Advance Spreadsheet Skills

LESSON: BASIC FUNCTIONS

LEVEL: BEGINNER

CONTENTS:
6 Standard Function Syntax
12 Basic Numerical Functions
23 The AutoSum & Quick Analysis Feature
26 The Insert Function Tool
30 Editing & Deleting Functins
It’s time to turn your spreadsheet up a notch.
Learning functions greatly expands the possibilities of
what can be done in Excel.
 This presentation introduces you to basic Excel
function syntax and usage, and runs through some
basic mathematical functions.
By the end of this presentation you can:

 calculate sum, max, min, average & count with functions

 make calculations quickly with the AutoSum Feature

 Use the Insert Function tool to insert any function in Excel

 This table shows test results for 10 students.
Let’s use mathematical functions to analyse the results.
 1. Equals Sign

There are three basic parts to any function:

The equals sign tells Excel that it should calculate the cell’s value
 2. Function Name

The function name tells Excel what task it will be performing.

 3. Function Arguments

The arguments tell Excel what values it should perform the task on.
Enter these by typing the address, clicking the cells or using arrow
 3. Function Arguments

You can input function arguments using cell or range addresses.

This example refers to four cells: B2, C2, D2 & E2.
As you start to type the function, Excel’s AutoComplete makes
suggestions:
Let’s use the Count function to see how many tests each student has
sat. Count() counts the number of non-empty cells in the range you
 I’ve copied down the functions to other students.
If you don’t know how to do this, then ignore this. We’ll cover this
The Sum() function adds up the arguments you give it.
And Min() calculates the minimum:
Average() calculates… you guessed it… the average of the inputs.
Average() ignores blank cells in its calculation.
Functions will update automatically as the inputs change:
We’ve used a colon (:) to use arguments in a continuous range.
To refer to cells/ranges separately, split them up with a comma.
For example, the above function does the same thing as before.
You can use any combination of cell references, values, formulas
or other functions as arguments in a function:
To insert many formulas at once, highlight all the cells you want, type in
the first formula then click CTRL + Enter. Excel
Excel inputs all the formulas based on their respective
arguments.
AutoSum & Quick Analysis
The AutoSum tool makes it easy to quickly enter basic
functions.
 A new feature is the Quick Analysis tool.
Highlight the relevant cells, click the box that appears, then click
The Insert Function Tool
The Insert Function tool helps find any of Excel’s in-built
functions.
The pop-up has all Excel functions grouped by category, and a search
tool.
When you choose a formula, Excel helps you input the arguments and gives
more information. This is slower, but useful for functions you don’t know
Editing and Deleting Functions
Excel shows the results of the calculation in the cell, but shows the
underlying function in the formula bar.
To edit the function, double click in the cell, press F2 or click in the formula
bar to edit with the cursor.
 To delete function(s), select the cell(s) and press Delete.
Now the cell can be used as normal for another formula, value, or
You can also use the Insert Function tool to edit functions which already
exist in a cell.
Functions are very powerful and customizable. You
can create custom functions to perform specific
tasks.
This is a more advanced topic and will be covered
later.