8 steps Excel automation guide
Automate your work in Excel and significantly reduce the time for performing daily tasks and reduce the possibility of errors due to manually entering all data. Follow 8 key steps and modernize your work in Excel.
- Define the data you are interested in and want to collect. Consider content and time (data entry date, plan date and realization date, etc.)
- Define data for the code list so that they do not have to be manually entered again and again. Check if code lists already exist in other programs (other databases that are related to your solution in Excel) and reuse them
- Define the formulas needed to display the results. Anticipate automatic connections with data from code list: for example, the user enters only one data, and three data are automatically written into the table. This speeds up the work process and reduces the possibility of input errors.
- Determine whether all users will enter data in one file, or each user in his own file. Consider how you will automatically connect the code list with input tables. Define how to protect data so that users see and enter only their own data.
- According to the first four steps, create an input table for users. Determine the signalization with conditional formatting for checking the entered data. Create also auxiliary fields that are necessary for the effective display of results in reports.
- Create interactive graphs and reports. Connect the data from the user tables into one common table - a database from which you create reports for management and responsible persons from different departments.
- Create navigation in the file. For easier switching between individual sheets and optimized transparency of reports.
- Turn on the automatic refresh of data and reports. Every time you open the file, the data is refreshed, and you get the results according to the last entered or changed data.
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