--- title: Excel & Spreadsheets description: Spreadsheets are the most-used analysis tool in business. You will learn formulas, lookups, pivot tables, charts, data cleaning and automation in Excel and Google Sheets. category: programming-tech subcategory: technical-skills difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/excel-and-spreadsheets --- # Excel & Spreadsheets Spreadsheets are the most-used analysis tool in business. You will learn formulas, lookups, pivot tables, charts, data cleaning and automation in Excel and Google Sheets. ## Available Resources 2 Books • 4 Websites • 1 Papers ## Papers ### 1. Spreadsheet Errors: What We Know. What We Think We Can Do **Author:** Raymond R. Panko Panko summarises fifteen years of audit studies finding errors in the large majority of real operational spreadsheets, at cell error rates comparable to programming. Argues that of the proposed remedies, only cell-by-cell code inspection has demonstrated effect. The structural anchor the topic needs and the one thing no tutorial site will ever tell you: spreadsheets are code, most production spreadsheets contain errors, and confidence in your own sheet is not evidence. Reframes every other resource here from 'which formula' to 'how do I know this is right'. F **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://arxiv.org/abs/0802.3457 **Tags:** spreadsheet errors, spreadsheet auditing, error rates, risk, research ## Websites ### 1. Ben Collins - Google Sheets Tutorials **Author:** Ben Collins Several hundred free Google Sheets tutorials from a Google Developer Expert: formulas, QUERY, array formulas, pivot tables, charts, dashboards and Apps Script automation. Includes seven formula challenges with published solutions, so you practise rather than only read. Collins' free article library is deep enough to stand alone **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.benlcollins.com/spreadsheets/ **Tags:** google sheets, formulas, apps script, pivot tables, dashboards ### 2. Google Sheets Training and Help Google's own Sheets documentation set: getting-started guides, the complete function list, cheat sheets, and migration notes for people arriving from Excel. Primary source for Sheets-specific behaviour like QUERY, ARRAYFORMULA, IMPORTRANGE and real-time collaboration semantics. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9282959 **Tags:** google sheets, documentation, functions, collaboration, excel migration ### 3. Exceljet Excel Functions Reference Dave Bruns' function-by-function reference with plain-language syntax notes plus several hundred worked formula examples. Deliberately a lookup tool rather than a course, though the examples explain the reasoning behind each construction, including modern dynamic-array patterns. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://exceljet.net/functions **Tags:** excel, functions, formulas, dynamic arrays, reference ### 4. Excel Help & Learning Microsoft's official Excel hub: quick-start guides, free video training courses, and per-function documentation kept current with each Microsoft 365 release. The authoritative reference for what a feature actually does, including dynamic arrays and newer functions. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/excel **Tags:** excel, documentation, microsoft 365, functions, training ## Youtubes ### 1. Excel Corporate Free Finance Class: The Power of NPV Cash Flow Analysis **Author:** Mike Girvin A real institutional course, not a tutorial channel - sequenced, cumulative, with exercise files, which is exactly what a beginner needs and what the listicle economy never provides. A 135-video college course from Highline College instructor Mike Girvin covering the Excel interface, cell references, formatting, core formulas, lookups, PivotTables and charts. Downloadable practice workbooks accompany the videos; taught screen-by-screen at working pace. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrRPvpgDmw0ly_v86mHHjoE1SwVs0vRV4 **Tags:** excel, formulas, pivot tables, lookup functions, video course ### 2. Excel 365 & Power BI Intermediate to Advanced Free Course (365 MECS) The single best free comprehensive Excel video course in existence. Mike Girvin's full Highline College Excel class, released free: formula construction, PivotTables, dynamic arrays, LET and LAMBDA, Power Query, the Data Model and DAX. Teaches why each tool exists rather than isolated click sequences, with downloadable workbooks. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrRPvpgDmw0nre_bTeBfJWjrnixKoyNtW **Tags:** excel, power query, dax, dynamic arrays, pivot tables, power bi ## Books ### 1. Master Your Data with Power Query in Excel and Power BI, 2nd Edition **Author:** Ken Puls, Miguel Escobar This is the book that changes how someone works with spreadsheets — from hand-editing cells to building refreshable pipelines. The definitive treatment of Power Query: import, reshape, unpivot, merge and append messy data, then refresh it on demand. Covers the M language directly, turning manual copy-paste cleanup into repeatable, auditable transformation pipelines. **Difficulty:** Advanced | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1615470581?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** power query, excel, power bi, m language, data cleaning, etl ### 2. Microsoft Excel 365 Bible, 2nd Edition **Author:** Michael Alexander, Dick Kusleika The standard single-volume Excel reference, roughly a thousand pages covering worksheet design, formula construction, tables, PivotTables, charting, conditional formatting, custom functions and VBA automation. Dense enough to read cover to cover or consult indefinitely. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1394298242?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** excel, formulas, pivot tables, vba, charting, reference --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/excel-and-spreadsheets