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About Bob Ryan
Robert F. Ryan, MBA, CPA is an independent business consultant, educator, writer and finance leader in a Fortune 50 multinational company. He has a passion for simplicity, quality, efficiency and a unique ability to explain things to people so they understand quickly and thoroughly. He's worked with spreadsheets extensively for almost thirty years including VisiCalc, Lotus 1-2-3 and Excel.
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FREE WORKBOOK TO RECORD ACTUALS AND BUDGET, AND COMPARE ACTUALS VS BUDGET
In honor of Spreadsheet Day, 2011, I’ve prepared a workbook where a person with minimal knowledge of Excel can enter amounts they actually earned and spent, enter a budget for a month, and have Excel automatically show them a comparison of actual amounts versus budget amounts as well as show actual trends. ... read more to learn about and download the free Actuals vs Budget workbook
INTRODUCING "EX" FILES; ENSURING ACCURATE RESULTS WITH SUM
When I learn an Excel feature that I think is powerful but I’m not confident I’ll remember how to use it, or I find a way to help people learn a particular Excel feature or concept and want to remember it, I make up a simple example, and save it in an “ex” file. “Ex” is short for “Example,” and I have a bunch of them. Today, we’re going to talk about a more error free way of using the SUM function, although the solution can be applied to a number of other functions, and we’re going to use an “ex” file to demonstrate both the problem and solution ... read more about the ex files
THINGS THAT CAN GO WRONG WITH FREEZE PANES... AND HOW TO FIX THEM
In my book, I stick to solutions that work. But when I teach an Excel course, I take time to point out things that can go wrong. For example, has your screen ever had crosshairs in the middle like the ones shown in the file named Freeze Panes Problems-1? Or, have you ever opened a spreadsheet and tried to move down the spreadsheet using either the scroll bar or keyboard down arrow but nothing seemed to happen ... read more about fixing "freeze panes" problems
TIPS FOR DESIGNING SPREADSHEETS: PART 2
When recording amounts, I (generally) record those amounts in a single column. For example, if I’m responsible for keeping track of the cash received for the “Fun Day”, I’ll design my spreadsheet with four columns: Activity, Start Time, Stop Time, and Amount. By designing the spreadsheet in this way, I can use Excel’s powerful summarization and reporting features ... more of tips part 2
Simply Learning Excel 2007
Price: $16.95
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“You’ll quickly learn the Excel essentials by following Bob’s hands-on guide. He cuts out the fluff and takes you to the heart of Excel, with real-life examples and practical advice.”
Debra Dalgleish
Microsoft Excel MVP
Owner, Contextures.com
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