Spreadsheet Templates to Accompany Horngren/Sundem/Elliott/Philbrick, Introduction to

Financial Accounting 9e
Templates by Albert Fisher

EXCEL TUTORIAL

___

This tutorial is written for you, the student, to help you complete the Excel templates that
your instructor may assign as needed. These templates are partially completed to allow you to
concentrate on solving the problem and not worry about the formatting or presentation of the
answer. All cells that need to be completed are shaded in blue and will require you to enter
one of the following: a formula, an account title, a number, or a function. These four items
will be covered in a later section of this tutorial. Finally, there a few problems that have no
shaded cells and you will be required to complete the entire template.

BASIC SKILLS

Starting Excel is similar to starting other Windows applications. The following steps are
required:

Launching Excel

Double click the Microsoft Excel icon from your desktop icons. If Excel does not have a
desktop icon, then do the following:

a. Click Start to display the start menu.

b. Click Program to display the programs available on your computer.
c. Scroll down until you find the Excel program and double click on it.

Opening a Worksheet File

a. Make sure your student CD is in the disc drive.

b. There are two ways to open a worksheet file.

1. The first way is to click the Open button. Buttons are shortcuts for many worksheet
tasks. We will be using some of these buttons to facilitate the student’s work. The four
we will be using are Open, Print, Save As, and Save. Notice the Open icon.
Opening a Worksheet File (continued)

Open icon

2. The second way is to click File from the main menu bar and then Open to display the
Open File dialog box. A dialog box is used to select options and identify data you want
a command to work on.

Opening a Worksheet File (continued)

c. After you click on the Open icon, the list of available drives will appear.

d. Select the drive where your student disc is located by clicking that drive.

Opening a Worksheet File (continued)

e. Finally, click the file name you want to retrieve, then click the Open icon. All file names
refer to the corresponding problems in the book. For example, PO1-40 refers to Problem
1-40 from Chapter 1.

Completing a Template

A template is a pre-labeled worksheet that needs to be completed by filling certain cells with
data.

Spreadsheets (Excel) are computer programs, which store data in cells. A cell is where a row
and a column intersect. Rows are labeled numerically, and columns are labeled alphabetically.

Completing a Template (continued)

There are only four things that can go into a cell.

1. A LABEL (TITLE) is descriptive text.

 2. A FORMULA is the arithmetic used to calculate numbers displayed in the
template.
3. A VALUE (AMOUNT) is a number, formula, or function.
4. A FUNCTION is a predefined formula.

To complete a template, you will be asked to enter one of the above items into a cell.
Let’s look at different examples.

LABEL EXAMPLE

Assume the following template appeared on the screen:

A B C D E F G
1
2 Sales $ 100,000
3 TITLE 40,000
4 Gross Profit Formula
5
6

You would move the cursor to B3 and type COST OF GOODS SOLD.
A B C D E F G
1
2 Sales $ 100,000
40,00
3 Cost of Goods Sold 0
4 Gross Profit Formula
5
6

FORMULA EXAMPLES

Now move the cell pointer (indicates current cell location) to cell D4 and enter +D2-D3.
Although no numbers were entered, we are instructing Excel to subtract whatever amount is
in cell D3 from whatever amount is in cell D2. The answer $60,000 appears on the screen.

A B C D E F G
1
2 Sales $ 100,000
3 Cost of Goods Sold 40,000
4 Gross Profit $ 60,000
5
6
MORE EXAMPLES

To add numbers, move the cell pointer to Cell D4 and enter +D2+D3. Although no numbers
were entered, we are instructing Excel to add whatever amount is in cell D2 with whatever
amount is in cell D3. The answer $1,500 appears in the cell.

A B C D E F G
 1 Add Divide Multiply
2 $ 1,000 250 10
3 500 50 6
Formul
4 Formula a Formula
5
6

ANSWERS

A B C D E F G
1 Add Divide Multiply
2 $ 1,000 250 10
3 500 50 6
4 $ 1,500 5 60
5
6

To divide numbers, you would move the cell pointer to cell E4 and enter +E2/E3. The
quotient, 5, would appear in cell E4.

To multiply numbers, you would enter +F2*F3 in cell F4 or any cell where you would want
the answer to appear. The product 60 would appear.

VALUE EXAMPLE

Assume you are instructed to change the sales amount to $150,000. Move the cell pointer to
cell D2 and type 150000. Do not type numbers with commas. All cells have been formatted
for you in the templates. The new template would appear as below:

A B C D E F G
1
2 Sales $ 150,000
3 Cost of Goods Sold 40,000
4 Gross Profit $ 110,000
5
6

Notice how the Gross Profit is automatically recalculated. This is the power of spreadsheets.

FUNCTION EXAMPLE

Again, assume the following template appears on the screen:

A B C D E F G
1 Add
2 $ 1,000
3 500
 4 Formula
5
6

In lieu of entering +D2+D3 in Cell D4, we could use a built-in function called SUM. Move
the cell pointer to D4 and enter the following: =SUM(D2.D3). Cell D4 would then show
$1,500.

You will be provided instructions for when functions should be used in the templates.

Printing a Template

The template will print when you click the Print Button.

Saving a Template the First Time

All the files are read-only. To save changes to a read-only template, you will have to use the
Save As command on the File menu and then save the template under a new name. The
original workbook remains unchanged in case you want to start over.

Saving Template Thereafter

Click the Save File Button to save your completed template.

Caution: The information on the screen will overwrite the existing file.
Refer to the Help menu if you encounter problems not covered by this tutorial.

Some finer points using Excel

The following will appear in some cells: #value! This will be replaced with a number when
you enter the required FORMULAS or AMOUNTS in the shaded cells.

To view the Formulas, press CTRL+` (left single quotation mark to the left of the number 1
key).

Helpful Hints from CyberCoach

Certain cells will have a small red triangle in the upper right corner of the cell indicating an
attached comment from CyberCoach to help you complete the template. It could be either a
check figure, a formula for the cell, or hints on how to complete the template. To view the
helpful comments, move the cell pointer to the cell with the red triangle in the upper right
corner of the cell and the helpful hint will appear from CyberCoach.

If you do not see the red triangle, click on Tools in the menu bar and then on Options.
The following screen will appear.

Under Comments, make sure the Comment Indicator Only is clicked on..

Cells with a red background

Certain cells will appear in red. When the correct answer is entered, the red background will
change to white indicating a correct answer.

Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions or suggestions regarding the templates.

Albert Fisher
Las Vegas, Nevada
Albert_Fisher@CCSN.edu