Excel Formula & Functions Quick Reference

Overview

This compact reference concentrates on practical Excel formula and function patterns that make workbooks reliable, auditable, and easy to maintain. Rather than cataloguing every built‑in command, it prioritizes clear formula design, purposeful function choice, and small reusable workflows you can apply to budgets, rollups, gradebooks, and recurring reports. Annotated examples show how to replace fragile one‑cell tricks with transparent, testable logic teammates can follow and extend.

What you'll learn

Learn how to express intent through readable formula layout, control references to prevent copy errors, and pick lookup strategies that balance clarity with speed. The guide walks through aggregation basics (SUM, AVERAGE), conditional logic patterns, defensive error handling, and simple sanity checks so results are easier to verify. You’ll also see guidance on when to use structured references, named ranges, or direct cell references for long‑term maintainability.

Project-driven approach

Short, realistic examples—such as a personal budget, a sales summary, and a classroom gradebook—teach transferable patterns rather than isolated syntax. Each example demonstrates combining operators and references, nesting functions for concise logic, and formatting formulas for readability. Emphasis is placed on documenting assumptions, converting repeated logic into reusable elements, and designing formulas that remain useful across datasets and reporting cycles.

Techniques for accuracy and efficiency

The guide prioritizes methods that reduce mistakes and save time: prefer named or structured references over hard‑coded constants; manage absolute vs. relative references so calculations stay correct when copied; use IFERROR and type checks to trap issues early; and add sanity‑check cells and conditional formatting to surface unexpected values. It highlights fast, transparent tools—AutoSum, Flash Fill, and recommended PivotTable workflows—that speed routine tasks while keeping results traceable.

Examples and workflows

Illustrated walkthroughs show how to prototype summaries with PivotTables, build charts from pivot results, and use Flash Fill for pattern‑driven fills. Reconciliation and aggregation patterns emphasize testable outcomes and straightforward debugging steps so you can validate results quickly. The examples favor readable, incremental verification over clever single‑cell one‑liners that are hard to maintain or audit.

How to use this guide effectively

Work through each short example in a separate workbook to observe how references and formulas update when copied or modified. Treat the guide as both a learning path and a quick reference: prototype with PivotTables before committing to complex formulas, add conditional formatting and formula checks to visualize coverage, and convert repeated logic into named ranges or structured tables for reuse. Add brief comments beside complex formulas to record assumptions and expected inputs.

Sample exercises

• Build a simple budget using SUM and AVERAGE with data validation and visible sanity checks.
• Assemble a sales summary that pairs PivotTables with clear lookup patterns for reporting.
• Create a gradebook using averages, conditional formatting, and stepwise verification to catch anomalies.

Who benefits most

This guide suits beginners solidifying core spreadsheet skills, students preparing data assignments, and professionals who maintain recurring reports or dashboards. If your work involves budgets, operational summaries, sales rollups, or gradebooks, the focus on maintainability, verification, and readable formulas delivers immediate practical value. Intermediate users will appreciate concise reminders about documentation, auditing, and collaborative best practices.

Quick glossary

• Formula: An expression beginning with = that performs calculations using operators and references.
• Function: A built‑in operation such as SUM or AVERAGE that accepts arguments and returns a value.
• Absolute reference: A locked reference (with $) that remains fixed when copied.
• PivotTable: A summarization tool useful for exploring and prototyping summaries without complex formulas.
• Flash Fill: A pattern‑driven feature that auto‑fills values based on examples you provide.

Author note

According to Faye Brockwell, effective spreadsheets are simple to read, easy to test, and quick to update—principles reflected throughout the examples and recommendations in this reference.