This might seem like a bizarre section to include in a course focusing on commercial law. However, commercial lawyers use Microsoft Excel more frequently than you would expect. 

It can be an incredibly useful tool, particularly when it comes to compiling and sorting data, project managing transactions, and keeping records. For this reason, I have included a brief introduction to key Microsoft Excel functions and formulas below. Note that this is only a basic guide; to expand and deepen your understanding, Breaking Into Wall Street’s ‘Excellence With Excel’ course comes highly recommended. 

It is worth noting that slightly different commands and terminology may apply to different versions of Microsoft Excel (for instance, Microsoft Excel for Mac/PC, older versions and versions released in different countries). The information in this section relates primarily to PC keyboards and PC versions of Microsoft Excel.

Formatting

Number formatting

• Microsoft Excel may sometimes format cells in ways that you do not intend it to. For instance, when inserting a date into a cell, instead of displaying 07/09/2015, Microsoft Excel may instead display the numbers in a different format.
• The same goes for decimals and percentages (etc.). You can ensure that cells display values as you intend them to by right clicking the relevant cell(s), selecting the ‘Format Cells’ option, then selecting your desired format. Cells will then update accordingly. 

Sorting data

• Microsoft Excel can make it easier for you to sort data (for instance, from smallest to largest if cells contain numbers, or in alphabetical order if cells contain letters). To sort your data, select the top cell of a chosen column and then click ‘Sort’ on the Data tab. This will give you different options for sorting your data. 

Hiding columns or rows

• The Hide function is useful if you want to display only the columns or rows in your worksheet that are relevant to your analysis. To hide data, select the column(s)/row(s) you want to hide, then right click and select Hide. To unhide those column(s)/row(s), select the columns/rows that are on either side of the hidden column(s)/row(s), then right click and select Unhide.

Freezing panes

• Freezing panes can come in useful when your dataset contains hundreds of rows and/or columns and you need to reference a particular row or column regardless of where within the worksheet you are working. 
• For instance, let us assume that the first row contains headings that specify which type of data appears in each corresponding column. If you freeze the first row, no matter how far you subsequently scroll down, the entries in that first row will be displayed at the top of the area of the spreadsheet visible on your screen. 
• To freeze a column or row, select the relevant column/row and then click Freeze Panes on the View tab. If you select an entire row, all the rows above it (not including the selected row) will freeze. If you select an entire column, all the columns to the left of it (not including the selected column) will freeze. If you select a particular cell, all the rows above it and the columns to the left of it will freeze.

 Leaving comments

• It may be useful to leave comments in spreadsheets to ensure that other users can understand the contents. To do this, first select the cell to which you would like to attach a comment, then click New under the Review tab. A yellow box will open, giving you space to leave a comment. Once you have left a comment, a red arrow will appear in the top right corner of the cell to indicate to other users that upon clicking that cell, a comment will appear. 

Graphs and charts

• Microsoft Excel provides a wide range of options for visualising data. To create a graph/chart, select the relevant data, then click the Insert tab and select the type of graph/ chart you would like to use (Column, Line, Pie, Bar etc.). 
• Microsoft Excel tries to automatically determine which data should be displayed on the X-axis and Y-axis. If the data does not display in the way you intend it to once the graph/chart has been created, go to the Design tab under the Chart Tools ribbon and click Select Data. From here you can modify the way in which the graph/chart plots your data. 

Formulas

Selecting cells

• If you want to refer to particular cells in a formula/calculation, you can either type out the specific cell references that you want to include (e.g. ‘A1’) or click the relevant cells. You can also select groups of cells that you wish to include. You can do this by, for instance, typing in the start of the formula (e.g. ‘=SUM(‘) then clicking one cell and dragging the cursor across the other cells that you wish to include in the particular group.
• When you have finished dragging the cursor over the relevant cells and have let go of the mouse/track pad button, those cells will form a group. If you then want to refer to an additional group of cells in the formula, you repeat the same process (i.e. select the additional range of cells). The additional range of cells will form a second group and so on. 
• A group of cells will display in a formula as two cell references separated by a colon, for instance ‘A1:10’. =SUM(A1:A10) would sum A1, A2, A3…A10, whilst =SUM(A1:B10) would add up all of the values in cells A1-A10 and B1-B10. 

Pasting formulas into different cells

• If you click and hold the bottom right corner of a cell that contains a formula, then drag the cursor down/across cells in the same column/row, the formula in the first cell will apply to each of the newly selected cells (relative to its new position). This function is applicable not only to formulas, but also to days of the week, months, numerical patterns etc.
• For instance, if you type ‘Monday’ into a cell and then drag the corner of the cell down, each subsequent cell will display the day of the week that follows the day displayed in the cell above. If you type ‘1’ into a cell, ‘3’ into the cell below, then highlight both cells and drag the corner of the bottom cell down, Excel will maintain the pattern of displaying only odd numbers in subsequent cells.

Calculations

 =SUM(A1,B1,C1…)  /  =A1-B1-C1…   sum / subtract cell values

 =PRODUCT(A1,A2)  /  =A1/A2   multiply / divide cell values

=AVERAGE(A1:A10)  /  =MEDIAN(A1:A10)   calculate the average / median of the specified cell values

=COUNT(A1:A100)  /  =COUNTA(A1:A100)   counting the number of cells containing numbers / other data

=COUNT enables you to calculate the number of cells in a specified range that contain any numbers. You can select the cells (including entire rows and/or columns) that you would like the formula to consider. In the above example, the formula would count the number of cells between (and including) A1 and A100 that contain numbers. Note that if you want to find the number of cells containing letters and/or symbols (or a combination of letters, symbols and numbers), replace COUNT with COUNTA.