One of my earliest jobs, was with a firm of Accountants, and I vividly remember asking one of the Accountants if he had any ‘Tippex’ (clearly in the days before Excel!!), his answer was “No Traci, I don’t make mistakes!”
I took this as something to aspire to, but being ‘human’, this didn’t always prove to be an easy task, so I take help wherever I can…………….
……….. Excel has an ACE function (DATA VALIDATION) to help minimise the risk of making mistakes, by restricting what can be entered into cells, in a variety of ways:
• Dates – You can ensure that only dates can be entered between a specified period, or before or after a specified date
• Whole Numbers – You can specify that decimals cannot be used
• Text Length – This ensures a specified number of characters is entered, ideal for ensuring complete phone numbers are entered
• List – You can specify a list of options to select from (text or numeric)
This function also provides the option to enter an ‘Input Message’ & an ‘Error Message’, so it is ideal if you are creating a spreadsheet that is to be populated by other Users, as it can save time explaining how to use the spreadsheet, and eliminate the need to check for accuracy.
It also provides consistency of spellings, and can save time manually typing data, as it will provide a ‘Pick-List’ to select form, within the cell.
My next Workshop on Wed 15th Feb, will be covering DATA VALIDATION in more detail, plus lots of other ‘Time Saving' functions:
But, if you can’t wait that long, and want some more information on this ACE little function, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
P.S. I'm still human and do occasionally make mitsakes..................can you spot my 'deliberate' ones above?!?
