Excel spreadsheets are found in every corner of every business. But are they always the right tool to use? Here we look at the benefits of using spreadsheets in banking and finance roles, and how we can help you to upskill your employees.
The benefits of spreadsheets
The main benefits and tools used with a spreadsheet package in banking and finance roles are:
Shortcut keys
In common with many other programmes, spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel has dozens of built-in shortcut keystrokes that can speed up work, easing your team’s workload. Rather than reaching for the computer mouse and clicking on icons, most tasks can be accomplished without moving one’s hands away from the keyboard. The best-known combinations are probably Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X and Ctrl+V (Copy, Cut, and Paste), but these are just the tip of a vast iceberg.
Quick access toolbar
Aside from shortcut keys, the quick access toolbar provides customisable direct access to all of Excel’s features. Some features, such as the Camera tool which can only be accessed through the quick access toolbar (where you can capture a quick snapshot of any range of data, graph, or table and paste it as a linked picture, which automatically updates when the source data changes).
Formulas and functions
Whether you are extracting data or naming cells, there are plenty of handy formulas and functions that can completely transform the way that you use spreadsheets in the workplace. You may be familiar with the basic functions, such as Sum, Average, Count, Counta, Max and Min.
Yet, very few users make use of all the functions that Excel offers, and some are obscure and difficult to understand, but many of the less familiar ones aren’t that tricky to master and add much useful firepower to the Excel arsenal. For example, more advanced functions (ie. If, Countif, Sumif, Sumproduct) build in the ability to make calculations conditional on cell contents, thereby vastly increasing the flexibility of spreadsheets.
In a finance role, if your employees need to extract particular values from tables of data (for example obtaining a postcode and discount code from a file of customers based on a reference number), several lookup functions can be taught to enhance productivity. As well as this, there are lots of tools available for defining and using names in cells to keep the workspace organised.
Features
Besides the multitude of available functions, Excel has masses of features that are accessible through the system of menus. Some of these features are concerned with appearance, while others can organise data and present this in a structured way.
Charts and graphs can easily be created, allowing data to be understood visually - a picture is, after all, worth a thousand words (or numbers). Features like PivotTables take flexible data analysis to a completely different level. What-if analysis tools, like Goal Seek and Data Tables, let users quickly see the impact of key input changes to calculations on the model’s outputs.
Some examples of the ways you can format cells and their contents are:
- Colour formatting
- Number formatting (including dates and times)
- Conditional formatting (this can be both simple or much more elaborate)
- Charting (making sense of data visually)
- Organising/analysing data (sorting, filtering, grouping subtotalling)
- PivotTables and PivotCharts
With the easy-to-navigate formats, employees will be able to steadily work through their tasks with little complications.
Link related data
For tasks like cash flow, where you need to connect the actual balance in the bank at the end of last month to the opening balance for this month, linking worksheets together proves to be extremely useful.
Want to find out more?
If you’re looking to upskill your staff, we have some great courses available ranging from beginner to advanced levels in Excel.
- Introduction to Excel Functionality
- Financial Statement Analysis using Excel
- Introduction to Financial Modelling with Excel
- Corporate Valuation using Excel
- Three Statement Modelling and Valuation
- Mergers and Acquisitions, and Leveraged Buyout Modelling
- Advanced Financial Modelling
- Bank Modelling and Valuation
These courses are all tutor-led. We can also shape this around your organisation’s objectives and deliver to teams so that your employees are more confident and ready to apply what they have learnt.
Upskill your workplace with our Excel for Financial Modelling course.