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Introduction
W
elcome to the world of Excel. Okay, that’s a bit cheesy. But if you look around the busi-
ness world, the financial world, the manufacturing world, and any other industry you can
think of, you will see people using Excel. Excel is everywhere. It is by far the most popular
program in the history of business applications. So, we truly are living in a world of Excel. This is
probably why you’ve picked up this book. You need a way to accelerate your learning and get up to
speed quickly.
Well, worry not, dear reader. Whether you’re boning up on Excel for a new job (congratulations, by
the way), for a school project, or just for home use, this book is perfect for you.
In this book, we’ve organized everything that one would need to know to get up and running
quickly with Excel. And we’ve made certain that this book contains many useful examples and lots
of tips and tricks that cover all of the essential aspects of Excel—from the basics to more advanced
topics.
Is This Book for You?
This book is designed to enhance the skillset of users at all levels (beginning, intermediate, and
even advanced users).
Start at the beginning if you’re new to Excel. Part I covers everything you’ll need to get familiar
entering data, managing workbooks, formatting worksheets, and printing. You can then move on to
Part II, where you’ll discover the ins and outs of Excel formulas.
If you’re a seasoned analyst, hoping to enhance your data visualization and analytic toolset, check
out Part III and Part IV. We’ve included many examples and tips for analyzing data and creating
visually appealing Excel dashboards.
If you’ve been working with an earlier version of Excel, this book is for you too! Part V covers the
new Power Pivot and Power Query toolsets. In the past, these features were free Microsoft add-ins
that were used peripherally. Now they’ve become an essential part of how Excel manages data and
interacts with external data sources.
If you want to learn the basics of Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) programming, you’ll find what
you need in Part VI. The topic of VBA is a rich one that deserves its own book, so we have also writ-
ten Excel 2019 Power Programming with VBA (Wiley, 2019). Nonetheless, this book offers a robust set
of chapters that will get you started leveraging VBA to automate and enhance your Excel solutions.