Presented by David H. Ringstrom, CPA
 
In this presentation, author and Excel expert David H. Ringstrom, CPA, will guide you through various topics to enhance your accounting report automation using Excel. Learn how to clean up your reports using Excel's Macro recorder to filter data efficiently, delete unnecessary rows, convert text to columns, apply number formatting, calculate percentages of sales, and then stop recording. Discover the best practices for saving workbooks containing macros and managing macro security notification prompts. You'll then see why you don't necessarily need to use macros because you can create code-free automation solutions with Power Query. David will show you how to make refreshable connections to reports that you can transform by filtering rows and making other changes, and return the results to Excel, where you can add supplemental formulas as needed. Don't miss out on this opportunity to streamline your accounting reports and save valuable time.
 
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:
Professionals seeking to use Microsoft Excel more effectively.
 
Topics typically covered:
 
• Preserving macros by saving workbooks in the XLSM format versus the default XLSX format.
 
• Making sense of the Enable Content prompt related to macros in Excel.
 
• Using Filter to exclude totals and blank rows from exported data.
 
• Replacing fixed ranges in recorded macros with dynamic references.
 
• Capturing steps relative to the active cell to fix placement issues.
 
• Verifying that relative references make the macro function correctly.
 
• Setting refresh options to control background updates and speed up data loading.
 
• Starting the macro recorder and preparing the exported report for automation.
 
Learning objectives:
 
• Recall the Excel menu that contains the Record Macro command.
 
• Recall which command in Power Query enables you to return a data set back to an Excel workbook or data connection.
 
• Define the purpose of Excel’s Trusted Documents feature.