Category: Going Concern Articles

Jan 25

Use Excel to Keep an Eye on Your BMI This Busy Season

by David Ringstrom,CPA
 
Let’s assume that you’ve bought into the quantified-self craze. Your wearable technology measures every breath you take and every move you make, so now it's time for new frontiers, as in something other than the fast food drive-thru lane. It’s always easiest to start with low-hanging fruit, such as your co-workers. Body Mass Index is a snap to calculate with Excel. You’re just two simple measurements and a worksheet function away. You’ll make Professor Don Tillman proud.
Continue reading on www.goingconcern.com.
About the author:

David H. Ringstrom, CPA, heads up Accounting Advisors, Inc., an Atlanta-based software and database consulting firm providing training and consulting services nationwide. Contact David at david@acctadv.com or follow him on Twitter. David speaks at conferences about Microsoft Excel and presents webcasts for several CPE providers, including AccountingWEB partner CPE Link.

Oct 30

How to Convert Spreadsheets to PDF With the Push of Button

by David Ringstrom,CPA
 
So you regularly create spreadsheet masterworks, but the thought of sharing the details of your genius makes you break out in hives. One way to separate the outputs from your inputs is to save spreadsheets as a PDF file. It’s not hard to do so by way of the File menu, if you don’t mind a generous helping of carpal tunnel on the side. Reclaim part of your day by creating an icon that will let you PDF any spreadsheet with ease. As an added bonus, you’ll get a keyboard shortcut that’ll help out on those bad mouse days.
Continue reading on www.goingconcern.com.
About the author:

David H. Ringstrom, CPA, heads up Accounting Advisors, Inc., an Atlanta-based software and database consulting firm providing training and consulting services nationwide. Contact David at david@acctadv.com or follow him on Twitter. David speaks at conferences about Microsoft Excel and presents webcasts for several CPE providers, including AccountingWEB partner CPE Link.

Sep 12

Excel Can Help You Choose Where to Get a Meaty Lunch

by David Ringstrom,CPA
 
The Internet’s viral sensation of August 2014 was an off-menu Arby’s sandwich known as the “Meat Mountain.” For the low, low price of $10 you can get a stack of eight meats and two cheeses. I think even PETA has been too shocked to respond. And what exactly does this have to do with Microsoft Excel? I’m going to help you use two worksheet cells to create a clickable link to your nearest purveyor of said Meat Mountain. I’ll then show you how to create clickable links to more relevant information, such as property tax bills, or specific locations within a workbook.
Continue reading on www.goingconcern.com.
About the author:

David H. Ringstrom, CPA, heads up Accounting Advisors, Inc., an Atlanta-based software and database consulting firm providing training and consulting services nationwide. Contact David at david@acctadv.com or follow him on Twitter. David speaks at conferences about Microsoft Excel and presents webcasts for several CPE providers, including AccountingWEB partner CPE Link.

Aug 28

Hasten Your Departure with Pre-written Resignation Letter

by David Ringstrom,CPA
 
Are you ready to pull the plug on your current gig, but feel intimidated by that blinking cursor at the top left-hand corner of a Word document? Microsoft Word has you covered with an array of prewritten letters of resignation. Yes, we here at Going Concern are always here to serve you.
Continue reading on www.goingconcern.com.
About the author:

David H. Ringstrom, CPA, heads up Accounting Advisors, Inc., an Atlanta-based software and database consulting firm providing training and consulting services nationwide. Contact David at david@acctadv.com or follow him on Twitter. David speaks at conferences about Microsoft Excel and presents webcasts for several CPE providers, including AccountingWEB partner CPE Link.

Mar 27

Excel-lent April Fool’s Day Pranks

by David Ringstrom, CPA

You know the feeling—some days Excel totally has a mind of its own. Fortunately rebooting your computer will get Excel back in line again. If not, your next course of action is to install the latest service packs for Excel 2013, Excel 2010, Excel 2007, or Excel 2003 (act fast if you’re still using this version, support ends April 8, 2014 and you're only a decade behind).

With that useful information out of the way, let’s see how you can punk your coworkers by making subtle changes to their Excel settings.  No, you’re not wasting company time, you’re testing your colleague’s Excel moxy. Feel free to charge prank time as “training” if necessary.

Continue reading article at www.goingconcern.com

 

About the author:

David H. Ringstrom, CPA heads up Accounting Advisors, Inc., an Atlanta-based software and database consulting firm providing training and consulting services nationwide. Contact David at david@acctadv.com  or follow him on Twitter. David speaks at conferences about Microsoft Excel, and presents webcasts for several CPE providers, including AccountingWEB partner CPE Link

Mar 19

Use Excel Your Way – Part 1

 

by David Ringstrom,CPA

 

If you’re like most users, your Excel options are as pristine as the day Excel was installed on your computer. This is akin to buying a car and never adjusting the position of the driver’s seat. Now, I hear that Caleb likes having his knees near his chin when he drives, but hopefully someday he’ll look for that little lever that will let him customize his car just a bit.

Here’s how to find your “seat adjustor” in the desktop versions of Excel:

  • Excel 2010/2013: Choose File, and then Options.
  • Excel 2007: Click the round button in the top-left corner of your screen known as the Office button, and then choose Excel Options.
  • Excel 2003: Really? You’re reading Going Concern and you’re still on Excel 2003? Fair enough. In your case, choose Tools, and then Options.
  • Excel for Mac 2011: Choose Excel, and then Preferences.

 

See www.goingconcern to read the rest of the article.

 

About the author:

David H. Ringstrom, CPA heads up Accounting Advisors, Inc., an Atlanta-based software and database consulting firm providing training and consulting services nationwide. Contact David at david@acctadv.com  or follow him on Twitter. David speaks at conferences about Microsoft Excel, and presents webcasts for several CPE providers, including AccountingWEB partner CPE Link

 

 

Mar 19

Become a Master of Excel From the Master of Excel

 

by David Ringstrom,CPA

 

Acknowledging a weakness is the first step toward converting deficits into strengths. Most likely the two Excel classes you took two or three years ago left you with only a rudimentary sense of what one can do with spreadsheets. The risks and opportunities in Excel lie in discovering its nuances. That's why I coined the phrase “Either you work Excel, or it works you.” The vast majority of spreadsheet users fall into the latter category.

You can turn the tide, but note that Malcolm Gladwell says it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert. James Altucher says it takes five years to reinvent yourself, which is in effect your goal. Others beg to differ. No matter who’s right, you’re clearly going to need some serious keyboard time if you want to pwn Excel. Between now and this fall, carry out every imaginable life task in Excel:

Make a grocery list
Track your workouts
Maintain a reading list
Build a personal budget
Plot your retirement

See the complete article on www.goingconcern.com

 

 

About the author:

David H. Ringstrom, CPA heads up Accounting Advisors, Inc., an Atlanta-based software and database consulting firm providing training and consulting services nationwide. Contact David at david@acctadv.com  or follow him on Twitter. David speaks at conferences about Microsoft Excel, and presents webcasts for several CPE providers, including AccountingWEB partner CPE Link