Event Description

Effective financial reports should be consistent, easy to interpret, and simple to update. In this practical session, CPA and author of Microsoft 365 Excel for Dummies David Ringstrom demonstrates how to improve recurring reports with reusable templates, visual cues, interactive features, and modern Excel tools.

You’ll learn how to create workbook and worksheet templates that reduce repetitive setup, apply conditional formatting and styles that draw attention to important values, and use custom number formats to make financial statements easier to scan. David also demonstrates how Excel Tables, slicers, grouping, and Sparklines can make reports more flexible and informative without overwhelming the reader.

The session concludes with an introduction to Power Query, showing how recurring report cleanup and reshaping can be converted into a refreshable process. Rather than rebuilding the same report each period, attendees will see how Excel can support a more consistent and maintainable reporting workflow.

Topics covered
• Creating reusable workbook and worksheet templates.
• Applying conditional formatting data bars and icon sets.
• Creating and transferring Cell Styles.
• Using custom number formats to simplify financial values.
• Adding Sparklines to show trends within reports.
• Converting static lists into Excel Tables.
• Filtering reports with slicers.
• Grouping rows and columns to control the level of detail displayed.
• Using Power Query to automate recurring report cleanup and reshaping.

Objectives

• Identify techniques for creating reusable financial-reporting templates.
• Apply formatting tools that make trends and key values easier to recognize.
• Organize reports so users can filter, navigate, and explore information more efficiently.
• Recognize how Power Query can automate recurring report-preparation tasks.