Accountants and finance people in the bowl, what functions/formulas do you think are most important to know in your job?

like
Posting as :
works at
You are currently posting as works at

Pivot tables is good to know. And the below basic formulas are really the most important for finance folks.
1. SUM
2. AVERAGE
3. VLOOKUP
4. INDEX/MATCH
5. IF
6. COUNTIF
7. SUMIF
8. CONCATENATE (or CONCAT)
9. LEFT/RIGHT/MID
10. ROUND

like

Would replace:
IF with IFS(or SWITCH),
SUMIF with SUMIFS
COUNTIF with COUNTIFS,
CONCATENATE with TEXTJOIN,
LEFT/MID/RIGHT with TEXTSPLIT
VLOOKUP with XLOOKUP

like

Have to know how to learn one if you don’t, or how to prompt to be honest and you’re good

I'd add filter to this list. I use a large data set and sometimes I'll need a subset. Filter makes that easy

Indirect is one of the most underutilized formulas, IMO. With the right use it can be extremely efficient, especially working with large datasets. Especially with standardized models (different business/region P&Ls, etc., can /alsonbe an easy way to transpose at high level

Not so much function but my first and last check is always a sum of what I start with and what I finish with.

If you don't end up with the same numbers without good reasonthe report is useless

Sounds simple but the amount of reports i've seen where numbers go missing or are duplicated but gone unnoticed are too high. It's often not an issue with the formula either, it's the dataset itself, which won't flag unless you check.

Related Posts

Is your firm treating 12/26 and 12/27 as firm holiday since the 24th and the 25th are during the weekend this year? Of course client demands would dictate whether people will be working, but curious what the official policy is. For what it’s worth, my firm treated the day after thanksgiving as holiday and I didn’t have to work for the whole day.

like

Any paralegals here working at Nesenoff & Miltenberg LLP in Manhattan? How’s the culture, pay, and work and life balance?

like

How’s the wlb at shopify for their bizops team? Particularly in the new teams they’ve been launching

like

Hello, I’ve just completed my TPM on-site today. How long before the decision is made by the HC? What base and TC can I expect ? I’ve 5+ years at MAANG, across engineering, analyst, TPM roles.

like

I’m working on starting my own online show where I act as the news anchor and cover what I think are the most important stories of the week, but I feel like I lack the personality/presence to carry out that role.

like

The new Meta Metaverse looks... interesting to say the least. Has anyone looked further into it?

like

I m getting offer from birlasoft is it safe

like

Invite code for this oracle HCM bowl: 2a3xm

likeupliftinghelpful

Hi All - I’m at a firm that has some infrequent in-house training but not enough to help me develop skills to eventually become a trial lawyer. I know cases rarely make it to trial anymore, but I’d like to develop my skills as much as possible to position myself well when they do. Does anyone have any mock trial programs they’ve participated in outside of their firms that they would recommend?

like

Had a first round interview scheduled for a large CPG brand. My interviewer never called me, and I emailed following up to confirm the call. It’s been over a day and no response. What is going on with recruiters? I tried giving them the benefit of the doubt, but not even an email back saying “something came up” or “we’ve moved on” ? I’ve been ghosted after every final interview during my recent job search, but never had I been ghosted before even having the first call??

likehelpful

Curious - sometimes I see people online on Slack and offline for Chime, but then others are offline Slack and online Chime. How do I tell who’s actually online with their computer open?

like

Heard that Accenture gave promotions to all in the name of Fastrack promotion tag in Dec 2021.. as the attrition rate is high currently.. is that true...?

likehelpful

Hi All 👋!

Currently interviewing for a Consultant Advisors role at Mastercard. Could someone help me how's the role, hierarchy and compensation? This position is in Chicago. I have 12+yrs of exp. THANKS IN ADVANCE 🙂

like

Please rip apart my investing plan. Am 24, already max out retirement and have 150k in cash I need to invest. Planning to invest a chunk each week for the next six months. See proposed portfolio in comments—>

likefunny

Has anyone got the PDF version of the PMBOK - sixth edition and would be willing to send it to me?

Google spot just killed me 😢

like

Off topic - please suggest gift ideas to carry to India from UK?

like

Hey everyone,
I just moved to the Indianapolis area and was hoping you could help identify what the salary market was here. I have my BS in mechanical engineering, MS in engineering management, and an MBA. I have been working in the auto industry for 7 years. Ideally I would love to find a project manager or similar position at a larger size company. Thanks for the help.

like

In-house comp at firms like KKR or Blackstone? Thx in advance.

like

Additional Posts in Excel Genius

I created a macro to help me save time on this onetime task and now whenever I open my excel, a blank excel opens with the name of the macro. How do I get rid of it?

like

Vlook up isn't recognizing a couple of cells even though it's feeding off a pivot and when I check with an " if =" it comes up as being the same.
Any advice on what I need to check?
Thanks

like

Hey, I have been tasked with teaching some of my coworkers excel from the very basics to more advanced. Does anyone have recommendations on the skills to teach them about? Thank you all in advance!

helpful

Is there a way for me to automate creating columns to do this so I can drag across and create my columns? For example--
1Q2021 2Q2021 3Q2021 4Q2021 2021 1Q2022?

likesmart

Timesaver: If you’re working on a file saved on the cloud (teams, share point, etc.) and need the URL to communicate out, tap FILE -> INFO -> COPY PATH and the url will be on your clipboard. Pre-established sharing privileges of orig folder will apply. Hopefully this saves you time reshuffling open windows! Bonus: Same on standard MS suite files.

likesmart

I’m verrrrrry new to excel and am going crazy because is there not a way to “clip” text in cells like you can in google sheets? I read about a “fill” option, but then noticed that cells that aren’t filled just repeat text. 😂🤯

like

Best websites to get more of a handle on Excel as a beginner-intermediate?

like

Can dates be grouped just by Month-Year in pivot tables on a Mac without having the year as its own dimension?

Post Photo
like

How do I look up values from a column in a row? E.g. Values in A1:A6 in B2:F2?

like

I am trying to recreate this without the numbers at the end. Any advice?

Post Photo
likehelpful

I am looking for a way to link my Salesforce data into excel so I can have the latest data at all times. Instead of the typical download of static data that by the time I am reporting the data has changed.

like

Does anyone have any tips/tricks for knowing where to plug +1/-1 in a large table with totals across the y and x axis that contain un-rounded numbers? Every time I fix a row I throw off a column or my check figures to the true data source.

Post Photo
like

What’s the symbol that you can type in a cell so you can input a text, but that text would not appear in the spreadsheet? I want to describe the formula without using a text box, which uses more space.

The equivalent of this is in SQL, you can use the apostrophe in the beginning of and end of a text. That text will not affect the function of the query, but that text can be seen if you proofread the query.

like

Does 2-finger touchpad scroll not work on Excel sheets anymore? I used to be able to swipe quickly on my laptop's touchpad to navigate sheets but now it doesn't work. Based on the handful of posts I've read online about it, the problem seems unresolved. Has anyone dealt with the same issue and fixed it?

Our Data is only showing when something has changed, is there any way to make excel fill in the values?

Post Photo
like

Anybody use a personal computer for work? How's your experience been, any horror stories/watch-outs?

like

What is the best FP&A tool, Anaplan, Jirav, Planful, Vena? Any other recommendation?

like

Does anyone know what purple tables mean in Excel?

I know about green and orange, but never saw purple before and trying to figure it out.

likefunny

Is there an easy way to switch XLOOKUPS to INDEX MATCH? Have a large file with bunch of formulas that don't work on all client machines (different excel versions).

like

New to Fishbowl?

Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
That was just a preview…
Sign Up to see all discussions
  • Discover what it’s like to work at companies from real professionals
  • Get candid advice from people in your field in a safe space
  • Chat and network with other professionals in your field
Sign up in seconds to unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.

Already a user?
Login here

Share

Embed this post

Copy and paste embed code on your site

Preview

Download the
Fishbowl app

See what’s happening in your industry
from the palm of your hand.

A phone with Fishbowl app

Scan your QR code to download
Fishbowl app on your mobile

Download app

Sign up for free to view this conversation on Fishbowl

By continuing you agree to Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Already have an account? Log in

Sign up for free to continue using Fishbowl

By continuing you agree to Terms of Use(New) and Privacy Policy(New)
Messaging rates may apply

Already have an account? Log in

For account settings, visit Fishbowl on Desktop Browser or

General

Legal