1. Preparation of budgets
2. Preparation of cash flow analysis
3. Preparations of financial statements
4. Processing basic business information, like, job costing, payment schedules, stock control, tax records
5. Analysis of data from questionnaires
6. Presentation of information in tabular form, graphical or charts forms
7. Mathematical techniques and computation like trigonometry
8. Statistical computations like standard deviations.

OPERATORS

Operators specify the type of calculation that you want to perform on the elements of a formula. There is a default order in which calculations occur, but you can change this order by using brackets.

Types of Operators

There are four types of calculation operators: arithmetic, comparison, text concatenation, and reference.

Arithmetic operators: These are used to perform basic mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, division or multiplication; combine numbers; and produce numeric results.

Arithmetic operator      Meaning                   Example

+ (plus sign)                   Addition                         3+3

– (minus sign)                Subtraction                     3–1

Negation                         –1

* (asterisk)                      Multiplication                 3*3

/ (forward slash)              Division                          3/3

% (percent sign)              Percent                            20%

^ (caret)                           Exponentiation               3^2

Comparison Operators: These are used to compare two values, and the result is a logical value either TRUE or FALSE.

Comparison operator                      Meaning                        Example

= (equal sign)                                     Equal to                           A1=B1

> (greater than sign)                            Greater than                      A1>B1

< (less than sign)                                Less than                          A1<B1

>= (greater than or equal to sign)        Greater than or equal to    A1>=B1

<= (less than or equal to sign)             Less than or equal to         A1<=B1

<> (not equal to sign)                         Not equal to                               A1<>B1

CELL REFERENCES

A Cell reference is an address given to a particular cell or group of cells on a worksheet. e.g. A2, B6, B3.

There are three types of cell references;

1. Relative cell reference. Here, the address of a cell is based on the relative position of the cell that contains the formula and the cell referred to. If you copy the formula, the reference automatically adjusts. A relative cell reference takes the form: A1, B17, G20, and C2.
2. Absolute cell reference. Here, the exact address of a cell is used in the formula, regardless of the position of the cell that contains the formula. An absolute cell reference takes the form: $A$1, $D$6, $B$3, $E$6.
3. Mixed cell reference. This is a type that uses both relative and absolute cell references at once. It may use an absolute column reference and a relative row reference or vice versa, e.g. $G17, B$14, D$2, $E2.

FORMULAS, LOGICAL FUNCTIONS, FUNCTIONS AND ERRORS

FORMULAS

Formulas are equations that perform calculations on values in your worksheet and return a value in a chosen cell, e.g. =A2+B2,   = (A3+B3+C3+D3)/4,   =A6*B4,   =C4-D4,   =E10/G10

LOGICAL FUNCTIONS

 Function     Description

AND           Returns TRUE if all of its arguments are TRUE; Returns FALSE if any argument is FALSE

FALSE       Returns the logical value FALSE

IF                Specifies a logical test to perform

IFERROR   Returns a value you specify if a formula evaluates to an error; otherwise, returns the result of the formula

NOT           Reverses the logic of its argument

OR              Returns TRUE if any argument is TRUE

TRUE         Returns the logical value TRUE

 FUNCTIONS

A function is a prewritten formula that takes a value or values, performs an operation, and returns a value or values in a chosen cell. Examples of functions in MS Office Excel include the following

ERROR ALERTS

Microsoft Excel displays an error value in a cell when it cannot properly calculate the formula for that cell. Below are some common error values and their meanings.

Error message     Meaning

1. ##### Column is not wide enough, or a negative date or time is

Used.

2. #DIV/0! A number is divided by zero
3. #N/A! A value is not available to a function or formula
4. #NAME? Microsoft Office Excel does not recognise text in a formula.
5. #NULL! You specified an intersection of two areas that do not

Intersect

6. #NUM! The numeric values used in a formula or function are invalid
7. #REF! The cell reference is not valid, e.g. 6E instead of E6

#VALUE!   An argument or operand used is of wrong type