#7a - Alan - Working Out Long Formulae And Finding Alternatives
Thanks to community member Alan for sending in this question. Alan’s file contains multiple long Excel formula that are difficult to manage – can we help him? The purpose of this mini-series is first to explore the pros and cons of long formulae, then to examine alternatives. Yes, one of the alternatives is a VBA (or at least involves VBA) – but that doesn’t mean VBA fixes everything in Excel. It certainly doesn’t, as I explain in the first video. It’s a case of understanding the options, appreciating the pros and cons of each, and selecting the one that suits you best.
In the first video, I attempt to understand the long formula, with no prior preparation! The idea is to show you how I work through long Excel formulae, a process which always seems to be stressful. Having a clear approach in mind that’s steady and systematic is key …
With the formulae (largely) understood, I offer a different approach that fulfils most of the old formula’s function, but using simpler syntax. Can you guess what formula I select? It’s a good option for football traders working with Excel, but it’s not actually my preferred option, we’ll get to that in the next video.
TOPICS AND TECHNIQUES
- Discussion: Is VBA the answer to all Excel problems?
- What’s wrong with long formulae in Excel?
- How to understand a long formula in Excel
- SUMPRODUCT
- OFFSET
- COLUMN
- ROW
- SUBTOTAL
- Discussion: Pros and cons of SUBTOTAL
- Switching off calculation in Excel
- SUMIFS
- Managing datasets that change in size
- Excel’s table notation (vs. dynamic ranges)
- How to test Excel formulae
3 Lessons