Sign-In
Cart
Avoid Excel Horror Stories: How to excel at creating reliable, user-friendly spreadsheets
Paperback
Investing & FinanceApplicationsGeneral Computers
Please select the version of book you would like to purchase.
ISBN10: 3982322715
ISBN13: 9783982322711
Publisher: Gary Knott
Published: Jun 26 2021
Pages: 242
Weight: 0.72
Height: 0.51 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
ISBN13: 9783982322711
Publisher: Gary Knott
Published: Jun 26 2021
Pages: 242
Weight: 0.72
Height: 0.51 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
NEARLY 90% OF SPREADSHEETS CONTAIN ERRORS AND MANY ARE ALSO HARD TO USE! Studies show that spreadsheet errors are commonplace. These can cause you huge losses of money, time and reputation. On top of that, spreadsheets are often poorly designed and constructed so that users have a hard time trying to understand and use them. The consequence is, they hinder rather than help you. Major causes are a lack of best practice training and insufficient error awareness. In this book, we address both these points. If you develop or use spreadsheets, this book is for you!
You will learn how to excel at creating reliable, user-friendly spreadsheets. You will:
+ learn Golden Ground Rules to make your spreadsheets easier to use and to minimise the risk of error
+ learn how errors can occur - largely based upon real-life horror stories - and how to avoid them
+ fill your tool bag with how2excel tips to help you and further improve your spreadsheets The book is packed with practical examples and screenshots to help you understand. You can also download free bonus material: Excel files containing all the examples in the book as well as a practical checklist to print out and refer to in your work. In chapter 1 'Be prepared', you will learn what to do before starting to develop a spreadsheet and how best to plan your work. In chapter 2 'Follow Gary's Golden Ground Rules', you will learn all five of my tried and tested Golden Ground Rules for spreadsheet development. Rules 1 to 3 cover clear spreadsheet structure, calculations and design. Rules 4 and 5 explain how to restrict access and changes to your spreadsheets and make it clear for users how to use them. Follow these to help ensure that your spreadsheets are easy to use and to avoid errors. In chapter 3 'Learn from horror stories', you will learn about more than 20 real-life spreadsheet errors which had significant, damaging consequences - largely financial but also reputational - for the organisations and the people involved. These horror stories are grouped into categories to get you better acquainted with the kinds of errors that occur. In each case, you will learn how such errors arise and practical techniques to avoid them. These are often illustrated with simple Excel examples to help you better understand them. As a bonus, these examples are all available in Excel files that you can download and review to further improve your understanding. In chapter 4 'Avoid common function errors', you will understand various errors that can arise when using common functions such as VLOOKUP, NPV and IFERROR and how to avoid them. At this point in the book, we end the focus on error prevention. Two additional steps are needed to weed out any errors which do manage to slip through, and you will learn these in the next two chapters. In chapter 5 'Detect errors', you will learn how to identify errors, in case prevention fails. You will learn my three-pronged approach to error detection: built-in checks, review and testing by the developer, and independent review and testing. In chapter 6 'Find and correct errors', you will learn how to find and correct errors, including those that you had not previously detected! This is a vital step that should not be underestimated or omitted if you want to be really sure that your spreadsheets are reliable. Finally, in chapter 7 'How to excel', you will find advice on how best to apply your new-found knowledge and also a useful checklist of all the major concepts from the book for you to use in your Excel work. As a bonus, you can download and printout a PDF of the checklist for easy reference.
+ learn Golden Ground Rules to make your spreadsheets easier to use and to minimise the risk of error
+ learn how errors can occur - largely based upon real-life horror stories - and how to avoid them
+ fill your tool bag with how2excel tips to help you and further improve your spreadsheets The book is packed with practical examples and screenshots to help you understand. You can also download free bonus material: Excel files containing all the examples in the book as well as a practical checklist to print out and refer to in your work. In chapter 1 'Be prepared', you will learn what to do before starting to develop a spreadsheet and how best to plan your work. In chapter 2 'Follow Gary's Golden Ground Rules', you will learn all five of my tried and tested Golden Ground Rules for spreadsheet development. Rules 1 to 3 cover clear spreadsheet structure, calculations and design. Rules 4 and 5 explain how to restrict access and changes to your spreadsheets and make it clear for users how to use them. Follow these to help ensure that your spreadsheets are easy to use and to avoid errors. In chapter 3 'Learn from horror stories', you will learn about more than 20 real-life spreadsheet errors which had significant, damaging consequences - largely financial but also reputational - for the organisations and the people involved. These horror stories are grouped into categories to get you better acquainted with the kinds of errors that occur. In each case, you will learn how such errors arise and practical techniques to avoid them. These are often illustrated with simple Excel examples to help you better understand them. As a bonus, these examples are all available in Excel files that you can download and review to further improve your understanding. In chapter 4 'Avoid common function errors', you will understand various errors that can arise when using common functions such as VLOOKUP, NPV and IFERROR and how to avoid them. At this point in the book, we end the focus on error prevention. Two additional steps are needed to weed out any errors which do manage to slip through, and you will learn these in the next two chapters. In chapter 5 'Detect errors', you will learn how to identify errors, in case prevention fails. You will learn my three-pronged approach to error detection: built-in checks, review and testing by the developer, and independent review and testing. In chapter 6 'Find and correct errors', you will learn how to find and correct errors, including those that you had not previously detected! This is a vital step that should not be underestimated or omitted if you want to be really sure that your spreadsheets are reliable. Finally, in chapter 7 'How to excel', you will find advice on how best to apply your new-found knowledge and also a useful checklist of all the major concepts from the book for you to use in your Excel work. As a bonus, you can download and printout a PDF of the checklist for easy reference.
Also in
General Computers
All Data Are Local: Thinking Critically in a Data-Driven Society
Loukissas, Yanni Alexander
Paperback
$45.00
Comptia Network+ Certmike: Prepare. Practice. Pass the Test! Get Certified!: Exam N10-008
Zacker, Craig
Chapple, Mike
Paperback
$38.00
Interactive Theorem Proving and Program Development: Coq'art: The Calculus of Inductive Constructions
Bertot, Yves
Castéran, Pierre
Hardcover
$194.60
R for Data Science: Import, Tidy, Transform, Visualize, and Model Data
Grolemund, Garrett
Wickham, Hadley
Paperback
$14.99
The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI: How to Think about Artificial Intelligence--Before It's Too Late
Doctorow, Cory
Paperback
$16.20
Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems
Kleppmann, Martin
Riccomini, Chris
Paperback
$66.49
The Agi Chronicles: The Inside Story of the Race to Create an Artificial Superintelligence
Roose, Kevin
Hardcover
$29.70
The Year in Tech, 2027: The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review
Chamorro-Premuzic, Tomas
Review, Harvard Business
Davenport, Thomas H.
Paperback
$23.70
If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All
Yudkowsky, Eliezer
Soares, Nate
Hardcover
From $19.99
AI for Good: How Real People Are Using Artificial Intelligence to Fix Things That Matter
Tyrangiel, Josh
Hardcover
$27.55
Human Raised: Nurturing Connection, Curiosity & Lifelong Learning in the Age of AI
Suskind, Dana, MD
Hardcover
$28.80
The Eureka Machine: Why AI Is the Key to Unlocking a New Era of Scientific Discoveries
Socher, Richard
Hardcover
$28.50
Hbr's 10 Must Reads on AI (with Bonus Article How to Win with Machine Learning by Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, and AVI Goldfarb)
Review, Harvard Business
Davenport, Thomas H.
Iansiti, Marco
Paperback
$23.70
The Year in Tech, 2026: The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review
Webb, Amy
Review, Harvard Business
Anthony, Scott D.
Paperback
$21.80
The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want
Bender, Emily M.
Hanna, Alex
Hardcover
$30.40
CompTIA Network+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Ninth Edition (Exam N10-009)
Weissman, Jonathan S.
Paperback
$57.00
Fans First: Change The Game, Break the Rules & Create an Unforgettable Experience
Cole, Jesse
Paperback
$18.99
Generative Ai: The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review
Mollick, Ethan
Cremer, David De
Review, Harvard Business
Paperback
$21.80
A Giant Leap: How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future
Wachter, Robert
Hardcover
$30.40
AI Literacy in Any Class: Preparing Students to Thrive in an AI Future in Any Grade Level or Content Area
Miller, Matt
Paperback
$25.60
Fundamentals of Data Engineering: Plan and Build Robust Data Systems
Housley, Matt
Reis, Joe
Paperback
$75.99
Obsolete: The AI Industry's Trillion Dollar Race to Replace Us--And How to Stop It
Lovely, Garrison
Paperback
$21.80
Minecraft: Guide Collection 4-Book Boxed Set (Updated): Survival (Updated), Creative (Updated), Redstone (Updated), Combat
Mojang Ab
The Official Minecraft Team
Hardcover
$54.14
Love Machines: How Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming Our Relationships
Muldoon, James
Hardcover
$28.45
Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence
Crawford, Kate
Paperback
$19.00
AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can't, and How to Tell the Difference
Kapoor, Sayash
Narayanan, Arvind
Paperback
$16.10
AI with Intention: Principles and Action Steps for Teachers and School Leaders
Frontier, Tony
Paperback
$32.25
Python Crash Course, 3rd Edition: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming
Matthes, Eric
Paperback
$44.99
AP Computer Science Principles Premium, 2027: 6 Practice Tests + Comprehensive Review + Online Practice
Reichelson, Seth
Paperback
$28.49
An Illustrated Guide to AI Agents: Concepts and Code for Building Agents with Llms, Tools, and Memory
Alammar, Jay
Grootendorst, Maarten
Paperback
$75.99
The Black Swan: Second Edition: The Impact of the Highly Improbable: With a New Section: On Robustness and Fragility
Taleb, Nassim Nicholas
Paperback
From $11.99
Hands-On Machine Learning with Scikit-Learn and Pytorch: Concepts, Tools, and Techniques to Build Intelligent Systems
Géron, Aurélien
Paperback
$85.49
The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World's Most Coveted Microchip
Witt, Stephen
Hardcover
$28.50
We Are as Gods: A Survival Guide for the Age of Abundance
Diamandis, Peter H.
Kotler, Steven
Hardcover
$28.50
Hbr's 10 Must Reads on Artificial Intelligence, Updated and Expanded (Featuring How AI Can Help Managers Think Through Problems by Elisa Farri and Gab
Review, Harvard Business
Davenport, Thomas H.
Agrawal, Ajay
Paperback
$25.60
Embedded Systems with ARM Cortex-M Microcontrollers in Assembly Language and C: Fourth Edition
Zhu, Yifeng
Paperback
$86.88
CompTIA Tech+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Third Edition (Exam FC0-U71)
Wempen, Faithe
Paperback
$57.00
Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans (with a New Preface)
Mitchell, Melanie
Paperback
$19.00
AP Computer Science a Premium, 13th Edition: Prep Book with 6 Practice Tests + Comprehensive Review + Online Practice (2026)
Teukolsky, Roselyn, M. S.
Carman, Chris
Paperback
$25.64
Hands-On Large Language Models: Language Understanding and Generation
Alammar, Jay
Grootendorst, Maarten
Paperback
$75.99
Human + Machine, Updated and Expanded: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI
Wilson, H. James
Daugherty, Paul R.
Hardcover
$30.40
The Empty Center: Permission, Connection, and What We Build When the Future is Uncertain
Drumwright, Hayes
Hardcover
$26.59
Power and Prediction: The Disruptive Economics of Artificial Intelligence
Goldfarb, Avi
Agrawal, Ajay
Gans, Joshua
Hardcover
$30.40
Fundamentals of Software Architecture: A Modern Engineering Approach
Ford, Neal
Richards, Mark
Paperback
$75.99
The Problem with Personalization: How Advertisers Learned to Make and Break Us from Ancient Times to the AI Age
Turow, Joseph
Hardcover
$26.13
Guilty Pleasure: The Pornification of the Internet, the Economy, and Everything Else
Nilsson, Patricia
Hardcover
$27.55
AI Projects with Raspberry Pi: High-Performance Artificial Intelligence for Robotics, Security, Home Automation, and Vision
Jepson, Brian
Hattersley, Lucy
Paperback
$21.84
Minecraft: Exploded Builds: Medieval Fortress: An Official Mojang Book
Mojang Ab
The Official Minecraft Team
Paperback
$12.35
Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet with a New Introduction by the Author
Blum, Andrew
Paperback
$18.99
RHCSA Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10: Training and Exam Preparation Guide (EX200), Fourth Edition
Ghori, Asghar
Paperback
$72.00
The Empty Center: Permission, Connection, and What We Build When the Future is Uncertain
Drumwright, Hayes
Paperback
$14.24
You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why It's Making the World a Weirder Place
Shane, Janelle
Paperback
$18.99
Designing Machine Learning Systems: An Iterative Process for Production-Ready Applications
Huyen, Chip
Paperback
$62.69
The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-First Century's Greatest Dilemma
Suleyman, Mustafa
Hardcover
$30.88
AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can't, and How to Tell the Difference
Kapoor, Sayash
Narayanan, Arvind
Hardcover
$23.70
Artificial Intelligence All-In-One for Dummies
Minnick, Chris
Mueller, John Paul
Massaron, Luca
Paperback
$47.49
The Return on AI: From Promise to Profit in the Age of Intelligent Business
Sawhney, Mohanbir
Mittal, Ashwin
Paperback
$18.69
Graphic Artists Guild Handbook, 17th Edition: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines
The Graphic Artists Guild
Paperback
$52.20
The Devops Handbook, 2nd Edition: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, & Security in Technology Organizations
Humble, Jez
Debois, Patrick
Kim, Gene
Paperback
$36.10
The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters
Nichols, Tom
Paperback
$17.98
Minecraft: Roll for Adventure: The Temple of the Charged Creeper
Forbeck, Matt
Forbeck, Marty
Hardcover
$19.00
Navigeren door het labyrint: Een handleiding voor het beheer van data
Sebastian-Coleman, Laura
Paperback
$28.45
Comptia A+ Complete Study Guide, 2-Volume Set: Volume 1 Core 1 Exam 220-1201 and Volume 2 Core 2 Exam 220-1202
Docter, Quentin
Buhagiar, Jon
Paperback
$61.75
R for Data Science: Import, Tidy, Transform, Visualize, and Model Data
Wickham, Hadley
Grolemund, Garrett
Cetinkaya-Rundel, Mine
Paperback
$75.99
Microsoft 365 Excel All-In-One for Dummies
Kusleika, Dick
Ringstrom, David H.
Alexander, Michael
Paperback
$42.74
AI for Educators: Learning Strategies, Teacher Efficiencies, and a Vision for an Artificial Intelligence Future
Miller, Matt
Paperback
$23.70
What Is Intelligence?: Lessons from AI about Evolution, Computing, and Minds
Aguera Y. Arcas, Blaise
Paperback
$35.10
Building Applications with AI Agents: Designing and Implementing Multiagent Systems
Albada, Michael
Paperback
$75.99
Cloud Finops: Collaborative, Real-Time Cloud Value Decision Making
Storment, J. R.
Fuller, Mike
Paperback
$75.99