Excel in the enterprise

During the first lessons of our course, you will learn the basics of Excel. These parts are essential for those of you who have never used the program. This course is not intended to be exhaustive of all possible features and options. We use only those that, in our opinion, will enable the use of the spreadsheet in everyday practice to the greatest extent and facilitate calculations in small and medium-sized enterprises.

We will discuss functions that are typically used for financial analysis. In the following lessons, you will learn how to work with the basic, intermediate and advanced functions of Excel so that you can use these skills in your daily work. The next part of the course will show, on the basis of many specially selected examples, how to perform an analysis of investment outlays, the structure of revenues and costs or the analysis of the dynamics of economic phenomena.

The tasks that we have included in the following lessons will teach you how to use economic event scenarios to create a clear report that allows you to make rational decisions. Using the functions of databases and pivot tables in Excel will allow you to make better use of the collected data and in a short time obtain valuable and clear statements, helping e.g. in the analysis of commercial data. Using the Search for Result function and Solver add-in will turn you into an advanced user who can use custom solutions in his work.

At the end of each module, you will find tasks that will test your knowledge. To calculate them, use the previous examples and files attached to the course to list them on the worksheet and give the right answer.

As you can see, we have a lot of work ahead of us. Together, let's begin our journey through the intricacies of a spreadsheet.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

You do not need to meet any additional criteria or entry requirements to join the course.

GOALS

Main goal:

• The general objective of the course is to acquire practical knowledge and skills in the use of a spreadsheet to solve common and non-standard tasks and computational problems occurring in business processes in SMEs.

The specific goals are:

• Acquiring basic skills in handling the sheet.
• Use of built-in Excel functions and advanced calculations.
• Using Excel to solve common problems in small and medium-sized enterprises.

THE COURSE CONSISTS OF 8 MODULES

MODULE 1

Basic Operations and Calculations

MODULE 2

Built-in Functions and Application Examples

MODULE 3

Capital expenditure analysis

MODULE 4

Using an Excel database for trade data analysis

MODULE 5

Analysis of revenue and cost structure

MODULE 6

Analysis of the dynamics of economic phenomena

MODULE 7

Economic event scenarios

MODULE 8

Using Solver to Make Business Decisions

TEACHING METHODS AND TOOLS

The individual stages of the course will be carried out by means of film recordings, multimedia presentations, audio recordings and text messages showing the performance of each activity during the task in Excel. Data for tasks will be shared on the training platform in the form of attached files.

The difficulty grading method was used during course development. It encourages the participant of the course to overcome subsequent levels of advancement. The course begins with presentation of basic principles of using the spreadsheet and its functions, then the participant goes to more difficult issues presenting more advanced functions (including conditional and database functions) and spreadsheet tools (pivot tables). The entire course ends with modules covering the Scenario Manager and Solver optimization tool. The course will be implemented on the basis of text materials divided into modules and lessons and prepared .xlsx files with sheets with tasks and data for solving tasks. These materials in more difficult elements are additionally illustrated with video recordings (screencasts). The screencast recording is not intended to replace the text and screen clippings included in the course, but only to duplicate them, showing more difficult sequences of actions.

Completion of the module will require passing the theoretical test and performing a practical task on your computer and choosing the right answer or pasting the result into the appropriate field on the e-learning platform. In case of any ambiguities related to the content of the instructions, it will be possible to contact the teacher remotely in order to obtain explanations. It is possible to take the module multiple times.

ASSESSMENT RULES

The student will have to answer questions related to the acquired knowledge after each lesson and each module. He will receive feedback on whether he answered correctly. To pass, you must solve the classified "Test questions" in the "Passing module" lesson. The remaining tasks are additional and unclassified - they only serve to strengthen your skills. To pass the course you need to gain at least 51% of total points.

CONDITIONS FOR OBTAINING A CERTIFICATEA

To get the certificate you need to gain at least 51% of total points.

COURSE STAFF

dr inż. Marek Sikora

Faculty of Management, Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology, Bydgoszcz, Poland

m.sikora@pbs.edu.pl

dr inż. Grzegorz Dzieża

Faculty of Management, Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology, Bydgoszcz, Poland

zis@pbs.edu.pl