About this course
Understand the bookkeeping cycle from transactions to basic financial statements. Lessons include categorization habits, reconciliations, and common founder mistakes to avoid.
Hands-on exercises use realistic sample data so you can demonstrate skills in interviews or freelance engagements. No prior accounting degree is required.
Syllabus
- Module 1: Foundations & Expectations – Overview of the spreadsheet interface, basic navigation, and workshop goals.
- Workbook Navigation & Formatting – Best practices for organizing data, using freeze panes, shortcut keys, and formatting cells cleanly.
- Core Excel Formulas – Essential mathematical functions including
SUM,AVERAGE,COUNT, and relative vs. absolute cell referencing. - Logical Functions – Practical application of
IF,AND, andORstatements to automate basic decision-making logic. - Module 2: Guided Practice & Feedback – Hands-on exercise sessions applying concepts to real-world scenarios with direct feedback.
- Data Search & Lookups – Mastering
VLOOKUP,XLOOKUP, andINDEX/MATCHto combine and retrieve data across sheets. - Data Cleaning Techniques – Handling missing data, removing duplicates, and using text functions (
TRIM,CONCAT,LEFT,RIGHT). - Conditional Formatting – Highlighting trends, outliers, and key status updates visually based on custom rules.
- Data Validation Tools – Creating drop-down lists and setting input restrictions to maintain data consistency.
- Module 3: Final Assignment & Next Steps – Completing a practical end-of-course project and preparing reusable templates.
- PivotTables & Summaries – Aggregating large datasets efficiently to summarize metrics without complex formulas.
- Basic Business Visualization – Creating clear column, bar, and line charts tailored for administrative and executive reports.
- Building Reusable Reports – Designing structured spreadsheets that can be updated effortlessly with new periodic data.
- Portfolio & File Sharing – Preparing downloadable sample files to attach to job applications as proof of capability.
