Did you know that you do not need to purchase specialized accounting software to be able to complete basic accounting computations? You can use any spreadsheet program, with Microsoft Excel being one of the best. If you have the Microsoft Office 365 program (which many office spaces do), then you should already have this program installed on your computer. If not, you can purchase the program from Microsoft. College students and educators may be able to get a discount on the service if they need it for educational purposes. Once you get Excel, you can start working on fine-tuning your basic accounting skills by using the tips below.

Learn How to Use the Formula Functions

If you want to be able to do any kind of accounting quickly, it’s best that you learn how to use Excel’s formula functions. The formula functions can do basically everything a simple calculator can do. The most important functions you will need for accounting include addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

By using these functions, you can add up items in many cells (boxes) at one time, rather than needing to write in everything individually. All you have to do is drag to select the elements you want to use in the formula.

Another valuable formula for accountants will be the AVERAGE function. As the name implies, using this formula will take the average of all of the selected numbers (do this by dragging and dropping). The average will be the sum of all of the numbers divided by the number of cells selected.

Make Charts with Sparklines

There is a built-in feature in Excel called Sparklines. You can use these to make graphs, charts, and other visualizations of the data. To use this function, you will first click on “Insert” in the top bar. From there, you will choose a chart type. Then, you drag or type in the range of cells that you will be used to create the image. This can help to make a wonderful visual to point out the most important data sets. It can also make the data easier to interpret, especially for people who are not knowledgeable in accounting or Excel.

Whether you are just getting started working in accounting or learning the accounting skill, or if you are learning how to use Excel for the first time, it is important to keep these tips in mind. They can save you a lot of time when working on your spreadsheets!