Risks and Rewards of Excel in Office 365

Author: David H. Ringstrom

After participating in this informative presentation, you’ll understand how the Office 365 version of Excel differs from previous versions and perpetual licensed versions of Excel, including Excel 2019. Historically, each major version of Excel was identical for all users, but starting with Excel 2016, this was no longer the case. Because the Office 365 version is evolving—sometimes monthly—you’ll want to be prepared to deal with frustrations you might encounter as well as capitalize on new features.

David demonstrates every technique at least twice: first, on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps, and second, in the subscription-based Office 365 version of Excel. David will draw your attention to any differences in the older versions of Excel (2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019) during the presentation as well as in his detailed handouts. David also provides an Excel workbook that includes most of the examples he uses during the course.

Office 365 is a subscription-based product that is sometimes updated as often as monthly with new features. The perpetual licensed versions of Excel have year numbers, such as 2019, 2016, and so on, have feature sets frozen in time and do not receive updates with new features.

Publication Date: July 2019

Designed For
Practitioners who are thinking of subscribing to the Microsoft Office 365 platform or those who have already done so.

Topics Covered

• Learning about the MAXIFS function available in certain versions of Excel
• Discovering how Office 365 no longer immediately clears the clipboard when you carry out a simple action, such as typing or inserting rows before pasting data
• Exploring the risks and benefits of participating in the free Microsoft Office Insider program
• Editing Excel workbooks in real time with colleagues and viewing co-authored changes within seconds
• Understanding the risks and nuances of the AutoSave feature in Office 365
• Removing duplicates and displaying one of each item from a range of cells with the new UNIQUE function
• Troubleshooting the new #SPILL! error that can arise in certain circumstances with regard to dynamic array formulas in Office 365
• Using Microsoft's free Excel Online service to view and edit spreadsheets that use features from Office 365 that aren't compatible with other versions of Excel
• Mapping geographic data with just a couple of mouse clicks
• Preventing pivot tables from automatically resizing columns when you refresh or filter the data
• Streamlining the decision-making process with the IFS function in Office 365
• Visualizing data with a Funnel chart in Excel 2019 and Office 365

Learning Objectives

• Identify and apply the latest features and functions available in the Office 365 version of Excel
• Recognize alternatives that work in all versions of Excel for the new CONCAT, TEXTJOIN, SWITCH, IFS, MAXIFS, and MINIFS worksheet functions
• Identify and apply pivot table specific options in the Office 365 version of Excel to minimize repetitive work
• Recognize what IFNA will display in Excel 2010 and earlier
• Describe which Excel feature the UNIQUE function is an alternate to
• Recognize what error indicates that a dynamic array function does not have enough room to show all of the results it's derived
• Identify which chart type enables you to display results geographically in Excel 2019 and Office 365
• Describe how many criteria pairs can you specify in the MAXIFS function
• Recognize which version of Excel the FILTER function is avialable
• Identify which Excel 2013 menu the Recommended Charts command appears on
• Describe which version of Excel funnel charts are available in
• Recognize what file size Excel Online allows anyone to edit an Excel workbook
• Identify which feature in Office 365 allows you to monitor actions being taken by others in a spreadsheet that you're currently editing
• Recognize which program enables you to receive updates to the Office 365 version of Excel in an accelerated fashion

Level
Basic

Instructional Method
Self-Study

NASBA Field of Study
Computer Software & Applications (2 hours)

Program Prerequisites
None

Advance Preparation
None