Excel Project Three
What-If Analysis,
Charting, and Working
With Large
Spreadsheets
Excel Project Three




Excel’s automatic recalculation feature to
complete what-if analysis
Absolute cell references
The if function
Working with large worksheets
Using cell references



When setting up a worksheet use as many
cell references as possible in your formulas
Cell references in a formula are called
assumptions
Change the assumptions, and you can
change the output of your worksheet
Project Three Description



Need: a worksheet and 3-D Pie chart
showing projected monthly revenue,
expenses, and net income
Data: Projected revenues and assumptions
based on historical data. Other values
computed by formula
Calculations: based on assumptions
Series




Series is mathematical term for a sequence of terms
with some relation between them
Relation generates the next term of the series
Sequence can be numbers, dates, or another pattern
Fill handle allows you to quickly set up and expand a
series
Absolute vs. relative addressing


When you copy cell references from one cell
to another, Excel normally updates the cell
reference
Example: autosum on one column, then copy
it one column over and references are
updated
Absolute references



Sometimes you want to include a single
value in calculations in different parts of your
spreadsheet
You can “turn off” the Excel cell reference
updating with absolute references (with $)
See table p. 3.25
Entering formulas with absolute
references



Change to formulas version (CTRL +
ACCENT MARK (`)
Follow formula exactly
Be careful, it is easy to make a mistake!
The if function



Allows excel to examine a value and make a
decision
Make a logical test using comparison
operators
Has three parts
–
–
–
Logical test
The value if true
The value if false
Excel as an analysis tool


What-if analysis – change assumption, use
undo to reset
Goal seeking – allows you to analyze
relationships between values in your
spreadsheet and optimize a value
Summary of project three







Using the format painter
Creating a series with the fill handle
Using absolute references in a formula
Using the if function
Entering the system date
Adjusting assumptions
Using goal seek
Summary cont.



Selecting non-adjacent ranges for a pie chart
Creating an exploding pie chart
Freezing and unfreezing worksheet titles