1 Week 1 Personal Finance, Excel and Google Sheets

Week 1 Personal Finance, Excel and Google Sheets

Introduction

a piece of paper with one side turned up with writing underneath.  Learning Objectives

 

By the end of this week, you will be able to use financial information to:

  • Create basic formulas and functions in Google Sheets
  • Create basic formulas and functions in Excel
  • Utilize most basic tables sheets and charts in Excel

This chapter should take you 12-15 minutes to read, 12 minutes to watch 3 videos and time in class to complete an In-Class Case Study. 

First you need the tools to simplify and automate your decision making and planning.  We will introduce you to two platforms:

  1. Microsoft Excel
  2. Google Sheets

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet editor developed by Microsoft for Windows, macOS, Android, iOS and iPadOS. It features calculation or computation capabilities, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). Excel forms part of the Microsoft 365 suite of software.  It is the premiere software of it’s kind.

Microsoft Office Suite is available to all Toronto Metropolitain University students for free.  https://www.torontomu.ca/ccs/services/software/microsoft/

Google Sheets is a pared down version of Excel that is free to everyone.

Quick Start: Excel and Google Sheets

Here is a great beginner’s guide to Microsoft Excel.  It will be utilized almost exclusively throughout this course.  There are many other available videos and other tools to assist you.  You should be able to complete your first assignment in Excel after viewing this video.

A clapper board used in film making  Activity: Google Sheets: Getting Started (2:29 minutes)

 A short introduction to Google Sheets. If you are not familiar with Google Sheets this is a good start.  It is a free tool that you can use as an alternative to Excel.

An image of a box briefcaseIn -Class Case Study: Excel Basics

 

Now it’s time to practice what you have already learned and add to your Excel skills.

The first case assignment is in Excel basics and allows you to use your new Excel tools and direct you to further resources to continue to add to your Excel toolbox.

Download the attached Excel workbook and complete each of the tasks on each of the 10 worksheets included.  Save the completed workbook as ‘yourlastname excel basics’.

Finally submit the completed workbook in the D2L dropbox.

Excel Basics (2)

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

CRI460 Financial Management For Creatives Copyright © by Deirdre Fitzpatrick; Neha Kohli; Chris Gibbs; Tanya Pobuda; and Anna Lomonosova is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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