Happy Spreadsheet Day 2020
Happy Spreadsheet Day 2020! What will you do today, to celebrate?
A Bit of History
Spreadsheet Day started in 2010, and we celebrate on October 17th every year. That’s the date that VisiCalc was first released, way back in 1979.
You can read the details on the About page.
It’s a Challenge
Most years, you probably celebrate Spreadsheet Day at your office, while sharing spreadsheet horror stories with your co-workers.
But things are different this year, and lots of us are working from home now. We can’t have indoor parties this year, but maybe you can find a place to celebrate Spreadsheet Day outside instead.
Excel Budget Workbook
Way back in October 2011, we were celebrating the 2nd Spreadsheet Day. In honour of that event, Bob Ryan, who created the Simply Learning Excel website, contributed an Excel budget template for students. Thanks, Bob!
Bob recently updated that file, and now it’s a budget tool for everyone, not just students. You can download a copy for yourself, or maybe you know someone who could use it to get their finances organized.
Formulas and Pivot Tables
The workbook doesn’t have any macros – just formulas and pivot tables. There are lots of notes in the workbook too, explaining how things work.
On the transaction data entry sheet, there’s a handy formula in the Balance column, that shows your running total:
- =SUM(F$1:[@[Act$]])
The formula sums from the heading cell, with the row locked (F$1), down to the current row, in the Act$ column.
There is grouping on that worksheet too, to show or hide the additional budget columns, at the right.
On other sheets, there are pivot tables to summarize your transaction data, and compare the budget amounts to the actuals.
Get the Budget Template
To get Bob Ryan’s budget template workbook, go to the Excel Sample Files page on my Contextures website.
In the Pivot Tables section, look for PT0050 – Excel Budget Template. The file is in xlsx format, and it is zipped. There are no macros in the file.
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Happy Spreadsheet Day 2020
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