Excel doesn’t have a built-in timeline chart but we’ll show you how to create one. In this episode you’ll learn how using a scatter chart can help you build a timeline chart.

For easy reference, here are the episode timestamps:

• 0:17 - About timeline charts in Excel
• 1:33 - Hacking the scatter chart to make a timeline chart
• 2:43 - Formatting dates using the range
• 3:32 - Universal formatting shortcut
• 4:27 - Working with the data series and points
• 5:40 - The structure of the data to build the chart
• 7:21 - Linking the title to the cell
• 8:07 - The date format used by Excel and keyboard shortcuts
• 9:29 - Timeline charts overview and recap

Whether you’re tracking historical events or planning future milestones, a timeline chart is a useful tool to create in Excel.

Tune in now to learn this simple technique and start creating your own timeline charts.

Host: Neale Blackwood CPA has more than 20 years of experience as a Microsoft Excel educator. He is the author of more than 200 INTHEBLACK articles as well as a book, Advanced Excel Reporting for Management Accountants.

CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting:

• INTHEBLACK
• INTHEBLACK Out Loud
• With Interest
• Excel Tips

Search for them in your podcast platform.

Calendars are your go-to tool for planning. In this Excel Tips episode, you'll learn the steps to create a single-month calendar from scratch.

Discover how to combine advanced functions to build a two-dimensional calendar structure, and how to format your dates and highlight weekends and holidays.

You'll also gain knowledge of how to customise the calendar to fit your specific needs.

For quick reference, here are the timestamps:

• 0:17 – Introduction to building a calendar
• 2:12 – Functions used in this tutorial
• 4:29 – How the different functions work
• 8:11 – Using formulas to create headings
• 10:30 – Changing the calendar to start the week on Monday
• 11:53 – Building a custom function with LAMBDA
• 13:28 – Applying conditional formatting for weekends
• 14:59 – Shortcuts covered in the tutorial
• 15:58 – Recap and summary of what we've learned

Tune in now to easily create personalised calendars that suit your planning needs.

Host: Neale Blackwood CPA has more than 20 years of experience as a Microsoft Excel educator. He is the author of more than 200 INTHEBLACK articles as well as a book, Advanced Excel Reporting for Management Accountants.

CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting:

• INTHEBLACK
• INTHEBLACK Out Loud
• With Interest
• Excel Tips

Search for them in your podcast platform.

You can email the podcast team at podcasts@cpaaustralia.com.au

Reports are crucial to your work, aren't they? Power Query is a valuable tool for importing many types of data into Excel to help you create these reports.

However, it does have limitations.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to address one of Power Query’s key shortcomings: user interactions.

By using staging queries, reference techniques and range names, users can dynamically filter data within Power Query based on user-selected criteria.

For fast access, use these timestamps:

1. 0:17 – About the variable Power Query function
2. 3:37 – Implementing the query function
3. 5:46 – Using a range name for a table
4. 7:07 – Using a query to read the variable input
5. 9:43 – Refreshing the power query
6. 10:11 – Recap and use cases

Listen now to learn how to add a user interaction into Power Query.

Host: Neale Blackwood CPA has more than 20 years of experience as a Microsoft Excel educator. He is the author of more than 200 INTHEBLACK articles as well as a book, Advanced Excel Reporting for Management Accountants.

CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting:

• INTHEBLACK
• INTHEBLACK Out Loud
• With Interest
• Excel Tips

Search for them in your podcast platform.

You can email the podcast team at podcasts@cpaaustralia.com.au