Advanced Excel Essentials

This book is great! It goes into detail on how to create different things that I hadn't seen elsewhere (i.e. a worksheet-based form wizard, storing/editing the information stored by the wizard via a worksheet database, web link tutorials on how to create a mouseover event in Excel, etc.). Be forewarned, though, that I'm about 85% of the way through the book and it doesn't seem to address the frustration of having the undo stack being disabled with each macro run (if you're familiar with Excel, you know this is common when using macros - and for a good reason - but the author doesn't seem to call attention to it happening nor how he would handle it).I personally feel the book could have used a little better editing as the writing feels clunky at times. This doesn't detract from the reader's understanding 98% of the time, but it held me up a couple times. For example, I felt that style consistency was lacking in areas, causing me to have to flip back and forth across a couple pages to reference a figure many different times. Sometimes the figure was before the explanation of it, and other times it was after. For me this was frustrating simply because when I'm attempting to use a book in a walkthrough manner, all the flipping around can get you "lost" at times. Perhaps this is nitpicking, but it was something of which I was constantly aware, which grew to be a major nuisance for me.With that being said, though, the book is a solid resource and the knowledge presented seems to be valuable. If you're looking to build a wizard within Excel without using a traditional userform, this may be exactly what you're looking for. I would highly recommend it for an intermediate Excel user looking to expand his or her Excel skills.

This book will change how you approach building models and applications in Excel. Jordan (the author) forces you to think outside the box, and makes some strong arguments against "standard" spreadsheet development practices.He covers a lot of different areas including alternatives to nested IF statements, database modeling techniques, and sensitivity analysis. The second part shows you how to create a real world example of a model using all the concepts presented in the first part of the book. Sample Excel files are provided so you can follow along with the book, and also use them in your own models.The content is great, but I gave this a 5 star rating because I do NOT agree with every concept Jordan presents. He makes some arguments for a different approach to developing Excel models with VBA applications. This includes things like naming conventions, how to store your macros and modules, and more. These theories made me think about my own development practices, and how I do things because "I've always done them a certain way". Even though I might not adopt all the practices presented in the book, it forced me to take a step back and think about things from a higher level. Forcing yourself to think outside the box spurs creativity and can really help you grow.

This book provides a fun new perspective on data modeling and user interface. It has transformed my idea of what spreadsheets should look like, as well as the structure of the data and all naming conventions that are behind them. The title doesn't lie that this book is an advanced level Excel book, but what I like most about it is that it provides a big picture look at many topics, rather than just throwing some code and functions in front of you. It really helps transform the way you look at spreadsheets and all that goes into them, and makes you think about many things that you can do differently while modeling data.As an accounting analyst, Jordan's ideas have me immensely in my career. His principles and the other ideas in this book will save both me and the users of my work countless hours of trying to sort through excel and VBA code, and the logic that goes behind it. I would recommend this book to anyone, and already have recommended it to many of my coworkers.

I was tired of books that list out all the basics and then rush through the top end content, so I bought this book. The writer has a nice light hearted-style, but the content is lacking. He looks at alternate ways of doing things and challenges the reader to think of better ways of doing things. For the level this book is pitched at, this is not necessary. If you solve you problem, does it matter that the formula is neater? You'll pick up a few things and the blogs he refers you to are really good; the book not so much.I upgraded to 4 stars as the later half does have some good ideas for presenting data

First off, I must say that this is probably the shortest amount of time it's taken me to read through an Excel book (and I've read quite a few). I just couldn't seem to put it down! Advanced Excel Essentials is unlike most technical Excel texts in that it felt more like I was attending some sort of TED Talks lecture than skimming through a bunch of tutorials. Jordan Goldmeier presents some great technics in this book that are applicable to many real-world business situations and can easily be implemented. His emphasis on being able to reverse engineer other's work is spot on in today's business world. He also tells you which features of Microsoft Excel to stay away from and which will give you and your audience the best user experience. I cannot recommend this book enough and it's definitely a must for any aspiring finance or data analyst who wants to jumpstart his/her career.

It's not hard to imagine why Jordan continues to be at the forefront of the Excel community with his views, objections and application design after reading through Advanced Excel Essentials. As a devout believer in all things spreadsheet he certainly pushed my thoughts on creativity within the program and made me change several of my current practices before I even finished the chapter (see his use of Boolean). For those currently on that intermediate path trying to get to the next level this is a perfect addition to your library.

A Data Analyst here from the UK. I found this book insightful, interesting and well written for the more advanced Excel user (or at least intermediate).I am usually one to get a few chapters in and give up out of boredom, or skip to the relevant bits to me, but in this case I read from cover to cover, worked through the sample files and embraced the slightly out-of-the-box thinking. Some of which I'm completely on board with, other parts I'm yet to be convinced. But all of it opens up your thinking.I will particularly take some of the user form techniques and utilise them at work.A great read for anyone who wants to develop their Excel skills, and a really relevant book for people who work with Excel regularly in their day jobs.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who is serious about Excel development. Jordan's book is a shortcut through the period of learning which normally consists of browsing blogs, articles and collecting scraps of knowledge from Excel gurus.

Slightly quirky view of Excel but it's good to have a contrary opinion to the generally accepted one.

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I thought I knew a lot about Excel. I even teach it to clients. However, Jordan has made me the student. One of the very few technical books that I have that I just cannot put down.