Microsoft Excel is a versatile spreadsheet application used widely across various industries. This article delves into the features, benefits, and uses of Excel, as well as the cost of acquiring it and the potential career benefits that can be reaped from mastering this tool.
Key Insights
- Microsoft Excel is a multifunctional application that allows the organization, analysis, and visualization of data. It also offers tools like Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) for creating macros and advanced calculation capabilities.
- Excel provides several features for efficient data handling, including pattern recognition, real-time sharing, data import from photos, integration of financial transactions, and PivotTables for comprehensive data analysis.
- The cost of Microsoft Excel can range from $5/month to a one-time fee of $149.99, depending on the chosen subscription as part of the Microsoft 365 suite. A web-based version is available for free.
- Excel is used by over half a billion people worldwide due to its intuitiveness, versatility, low cost, and wide range of functions. These reasons, coupled with the vast online resources available, make learning Excel a valuable pursuit.
- Noble Desktop offers a range of Excel courses, both in-person in NYC and live online, with prices ranging from $229 to $1,099. The Excel Bootcamp, in particular, provides intensive training on core Excel concepts useful for the business world.
- Mastering Excel can have significant career benefits, as it is a tool used across various industries for a plethora of tasks, from data analysis to financial reporting, making it a desirable skill in the job market.
Microsoft Excel is an affordable and versatile spreadsheet application. Excel is available from Microsoft for $160 per year or $6.99 a month when purchased as part of the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity applications (which includes access to Outlook, Word, OneDrive, and PowerPoint).
What is Excel?
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application created by Microsoft in 1985. Excel is a powerful and valuable resource for organizing data and numbers using functions and formulas. It also comes with graphing tools to help visualize data findings, a programming language known as Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) used to create macros, and advanced calculation capabilities. Excel works on both Mac and Windows operating systems.
The cells within an Excel spreadsheet each contain data, like formulas, numbers, or text, which can be organized and analyzed. Excel is a useful tool for performing various calculations on spreadsheets. It can calculate statistics, perform repeated and advanced calculations, analyze data, and create graphical representations of the data, such as graphs, charts, and PivotTables.
Read more about what Excel is and why you should learn it.
What Can You Do with Excel?
Excel has hundreds of features and tools that help users organize, manage, analyze, and visualize data. The following are just a few of the tools and features that make Excel the go-to for professionals around the globe:
- In Excel, users can add or average numbers in cells, locate high, median, or low values, count cells containing numbers, and find a product by multiplying cells. It’s also possible to delete extra white space and truncate numbers by removing fractions.
- Excel can learn your patterns the more you use it so that it can organize your data and ultimately save time.
- Users can share workbooks with others in real-time to ensure that all collaborators have the most up-to-date version.
- It’s possible to work on Excel files from the web and mobile and desktop devices.
- Users can now add data right into Excel from a photo. The Excel app enables users to take a picture of printed data with their iPhone or Android, then convert this image into an editable Excel table. This helpful trick helps users avoid manually entering hard copy data and is made possible through Excel’s image recognition capabilities.
- Financial transactions can be imported into Excel so that users can organize and review their financial information and receive helpful insights toward making more informed financial decisions.
- Excel’s PivotTables help users perform analysis and summaries of datasets, regrouping spreadsheet data for more effective comparisons. By seeing data from different perspectives, it’s possible to get a more comprehensive picture of revenue sources and other vital information.
In-Depth Review of the Cost
If you are interested in purchasing Microsoft Excel, it is currently available as part of a Microsoft 365 subscription. Although the costs will likely change over time, the following is a breakdown of price options:
- Office 365 Personal is currently available for $6.99/month or $69.99/year.
- Office 365 Home is offered for $9.99/month or $99/year.
- Office Home & Student 2019 can be purchased for a one-time fee of $149.99.
- Office 365 Business is available for $8.25/user/month (which requires an annual commitment).
- Office 365 Business Premium is offered for $12.50/user/month (and requires a yearly commitment).
- Office 365 Business Essentials can be purchased for $5/month (which requires an annual commitment).
In addition, the web-based version of Microsoft Excel (and all of Office) can also be accessed for free on the internet.
If you’re looking for an accessible alternative to Excel, you may consider checking out Google Sheets. This online spreadsheet program is included in the free Google Docs Editors Suite. It has many similar features to Excel, such as formulas and calculations. It also provides sheet owner links they can share with other users to grant them permission to simultaneously read or edit the sheet, making it a powerful tool for collaboration.
Why Learn Excel?
It is estimated that more than half a billion people around the globe currently use Excel. Why does this spreadsheet software remain so popular? Those who work with Excel cite many benefits, such as:
- The application is intuitive and easy to learn, even for non-technical people.
- Data is immediately visible in Excel without the need to code. Instead, users can cut and paste data and perform drag-and-drop functions. Mistakes can also be easily corrected or undone in Excel.
- Entering information directly into cells gives users a sense of control over the data.
- Its cost is relatively low compared to other spreadsheet apps.
- It is versatile and can help with a variety of tasks across industries.
- Because there are so many Excel users around the globe, a variety of helpful resources are available online to assist users with Excel questions.
- Excel makes it easy to sort, adjust, and filter data.
- Formatting changes in Excel can be performed easily, with one click of the mouse.
- Excel is a powerful tool for creating dashboards and charts.
- Excel users can execute simple regression models without specialized training.
- Excel is committed to continuously improving this spreadsheet application. It has introduced tools such as Power Query to load and transform data without users having to do so manually.
Read more about why you should learn Excel.
Free Introductory Excel Course Online
If you aren’t ready to dive into an entire Excel course but are instead looking for an overview of how to work with this spreadsheet app, you can get started learning Excel for free online. Noble Desktop, a top education provider, currently offers this free introductory Excel course. It provides an hour of instruction on practical Excel skills, such as splitting and joining text, navigating shortcuts, inserting screenshots, and removing duplicates.
Read more about free Excel videos and online tutorials.
Learn Excel with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop
Are you looking to learn how to use Microsoft Excel, the industry-standard spreadsheet application? If so, Noble Desktop currently offers a variety of Excel courses in NYC and live online. Classes are available for those new to Excel and for learners who regularly work with this spreadsheet application and wish to improve their skills. In addition, in-person and live online Excel courses are available through Noble Desktop or one of its affiliate schools. A variety of course options are offered, ranging in duration from three hours to two days and costing between $229 and $1,099.
Noble Desktop’s Excel Bootcamp provides an excellent option for those who want to master core Excel concepts, such as working with PivotTables and What-If Analysis. Students who enroll in this rigorous, 21-hour course can elect to study in person in Manhattan or learn in the live online environment. This small class comes with the option of a free retake and covers a variety of Excel concepts applicable to the business world.
How to Learn Excel
Master Excel with hands-on training. Excel is the leading spreadsheet application used by over 750 million people worldwide.
- Excel Bootcamp at Noble Desktop: 18-hour live, instructor-led course available in NYC or live online
- Find Excel Classes Near You: Search & compare dozens of available courses in-person
- Attend an Excel class live online (remote/virtual training) from anywhere
- Find & compare the best online Excel classes (on-demand) from the top providers and platforms
- Train your staff with corporate and onsite Excel training