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Jan 1, 2025 | 
journalofaccountancy.com | Kelly Williams
This column shows how to use the Data Table option in Excel’s What-If Analysis tool. By Kelly L. Williams, CPA, Ph.D. Q. You explained Excel’s Scenario Manager in your November 2024 Tech Q&A article and Goal Seek in your December 2024 Tech Q&A article. Can you please explain the final What-If Analysis tool: Data Table? A. Microsoft Excel’s What-If Analysis is a powerful feature that allows you to explore various scenarios and outcomes by modifying input values within your spreadsheets.
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Dec 1, 2024 | 
journalofaccountancy.com | Kelly Williams
Q. In your November Tech Q&A article on Excel’s Scenario Manager, you mentioned two other “what-if” tools: Goal Seek and Data Table. Can you show how those work like you did with Scenario Manager? A. Goal Seek, Data Table, and Scenario Manager are powerful tools that can be found in a dropdown menu by going to Data > Forecast > What-if Analysis. After covering Scenario Manager last month, it makes sense to cover Goal Seek this month and Data Table in January.
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Nov 1, 2024 | 
journalofaccountancy.com | Kelly Williams
This column shows how to quickly project financial possibilities with Excel Scenario Manager. By Kelly L. Williams, CPA, Ph.D. Q. How does the Scenario Manager in Excel work? A. Microsoft Excel’s Scenario Manager is a powerful tool for making informed financial decisions. It allows users to create and manage multiple data scenarios, providing a comprehensive platform for analyzing how changes in variables can affect overall outcomes.
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Oct 1, 2024 | 
journalofaccountancy.com | Kelly Williams
Q. My supervisor wants me to include more data visualizations in my projects. Do you have any suggestions? A. Data visualization transforms raw data into graphical representations, making complex financial information more accessible and understandable. This is particularly important in accounting, where stakeholders must quickly interpret financial trends and make informed decisions based on accurate data. Microsoft has several tools to do this, but I suggest starting with Excel charts.
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Sep 1, 2024 | 
journalofaccountancy.com | Kelly Williams
Q. ChatGPT-4o was released in May 2024, and I heard it can interact with documents. Does this apply to Excel documents? A. In January 2023, I wrote my first column on ChatGPT for the JofA, and I was so excited about the things it could do. The version at that time, Chat- GPT-3.5, was strictly text-based and could not interact directly with documents. Still, it was able to assist with a lot of tasks. I am just as excited, if not more, now that ChatGPT-4o (the “o” is for omni) has been released.
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Aug 12, 2024 | 
nabpilot.org | Kelly Williams
8K 2024 Olympics Demo in NAB’s LabNAB collaborated with Intel to bring a demonstration of glass-to-glass 8K content originating from the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris to the PILOT Innovation Lab at NAB’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. This was one of only two locations in the U.S. where this feed was available to be viewed. The content was captured using 8K cameras located at selected Olympic venues.
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Aug 1, 2024 | 
journalofaccountancy.com | Kelly Williams
Q. What is the best way to identify duplicate transactions that could have been entered into my Excel spreadsheet? A. Duplicates in spreadsheets can compromise data integrity, making it difficult to obtain accurate insights. In Excel, these duplicate entries can distort analysis and result in misleading conclusions. It is crucial for accountants to identify and handle duplicates effectively to maintain the accuracy of their datasets. Let’s look at a few ways to identify duplicates in Excel.
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Jul 2, 2024 | 
nature.com | Alfredo Iacoangeli |Simon D. Topp |Puja R Mehta |Naomi Limbachiya |Kelly Williams |Wade K. Self | +15 more
Correction to: Nature Communications https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-34620-y, published online 12 November 2022The original version of this Article contained an error in Figure 4. Under the heading ‘Disease duration (months)’, all disease durations were reported as ‘disease duration’ rather than reporting the numerical value. The correct version now reports the disease duration in months instead of the original, incorrect ‘disease duration’.
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Jul 1, 2024 | 
journalofaccountancy.com | Kelly Williams
Q. I often use watermarks in Microsoft Word to indicate that the document is a “Draft” or “Confidential.” However, the options to create a watermark are not in Microsoft Excel. I want to indicate that the incomplete financial statements saved to our corporate network are “Draft.” Is this possible? A. It is possible to create a watermark in Microsoft Excel; however, Excel does not have the same built-in watermark capabilities as Microsoft Word.
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Jun 1, 2024 | 
journalofaccountancy.com | Kelly Williams
Q. I am trying to create a formula in our accounting system, but I keep getting errors. What can I do to get the formula to work? A. All Excel users know how powerful formulas are, but sometimes it can be challenging to get them to work correctly. Anyone using Excel formulas needs to understand the resources available for auditing those formulas. Let’s look at how to use Excel’s auditing tools to audit formulas and ensure the accuracy of data. To follow along, download this Excel workbook.
