because its code can be used to analyze huge datasets directly from Excel.
Industries That Use Excel
Microsoft Excel is among the most widely used professional tools across industries and professions. Those with knowledge of how to work with spreadsheets can use their expertise in many prominent industries in Miami, including finance, tourism, and media and telecommunications. The following sections will examine the important role Excel training plays in these core sectors.
Finance
Although Miami isn’t necessarily the first place that pops into one’s mind as a financial hub, Florida has been attracting top-tier financial firms at a fast rate. Miami is home to many such institutions, including the City National Bank of Florida. Since 2020, major players like The Blackstone Group, Goldman Sachs Group, and Icahn Capital Management have all relocated offices to the city. Miami is now being hailed as the “Wall Street of the South” by some. It also has the largest concentration of international banks in the country. Those who work in finance use Microsoft Excel on a regular basis to perform many important, recurring tasks. This application is a staple tool for Finance professionals who need to organize data and execute basic mathematical functions on this information. Its analytics and visualization capabilities allow Finance professionals like Financial Analysts to quickly and easily transform vast amounts of financial data into charts and graphs that depict essential information like deposits or payments. Additionally, Excel spreadsheets provide a way for those in Finance to stay on top of the most current investment trends and keep this information organized and readily accessible.
Tourism
Another core Miami industry in which Excel skills are useful is tourism. The city’s year-round sunny weather, its world-class beaches, and its vibrant nightlife and diverse culinary scene are just a few of the reasons tourists from around the globe flock to Miami every season. The greater Miami area is the cruise capital of the world and has two major airports. In 2020, Tripadvisor ranked Miami as the seventh-best destination in the country to visit. The city’s cruise industry alone generates nearly $7 billion each year for the Miami economy. Within the tourism industry, Excel has a range of applications for restaurants, hotels, and travel agencies. Those who work in hospitality and tourism use this staple tool for tasks like tracking inventory, managing guest lists, monitoring task completion, and managing financial information. Miami-based restaurants that cater to tourists must regularly update inventory spreadsheets to ensure they have enough of the ingredients and products necessary to meet customer needs. Travel agents, too, use Excel to perform tasks like automating voucher creation, providing customers with customized itineraries, and keeping on top of incoming travel requests.
Media & Telecommunications
Approximately 70% of those who live in Miami speak Spanish. Because of its diverse culture, Miami is a hub for Spanish-language media. Industry giants like Telemundo, Univision, Universal Music Latin Entertainment, and Sony Music Latin each have headquarters in the city. Within the media and telecommunications sector, Excel skills are useful for performing organizational tasks, including keeping track of media contact information, areas of coverage, or names of journalists.
Excel Job Titles and Salaries
Because Excel is so widespread across industries and professions, career paths for those with Excel training are available in nearly every Miami sector. Salaries vary significantly for those with training in this spreadsheet application. The following sections will briefly explore three potential career paths in Miami for those with Excel expertise, as well as the corresponding salaries for each role and basic job requirements.
Accountant
One of the core requirements to become an Accountant is knowledge of how to use Excel. Accountants are tasked with managing many types of financial statements such as income statements, tax returns, and cash flow documents. These professionals must keep these numbers organized and ensure they are easily accessible. Without the help of spreadsheet software like Excel, this would be a difficult and time-consuming task. Excel allows Accountants to organize their data into columns and rows so that key information can be retrieved simply with a command. Excel functions and formulas perform all the required math directly in the spreadsheet, which ensures accuracy and convenience. Miami-based Accountants make a yearly salary of about $60,000.
Project Manager
It’s common for Project Managers to work with Cost Estimators who use Excel to provide cost estimates for projects and to use spreadsheets on their own for other professional tasks. These professionals use Excel to keep track of financial information, create reports, organize vendor data, and monitor daily operations to ensure projects are completed at a timely pace and adhere to budget constraints. The average salary for a Miami-based Project Manager is approximately $109,000 a year.
Administrative Assistant
Administrative Assistants work with spreadsheets on a daily basis. These professionals use Excel for tasks like organizing professional documents, scheduling appointments, keeping track of requests for vacation time, and storing employee information like email addresses or telephone numbers. Excel plays such an integral role for Administrative Assistants who many employers require job applicants to pass an Excel test as part of their application. Administrative Assistants in Miami earn around $44,000 yearly.
Retail Manager
Retail Managers work with Excel spreadsheets for many daily tasks like payroll, scheduling employee vacation days, and keeping track of sick days. This application also helps them store sales records and monitor inventory. Excel skills are also essential for organizing employee salary information and keeping track of when individuals clock in and out for work. Retail Managers in Miami earn about $75,000 a year.
Business Analyst
Excel’s core functions and features help Business Analysts execute a range of daily tasks. This spreadsheet app is used to format data in an understandable way so that the most important information is readily accessible and clutter or extraneous information in worksheets isn’t distracting. A large amount of data is collected in the business sector pertaining to product sales, website traffic, supply spending, or insurance claims. Excel helps Business Analysts uncover important data patterns in these numbers. In addition, since the field of business analytics is largely collaborative, these professionals often must share their data findings with others who work on their team, in other departments, or are external to the organization. Excel’s collaboration features allow users to share workbooks in real-time, which ensures that all parties have access to the most current worksheet information. Excel is also a powerful tool for automating repetitive tasks. Its programming language, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), allows Business Analysts to create macros that can perform repetitive actions in seconds. On average, a Business Analyst in Miami makes a yearly salary of $74,000.
Excel Classes Near Me
If you want to learn more about Microsoft Excel, you can search for Excel classes in Miami to find the learning option most suited to your professional needs. In the following sections, several local class offerings will be discussed, as well as the basic concepts and skills taught in each program.
If you’re interested in learning the ins and outs of Microsoft Excel, you can gain hands-on training in Noble Desktop’s Excel Bootcamp. This comprehensive program provides you with the instruction needed to take your spreadsheet skills from beginner to advanced over the course of several days. In the first portion of this bootcamp, you’ll learn core Excel skills, including how to work with basic functions, formatting, charts, calculations, and printing. Next, you’ll delve into more complicated functions, including SUMIFS, VLOOKUP, and PivotTables. The final component of this class covers concepts like INDEX, MATCH, and other advanced database functions, as well as how to create basic macros. This class is taught live online or in-person in New York City. All learners receive a free course retake for a full year as part of tuition.
In addition to bootcamp training in Excel, Noble Desktop also has coursework devoted entirely to introductory-level spreadsheet training. Its Excel Level I: Fundamentals is a great learning option for those looking to learn a range of core Excel skills such as how to create basic graphs, format worksheets and workbooks, and perform core calculations. In this comprehensive introductory-level class, you’ll complete practical exercises that include real-world examples in which you will have the opportunity to apply the concepts you’re learning. This class is intended for individuals with no prior experience working with Excel or who have limited training and want to become more proficient with this industry-standard application. All learners can access a companion video suite of beginner-friendly tutorials and video lessons as part of tuition. This class comes with a free retake option for one full year. Instruction is provided in-person in NYC or live online.
Certstaffix Training offers Excel—Dashboards for those interested in acquiring hands-on training in intermediate-level Excel skills, including how to create advanced worksheets and workbooks and use them to make dashboards. Coursework covers topics like how to work with PivotTables, analyze data using functions and formulas, create data visualizations, and present visual insights using Excel’s dashboards. This class is taught live online; participants can complete their studies remotely or use the computer lab that’s provided in Ft. Lauderdale. This intermediate-level program includes a free course retake for up to six months.
In The Academy’s Analyzing Data with Excel, participants focus on how to transfer raw data from spreadsheets into Microsoft Power BI, where it can be analyzed. This course moves beyond Excel basics into tasks like modeling data, publishing reports, adding text boxes, visualizing data, and working with master colors. Those enrolled also explore real-world issues pertaining to sharing Excel data and publishing their findings. By the end of this program, those enrolled will be able to use Excel to create their own Power BI dashboard. This advanced-level class is available in-person in Miami.
Ledet Training offers Microsoft Excel 501—Microsoft Excel Bootcamp for those interested in gaining hands-on training in both beginner as well as advanced spreadsheet skills. Students acquire knowledge of basic Excel concepts and skills, including how to work with tables, charts, formulas, and hotkeys. Instruction is then provided on how to work with PivotTables, data validation, and LOOKUPs. The advanced component of this class teaches those enrolled how to create macros for automating simple tasks, use advanced features of PivotTables, and use INDEX-MATCH. This class is available live online or in-person in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
Those who are interested in intermediate-level Excel coursework can enroll in NYIM Training’s Intermediate Excel for Business. This comprehensive class is designed to take Excel basic training even further. Students receive instruction on how to split and join text, work with IF statements, sort and filter data, and use PivotTables. All learners have access to supporting video tutorials as part of tuition and can retake this class for free for up to a year. Coursework is available live online. As a prerequisite, attendees should have beginner-level Excel training equal to that provided in NYIM Training’s Excel Fundamentals class, which includes printing, formatting, and knowledge of basic tables and charts.
Excel Corporate Training
If the employees at your workplace would benefit from learning how to work with Excel spreadsheets or mastering this app’s more advanced features and functions, Noble Desktop can help. Noble can provide onsite and corporate Excel training at your location in Miami or live online. Beginner, intermediate, and advanced-level Excel training is available, as well as coursework that focuses on how to use this popular spreadsheet application’s built-in programming language, VBA, to automate repetitive business tasks. Noble can also customize the coursework it provides so that the training provided to your employees most suits their unique needs. Flexible course offerings are available at night and on weekends to ensure that those at your workplace can fit in their Excel studies around other professional or personal commitments, including busy work schedules. All classes are taught in real-time by an expert instructor with industry experience using Excel for business-related tasks.
If you’d like to train multiple employees in Excel, you can purchase bulk vouchers at a discounted price, which can be used for attendance in Noble’s regular classes. To find out more about the exciting and useful Excel training options Noble has available, don’t hesitate to contact Noble today.