Maximize Excel: Inventory Tracking

CPE Credit: 2 hours

In this presentation, CPA and author of Microsoft 365 Excel for Dummies, David H. Ringstrom demonstrates practical techniques for tracking, managing, and analyzing inventory with Excel. You’ll learn how to build an inventory tracker from the ground up, manage inventory lists using Excel tables, highlight low-stock conditions with conditional formatting, flag reorder points with formulas, and summarize inventory data with PivotTables. The session emphasizes efficient, repeatable workflows that help ensure inventory data remains accurate, visible, and easy to maintain.
 
David demonstrates every technique at least twice: first on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps, and then live in Excel for Windows using the subscription-based Microsoft 365 version. Differences between Microsoft 365 and earlier perpetual versions of Excel (2021, 2019, and earlier) are clearly identified during the session and reinforced in the accompanying handouts. Participants also receive an Excel workbook containing many of the examples used in the presentation.
 
Who should attend:
Excel users responsible for tracking inventory, including accounting, operations, and small business professionals.
 
Topics typically covered:
 
• Creating a table to prep for summarizing data with PivotTables or Power Pivot.
 
• Adding columns to PivotTables and refreshing to reflect changes.
 
• Incorporating decisions into calculations with Excel's IF function.
 
• Expanding conditional formatting from a single column to a multiple columns.
 
• Filtering list entries based on colors you apply manually or with Conditional Formatting.
 
• Displaying, scanning, and printing barcodes from Excel or Word.
 
• Minimizing ongoing spreadsheet maintenance with Excel’s Table feature.
 
• Filtering tables quickly using the Slicer feature.
 
Learning objectives:
 
• Define the purpose of Excel's Slicer feature.
 
• Identify the menu that contains the Clear Filters command.
 
• Demonstrate how to add and arrange fields in a PivotTable using the PivotTable Field List.